2007-09-05 09:00:06 · 31 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Trinitarians attempt to 'prove' the Trinity by pointing to a few misinterpreted scriptures instead of using the context of the Bible as a whole.
You may see Trinitarians constantly use these scriptures (mainly because they have nothing else):
Jn. 8:58
Jesus was NOT calling himself God. Rather, by looking at the context, the correct phrasing of this sentence should be "I was" instead of "I am" when used after the word "before." Also in verse 57, the question to which Jesus was replying had to do WITH AGE, not identity.
For more on this scripture see:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions-and_answers/message/790
Another scripture is John 10:30-"I and my Father are ONE".
When Bible writers write that a number of persons are "one," they consistently mean it in a FIGURATIVE sense. (See examples - Gal. 3:28, - 1 Cor. 3:6, 8; John 17:22) As the context suggests, it is merely mentioning a unity...a "singleness of purpose".
For more on this scripture see:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions_and_answers_archives/message/151
Another scripture is Gen. 1:26 - "Let us make man in our image".
However, many commentaries suggest that God was speaking with his created angels who were in existence before the creation of the earth.
For more on this scripture see:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions_and_answers_archives/message/161
John 1:1
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions_and_answers_archives/message/149
Isa. 9:6
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions_and_answers_archives/message/153
John 20:28
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JWquestions_and_answers_archives/message/148
If the Trinity is such a clear, vital Bible teaching, how come:
1) Nowhere in the Bible is there found a vision, dream, or clear description in scripture wherein God is shown as more than one person?
2) Nowhere in scripture is God ever described using the word "three"?
3) Nowhere are there any clear, undisputed scriptures where Jesus is called "God the Son," (equal to those declaring "God, the Father" – Ro. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 11:31; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 4:6; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; etc.)?
and,
4) Nowhere are there any equally clear, undisputed scriptures where the Holy Spirit is called "God, the Holy Spirit"?
More information as to why the Trinity is NOT a Bible teaching:
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20050422/article_02.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/ti/index.htm
2007-09-05 09:05:57 · answer #1 · answered by tik_of_totg 3 · 11⤊ 12⤋
Wow, what a lot of long convoluted answers. The Trinity is not found in the Bible. It is a doctrine that was first proposed by Tertullian, based on interpretation. The basis is there in passages like Matthew 28, IF one interprets it that way. I view the Trinity as more of a meditative mystery - something to ponder over the inherent nature of God: how can a God whose very nature is Love be One? Doesn't Love require an object? etc. It's not much use as dogma, in my opinion.
Peace to you.
2007-09-05 09:27:34 · answer #2 · answered by dreamed1 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The Trinity is in the Bible - not as the name of "Trinity", but as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in different verses as they have different jobs. The Old Testament - God's Words - New Testatment - Jesus Christ, His Only Son - Then the Holy Spirit is mentioned in both Old and New Testaments.
The title "Trinity", the early Christian Churches used to define a Triune God, was utilized by The First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. I'm pasting a link - Very informative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity
TC - Blessed Be. Marianne
2007-09-05 09:26:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Yes. When Jesus was Baptized, a voice was heard in the heavens and God the Father said This is My Son in Whom I am well pleased and a dove rested on Jesus. The dove was the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I and the Father are One. So I guess it is a Bible teaching.
2007-09-06 03:06:33 · answer #4 · answered by hope 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is only one verse in the Bible that talks about the trinity.
2007-09-05 09:57:45 · answer #5 · answered by Jessy 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
No, it is not a bible teaching. Jesus is not God but the son of God. Jesus was calling for God when he was being sacrifice. How can He call his himself. Common sense here,please.
Besides his sacrifice wouldn't have no meaning and when he was tempted by the devil that wouldn't have any meaning,either because God cannot be tempted.
Mark 10:17,18
And as he was going out on his way, a certain man ran up and fell upon his knees before him and put the question to him "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?
18 Jesus said to him: Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except one, God.
John 8: 42 Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would love me, for from God I came forth and am here. Neither have I come of my own initiative at all, but that one sent me forth.
2007-09-05 09:19:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
No it is not.
It is a man made teaching which was decread in the late 2nd century. Turtillian in 285 A.D. made proclamation and the Nicean Council made it doctrine in 325 A.D. It was never part of the original Apostolic teachings of the bible.
Despite the protests of trinitarians, their doctrine inevitably leads to a practical form of tritheism.
The Jews and Moslems realize this, for this is one reason they have rejected traditional Christendom so vigorously. Throughout history, many Christians have also recognized this problem. As a result, some have rejected trinitarianism in favor of Oneness belief.
Trinitarianism is not a biblical doctrine and that it contradicts the Bible in many ways. The Scriptures do not teach a trinity of persons. The doctrine of the trinity uses terminology not used in Scripture. It teaches and emphasizes plurality in the Godhead while the Bible emphasizes the oneness of God. It detracts from the fulness of Jesus Christ's deity. It contradicts many specific verses of Scripture. It is not logical. No one can understand or explain it rationally, not even those who advocate it. In short, trinitarianism is a doctrine that does not belong to Christianity.
On the other side, strict adherence to Oneness belief brings many blessings. It places emphasis where it should be - on the importance of biblical terminology, thought, and themes. It establishes Christianity as the true heir of Judaism and as a truly monotheistic belief. It reminds us that God our Father and Creator loved us so much He robed Himself in flesh to come as our Redeemer. It reminds us that we can receive this same Creator and Redeemer in our hearts through His Own Spirit.
Oneness magnifies Jesus Christ, exalts His name, recognizes who He really is, and acknowledges His full deity. Exalting Jesus and His name in preaching and in worship brings a mighty move of His power in blessings, deliverance, answered prayer, miracles, healing, and salvation. Wonderful things happen when someone preaches a message on the deity of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and the oneness of God, but rarely does one get inspired over a message on the trinity.
http://www.housefellowship.org
2007-09-05 09:14:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 3⤋
John said, in 1 John 3:16
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Who is the "He" that laid down His life for us?
1 John 3:24
And he that keeps His commandments dwells in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us.
1 John 4:2
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
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.
Yes, Yes, Yes - The Trinity is a Bible teaching. Apostle John knew Christ and he knew exactly what God as Christ said.
Christ was God in the flesh.
2007-09-05 09:28:29 · answer #8 · answered by Jeancommunicates 7 · 1⤊ 4⤋
The trinity teachings was started by Augustine, he also started the lie that God didn't have a body of flesh and bone.
This was due to his pagan background he found it outrageous that God would have a body of Flesh and blood, so he started telling everyone that God is a spirit.
2007-09-05 09:30:02 · answer #9 · answered by newwellness 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Contrary to popular opinion (which is NEVER safe to depend on), the tri-une nature of God is CLEARLY spelled out in Scripture.
Starting right off in Genesis 1:1, in Hebrew it says (I'll translate it after): "B'raishish barah Elohim es ha'sh'mayim v'es ho'oretz" - "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth." To make a hebrew word into a pleural, you change the ending to "im" (or "ym"). For instance, the hebrew word for "boy" singular, is "yeled", but the pleural is "yeladym" (or "yeladim"). The hebrew word for "God" (singular) is "Eloheinu". The pleural form of the word is "Elohim" (or "elohym") (it's the pronounciation from a different language, not the spelling.) In Genesis, the word "Elohim" is used, not "Eloheinu", and everywhere else the term "God" is used.
God said "Let US make man in OUR image after OUR likeness."
Isaiah 48:16 is a VERY clear picture of the tri-une nature of God:
"All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; 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. "
(Isa 48:14-16 KJVR)
Note how the Lord God and his Spirit sent "me". But who is the "me" that is talking? Vs 17 says "Thus saith the Lord", etc.
So, YHWH (Jehovah, if you will), says that Jehovah and His Spirit has sent him.
Throughout the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul, you see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit mentioned continuously.
In the book of Revelations, written by John the beloved while exiled on the island of Patmos, recorded that Jesus said that he was the same, yesterday, today and forever, and that "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega", which Jehovah (the LORD) says about HIM self in Isaiah.
If you refute Paul, then you also need to refute Luke, who wrote about Paul's conversion in the book of Acts. But if you refute Luke, you need to refute the gospel according to Luke. Furthermore, if you refute the words in the book of Revelations, you need to also refute the gospel according to John, because they were both one and the same person.
How many more books of the Bible does one have to toss out to believe that the Tri-une nature of God is not mentioned in the Bible?
Starting in Genesis, and every place in between where the term "God" is always used in the pleural form, you wouldn't have much of a Bible left by the time you got done!
I hope this helps to open the eyes of the skeptics.
By the way, does it say anywhere in the Bible that Jesus is NOT part of the Godhead???? (or is it merely assumed because some people just don't want to believe it?) But that's a question for another asker at another time.
2007-09-05 09:20:41 · answer #10 · answered by no1home2day 7 · 1⤊ 5⤋
No. You will not find the word trinity in the Bible. the theology of the trinity was developed to address that idea of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, being three in one. It arose over issues of Jesus' divinity/humanity.
2007-09-05 09:10:40 · answer #11 · answered by keri gee 6 · 7⤊ 3⤋