Trinity- how?

Question

Can someone explain how God suddenly becomes 3?? i've always known 1+1+1=3 and not 3=1.. is that an addition to christianity? by Saul presumably?/ i donno how to spell his name-- sowwy

k.. gets me another question.. what IS a holy spirit?

Answer 1

The Trinity, according to the Athanasian Creed, goes as follows: "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God."

In this Holy Trinity: "The three Persons are CO-EQUAL and CO-ETERNAL: all alike are UNCREATED and OMNIPOTENT." (The Catholic Encyclopedia)

There is only one verse in the whole of the Bible which unequivocally supports this Christian dogma, and that is: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. " The first Epistle of John 5:7

Dr C.I, Scofield, D.D. backed by eight other D.D.'s in a footnote to this verse says that:

"IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT THIS VERSE HAS NO MANUSCRIPT AUTHORITY AND HAS BEEN INSERTED."

The fundamentalist Christians still retain this fabrication whereas, in all the modern translations including the Revised Standard Version (RSV) this pious fraud has been unceremoniously wiped out...

Then we have the first epistle of John 5:7-8 from the King James version that reads: "For there are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one."

The King James version, authorized in 1611, formed the strongest evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity. But now this part, "the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one," has been erased in The Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 and in many other Bibles, as it was a gloss (personal view, misinformation) that had encroached on the Greek text.

I John 5:7-8 in The New American Standard Bible says: "And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement." Also, in The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, used by the Jehovah's Witnesses, you will find: "For there are three witness bearers: the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement."

The Trinity is not biblical. The word "Trinity" is not even in the Bible or Bible dictionaries. It was never taught or mentioned by Jesus. There is no basis or proof in the Bible for its acceptance.

The issue might still stand because in Matthew 28: 19 we still find: "... baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This part has not been removed yet. So, could this not be proof of the Trinity?

The answer is no because if three persons are sitting or eating together, does it mean that they form one person? No. The formulation of the Trinity by Athanasius, an Egyptian deacon from Alexandria, was accepted by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD (more than three centuries after Jesus had left). No doubt Roman paganism had an influence on this doctrine of a triune god. The Sabbath was shifted to Sunday and December 25, the birthday of their sun god Mitra, was introduced as Jesus' birthday, although the Bible clearly predicted and forbade the decoration of Christmas trees in Jeremiah 10:2-5: "Thus saith the Lord: 'Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good."

As I’ve stated before, under a different question about the Trinity, there used to be Unitarian Christians who only believed in One God and nothing else. No Trinity, no son, no holy ghost or anything similar that can be compared to the doctrine of the Trinity. Their beliefs were probably recorded in the books which were destroyed in the year 325 AD by order of the Emperor Constantine who ordered that all books and writings which were used by those who believed in One God and denied the Trinity God be destroyed. This is because this emperor is the one who decided that the doctrine of Trinity should become the official version of Christianity and thus he gave support to the followers of this doctrine. This meant destruction for the Unitarians and their beliefs, books etc. It isn’t so surprising that a Roman emperor, himself not Christian if I recall correctly, would choose the Trinity as the Romans believed in the concept of many gods. The surprising thing though is the fact that a Roman emperor, a politically motivated worldly leader would decide what direction Christianity would or would not take, and the fact that those Christians who agreed with this followed it AND that they would agree to the eradication of other Christians. Then again, if you read enough history, it doesn’t seem very surprising at all.

Another interesting point to note is that the man who first defined this doctrine said that he didn't understand it or could explain it, so I can't blame anyone for feeling that they can’t understand this doctrine. Jesus himself never spoke of a Trinity or believed in it as he was a strongly believing Jew and attended the Sabbath and completed other Jewish religious duties. He did mention God and the holy spirit and referred to himself as the son, but saying this, he also asked God to make the disciples sons of God as he himself was a son of God. Push forward a few centuries and the teaching of the trinity appeared and one of the most difficult and widely discussed principles of the Christian faith was born.

Reading the excerpts in the Bible where Jesus is referring to being the son of God literally, you might come to think that he means that he is the physical son of God. I think a literal interpretation of this is misleading, which indeed some priests and clergymen agree with, rather than understanding that he, Jesus, was united with God in purpose. Some priests say that Jesus was one with God in goal, they wanted the same thing, and as Jesus was “working” for God, he would be the same as God in this sense, but not in a physical sense. If you consider the fact that Jesus had to eat food, drink water, both in order to survive and then go to the toilet etc; he sometimes got angry, lost patience etc, etc, all very common human traits, you might rightly feel that this doesn’t match the view of God as a spiritual being. As a believer it's probably a more appropriate and sensible view of God as a spiritual being rather than a physical one.

But this means that a believing Christian would have to question this doctrine. In one sense this shouldn’t pose a problem as we know that this doctrine was a later addition and interpretation that Jesus himself never mentioned. If there was such a thing as a Trinity, I would have thought that Jesus would have mentioned it, seeing as it is considered one of the foundational beliefs of modern day Christianity. But nowhere is there any evidence of this. There is also the added problem of the original texts being translated from Greek into Latin and on through history before it arrived in old English which now exists in modern English. Through this you lose a lot of meaning which hampers correct understanding so that, when people today tell you to read such and such a verse from such and such an English Bible, you can actually not be sure that the words you are reading are completely correct. You can’t be certain that what Jesus is supposed to have said is actually authentic to the meaning or words that he used to describe something. Did he really mean it that way? Did he actually say it that way? Because it’s in English which he never spoke.

On the other hand, as the Trinity has been made such an integral part of modern day Christianity, or church if you will, it is understandably difficult for anyone aspiring to be a Christian to deny one of the core doctrines of modern day Christianity. Hence you find a lot of defence and different explanations for this doctrine, all of which are dependent upon BELIEF, because it cannot be explained logically or by way of connection to Jesus. Then again, logic doesn’t explain life or many of its mysteries :-)

Complicated questions, but nevertheless highly interesting. Thanks for the question.

Answer 2

Of course you won't find any word like "Trinity" in the Bible. The Gospel and Old testament writers could only express themselves according to the knowledge and the thinking of their times and Jesus could only speak and preach to the people with the same limitations.

Christian beliefs are not based on one or two verses here and there, but on the SPIRIT of the Bible message which can only be gained from a wide and open reading of it

The Trinity is, of course, a mystery, which is beyond human explanation, ie how God can be made up of three seperate identities. There are many things in religions, which are beyond human comprehension. Which is why God gave us the gift of faith.

In the first Chapter of the Bible it says, "...and the spirit of God was moving across the waters...." So we know that the spirit of God existed at the beginning.
There can be know doubt about The Father's eternal presence in heaven which is evident throughout the Bible.

Jesus said, of himself
"....I came down from heaven...." So we know that he was there from the beginning too, especially as St Paul says,

"...through Him (Jesus) all things were made..."
and " ....... He ( again Jesus) did not cling to His equality with God...."

Jesus also said "....The Father and I are one...."

Then on the occasion when he met his disciples before he ascended to heaven He had the power to breath the Holy Sprit into them.

In the new Testament letters, The Holy Spirit is referred to in the NT (twice I think) as the "Spirit of Jesus". Which is why we can be sure that "the helper, advocate", that he had the authority to say he would send, was the Holy Spirit.

The fact that he said that his apostles/disciples should go and baptise "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ", is just one verse to add to the many others which are the basis of our belief in the Trinity.


Whatever people say and think, Christians do not believe in three God's but One God with three separate and individual identities. How can this be? God alone knows. You have to understand that God is God and we are men and that the Bible is not a book of science.

Answer 3

Father, Son, Holy spirit = 1
Hence,
3=1

Answer 4

You are one person, but you have a soul and a body, and you also have the Holy Spirit (God's will) flowing thru you, as a part of you.
Which one of these parts is the "one" you?
Using math to define God limits you to a Gnostic way of thinking, and that is exactly who taught Mohammad everything he "knew" about Jesus. If it wasn't for the Gnostics, there would be no Islam, and there would be one belief in Christianity.
Keep trying to connect the dots though. Maybe someday, you'll "know" exactly how God thinks and works in peoples' lives, just like the Gnostics, who trashed the message of the original Christian Apostles so that it would make more sense to them.
Try THIS on for size: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1
By the way...If you're never going to accept it, why do you bother asking? Seems like you're just trying to convince people that math can be used to debunk Christianity. Good luck!

Answer 5

The Father
The Son
& The Holy Ghost

Answer 6

How can one God be three persons?

The doctrine of the Trinity -- that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are each equally and eternally the one true God -- is admittedly difficult to comprehend, and yet is the very foundation of Christian truth. Although skeptics may ridicule it as a mathematical impossibility, it is nevertheless a basic doctrine of Scripture as well as profoundly realistic in both universal experience and in the scientific understanding of the cosmos.

Both Old and New Testaments teach the Unity and the Trinity of the Godhead. The idea that there is only one God, who created all things, is repeatedly emphasized in such Scriptures as Isaiah 45:18:

"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; ...I am the Lord; and there is none else."

A New Testament example is James 2:19:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble."

The three persons of the Godhead are, at the same time, noted in such Scriptures as Isaiah 48:16:

"I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me."

The speaker in this verse is obviously God, and yet He says He has been sent both by The Lord God (that is, the Father) and by His Spirit (that is, the Holy Spirit).

The New Testament doctrine of the Trinity is evident in such a verse as John 15:26, where the Lord Jesus said:

"But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, He shall testify of me."

Then there is the baptismal formula:

"baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

One name (God) -- yet three names!

JESUS -- That Jesus, as the only-begotten Son of God, actually claimed to be God, equal with the Father, is clear from numerous Scriptures. For example, He said:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

HOLY SPIRIT -- Some cults falsely teach that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal divine influence of some kind, but the Bible teaches that He is a real person, just as are the Father and the Son. Jesus said:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).

TRI-UNITY -- The teaching of the Bible concerning the Trinity might be summarized thus. God is a Tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally and fully and eternally God. Each is necessary, and each is distinct, and yet all are one. The three Persons appear in a logical, causal order. The Father is the unseen, omnipresent Source of all being, revealed in and by the Son, experienced in and by the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Son. With reference to God's creation, the Father is the Thought behind it, the Son is the Word calling it forth, and the Spirit is the Deed making it a reality.


We "see" God and His great salvation in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, then "experience" their reality by faith, through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit.

Though these relationships seem paradoxical, and to some completely impossible, they are profoundly realistic, and their truth is ingrained deep in man's nature. Thus, men have always sensed first the truth that God must be "out there," everywhere present and the First Cause of all things, but they have corrupted this intuitive knowledge of the Father into pantheism and ultimately into naturalism.

Similarly, men have always felt the need to "see" God in terms of their own experience and understanding, but this knowledge that God must reveal Himself has been distorted into polytheism and idolatry. Men have thus continually erected "models" of God, sometimes in the form of graven images, sometimes even in the form of philosophical systems purporting to represent ultimate reality.

Finally, men have always known that they should be able to have communion with their Creator and to experience His presence "within." But this deep intuition of the Holy Spirit has been corrupted into various forms of false mysticism and fanaticism, and even into spiritism and demonism. Thus, the truth of God's tri-unity is ingrained in man's very nature, but he has often distorted it and substituted a false god in its place.

Answer 7

You have to understand that trinity is the structure of Faith. Jesus said my Father is the vine dresser, I am the true vine you are the branches John 15:4-5. God is the divine diety, Jesus manifested God on earth after we sinned, The Holy spirit is what Jesus Promised to send when he returns to the Father to those that believe so that we may become of Gods so we can say abba father without doubt ( The divine prescence of God in Man). All to reveal God and is glory to man.
Be blessed.

Answer 8

How can one God be three persons?

The doctrine of the Trinity -- that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are each equally and eternally the one true God -- is admittedly difficult to comprehend, and yet is the very foundation of Christian truth. Although skeptics may ridicule it as a mathematical impossibility, it is nevertheless a basic doctrine of Scripture as well as profoundly realistic in both universal experience and in the scientific understanding of the cosmos.

Both Old and New Testaments teach the Unity and the Trinity of the Godhead. The idea that there is only one God, who created all things, is repeatedly emphasized in such Scriptures as Isaiah 45:18:

"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; ...I am the Lord; and there is none else."

A New Testament example is James 2:19:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble."

The three persons of the Godhead are, at the same time, noted in such Scriptures as Isaiah 48:16:

"I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me."

The speaker in this verse is obviously God, and yet He says He has been sent both by The Lord God (that is, the Father) and by His Spirit (that is, the Holy Spirit).

The New Testament doctrine of the Trinity is evident in such a verse as John 15:26, where the Lord Jesus said:

"But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, He shall testify of me."

Then there is the baptismal formula:

"baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

One name (God) -- yet three names!

JESUS -- That Jesus, as the only-begotten Son of God, actually claimed to be God, equal with the Father, is clear from numerous Scriptures. For example, He said:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

HOLY SPIRIT -- Some cults falsely teach that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal divine influence of some kind, but the Bible teaches that He is a real person, just as are the Father and the Son. Jesus said:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).

TRI-UNITY -- The teaching of the Bible concerning the Trinity might be summarized thus. God is a Tri-unity, with each Person of the Godhead equally and fully and eternally God. Each is necessary, and each is distinct, and yet all are one. The three Persons appear in a logical, causal order. The Father is the unseen, omnipresent Source of all being, revealed in and by the Son, experienced in and by the Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit from the Son. With reference to God's creation, the Father is the Thought behind it, the Son is the Word calling it forth, and the Spirit is the Deed making it a reality.


We "see" God and His great salvation in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, then "experience" their reality by faith, through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit.

Though these relationships seem paradoxical, and to some completely impossible, they are profoundly realistic, and their truth is ingrained deep in man's nature. Thus, men have always sensed first the truth that God must be "out there," everywhere present and the First Cause of all things, but they have corrupted this intuitive knowledge of the Father into pantheism and ultimately into naturalism.

Similarly, men have always felt the need to "see" God in terms of their own experience and understanding, but this knowledge that God must reveal Himself has been distorted into polytheism and idolatry. Men have thus continually erected "models" of God, sometimes in the form of graven images, sometimes even in the form of philosophical systems purporting to represent ultimate reality.

Finally, men have always known that they should be able to have communion with their Creator and to experience His presence "within." But this deep intuition of the Holy Spirit has been corrupted into various forms of false mysticism and fanaticism, and even into spiritism and demonism. Thus, the truth of God's tri-unity is ingrained in man's very nature, but he has often distorted it and substituted a false god in its place.

Answer 9

The trinity is a false teaching.
God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are three SEPARATE things.
God existed first and CREATED Jesus Christ.
Jesus was with God when He created the earth - He did this by use of his holy spirit - or active force.

Like you say 3 does not equal 1 - this teaching of the trinity was introduced by the catholic church - it is a huge misconception.

Answer 10

To explain the Trinity is like this. The Trinity says that there is the Father , the Son, and the Holy Spirit.( three) (tri) When it says as one ,it means acting as one. As we are suppose to do here on earth." In one mind and one accord."
The three are separate, yet function as one, for one purpose