Is Trinitarian Ontology Coherent?

Question

Stating Trinitarian Ontology

According to orthodox Christianity, although there exists a God as understood by Swinburne, He is tri-personal. In other words, God is three distinct persons (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in one substance, and yet He is still one being. To understand this, we can do no better than turn to the Athanasian Creed, where we find the following existential statements:

“[T]he Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost … So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God … there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts … He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.”6

Trying to make sense of the creed can be difficult, and therefore we can follow philosopher Richard Cartwright7 by stating the seven basic propositions of the creed, the belief in which is essential for salvation, for the purposes of analysis.

1. The Father is God.
2. The Son is God.
3. The Holy Spirit is God.
4. The Father is not the Son.
5. The Father is not the Holy Spirit.
6. The Son is not the Holy Spirit.
7. There is exactly one God.
From this point onwards, when I refer to the Christian understanding of God, it is in reference to the Athanasian Creed that my arguments are to be understood.

Can A Tri-Personal Deity Exist?

Answering this question is very much an ontological exploration. We need to distinguish between a priori and a posteriori answers to the question of existence. By a priori answers, I am referring to answers which speak of conceptual possibilities or impossibilities. For example, there is a conceptual possibility that there exists in the world a unicorn. There is nothing in the definition of a unicorn which would immediately render its existence impossible. On the other hand, it is conceptually impossible that there exists in the world a married bachelor, since the notion of a married bachelor is incoherent. We know immediately a priori that such a being could not exist, ever.

By a posteriori answers, I am referring to propositions which we know the truth or falsity of through experience. Thus, although the existence of a unicorn is conceptually possible, most people do not believe that unicorns exist because of the lack of experience they have had, or lack of evidence. However, one would always be open to the evidence, since unicorns could exist. But it would be absurd to seek evidence for the existence of married bachelors, since it is conceptually impossible for such beings to exist.

Here, I am concerned with the definition of the Trinity, propositions (1)-(7) stated above. If any two of these propositions are contradictory, then it would be conceptually impossible for God, in so far as He is understood in orthodox Christian theism, to exist. And therefore, assessing the a posteriori evidence for or against the doctrine of the Trinity (as is often the case with the Biblical data) would be as meaningless as entertaining a married bachelor’s request for divorce.

Let the Father be designated by x, the Son by y, and the Holy Spirit by z. God, as defined by Swinburne, can be designated by G. As Cartwright notes, one way to interpret the creed is to take the verb ‘is’ and understand it to mean ‘is identical with’8, therefore, x = G, y = G, and z = G. But if this is true, then it logically follows (according to Leibniz’s principle of identity, which states: if x is the same object as y then x has exactly the same properties that y has) that x = y, x = z, and y = z. However, the creed will not allow this: (4)-(6). The Father, Son and Holy Sprit are different and distinct from each other.

Another possibility is to construe G as a general term9 to avoid the logical inconsistency. Thus, x is a G, y is a G and z is a G. But surely this would contradict (7), for we are suggesting the existence of three Gods, or tri-theism. Cartwright presents the following syllogism: “every Divine Person is a God; there are at least three Divine Persons; therefore, there at least three Gods”.10 The second premise is supported the principle: if every A is a B then there cannot be fewer B’s than A’s. Cartwright cites the following analogy. If every cat is an animal, there cannot be fewer animals than cats.

It seems we have a dilemma: if x, y and z are identical with G, then we simply have one person, or three names for one person. The heretical position of modalism comes to mind, where the eternal coexistence of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit is denied. But if x, y and z are a G (i.e. belong to a genera), then one has three divine persons, which of course is another heretical position: tri-theism. In the first instance, the contradiction can be removed by altering propositions (4)-(6). In the second, by altering (7). But taken altogether, (1)-(7) portray an inconsistent set. It follows ipso facto that the Christian God, as He is depicted in the Creed, cannot possibly exist.

Implications For Christian Particularism


Orthodox Christian ontology, as depicted in the Athanasian Creed, forms the basis for a number of Christian particulars. And these particulars are contingent upon the truth of the Christian ontology of God. The implications of ontological incoherence of the Trinity are that certain doctrinal particulars simply cannot be true. For example, the divinity of Jesus (the second person of the Trinity took on human form), the incarnation (which involves the second person in the Trinity being completely God and man simultaneously), etc. There seems to be an a priori blockade that prevents these doctrinal particulars from even getting off the ground.

To conclude, the doctrine of the Trinity as presented in the Athanasian Creed depicts an ontologically incoherent model of God. To dissolve the contradictions which arise from analyzing the Creed, one can either reject the plurality of persons and hold that there exists a single person with different names or modes. Alternatively, one can embrace tri-theism. As long as one is committed to neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance, as the Creed would have us do, one is holding beliefs about God which are logically inconsistent. And if one is to remain consistent with the philosophical treatment of theism in contemporary philosophy by the likes of Swinburne and Craig, it follows that the doctrine of the Trinity, and its relation to ‘Christian monotheism’ — being profoundly irrational — should be abandoned.

Answer 1

There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy.

Epistemological arguments for (or against) ontological claims are all doomed to failure, based simply on the nature of knowledge. I believe it was Saint Patrick who held forth a shamrock and said "It is three, yet it is one. It is a mystery." And although I RATIONALLY agree with your question/statement, your philosophy, Horatio, leaves no room for mystery. Which is why logical consistency never truly takes root in most human minds; we desire the sublimation of rationality to the spiritual.

For the majority, it is not the logic of the belief, but the EXPERIENCE (illusory or otherwise) of the belief which is important.

Answer 2

Don't get lost in it...God is father son and holy spirit...we are created in the image of God...flesh spirit and the two make up a living soul.

Answer 3

Yowzers what an introduction. Perhaps this was covered above but my example I tend to go with is...

Your NAME is Joe and you're a HUMAN.
-->Your son's NAME is Joey Jr. and he's a HUMAN.
Max is the NAME of your DOG and...
-->Sparky is the NAME of his offspring which is a DOG.
and so....

Father is the NAME of the ONE TRUE GOD.
-->Jesus/Son is the NAME of the ONE TRUE GOD.

Just as you would have an offspring that is a different identity, your son would still be as much human as you are. Your dog has a puppy that is as much a dog as he is. And "God the Father" (his identity) being the ONE TRUE GOD (his nature) would have a Son that is as much of the ONE TRUE GOD as he is.

Hope that helps, God bless. ^_^

Answer 4

No. Trinitarian Ontology is not coherent. Blessed be.

Answer 5

I say they should either admit that they are tri-theists, or get a new creed.

Answer 6

INTRODUCTION

God, all throughout the Old Testament did not have a body, but appeared to the people in different forms, such as the Burning Bush to Moses, the Cloud by day, and the Pillar of Fire by night, to the children of Israel. Though He sent His angels to many who appeared as men, but no one ever saw God in physical form until Jesus Christ was born.

John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him”.

GOD IS A SPIRIT

The Scripture states that, “God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24). In Isaiah 43 and 45, we can read that God the Father said that He alone is God... "And [there is] no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; [there is] none beside Me."(Isa. 45:21) "Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me [there is] No Saviour." (Isa. 43:10-11)

In these scriptures we can clearly see that there is only one God, (not two or three as others believe) for in His very First Commandment, Elohim (the self-existing One) solemnly said that "Thou shalt have NO other gods before Me..." (Exo. 20:3)

GOD'S THOUGHTS AND ATTRIBUTES

Way back in eternity, before there ever was a star, a moon, or a galaxy, Elohim has eternal thoughts and attributes that He wanted to express and manifest for His own pleasure and glorification. He hath seen all things from the beginning, for He is infinite and all knowing.

Elohim wanted to be God. The word "God" means "an object of worship". But there was no one that worships Him at that time and so He then created the angels first, so that He as God is worshipped and is proclaimed as God almighty.

Elohim wanted to become a Father. Yet how can He be called a "Father" when He Himself has no children? And so in God's mind He wanted to create sons and daughters unto himself so that He could become their Father. Thus, we know that this plan of God was fulfilled and manifested later on. He created Adam and from him He took Eve. It's a type of the church which was taken from the body of Christ, for the Bible says, "we are flesh of His flesh, and bones of His bones."

Elohim wanted to become a Saviour. But you see, how can He become a Saviour when there's no one to be saved in the first place? There has to be a fallen entity first before He could ever display his attributes as a Saviour. We can therefore conclude from this case that God hath foreseen the fall of man and He permitted man to fall from grace in order for God to fulfill His majestic plan of saving them. Man was placed as a "free moral agency" to choose for himself between good and evil. Adam and Eve fell for the wrong choice. But God prepared the solution for sin even before the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8 tells us that the "Lamb was slain "before" the foundation of the world" to act as an atonement for sin. And God wrote our names (God's elected seed) in the Lamb's Book of Life even before man could ever commit sin. Christ came to redeem these predestinated seed.

Elohim wanted to be a Healer, too. Yet how can He become a Healer when there's nobody sick? There has to be a sickness first before He could be a Healer. Which was first, the sickness or the Healer? We can then conclude from here that sicknesses and afflictions are part of God's permissive will to man in order to show and manifest to mankind His attributes of being a Healer. Psalms 103:2-3 states, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth ALL thy diseases." Consider the afflictions of Job, blind Bartimaeous, the woman with the blood issue, and more. They just declared the glory and healing power of God and served as testimonials of God's grace through each generation.

God also wanted to manifest Himself as a King, as a Priest, and as a Judge. So there has to be a kingdom set-up, a holy tabernacle set-up, and a judgment bar set up. These are His eternal thoughts and intentions before the foundation of the world, to get glory unto Himself.

Yet God knew that as a Spirit He will never be able to fulfill these plans of his without having a "body" that will act out His plans. For example, it is written in His Law that “Almost all things are by the Law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). Redemption requires death. Can a Spirit bleed and die?

It takes BLOOD, therefore, to pay the penalty for sin. Yet no man's blood, no angel, no priest, no animal's blood, was ever worthy to redeem man in his fallen estate. God must do it Himself, for there is no Saviour but Him alone. He must do it in order to show that He alone is the ONLY Redeemer. In Isaiah 45:22, God said, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, for I AM God, and there is none else.” “Thou shalt know no God but Me; for there is NO SAVIOUR BESIDE ME”. (Hosea 13:4).

God is the only Saviour there is. The key to the whole mystery of the Godhead is this. God knew that He, as God, could not die and bleed in the Spirit, for a Spirit has no flesh and bones. His own law required blood for an atonement.

So in order for God to fulfill His plan of redeeming mankind, He had to put on a veil of flesh, in order to taste death and pay the penalty for His own law, to justify the ungodly. That is to fulfill Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph.2:8,9).

THOUGHTS EXPRESSED INTO "WORD"

God, then began to express Himself from eternity, by His spoken Word. Time began when God started speaking. This great Fountain of Spirit which had no beginning or no end, began to express His attributes by the Spoken Word. Out of the existence of the Father went out the "Logos", which was the Word, which was God's "Theophany". It was was a visible body of the great Jehovah God going forth in the beginning. It was called the "Logos", which in the original Greek, means “something spoken; which includes the thoughts of the Speaker".

That Logos was God's "express image". It was God Himself made into Word. That Logos that went out from the great eternal Spirit was called the "Son" of God. It was the only visible form that this Spirit had. And It was a "theophany", which means a celestial body, and that body was like a "man".

Time, then, began when that "Logos" came out of God, as evident in the succeeding scripture. John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made” ..And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.” (John 1:1-3, 14).

From that "theophany" is where man was also created by God, after His own image, which was a "spirit-man":

"And God said, Let US make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."(Genesis 1:26,27).

The "Let US make man in OUR own image" in the above verse refers to God the Father (the great Spirit) talking, speaking to His Theophany Body, which was His begotten Son. We can see here that man was created from that pattern, with both spirit and body realms. We were never created from the image of angels.

Rev. Branham taught this: "You will never be an Angel. God made Angels, but God made man. And what God does is off of God, which is as eternal as God is. And man's just as eternal as his Creator, because he was made from eternity. (HEBREWS CHAPTER 5 AND 6, JEFF, IN 57-0908M). "Brother, I'm telling you; I believe in the resurrection. God will speak one of these days, and we'll come forth in His image and in His likeness, men and women, not angels, but men and women. God made Angels; we'll never be Angels. We wasn't made for Angels. Men are made men. God made man. He intends him to be man. It's God's pattern." (EL.SHADDAI.title LA.CA 59-0416)

The "theophany", which was the Son, is also what's spoken of in Colossians 1:15-17, which reads: "Who is the IMAGE of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and He is before all things, and by him all things consist."

That theophany of God was then made FLESH on earth later on in the Person of Jesus Christ Jesus through the womb of Mary.

Revelation 3:14 speaks of Jesus as the "Beginning of the Creation of God". That is Who the Lord Jesus says He is. But those words don't mean exactly as they sound to us. Just taking them the way they sound has made some people (in fact multitudes of people) get the idea that Jesus was the first creation of God, making Him lower than Godhead. Then this first creation created all the rest of the universe and whatsoever it contains. But that is NOT right. You know that doesn't line up with the rest of the Bible. The words are, "He is the BEGINNER or AUTHOR of the creation of God."

Now we know for a surety that Jesus is God, very God. He is the Creator. John 1:3 "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." He is the One of Whom it is said, Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". Also it says in Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." See, there is no doubt that He is the Creator. He was the Creator of a FINISHED PHYSICAL CREATION.

Surely we can see what these words mean now. To have any other interpretation would mean that God created God. How could God be created when He, Himself, is the Creator?

GOD MANIFESTED IN FLESH

And thus, God fulfilled His plan of salvation, the fulfillment which is written in 1 Timothy 3:16 which states: “And without controversy, great is the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.”

When was God manifested in flesh? It was when Jesus Christ was born through a woman; without any resulting sexual act but it was God Himself making both hemoglobin and egg cells in the womb of Mary, God Himself taking the form of a man.

Jesus Christ was the FLESH of God, none other than God Himself creating a BODY of His own. That fleshly BODY was called the “SON”, while the SPIRIT indwelling that body was the “FATHER”. Not two Gods now, but God veiling Himself in FLESH. That’s the reason Jesus said "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30). Philip, the apostle, one time said to Jesus (John 14:8-9), “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” And Jesus answered him saying, “ Have I been with you so long and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath SEEN ME hath seen the Father.”

The name "Jesus" means "Jehovah has become our Saviour". Jesus was also called “Emmanuel”, meaning, “God WITH us”, God dwelling with men.

When the Father decided to come down as our Saviour, He put on a robe of flesh and planted Himself, as a seed, in the womb of Mary. This seed was to produce the flesh and blood of the Body He would dwell in as the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is God becoming man, to redeem man back to Himself. God could not die in the Spirit because He's eternal. But He had to put on a MASK and ACT the part of death. He did die, but He couldn't do it in His God form. He had to do it in SON form, as a Son of Man on earth.

JESUS, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD

Apostle Paul says this about Jesus in Collosians 2:9-10: “For in HIM all the FULLNESS of the GODHEAD dwells BODILY, and ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power”...”In Whom we have REDEMPTION through His BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins : Who is the IMAGE of the INVISIBLE GOD... And He is before all things, and by Him all things consists” (Collosians 1:14,15,17).

JESUS, therefore, is the EXPRESS IMAGE of the unseen God, God creating a FLESH-BODY of His own. And man could have never seen God except through Jesus Christ, the FLESH of God.

THREE DISPENSATION OF THE ONE GOD

“God ABOVE Us” - that’s how God was known in the Old Testament, in the Fatherhood dispensation. God dwelling in the heavenlies, where no man could ever touch Him.

When the the time for the Sonship dispensation came, fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah 9:6 which says, “For to us a child is born, for to us a SON is given: the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty GOD, and everlasting FATHER, Prince of Peace”, these all pertain to the FLESH of God - JESUS, being God Himself becoming Emmanuel, which being interpreted “God WITH us” - God Who can now be touched by the feeling of our infirmities.

It was God also fulfilling Isaiah 53:5, “But He (God) was WOUNDED for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him: and by His stripes we are healed” - all fulfilled and completed at the Cross of Calvary.

In these last days, after Jesus has been resurrected and glorified, God has sent us back His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to indwell every believer. Thus, we are now living in the HOLY GHOST Dispensation.
As 1 Cor. 6:19-20 states, “What? Know ye not that your body is the TEMPLE of the Holy Ghost which is IN YOU, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify GOD IN YOUR BODY, and in your spirit which are God’s.”

THE SPIRIT OF JESUS IN THE CHURCH

JESUS is that self-same Holy Spirit; as He has attested in John 14:18, saying, “I will not leave you comfortless, “I“ (Personal Pronoun) WILL COME TO YOU.” “I will be with you, even IN YOU until the end of the world.” Galatians 4:6 states this, too, “And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the SPIRIT of His SON into your hearts, crying Abba, Father.”

Jesus’ own Spirit is now “God IN Us”, the “Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is the SELF-SAME GOD all the time, never changing His power, just changed His form from the heavenly to the earthly, and then back again as the Great Spirit, after having fulfilled His great redemptive story.

He was “GOD ABOVE US” in His Fatherhood dispensation; “GOD WITH US” in His Sonship dispensation; and now “GOD IN US” in the Holy Spirit dispensation.

Jesus said, “ I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, Which IS, WHICH WAS, and WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY” (Rev.1:8) Not three persons in One God but ONE GOD in three dispensations.

JESUS IS BOTH MAN AND GOD

Jesus, talking to the Jews one day, said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he was glad.” Then said the Jews unto Him, ‘thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham?’ Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:56-58).

Who was the great “I AM”? Remember the burning fire that talked with Moses on the holy mountain? That was the “I AM”, the self-same Jesus speaking to the Jews. They could not see that Jesus was their own God VEILED IN FLESH.

"The Jews answered him saying, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being man, makest Thyself God” (John 10:33). They really failed to see that He was the Emmanuel - both MAN and GOD. Jesus also is the WORD that became FLESH and dwelt amongst us (John 1:1,14).

JESUS certainly was a man weeping at the grave of Lazarus. But when He shouted, “Lazarus, come forth!”, and a dead man, four days and stinking, arose and lived again - that was more than a MAN! Who can raise the dead but God alone.

He was a man hungry that night looking on a tree for something to eat. But when He took five bread and two fishes and feed five thousand - that was more than a man. That was the creator, JEHOVAH!

He was a man laying on the ship that night, tired and asleep, while the waves come up. But once he arose and rebuked the winds and the waves and said, “Peace be still!”. That was more than a man. That was God Who can control all nature.

It was a man crying for mercy at the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” But on Easter morning, when He broke the seals of death, hell and grave, and rose up again and said, “I AM HE that was dead, and behold, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE!” Who was that? That was the same God Who also said, “ I have power to lay my life down, and raise it up again” (John 10:18).

JESUS, BACK TO A “PILLAR OF FIRE”

Let us remember that after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, Jesus ascended up into the heavens. And when SAUL of Tarsus was on His road to Damascus to persecute the Christians (Read Acts 9:1-5), a BIG LIGHT, a PILLAR of FIRE struck him, and he asked, “LORD, who are You?” SAUL knew that It was the same Pillar of FIRE that appeared to Moses, but that Pillar of FIRE answered him, saying, “I AM JESUS, whom thou persecutest.” See, He had TURNED BACK, exactly back to THE SAME FORM before He took on a tabernacle of FLESH - the Pillar of FIRE that met Moses in the wilderness.
Remember, It was the SAME Pillar of Fire that came to PETER that night and loosed him out of the prison cell (Read Acts 12:5-7).

That SAME Pillar of Fire (Cloven Tongues of Fire) appeared on the Day of PENTECOST and set on each of those at the upper room, dividing Himself, giving part of His Spirit among His church (Acts 2).
Peter declared in Acts 2:36, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that SAME JESUS, whom ye have crucified, BOTH LORDAND CHRIST”. There He is - LORD (Fatherhood), JESUS (Sonship), CHRIST (Anointed Holy Ghost) - The LORD JESUS CHRIST, the complete manifestation of the ONE TRUE GOD.


Finally, consider this: Who was the FATHER of Jesus? Matthew 1:18 says, “She (Mary) was found with child of the HOLY GHOST.” But Jesus Himself claimed that GOD was His FATHER. Therefore, God the Father and God the Holy Ghost make the Father and the Spirit ONE, OR ELSE JESUS HAD TWO FATHERS. But notice also that Jesus said that “I and My FATHER ARE ONE”, NOT TWO. That makes ONE GOD, NOT THREE.

The entire Bible does not say a thing about a First or Second or Third Person in a ONE GOD. The mystery is found in 1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy, great is the MYSTERY of Godliness, GOD was manifest in the FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles; believed on in the world, received up into glory”. The ONE TRUE GOD was manifest in the FLESH. That’s how SIMPLE it is. GOD CAME IN A HUMAN FORM. That didn’t make Him another God. He was GOD, THE SAME GOD.

If you cannot accept this TRUTH of the Godhead, but refute it, Jesus said that you are still living in SIN; for He said in John 8:24, “For if ye believe NOT that I AM HE (God), ye shall die in your sins”. “He that believeth not the SON shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).



JESUS IS JEHOVAH MADE FLESH

JEHOVAH of the Old Testament is JESUS of the New Testament. That is the great MYSTERY of the Godhead. NOT THREE GODS, but THREE DISPENSATIONS and three OFFICES of the same ONE GOD. Never can we find any Scripture that declares that there are THREE GODS in the Holy Writ. If you do, you are breaking the First Commndment which says, “I alone am GOD, thou shalt have no other Gods before Me.” GOD Himself declared in Isaiah 45:21 that, “There is NO GOD BESIDE ME; a just God and Saviour, THERE IS NONE BESIDE ME.”

JESUS confirmed this truth in Mark 12:29 saying, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is ONE LORD”.

The whole thing was JEHOVAH GOD condescending Himself from His heavenly estate to an earthly body He called JESUS, fulfilling His sovereign purpose of becoming Saviour, Redeemer and Healer by shedding His OWN BLOOD as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

”Of Whom as concerning the FLESH, CHRIST came, Who is OVER ALL, GOD Blessed Forever” (Romans 9:5). AMEN.


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REV. WILLIAM BRANHAM SPEAKS ABOUT THE GODHEAD:


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Here are some quotations gleaned from the end-time prophet William Branham.

1. Brother Branham believed that Jesus Christ is God Himself made man:

"JESUS was GOD in the form of a man. That's hard for people to swallow.. He wasn't nothing less than God. He was GOD manifested in FLESH. He was the Creator in His own creation."

(God's Gift Always Find Their Places/63-1222)

"I believe HIM to be GOD: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. That He wasn't just a prophet, that He wasn't just a man, that He wasn't just a teacher or a good man, HE was the DIVINE JEHOVAH GOD living in a BODY of Flesh."

(Who Is This?/59-1004)

"The Beginning Of The Creation Of God." That is Who the Lord Jesus says He is. But those words don't mean exactly as they sound to us. Just taking them the way they sound has made some people (in fact multitudes of people) get the idea that Jesus was the first creation of God, making Him lower than Godhead. Then this first creation created all the rest of the universe and whatsoever it contains. But that is not right. You know that doesn't line up with the rest of the Bible. The words are, "He is the BEGINNER or AUTHOR of the creation of God." Now we know for a surety that Jesus is God, very God. He is the Creator.

John 1:3-"All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." He is the One of Whom it is said, Gen. 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". Also it says in Ex. 20:11, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day."
See, there is no doubt that He is the Creator. He was the Creator of a FINISHED PHYSICAL CREATION. Surely we can see what these words mean now. To have any other interpretation would mean that God created God. How could God be created when He, Himself, is the Creator?

(336-2 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.9)

2. Brother Branham believed that the BODY of JESUS was GOD's own flesh:

"That's exactly what HE was. "We handled God," the Bible said. 1 Timothy 3:16, "Without controversy, great is the MYSTERY of Godliness, GOD was manifest in the FLESH." We handled HIM with our hands. That body was God. Certainly was. He was God all over, in the form of a human being."

(The Token/64-0308)

"It wasn't the blood of a Jew. It was the Blood of God that saved us, not the blood of a Jew. He wasn't no man's Blood. He was the creative Blood of Jehovah God, Who created the Blood cell. He wasn't neither Jew not Gentile by Blood. He was God. God's Blood saved us."

(WITNESSES_ PHOENIX.AZ WEDNESDAY_ 54-0303)

"And there, God, the Creator, wrapped around Himself and created a Blood cell, the virgin not knowing any man. If you don't believe that, you're still in sin. She had nothing to do with a man. God, Himself... Christ was not a Jew. His Blood wasn't a Jew, neither was it a Gentile. It was God's Blood. The Blood cell come from the Male, and the Male was God. The Bible said we're saved through the Blood of God, no sex into it at all. There it is.

(CHRIST_ PHOENIX.AZ MONDAY_ 55-0221)

"And you Catholic people, not to disagree with you, but call her, "Mary, mother of God," how could God have a mother? She was an incubator.
You say, "Well, the--the egg come from the woman."
But the egg didn't come from Mary. If the egg come from Mary, then there had to be a sensation. Look where you put God. God created both egg and blood cell. He was neither Jew nor Gentile. He was God, nothing less."

ZACCHAEUS.THE.BUSINESSMAN_ TUCSON.AZ MONDAY_ 63-0121

3. Brother Branham believed that JESUS is the very PERSON of GOD:

"So you see, JESUS was GOD. He was not NO third person, fourth person, second person, HE was THE PERSON, HE was GOD, see? He was GOD Immanuel, God come down from glory, revealed Himself."

(God's Gift Always Find Their Places/63-1222)

4. Brother Branham believed that GOD DIED in His SONSHIP FORM:

"GOD veiled in JESUS to do the work of REDEMPTION at the cross... GOD could NOT DIE in the SPIRIT; He's ETERNAL. But HE had to put on a MASK and ACT the part of death. HE DID DIE, but He couldn't do it in His God FORM. He had to do it in SON form, as a Son of Man on earth."

(Unveiling of God/ 64-0614m)

"Your BODY has to LIVE by DEAD SUBSTANCE for natural life, then you've got to have something DIE SPIRITUALLY to SAVE your SPIRITUAL LIFE. And GOD BECAME MATERIAL, FLESH, and DIED that WE MIGHT LIVE."

(Sir, We Would See Jesus / 62-0724)

1 JOHN 3:16 - "Hereby perceive we the LOVE [of GOD], because HE laid down HIS LIFE for us."

5. Brother Branham believed that GOD had NO BODY until HE became JESUS:

"GOD is a SPIRIT. He had no hands till He become JESUS. He had no feet, arms, legs and so forth, till He become JESUS... HE come to a stable, borned over a manure pile. And Little JEHOVAH crying in a manger, little JEHOVAH playing as a boy, little JEHOVAH toiling as a man, He crossed His cast with us. GOD BECOME HUMAN. When JESUS CHRIST was born, GOD was HUMAN on earth... He toiled and labored and felt for the teen-ager. HE went through every temptation that we go through. GOD DID IT, that He might do His own judgment justice."

(Show us the Father/ 60-0731)

"It come to a place that HE was TRANSFORMED. See? That means HE CHANGED His way. HE was GOD Jehovah. And God JEHOVAH changed Himself FROM a SPIRIT and BECAME A MAN. He's the SAME JEHOVAH GOD living in a BODY of FLESH."

(Let Your Light Shine Before Men/ 64-0614m)

6. Brother Branham believed in only ONE GOD; NOT TWO OR THREE:

"There is NO three or four Gods. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD. There is THREE ATTRIBUTES of GOD: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, BUT they're NOT THREE GODS. GOD the Father was in the wilderness, as a PILLAR of FIRE. All right. GOD The SON: GOD the FATHER CREATED a BODY which was GOD THE SON, and LIVED in the SON. See?"

(A Court Trial / pp. 31)

"If there were THREE Gods, you might as well baptize for a FATHER, and a SON, and a HOLY GHOST. But the REVELATION given to John was that there is ONE GOD and His NAME - LORD JESUS CHRIST, and you baptize for ONE GOD and only ONE... If JESUS is BOTH LORD and CHRIST, then HE (Jesus) is, and cannot be else but "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" in ONE PERSON manifested in FLESH. It is NOT "GOD in THREE persons, Blessed Trinity," BUT ONE GOD, ONE PERSON with THREE MAJOR TITLES, with THREE OFFICES manifesting those TITLES. HEAR IT ONCE MORE - This SAME JESUS is "BOTH LORD and CHRIST". LORD (Father) and CHRIST (Holy Spirit) are JESUS, for HE (Jesus) is BOTH OF THEM (LORD AND CHRIST). If that doesn't SHOW us the TRUE REVELATION of the GODHEAD, NOTHING WILL. LORD is NOT another ONE; CHRIST is NOT another ONE. THis JESUS is LORD JESUS CHRIST - ONE GOD."

(Seven Church Age Book/ pp. 29)

7. Brother Branham believed that GOD lived in Jesus Christ, Body, Soul, and Spirit:

"But the first thing YOU ARE a TRIUNE BEING, just like Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son and Holy Ghost is THREE TITLES going to ONE PERSON, which is JESUS CHRIST. And YOU'RE soul, body and spirit. But it takes THOSE THREE to MAKE YOU. With just ONE of them, you're NOT YOU. IT takes THREE to make YOU.. YOU'RE living in a HOUSE - SOUL, BODY and SPIRIT. THAT'S THE WAY GOD LIVED in JESUS CHRIST, both SOUL, BODY and SPIRIT."

(Inner Veil/ 56-0121)

"Now in my HOME, I'm THREE different PEOPLE. In my home my wife has claims on me as HUSBAND. My daughter out there, she doesn't have any claims on me as HUSBAND; I am her FATHER. And my little grandson there, I'm GRANDFATHER to him; so he has no rights to call me FATHER. I am his grandfather, BUT I'm still the SAME MAN."

(Mighty God Unveiled / 64-0629)

8. Brother Branham believed that JESUS is JEHOVAH even from BIRTH:

"You know, HE was once a BABY HIMSELF. Talk about a SIGN, Isaiah 9... When they asked for a SIGN, God gave them a SUPERSIGN: "A virgin shall conceive and bear a child. His NAME shall be called Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty GOD, the everlasting FATHER. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN STRIKING - JEHOVAH, a BABY; JEHOVAH GOD, a BABY crying in a MANGER. It ought to have been striking: JEHOVAH, a TEENAGE BOY playing; JEHOVAH, driving nails as a carpenter. Oh, my! And ABOVE ALL: JEHOVAH NAILED TO A CROSS TO SAVE SINNERS, it should have been striking!"

(Unbelief Does Not Hinder God/ 62-0128)

9. Brother Branham believed that JESUS is the Creator:

"And that great CREATOR BECAME my SAVIOUR, come down to a little BLOOD CELL, NOT through a man, but come virgin to a woman; and took thils little pollen from the woman, and FORMED HIMSELF A LITTLE HOUSE and LIVED IN IT. Oh, it - it ought to be striking. JEHOVAH over a pile of manure in a barn, crying: JEHOVAH in a MANGER of straw. That's an EVERLASTING SIGN."

(Smyrnean Church Age/ 60-1206)

10. Brother Branham believed that MELCHISEDEC was JESUS Himself:

"Now, MELCHISEDEC, the King of Salem, the Priest of the Most High, the King of Peace, which was NONE OTHER THAN THE FOREPART of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and when HE met Abraham, He fed Abraham the COMMUNION and blessed him.. WHO WAS THIS PRIEST? NONE OTHER THAN THE INCARNATED LORD JESUS CHRIST. In His magnificent power He was the same ONE a LITTLE LATER ON, after HE met Abraham, and gave him, as being a COVENANT PEOPLE, the COMMUNION."

(Melchisedec the Great Prince/ 55-0109m)

When Jesus was manifested in the Old Testament in a theophany, in the Person of Melchisedec, not a priesthood, but the Person, the Man... See? For this Man Jesus had yet not been born, but He was in a theophany so He had no father, no mother. He was God Himself. He was manifested in the form of a Man called King of Peace and King of Righteousness. See King of Salem, which is? He was Melchisedec. He had neither father nor mother, beginning of days of ending of life. See? It was Jesus in a theophany in the form of a man.

(CHRIST.REVEALED.IN.HIS.OWN.WORD V-4 N-10 65-0822M)

11. Brother Branham said that GOD in His "FATHERHOOD" office was the indwelling Spirit; while the "SONSHIP" office was His human flesh, Jesus.

"Jesus said that God was with Him, "I and My Father are One. My Father dwells in Me.” Not Jesus, and being one with God; but God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. And you Oneness brethren, many of you get off the wrong track when you try to think that God is one like your finger is one. He can't be His Own Father. He can't be."

(Palmerworm Locust Caterpillar 59-0823 140)

"Now, it's many times it's been said that no man can see God at anytime, the Bible said so. But the only begotten of the Father has declared Him. Philip, here was very inquisitive; he wanted to see the Father. Says here He said, "I've been so long with you, Philip, and you don't know Me?" Said, "When you see Me you see My Father." In other words, you see the Father express Hisself through the Son. Him and the Father were one in the sense that His Father was dwelling in Him, not Him doing the works; He was a Son, Himself, the immortal, virgin born, Son of God. And then in Him was dwelling the God the Father, expressing Hisself to the world, His attitude towards the people. See? Well, that's how Christ and God were one. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Now, He said, "When you see Me, you see the Father, and why do you say, 'Show us the Father?'

(SHOW US THE FATHER IT'LL SATISFY 56-0422 E-36 )

"That's the reason people couldn't understand Him. Sometime it was Christ speaking... or was the Son speaking. Other times it was the Father speaking. He was a dual Person. He was one Man, the Son. God was in, which was tabernacling in Him. But what did He do? Did He go around saying, "I'm the Healer." Very contrary, He said, "I'm not the Healer." He said, "It isn't Me that doth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me." And in Saint John the 19th chapter when He was questioned for passing a whole bunch of crippled, lame, withered, halt, blind people, healed one man laying on a pallet, the Father showed Him to go there and heal. Walked away and left the rest of them laying there, they questioned Him. A man packing his bed on the sabbath. Listen to what He said. Saint John 5:19: "Verily, verily, I say unto you: The Son can do nothing in Himself, but what he sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." Is that what He said? "I do nothing till the Father shows Me a vision first what to do."

(JEHOVAH JIREH 56-0429 053)

12. Brother Branham said that if people can't believe the true REVELATION of the GODhead, they wont be able to understand the mysteries of the Bible:

"If people CAN'T SEE the TRUTH of the GODHEAD, but FIGHT it; they can't ever see the rest of the TRUTH because the REVELATION is JESUS CHRIST in HIS CHURCH and HIS works in the MIDST of the Church Ages."

(Seven Church Age Book/ pp. 309)


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Conclusion


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Brother Branham never taught us TWO OR THREE PERSONS in a one ONE GOD. God's prophet taught us that there are THREE "MANIFESTATIONS" OR "THREE OFFICES" of the ONE GOD, but not TWO or THREE PERSONS in a ONE GOD. The "Fatherhood" is an office, the "Sonship" is an office, and the "Holy Ghost" is an "office". Yet God is all of them. You can't cut God in TWO or THREE PIECES and give Him to a Jew. The Jews always believed in only One God as was stated in the First Commandment that was given to them by God through their prophet Moses. Yet they missed seeing that that One God came down and manifested Himself in a human flesh. That's why they could not believe in Jesus when He said, "I and My Father are ONE."

The teaching of multiple gods came from Pagan Greek and Pagan Roman Empire (Zeus, Jupiter, Hermes, Venus, Mercury, etc) and was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, and by most of the Protestant churches today.

Yet God is not ONE like your finger one, as the ONENESS GROUP of people teaches it. The ONENESS denomination makes Jesus the MAN as the Father also. Brother Branham said it could not be. JESUS was the BODY-FLESH of GOD called the SON, while the FATHER was the indwelling SPIRIT dwelling inside that Body. God could not die in the Spirit, so he created a BODY for Himself in order to redeem us from our sins. "For without the shedding of BLOOD, there is no remission of sins." A Spirit could not die, so God made Himself a human body and wrapped Himself into it. That's the mystery of the Godhead. Yet that does not mean that Jesus the flesh is NOT God just because He died. Jesus was both God and man. He was the first of His kind. But we will be like Him after this corruptible body has put on incorruption and this mortality has put on immortality, for Jesus is the firstborn amongst many brethren. The mystery of Godliness is this, "For without controversy, God was manifested in FLESH"(Read 1 Tim 3:16).

Man needs to get the exact revelation about the Godhead or else he will fall into serving a God he personally does not know.