Is God 3 in 1 or are there 3 supreme beings who are equal in rank?
2006-09-17 03:03:26 · 16 answers · asked by fish 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
God is 1 revealed in 3.
2006-09-17 03:14:00 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A PROTESTANT publication states: “The word Trinity is not found in the Bible . . . It did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century.” (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary) And a Catholic authority says that the Trinity “is not . . . directly and immediately [the] word of God.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia.
What is the origin of the Trinity doctrine?
The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old Testament: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deut. 6:4). . . . The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies. . . . By the end of the 4th century . . . the doctrine of the Trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since.”—(1976), Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “The formulation ‘one God in three Persons’ was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the Trinitarian dogma. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective.”—(1967), Vol. XIV, p. 299.
In The Encyclopedia Americana we read: “Christianity derived from Judaism and Judaism was strictly Unitarian [believing that God is one person]. The road which led from Jerusalem to Nicea was scarcely a straight one. Fourth century Trinitarianism did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching.”—(1956), Vol. XXVII, p. 294L.
According to the Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel, “The Platonic trinity, itself merely a rearrangement of older trinities dating back to earlier peoples, appears to be the rational philosophic trinity of attributes that gave birth to the three hypostases or divine persons taught by the Christian churches. . . . This Greek philosopher’s [Plato, fourth century B.C.E.] conception of the divine trinity . . . can be found in all the ancient [pagan] religions.”—(Paris, 1865-1870), edited by M. Lachâtre, Vol. 2, p. 1467.
John L. McKenzie, S.J., in his Dictionary of the Bible, says: “The trinity of persons within the unity of nature is defined in terms of ‘person’ and ‘nature’ which are G[ree]k philosophical terms; actually the terms do not appear in the Bible. The trinitarian definitions arose as the result of long controversies in which these terms and others such as ‘essence’ and ‘substance’ were erroneously applied to God by some theologians.”—(New York, 1965), p. 899.
2006-09-17 07:34:21 · answer #2 · answered by Jeremy Callahan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The trinity is a pagan belief, which was brought into the christian faith by the catholics. According to the Bible there is only one God, and that God in the God OF Jesus, Jehovah, the Almighty, the One who said "I look around Me and I see NO OTHER GOD beside Me". Jesus has a God so He can not be the God. Besides, God can not die! If Jesus was God then He would still be hanging on the cross. And if you say that His divinity left Him just before or at the moment of His death, the all you are left with is a purely Human death, and that counts for nothing in the forgiveness of others sins.
2006-09-17 03:14:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Trinity means 3 separate being in one God. That is why St Patrick used the shamrock to explain this dogma.
2006-09-17 03:07:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
'Christ according to the faith, is the second person in the Trinity, the Father being the first and the holy Ghost the third. Each of these three persons is God. Christ is his own father and his own son. The Holy Ghost is neither father nor son, but both. The son was begotten by the father, but existed before he was begotten--just the same before as after. Christ is just as old as his father, and the father is just as young as his son. The Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and Son, but was an equal to the Father and Son before he proceeded, that is to say before he existed, but he is of the same age as the other two. Nothing ever was, nothing ever can be more perfectly idiotic and absurd than the dogma of the Trinity.'
- Col. Robert G. Ingersoll
2006-09-17 03:05:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Q: "What about the doctrine of the Trinity, the Holy Trinity?"
our A: "Trinity" is a term that is 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.
Some have tried to give human illustrations for the Trinity, such as H2O being water, ice and steam (all different forms, but all are H2O). Another illustration is an egg having a shell, egg yolk and egg white, but this egg illustration shows that there would be "parts" to God, which isn't the case.
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)
2006-09-17 03:09:00 · answer #6 · answered by williamzo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trinity is taken from the Holy Trinity!!
God is the father of all things!
Jesus is his son, who gave his life, for our Salvation.
Holy Spirit is, the Love of God for human kind!! Even the three are one, and one are three. God is the Highest Lord on earth!
2006-09-17 03:11:36 · answer #7 · answered by alfonso 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is a tricky question. The phrase most often used is 3 in 1. Like mind soul and spirit are 3 in one person. or mind soul and body, whatever you get the picture. It is not exactly in scripture thus the disagreement. Do not see how it is all that important as to separate brothers.
2006-09-17 03:08:02 · answer #8 · answered by icheeknows 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Per Christian lore, God takes three forms -- father, son, holy spirit. I've heard lame explanations, such as the water comparison --- liquid, steam, ice . . . but it's all still water. The word "trinity" never appears in the Bible, however,
2006-09-17 03:07:47 · answer #9 · answered by Zombie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its three seperate beings that are all one supreme God. They are part of the Godhead.
2006-09-17 03:06:56 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋