how can you prove the trinity to a j.w.?

Question

The Trinity is a very important doctrine to know about because there are a lot of groups that deny the Trinity. Some, like the Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), would say that Jesus Christ is not God and that the Holy Spirit is not a person. Other groups like the Jesus-Only people or the Apostolics, also known as the United Pentecostals, believe that Jesus is God, but they believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are different modes of the same person. So hopefully I can give you enough information from the Word of God that you can counter these heresies, because that's exactly what they are

First I'll give you the definition of the Trinity, and then we'll work from there. The Bible teaches that within the nature of the one true God exists three separate and distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal in nature and co-eternal. The Trinity is NOT three gods in one. The Jehovah's Witnesses would say that the Trinity is defined as three gods in one. Christians definitely do not believe that the Trinity doctrine is three gods in one. All through the Old Testament and many times in the New, we clearly see there is but one true God.

For about one year, because of my brother, who used to be a Jehovah's Witness, I studied essentially nothing at all but the Trinity and the deity of Christ. When I found out about Gal. 4:8, all of a sudden I heard bells and saw stars, so to speak. It all came together, thank God. Gal. 4:8 is a very important, key Scripture in understanding the doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible says:

"Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods."

By implication, we now know that there is one true God by nature. That true God which exists is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three persons are eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful and everywhere present. Some people have their car as their god. Of course, that's a false god because that car is not eternal. That car is not all-powerful, all-knowing; and it's not everywhere present. Only the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that we read of in the Holy Bible possess these four unique attributes. Therefore, they alone are by nature God. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that this God that we call the true God, that Christians worship and serve, is just the Father, or a single person known as the Father. And I'll show you many reasons why Jesus is God and why he was worshiped, and he was prayed to, and also why the Holy Spirit is God as well.

Now when we deal with any group that denies any Biblical teaching, it's always good, if possible, to offer a natural illustration to better bring across exactly what we are talking about. And a good way to illustrate the Trinity would be with H2O, which is common water-two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. You can freeze H2O and you would have the solid, or ice. You can turn on your faucet and you would have the liquid H2O. You can hear the whistle of H2O that comes out of the tea kettle spout which is steam, but it would still be H2O. H2O can and does exist in solid, liquid and gas. The solid is not the liquid; the liquid is not the gas; and yet all three are of one nature:

H2O. And that is exactly how it is with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, the Father is not the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is not the Holy Spirit. And I'll show you from the Bible proof of why I said that regarding the three distinctions between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

If you're dealing with a Jehovah's Witness, you have to deal with three issues to prove to that person that the Bible really does teach the Trinity. Number one, you have to show that there is plurality in the Godhead. If you must deal with the Trinity, I recommend that you start off showing them that the Bible teaches there is plurality in the Godhead, since they don't think the Bible teaches that. The second thing you have to deal with is the persons of the Godhead, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course, the JWs certainly won't deny, argue or contest that the Father and the Son are persons, but they will contest our statement that the Holy Spirit is a person.

So you have to have answers. And thirdly, are they all God? And again, they will not argue at all regarding the Father. They know the Father is God. But they certainly do not believe that Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God, since they think the Holy Spirit is an impersonal, active force likened unto a radar beam. If you can show them what the Bible teaches on these three areas, you can prove to a Jehovah's Witness that the Bible really does teach the Holy Trinity.
First of all, I mentioned the fact that we need to convey to the Jehovah's Witness plurality in the Godhead, and I think the very best way to start off trying to prove this point would be from the book of Genesis, chapter 1 verses 26 and 27

Then [Elohim or] God said, ‘Let us [notice that plural pronoun] make man in our [there's that plural word again] 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.' So [Elohim] God created man in his own image."
Notice the singular pronoun his. The verse before we saw the plural pronoun us and also the plural word our. Our image and our likeness, and then in verse 27 we have the word Elohim which is plural. And it states in his image, that is, singular].

In Genesis chapter 5 verse 1 we read:

"This is the written account of Adam's line. When [Elohim] God created man, he made him in the likeness of God."
I want you to see that it says that he, singular, made man in his likeness. In Gen. 1:27, he was made in his image. Verse 26 of Genesis 1 says let us make man in our image and our likeness. Now man is not made in the image of God and angels. I would like to bring that out immediately because our Jehovah's Witness friends would say, well really God was talking to the angels when he said let us make man in our image. And of course

there's no possible way that can be shown in the Scriptures. In fact, just the opposite is shown. If you use these verses and you meditate on them, I guarantee that a Jehovah's Witness won't have anywhere to go. You can back him or her in a corner and just keep them there and show them the Bible teaches that there is plurality in the Godhead

Now I mentioned that the word Elohim is used here in the book of Genesis. In fact, it's used over 2,000 times in the Old Testament. It's not only used in regard to the True and Living God, it's also used in regard to judges and angels. So it's not an air-tight argument that there is plurality in the Godhead, but it certainly does imply that there is. It alludes to plurality in the Godhead. And after we get done with all of the other evidence, I think it should be clear to you, that is exactly what the word Elohim is getting across-that is, there is plurality in the Godhead, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are the one true God that the Bible speaks of.

Deut. 6:4 is a verse that the Jehovah's Witnesses will bring up to you in their effort to disprove the Trinity, but you can turn the tables on them and show just the opposite. That verse reads:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [there's that word Elohim again], the LORD is one."
So here we find out that YHWH Elohim is one. Now this is a very important thing to listen to, because this word one shows compound unity. And you can draw a little circle around the word one and put off into the margin of your Bible, Gen. 2:24. And under that reference write, echod, because that's the Hebrew word. This word one as used in Gen. 2:24 is compound unity. Gen. 2:24 is a verse that certainly most of us are acquainted with:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
There's the compound unity. The same exact thing that YHWH is, compound unity, husband and wife become.
So we see again in Deuteronomy 6:4 that the one true God of the Bible, YHWH, is compound unity because of the comparison from Gen. 2:24 and Deut. 6:4. So that's the very first thing I would try to get across and just lay down to somebody that would be like a Jehovah's Witness, that the Bible teaches certainly from these verses, the possibility of at least compound unity. And I think from Daniel chapter 7, it should be crystal clear there has to be compound unity in the Godhead. There must be plurality in the Godhead

Answer 1

Stanley R - your additional arguments are impeccible and accurate. Because JW's are guided by the watchtower over and above the Bible then there is an element of a closed mind akin to brainwashing which through conditioning will programme a JW to refuse others beliefs to the point of claiming they are true and others are false. Without the watchtower constantly feeding them, then they will have a problem with any argument.

Answer 2

I'm not a J.W. but I do not believe in the Trinity. I believe in one God, the Father and his son, Jesus, and the holy spirit, which helps us to understand Gods holy words. And I believe they are all separate. The Trinity does not harmonize with Jesus' teaching. Jesus never taught that he was the one true God. He said just the opposite, my Father is greater than I. Why did Jesus pray to himself, if he was God? Does that not seem arrogant? Why was Jesus sweating blood out in the garden of Gethsemane? Was he scared?Why did he ask the cup to be removed if at all possible, but not HIS will but Gods will be done? I don't know. To me it just has more meaning to know that God would send his own Son to die for us. We know that God couldn't fail because he is God, but to have a son come down to earth for us, to be tempted by Satan like he was just seems to be more reasonable. I mean think about it, if God sent himself and he is God and no one has a hold over him, Why did Satan offer this whole world to him,if God is the sole creator of it to begin with. It makes no sense. The Trinity seems to be contradicting what the bible says. For God to be his own son is a split personality issue. No wonder so many people are Bi-Polar. I don't mean to step on any ones toes who believe in the Trinity. This is my belief and how I take the bible.

Answer 3

The whole trinity idea is really strange to non-christians, like myslef. What is it, 3 or 1?

Also, the fellow who posted about "echod", the Hebrew term for one, being a compound unity, is completely wrong. Thsi leaves deuteronomy 6:4 as a real problem for trinitarians.

Answer 4

You worry about this way too much. It really should not affect your faith that much. It is a mute point.

I think Paul was talking about being under the law vs being under grace. That is what Galations is about and pretty much all Paul talked about.

God is everything. Jesus knew he was just as much God as everyone else. You are man, you are spirit and you are a creator. Yes, they are all the same.

Denying the trinity is not going to change someones relationship with God. Whatever helps you understand and feel God is great, but don't worry so much about what others think or believe.

Answer 5

look man,it doesnt fit the mind. people eho thinks that the trinity existis are lying to themselves even if its like u said,3 in 1 one of those 3 wants to be the controller they cant agree.imagine that there is a big cup,we can make three small cups from its glass but we cant still say they are 1 cup,so people i am a christian and i dont belive in christianty,islam is the religion read the quran and ull understand me,i converted to islam latley.islam has the answer for all the questions.

Answer 6

Roman Emperor Constantine invented the concept of the Trinity in the 4th century.

It is not biblical and there is no reason for anyone to follow it.

The reason we know it is not biblical and was invented by Constantine's universal religion is because passages related to it were forged by persons unknown.

If the Trinity was a fact, the passages would not have been forged.


Trinitarians are following Satan.

See how easy that is? You have been deceived.

Answer 7

Go to your local library and in the research section look up the trinity and you will discover that it was a doctrine actually created by a man named Plato. Jesus never talked about a trinity. it is stated in the bible that Jesus was created unlike God who has always been and always will be

Answer 8

Trinitarians love to regurgitate philosophy, Greek, "eggs and clover", and quotes from other Babylon-loving Trinitarians. By contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Scriptures alone quite plainly demonstrate that Jesus and the Almighty are separate distinct persons, and the Almighty created Jesus as His firstborn son.

(Colossians 1:15) the firstborn of all creation

(Mark 10:18) Jesus said to him: 'Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, except one, God.

(Revelation 3:14) the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God

(Philippians 2:5-6) Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God's form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God

(John 8:42) Neither have I come of my own initiative at all, but that One sent me forth

(John 12:49) I have not spoken out of my own impulse, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to tell and what to speak

(John 14:28) I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am

(1 Corinthians 15:28) But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him

(Matthew 20:23) this sitting down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father

(1 Corinthians 11:3) I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; ...in turn the head of the Christ is God

(John 20:17) I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.

(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

Learn more!
http://watchtower.org/library/ti/index.htm

Answer 9

You can't because it isn't rooted in the Bible. Let me say I am NOT JW, but I do NOT believe in the Trinity. I have read the arguments both for and against and have, through a study of history determined it to be false doctrine. Have you? Try it, you may be surprised :) Try this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity

Answer 10

Jesus speaking

(Mat 28:19 NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,