Can you truly be a Christian, and not believe in the trinity?

Question

Do you really understand Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit if you don't believe in the trinity?

How can you be a Christian and follow Christ, if you don't understand who he is....

Answer 1

By definition, yes.
And before you judge too harshly, it took me five years of sustained study in canon law, the Church Fathers, and Platonic philosophy before I started to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Does that mean that I was not a Christian before that?

Answer 2

Yes you can be a Christian and not believe in the trinity doctrine. Or exactly how the doctrine is taught.

If you are Christ's you are a Christian.

I don't like the word trinity because it is not in the Bible this is man's definition of the Godhead.

I do believe in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

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

Answer 3

The word Trinity is not found in the Bible. However there are many verses in the Bible telling us that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one. God also does not fully explain this concept. We need to take it for what he does say and nothing more. If God wanted us to fully understand this concept he would have taken the time to explain it in more detail. Because he didn't we are not to reach for what is not there. This is one of the things that God will explain to us when we get to heaven. We have to believe the little bit of what the Bible says, even though we may not fully understand it.

There is only one God who has existed forever and he created everything there is. When I say God I am talking about 3 persons - God the Father; Jesus, who is his son; and the Holy Spirit. They work together in everything They do, and They all have the same love for everything and everyone. They act the same and think the same. They are the unity of 3 co-eternal Persons.

Answer 4

Can you be a Christian? Yes. As one answer correctly stated, the definition of Christian does not require belief in the trinity.

The primary qualification for a (biblical) Christian is that
1) you believe that Jesus was the son of God
2) you believe that Jesus died for our sins
3) you believe that Jesus rose from the dead
4) you believe that you can obtain salvation and everlasting life through Jesus

Once you've got this down, you've got the basics of Christianity. You can believe all of these things and still not believe in the trinity. You can be obedient to the bible and not believe in the trinity. These are really all the things that are *necessary* for you to know about Christ to be a Christian.

Of course, there's a lot more to learn (by reading the bible, or by learning from a preacher, or by some other method). But let's face it - if you have read the bible, you know that these are the things that we, as Christians, are required to believe about Jesus. I don't think that anyone will lose their salvation just because they didn't believe in an *extraordinarily* difficult concept about the nature of God. Face it, trinity-believers: we *still* don't understand the true nature of God. That nature is *far* beyond our human understanding.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 5

This is a basic teaching of Christ himself:

God is the Father and Christ is one with his Father: John 10:30

Jesus is also God: John 1:1

The Holy Ghost is also God: Acts 5: 3, 4

The word "trinity" is not in the Bible but its pretty clear that that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united and cannot be separated from Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7

If a person doesnt take God at his word, what more can really be said?

Answer 6

if you don't believe in the Holy Trinity then you cannot fully understand Jesus,God,and the Holy Spirit. they are three parts of the one God. the way to find out who Christ is is to read the Holy Bible. maybe join a Bible study at a church. attennd church services somewhere on a reguular basis.the answer to your second question though is if you don't believe in Christ then you cannot be a Christian. the word Christianity means follower of Christ. May GOD and Jesus keep you in their HANDS

Answer 7

None of those perspectives properly symbolize the Trinity. the 1st view is modalism. the 2nd view, as you have observed your self, is inconsistent with the Trinity. The 0.33 view, of direction, isn't the Trinity the two. The Trinity is the view that there is one God who's 3 persons, or that 3 persons share the comparable being. this is in comparison to something, relatively, as a results of fact so some distance as we are able to tell, there at the instant are not the different tri-very own beings. There are beings which at the instant are not persons in any respect (e.g. rocks), and there are uni-very own beings (e.g. human beings, dogs, cats, and so on.), yet God is a tri-very own being. practically each and every analogy i've got heard to describe the Trinity fails to catch this reality. The water-steam-ice analogy, to illustrate, explains modalism, even with the undeniable fact that it does not clarify trinitarianism. And the egg analogy is somewhat lots the comparable as your 2nd rationalization, and it does not properly symbolize the Trinity the two.

Answer 8

Jesus never ever even mentions the "Trinity" anywhere in the Christian Bible (nor does anyone). Three centuries after the life and ministry of Jesus on Earth, Constantine became the first person in currently known written history to even begin suggesting the idea of having a "Trinity" concept ; Jesus taught that one should "Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you" (Matt. 7 : 12) and to "Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matt. 7 : 1) ; One can most certainly honor and embody these ethical teachings with or without a belief in the "Trinity" doctrine ; (Jesus may even have called the "Trinity" doctrine a new "Leaven of New Pharissees" ; just a theory)

Answer 9

God is perfect.

and we believe that Someone perfect came to die to atone for our sins.

just like how the Jews would offer a perfect lamb to sacrifice for their sins in the Old Testament.

that is why we believe Jesus was perfect on earth.

and who else is Perfect other than God Himself?

so Jesus must be God Himself, revealed as God The Son!

then who is The Father? The Father is God too! then WHO is the Holy Spirit when the Bible says Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit, who is GOD?

if as a "christian", you do not believe in the Trinity, then, Jesus is not perfect, and not God, and therefore, the atonement of sin, is not done. and if Jesus was imperfect, and He died for an imperfect creation, that would make no difference, and you would not have been saved from your sin, therefore, nullifying the work on the Cross.

Answer 10

My friend, what does the trinity have to do with believing that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? A Christian is a follower of Jesus, the Christ thus a Christian believes in the fact that Jesus did tell the truth and does follow his teachings to the best of their ability.

One can believe the world is round and not understand why it is round or who made it round. Thus in my view one can believe in Jesus and follow his teachings and is not required to know all the finite details about the hows and whys.

I do my best to follow Jesus but I know the trinity is a lie and I think the Bible proves it is a lie. Are you saying my believing in Jesus and my doing my best to follow his teachings is just a waste of my time?

Think that over and give me an answer at [e-mail]

Thank you.

Answer 11

Acutally The Trinity is Three Who's in One What...Father, Son, Holy Spirit in one. Jesus actually completed the cycle after he rose from the dead. To believe in one you believe in all. You cannot have one without the other.