Biblical speaking, are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit equal?

Question

I believe in the Trinity, but did the Son "handicap" Himself in some manner when he incarnated?

Spare me your "creeds" Everyday, I simply read the Bible. (Well, I read others, but only the Bible is plenary).

Answer 1

Depends on your definition of "equal." I do think They are all 3 equitable, but not the same.

I don't think Jesus handicapped Himself when He became human -- instead, He elevated the flesh to a place where we can receive part of God's divine nature.

Answer 2

Good question.

"Handicap"? No. St. Paul says "emptied" which is not the same thing...

That Jesus "emptied Himself" is not a debatable issue (Phil. 2:6-7). Of what He emptied Himself, or exactly what that phrase means, has been an ancient debate.

The Creed of St. Athanasius claims co-equality:

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

Answer 3

Short Answer: No Christ did not Handicap Himself

Scripture states that Christ is by his very nature equal with God the Father. While there is a hierarchy (1 Cor. 11) Father highest, Son next, and then HS. They are all equal in terms of power and authority. The Kenosis (as the Philippians 2 passage is known) has us understand that Christ emptied himself of independent use of his Divine power while on Earth, as he performed his miracles by the power of the Spirit. (See the Unforgivable Sin passage in Mark) However, after his death and subsequent resurrection he re-assumed his power, which is what allowed him to walk through a wall to join the disciples in the locked upper room, as well as disguising himself from their eyes (on the road to Galilee). Just because he took on human form did not relegate him to lesser divinity, in all actuality it made him stronger, as the Father has handed over the reigns of creation to the son (Revelation)

Answer 4

Yes, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal. Jesus did not handicap Himself by becoming human. He did not give up any of His divinity in becoming Man.

Jesus was fully human and fully divine.

Additionally, Jesus did not subordinate Himself to the father by doing the will of the Father.

I suggest you read the Anthanasian Creed at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02033b.htm

Answer 5

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are 1.

Answer 6

It's hard to say for sure. Sort of like asking me who made a bigger impact on music. The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? GOD the father is the creator and sustainer of all things. GOD the son came in the flesh and dies on the cross for me while leaving us an example of how to life our lives. GOD the Holy Spirit is our life line to GOD and our closest contact at least as long as we are in the flesh. I would have to guess they are equal to me because without these three in harmony in my life I would be more then condemned. Sort of like a 3 legged stool. One missing and the whole thing is worthless.

Hope that helps†

Answer 7

Yes, the Son was a branch of the Father containing the Holy Spirit and to become a man in flesh He had to empty Himself, but He was still God. At anytime He could have became Almighty God, but He chose to go to the Cross for you and me. By His life, He showed us how He wants us to live.

Answer 8

The Jews were saying that he was equal to God.......John 5:18.....On this account, indeed, the Jews began seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath but he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus goes on to say in verse 19....Therefore, in answer, Jesus went on to say to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing.

John 14:28, RS: “[Jesus said:] If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.”

Answer 9

They are equally God, but they have their own characteristics. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three separate entities that make up God the being. They have their own qualities and roles in the trinity.

Answer 10

For you to believe in the Trinity, you must accept that all three Persons of the Trinity are the one self-same God. The Creator is not greater than the Savior, nor is the Savior greater than the Spirt. All three are manifestations of the same One God. This is the definition (and the mystery) of Trinity.

Answer 11

"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."

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.

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.

THIS disreputable history of the Trinity fits in with what Jesus and his apostles foretold would follow their time. They said that there would be an apostasy, a deviation, a falling away from true worship until Christ's return, when true worship would be restored before God's day of destruction of this system of things.

"The Triad of the Great Gods" Many centuries before the time of Christ, there were triads, or trinities, of gods in ancient Babylonia and Assyria. The French "Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology" notes one such triad in that Mesopotamian area: "The universe was divided into three regions each of which became the domain of a god. Anu's share was the sky. The earth was given to Enlil. Ea became the ruler of the waters. Together they constituted the triad of the Great Gods."



Regarding that "day," the apostle Paul said: "It will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed." (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7) Later, he foretold: "When I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock. Even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them." (Acts 20:29, 30, JB) Other disciples of Jesus also wrote of this apostasy with its 'lawless' clergy class.—See, for example, 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1-3; Jude 3, 4.

Paul also wrote: "The time is sure to come when, far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths."—2 Timothy 4:3, 4, JB.

Jesus himself explained what was behind this falling away from true worship. He said that he had sowed good seeds but that the enemy, Satan, would oversow the field with weeds. So along with the first blades of wheat, the weeds appeared also. Thus, a deviation from pure Christianity was to be expected until the harvest, when Christ would set matters right. (Matthew 13:24-43) The Encyclopedia Americana comments: "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." Where, then, did this deviation originate?—1 Timothy 1:6.