Christians: Am I wrong for not caring about the doctrine of the trinity anymore?

Question

I honestly don't know what to believe anymore when it comes to that doctrine and I'm honestly starting not to care anymore as I am starting to lose interest. Does it matter what the belief or non belief in the trinity is a person has? Does that honestly lead to salvation or is it by faith in Jesus Christ and the acceptance of his sacrifice on the cross?

Answer 1

Not a God of Confusion"




HOW could such a confusing doctrine originate? The Catholic Encyclopedia claims: "A dogma so mysterious presupposes a Divine revelation." Catholic scholars Karl Rahner and Herbert Vorgrimler state in their Theological Dictionary: "The Trinity is a mystery . . . in the strict sense . . . , which could not be known without revelation, and even after revelation cannot become wholly intelligible."

However, contending that since the Trinity is such a confusing mystery, it must have come from divine revelation creates another major problem. Why? Because divine revelation itself does not allow for such a view of God: "God is not a God of confusion."—1 Corinthians 14:33, Revised Standard Version (RS).

In view of that statement, would God be responsible for a doctrine about himself that is so confusing that even Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholars cannot really explain it?

Furthermore, do people have to be theologians 'to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent'? (John 17:3, JB) If that were the case, why did so few of the educated Jewish religious leaders recognize Jesus as the Messiah? His faithful disciples were, instead, humble farmers, fishermen, tax collectors, housewives. Those common people were so certain of what Jesus taught about God that they could teach it to others and were even willing to die for their belief.—Matthew 15:1-9; 21:23-32, 43; 23:13-36; John 7:45-49; Acts 4:13.

"Trinity" in the Bible?




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.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also comments: "In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word [tri'as] (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. . . . Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian."

However, this is no proof in itself that Tertullian taught the Trinity. The Catholic work Trinitas—A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity, for example, notes that some of Tertullian's words were later used by others to describe the Trinity. Then it cautions: "But hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology."



Should You Believe in the Trinity?

Is It Clearly a Bible Teaching?



IF THE Trinity were true, it should be clearly and consistently presented in the Bible. Why? Because, as the apostles affirmed, the Bible is God's revelation of himself to mankind. And since we need to know God to worship him acceptably, the Bible should be clear in telling us just who he is.

First-century believers accepted the Scriptures as the authentic revelation of God. It was the basis for their beliefs, the final authority. For example, when the apostle Paul preached to people in the city of Beroea, "they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so."—Acts 17:10, 11.

What did prominent men of God at that time use as their authority? Acts 17:2, 3 tells us: "According to Paul's custom . . . he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving by references [from the Scriptures]."

Jesus himself set the example in using the Scriptures as the basis for his teaching, repeatedly saying: "It is written." "He interpreted to them things pertaining to himself in all the Scriptures."—Matthew 4:4, 7; Luke 24:27.

Thus Jesus, Paul, and first-century believers used the Scriptures as the foundation for their teaching. They knew that "all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work."—2 Timothy 3:16, 17; see also 1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20, 21.

Since the Bible can 'set things straight,' it should clearly reveal information about a matter as fundamental as the Trinity is claimed to be. But do theologians and historians themselves say that it is clearly a Bible teaching?

"Trinity" in the Bible?




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.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also comments: "In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word [tri'as] (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. . . . Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian."

However, this is no proof in itself that Tertullian taught the Trinity. The Catholic work Trinitas—A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity, for example, notes that some of Tertullian's words were later used by others to describe the Trinity. Then it cautions: "But hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology."

Testimony of the Hebrew Scriptures




WHILE the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, is at least the idea of the Trinity taught clearly in it? For instance, what do the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament") reveal?

The Encyclopedia of Religion admits: "Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity." And the New Catholic Encyclopedia also says: "The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the O[ld] T[estament]."

Similarly, in his book The Triune God, Jesuit Edmund Fortman admits: "The Old Testament . . . tells us nothing explicitly or by necessary implication of a Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. . . . There is no evidence that any sacred writer even suspected the existence of a [Trinity] within the Godhead. . . . Even to see in [the "Old Testament"] suggestions or foreshadowings or 'veiled signs' of the trinity of persons, is to go beyond the words and intent of the sacred writers."—Italics ours.

An examination of the Hebrew Scriptures themselves will bear out these comments. Thus, there is no clear teaching of a Trinity in the first 39 books of the Bible that make up the true canon of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures.

Testimony of the Greek Scriptures




WELL, then, do the Christian Greek Scriptures ("New Testament") speak clearly of a Trinity?

The Encyclopedia of Religion says: "Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity."

Jesuit Fortman states: "The New Testament writers . . . give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. . . . Nowhere do we find any trinitarian doctrine of three distinct subjects of divine life and activity in the same Godhead."

The New Encyclopædia Britannica observes: "Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament."

Bernhard Lohse says in A Short History of Christian Doctrine: "As far as the New Testament is concerned, one does not find in it an actual doctrine of the Trinity."

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology similarly states: "The N[ew] T[estament] does not contain the developed doctrine of the Trinity. 'The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence' [said Protestant theologian Karl Barth]."

Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed: "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it."—Origin and Evolution of Religion.

Historian Arthur Weigall notes: "Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word 'Trinity' appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord."—The Paganism in Our Christianity.

Thus, neither the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures nor the canon of 27 inspired books of the Christian Greek Scriptures provide any clear teaching of the Trinity.

Taught by Early Christians?




DID the early Christians teach the Trinity? Note the following comments by historians and theologians:

"Primitive Christianity did not have an explicit doctrine of the Trinity such as was subsequently elaborated in the creeds."—The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology.

"The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the [Trinity] idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognised the . . . Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One."—The Paganism in Our Christianity.

"At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the N[ew] T[estament] and other early Christian writings."—Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics.

"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. . . . Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective."—New Catholic Encyclopedia.

What the Ante-Nicene Fathers Taught




THE ante-Nicene Fathers were acknowledged to have been leading religious teachers in the early centuries after Christ's birth. What they taught is of interest.

Justin Martyr, who died about 165 C.E., called the prehuman Jesus a created angel who is "other than the God who made all things." He said that Jesus was inferior to God and "never did anything except what the Creator . . . willed him to do and say."

Irenaeus, who died about 200 C.E., said that the prehuman Jesus had a separate existence from God and was inferior to him. He showed that Jesus is not equal to the "One true and only God," who is "supreme over all, and besides whom there is no other."

Clement of Alexandria, who died about 215 C.E., called Jesus in his prehuman existence "a creature" but called God "the uncreated and imperishable and only true God." He said that the Son "is next to the only omnipotent Father" but not equal to him.

Tertullian, who died about 230 C.E., taught the supremacy of God. He observed: "The Father is different from the Son (another), as he is greater; as he who begets is different from him who is begotten; he who sends, different from him who is sent." He also said: "There was a time when the Son was not. . . . Before all things, God was alone."

Hippolytus, who died about 235 C.E., said that God is "the one God, the first and the only One, the Maker and Lord of all," who "had nothing co-eval [of equal age] with him . . . But he was One, alone by himself; who, willing it, called into being what had no being before," such as the created prehuman Jesus.

"There is no evidence that any sacred writer even suspected the existence of a [Trinity] within the Godhead."—The Triune God


Origen, who died about 250 C.E., said that "the Father and Son are two substances . . . two things as to their essence," and that "compared with the Father, [the Son] is a very small light."

Summing up the historical evidence, Alvan Lamson says in The Church of the First Three Centuries: "The modern popular doctrine of the Trinity . . . derives no support from the language of Justin [Martyr]: and this observation may be extended to all the ante-Nicene Fathers; that is, to all Christian writers for three centuries after the birth of Christ. It is true, they speak of the Father, Son, and . . . holy Spirit, but not as co-equal, not as one numerical essence, not as Three in One, in any sense now admitted by Trinitarians. The very reverse is the fact."

Thus, the testimony of the Bible and of history makes clear that the Trinity was unknown throughout Biblical times and for several centuries thereafter.

LatinoHeat - You have raised an important question. The doctine IS confusing and doesn't make any sense. I too was expected to just "accept" it when it was taught to me, but I could never quite get how God is the Father, and Jesus is the Son, but wait, Jesus is God too, and let's not forget to throw in the Holy Spirit, but the Holy spirit is basically God's active force, so how does that make it seperate yet equal? It doesn't make any sense for a reason! It was NOT taught by Jesus, nor was it believed by any of his TRUE followers. Do research on where and when it (the doctine) got it's start, and remember our Heavenly Father AND His Son would want you to seek out the real origins of it. And even if you decide NOT to believe in it, it won't detract from your respect and honor of God or his son.

Answer 2

Before the written word we had the story tellers, the rhymes and the songs. Before Christianity, paganism. Moses came along and God spoke, gave him two tablets of stone. He put them in a box and said it was the covenant between God and Man. Remember the story? What of the box, the tablets of stone. What do you remember from the stories long ago spoken and almost forgotten. Religion preserves tradition and through the years it is revised and re-written. How do you preserve a fundamental truth and that truth that was given to Moses. Two Tablets of stone. What is the meaning of the Trinity? Christianity teaches us that the trinity is God thy Father, God thy Son & God thy Holy Spirit. How does one understand that all three are but one. Saint Patrick and the Shamrock. Remember that? This is not Religion: but GOD I now speak of. God is the Trinity. He is, if a gender must be applied...THREE yet one. The Negative & the Positive. The Yes & the No. Male & Female. Night & Day. All ONE. yet so hard for us to comprehend. In Electricity we see the energy of the Negative & the Positive. E = IR, wherebye E= volts, I = AMPPERS, R = resistance. Where does all this come from?
It is the Trinity, the Essance of GOD. God is the Negative and the Positive, the Right & the Wrong. A magnet has both the negative and the positive and the SPIRIT is the helix (&). Two tablets of STONE. Turn the magnet against the opposing magnet and a spark is generated and there is life. Two tablets of stone are of the element of neodymium. If Moses called them the 10 commandments it was all part of the story ment to be told again and again till time has come that we understand that the covanant between God and man was the gift of life (energy) without Mass. Antimatter is the resistance between the Negative and the Positive. The differance between Heaven & Hell. Why was the place named Trinity, where the first Atomic test was conducted? Why is the Atomic weight of neodymium 144? Forty Days and Forty nights all but one Day. Why is 4 X 4 on the back fender of so many cars and trucks? God speaks, do you listen?
You are wrong in not caring.
The book of numbers: Atomic number of Neodymium is 60. The Star of India or the Star of David and King Solomons Seal
are but a six pointed star, two Triangles in helixical formation. Moses started his journey in the land of Egypt, the land of the Pyramids where in the sands lie the crystal Magnetite. An eight sided stone called a octahedron. Eight in the horizontal plain is the sign for infinity. 360 degrees have the circle and 44 divided into the shadow of the sphere is infinity over infinity. Eight is 4 + 4. Pi is the noun of 3.14. The crystal magnetite is the trinity as the view is the triangle of each face. It is but ONE and it has a base of 4 points as in East-West & North, South. To travel North would you find the South? To travel West would you find the East? Understanding infinity is not hard.
Atomic weight is 144.27. Specfic Gravity 6.9. Is it not Ironic that 6 reversed is 9 if viewed from East or West or North and South. So too the 6 in the concept of the trinity. six points of two triangles yet the 9 is three sets of three. What of the boiling point of neodymium? It is 840 degrees C. The 8 is infinity, the 40 is the biblical interpitation of a very long time. Has it occured to you that the Boiling sun does not evaporate?
Neodymium does not evaporate.

Answer 3

Do you have to understand the Trinity..I can't help but think of Jesus when He told his disciples that they should become like the little children..Do kids go around worrying about doctrines like the Trinity or do they just love Jesus..I think you can work doctrines to death and lose the whole picture of Gods love. Did Jesus give sermons on the Trinity, or did he give inspiration like the Sermon on the Mount. The Lords Prayer is simple and tender and filled with truth. I honestly don't think Jesus would be upset over a doctrine that is a hard concept for humans to understand.

Answer 4

If you go to the link shown below you will find plentiful of material showing the trinity to be incompatible with the Bible.
http://www.bythebible.page.tl/

The point you are asking about "Does that honestly lead to salvation" -- in my opinion is as follows:

The Bible tells us that he who denies the son and he who denies the Father are the anti-Christ, right!

Then if people claim incorrectly that Jesus is God the almighty when he isn't -- they have in fact denied what Jesus is supposed to be.

Similarly, if these incorrectly make God into a three headed being - a 3-in-1 God, they have denied that God alone is the Almighty and the Creator. In that way, they deny also the Father.

This makes them into anti-Christ and this denies these salvation.

Thus the dogma of the trinity is not part of the truth that sanctifies the Christian.

Questions? Ask.

Answer 5

Hi, I think your question shows you are very sincere. Who can say arrogantly that "I truly understand everything about the Trinity?"

Can man analyze God? I think we can make the Trinity understandable to each other but I think we can all agree that when we get to see God in all his Glory that all our man made definitions have fallen short.

As a Christian I have learned a long time ago not to get into debates with people, unless they ask me for a debate or wan't one.

Some folks say they want to debate you but when you start making good points they want to stop the debate so why bother?

If you read the bible Jesus never said "To inherit eternal life believe in the trinity."

He did however say "I and the father are one."

He also said "When you've seen me you've seen the father."

For meager men such as we are, this is hard for us to understand.

This is why it is key to note that "Just because someone can't understand something doesn't mean its not true." Otherwise we are limiting facts to the boundaries of our mind.

A good analogy is an ant and a man. How can the ant (Being us in this analogy) anaylyze the huge man standing there next to him?

How can the ant even understand or begin to comprehend?

The best thing the ant can do is what we tell it to do lol.

That's what I plan to do with God. Exactly what he tells me to do.

Remember the movie Forrest Gump? Remember when Gump is in basic training and the Sergeant asks Gump "What is your main purpose in this mans army Private Gump!!??"

Gump answers "To do whatever you tell me to do Drill Sergeant."

The drill sergeant says "Gump that is the best damn answer I have ever heard!"

I want to be a Gump for God he he :-)

Answer 6

We are saved first because we believe. If you believe in Jesus Christ you have to believe in everything He says He is. He is the Son (note:capital letter), He have a Father than sits on the throne, and the Comforter which is the Spirit of God.. There are many verses supporting the Trinity. Please ask that God will help you understand. Jesus & The Holy Spirit is God...they are One not in number but in unity.

Answer 7

The almighty has always been here and Jesus was his first creation the bible tells us. This tryian of God's comes from pagan religion.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist, 18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things; 19 because [God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile again to himself all [other] things by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.

Revelation 3:14 “And to the angel of the congregation in La·o·di·ce´a write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God,

Answer 8

It is not explicitly stated in the Bible yet many times it was implied. There are so many verses in the Bible that implies the trinity even in the period of creation...
It is only a doctrine but the most important is your faith in God and His gift of salvation for His children through His Son JESUS CHRIST no matter of who He is...

JN. 1:12
v12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Answer 9

Epkesians 2:8-9.

Answer 10

In my mind (god given) the trinity means PHYSICAL< MENTAL< EMOTIONAL. I believe that when we give, we should give on all these levels.I think the Chruch (built by man) has diverted the true message. Our whole western socieity stems from the 1st Testament, but today from that we have Judaism, CHristianity and Islam, - which one is right???? - You are an inteligent spiritual being, choose what is right for you and know that God accepts you just as you, as long as you are true to yourself. To thine own self be true.........

Answer 11

Paul had a good answer for that - of all the doctrinal and theological debates in the early church at Corinth.

"I am glad for your sakes that I knew nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."