Pagan trinity, or Biblical teaching--which would you believe?

Question

According to reputable encyclopedias--like World Book (1991), The Catholic Encyclopedia, etc--the doctrine of the trinity was greatly influenced by Plato, a Greek and pagan philosopher. These encloypedias say that not one verse in the bible can CONCLUSIVELY support the trinitarian doctrine--one God, 3 persons, all equal in might.

On the contrary, many biblical verses bluntly repute the trinity. Some of these are: Deut 6:4; Isaiah 42:8; John 14:28; Matthew 20:20-23; 24:36; 1Corin 11:3, etc.

Question: With all these facts staring at our face, which should true Christians believe: (a) the pagan doctrine of the Trinity, or (b) the simple truth that there is only One true God, Jehovah / Yahweh?

To Nickoftime: True, Elohim may be as you said "uni-plural" but it's used as a respectful address to one God, not to imply that there are 3. Like all others you enumerate biblical verses, try to imply meaning to them--but not really understand what these mean.
Too, the holy spirit is not a person. It has no name, no face--unlike Jehovah or Jesus. Kindly re-evaluate your belief. You and others have done great damage to many who sincerely wants to know the true God. Some have even turned aetheists because of the confusions you have sown.

Answer 1

absolutly one universal God.

if trinity was that important, then the 1st of all commandment will be "you shall not take other gods before us the father, son and holyspirit"

but 1st commandment clearly said:
"you shall not take other gods before me!"

Jesus said: "My God, My God, why haven't you forsaken me"

Jesus said: "why calling me good. and there is no good but God"

Jesus said: "the lord our God is only one"

and God in jesus langauge (aramiac) is called Allaha.

Answer 2

The so-called "Trinity doctrine" is a red herring, and you are reacting to it just as you were programmed to.

The fact is that there is only one God. But don't limit Him to human capabilities. That One God is able to do anything He might choose to do, be anywhere and everywhere at the same time, including within your heart.

Why is it so hard to understand that God could and would come into the world in a human body? Why is this so hard to believe? Why must we make Jesus a "second person in the trinity", as if He must fit into some human evaluation of Him?

What is so difficult about the belief that God would choose to dwell within the human heart? Why must we invent yet another "person in the trinity" to explain the Holy Spirit?

The "Trinity Doctrine" is an effort to take your mind away from the Holiness of God, and it seems to work incredibly well. One for Satan!!

Answer 3

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God (cf. John 8:58, 10:38, 14:10; Col. 2:9). It also clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is God (cf. Acts 5:3–4, 28:25–28; 1 Cor. 2:10–13). Everyone agrees the Father is God. Yet there is only one God (Mark 12:29, 1 Cor. 8:4–6, Jas. 2:19).

Jesus tells his apostles to baptize "in the name [notice, singular, not plural] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). This is a proof-text: three distinct Persons united in the one divine name. In 2 Corinthians 13:14, Paul writes, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." We see this same unity of divine Persons in 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, Ephesians 4:4–6, and 1 Peter 1:2–3.

Answer 4

We live in a post modern world. There is nothing wrong with being pagan. It is no longer an insult. Every voice in the world has right to be heard with casting a judgment upon it. Having said that Pagan and Trinitarian have different paradigms. I would describe Pagans being linear. Pagans and like minded people count three gods 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. Whereas Christianity is three dimensional with height, depth and breadth. Trinitarians count each aspect as one arriving at a single point in a matrix (1,1,1). It is a different concept altogether. This is just an analogy. Someone may think up a better one. Yes there are similarities but there are significant peculiar differences which are easily lost.

Answer 5

Your right. Plato came up with the trinity. It's not mentioned in the Bible anywhere. I always wondered why people were so hardcore about it. After all, if there's only one God, how come there are three? Just to compete with the Egyptian idea of many Gods in one? Or the various Pagan trinities? I dun get it.

Answer 6

Clearly, the Scriptures do *NOT* teach polytheism; the Trinity is a Satanic lie.

(Deuteronomy 6:4) Jehovah our God is one Jehovah

(1 Corinthians 8:4-6) There is no God but one. For even though there are those who are called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many “gods” and many “lords,” there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him

Answer 7

Yes, Yahweh/Jehova is the only One true God, the term The Trinity not found in the Bible but a word used to describe what is apparent about God in the Scriptures. The Bible clearly speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit...and also clearly presents that there is only one God. Thus the term: "Tri" meaning three, and "Unity" meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity. It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three "Persons" who have the same essence of deity. God the Son (Jesus) is fully, completely God. God the Father is fully, completely God. And God the Holy Spirit is fully, completely God. Yet there is only one God. In our world, with our limited human experience, it's tough to understand the Trinity. But from the beginning we see God this way in Scripture. Notice the plural pronouns "us" and "our" in Genesis 1:26 -- Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Though not a complete list, here is some other Scripture that shows God is one, in Trinity:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" (Deut. 6:4)
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God." (Isa. 45:5)
There is no God but one. (1Cor. 8:4)
And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (Matt. 3:16-17)
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19)
Jesus said: "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)
"He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)
"He who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me." (John 12:45)
If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Rom. 8:9)
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 1:20)
And the angel answered and said to her [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)
[Jesus speaking to His disciples] "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you." ... "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." (John 14:16-17, 23)

Answer 8

We were created to Praise and Worship our Creator, God the Father. His Son Jesus Christ formed us in His own image and breathed into our nostrils and we became a living soul.
We betrayed God in the garden of Eden when Eve was tempted by the devil and she ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Then she gave the fruit to Adam and he ate also.
Eve had been told by the Devil, in the form of a serpent, that if she ate of the fruit that she would be like god. But this brought sin and death on mankind.
God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on Him should not died but have everlasting life. John 3:16
I Pray that this helps you.
David

Source(s):

King James version of the Holy Bible

Answer 9

If you believe the sources you cite then you must deny the trinity. I personaly know they are wrong. Even though it is not specificaly mentioned in the Bible, the Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, These(ofcourse) are repeatedly mentioned. These Three are The Trinity
Try this link and if you would like to ask a question you can email me. All Honest Seekers are welcome

http://pages.zdnet.com/mikevanauken/mikesinternetoutreach/id36.html

Answer 10

the belief in the trinity is not pagan, in fact it is stated right in the Bible.

1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

I am a christian and I believe in the trinity 100%. It is a hard concept to grasp sometimes, but that is where my faith comes in.

Answer 11

Being that I am pagan, The mother Goddess trinity makes vastly more sense. She is the three stages of a woman's life. Maiden, mother and crone. She is the phases of the moon, The Bible's version is abstract and incomplete. IT's contradictory and doesn't serve a purpose.