Of all the beliefs and doctrines in the Christian faith, the Trinity might be the one of the hardest to understand. Most people outside of Christianity don’t really know what the whole deal with the Trinity is, and even many Christians are confused about the specifics. The doctrine of the Trinity is central to the Christian faith. It is held by orthodox Christians, Catholics, and mainline Protestants.
There are several groups that refer to themselves as Christian, but do not accept this belief. Their use of the term Christian is similar to how a person from North America and a person from South America can both say they are Americans. They both live in America, but once they start to explain the specifics you see that they are not talking about the same America. In the same way, these other groups follow a person they call Christ, but this person is not Christ as known by the majority of Christians. The two most well known of these groups are the Mormons, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I will touch on their differences later.
The Basics
The basic idea of the Trinity is that God is three distinct but equivalent people in one. These three are The Father (Commonly just called God), The Son (Jesus), and The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). There is only one God, but all three of these are him. Confused? So are a lot of people. I’m going to attempt to break down the ideas behind the Trinity in a way that will lessen the confusion, but probably not get rid of it. I’m going to look at the way all three are treated in the scriptures, and how they relate to one another.
God: The Father
In most cases where the bible simply uses the name God, it is referring to The Father. This is more evident in the New Testament, but does appear in the Old Testament as well.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” -Genesis 1:1
These are the first words in the bible. They immediately establish two facts.
God was there before the beginning of creation.
God is responsible for creation
No other beings are mentioned. God is alone and distinct.
God is known by many different names. The specific name of God is considered so sacred that it was never recorded in its full form. When God tells Moses to go back to Egypt, Moses asks who he should say has sent him.
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” -Exodus 3:14”
This is one of those cases where English breaks down when trying to convey some of the meaning of the original text. God says to Moses that he is I AM, a term that means he is self existent, he is eternal, he is nothing but himself and his existence relies on no one and no thing. God is God, and there is no comparison.
God: The Son (Jesus)
As far as most people are concerned, Jesus enters the scene at the beginning of New Testament. This is where we get the story of the baby in the manger, the shepherds, and the three wise men. Jesus is The Son of Mary, a virgin, who became pregnant through the spirit of God. It is a cutesy family story that most people tell around Christmas but don’t really worry about otherwise.
““The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). –Matthew 1:23”
Jesus was known before his birth however. The Old Testament is full of prophecies pointing to one known as the messiah, or the Christ. The term messiah is from Hebrew. Christ is from Greek. Both words have similar meaning. Jesus is to be the anointed one that was awaited. He is the savior.
The earliest prophecy goes all the way back to Genesis, the first book of the bible. It was written down approximately 1400 years before the birth of Jesus.
“So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” –Genesis 3:14-15”
Regardless of personal opinions about Jesus, the historical evidence for his existence is overwhelming. Aside from biblical sources, which most non-Christians automatically dismiss, there are writings from secular historians, and records of the events mentioned in the New Testament.
God: The Holy Spirit (The Holy Ghost)
The least understood member of the Trinity is The Holy Spirit. Most people recognize God and Jesus, but they don’t really know what the spirit does. The spirit makes an appearance pretty early on in the bible.
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” -Genesis 1:2
As mentioned above, the spirit also makes an appearance in the Christmas narrative.
“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through The Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 1:18
When Jesus is preparing to ascend to heaven, he tells his disciples that he will send The Holy Spirit to guide them.
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with The Holy Spirit.” –Acts 1:4-5”
Trinity?
Part of the debate about the Trinity hinges on the idea of biblical consistency. This is the belief that the bible is internally consistent from beginning to end. It does not contradict itself. Therefore, there is only one God.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” -Deuteronomy 5:6-7
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” –Deuteronomy 6:4
Due to the lack of proper terms, English distinguishes between God and gods with the use of a capital G for God and a lowercase g for any other being or thing that is worshipped. As the voices say, God is one. There is only one God. As seen, he is self existent, dependent on nothing. On its own, the notion of just one God is simple. It gets more complicated when you deal with the Godly references to Christ and The Holy Spirit. If there is only one God, and all three are referred to as God, then they must somehow all be one. The first confusing passage comes early in Genesis, during the creation of mankind.
“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” –Genesis 1:26”
The use of us and our in this verse is curious since God is the only force behind creation, and there is only one God. Some explain this similar to the royal we, but it is more likely a hint toward God’s triune nature, the Trinity is us and is God.
The biggest issue with the Trinity, the reason people still debate it, is because the bible never explicitly states it. For those familiar with the King James Version, there is some controversy on this point. The KJV and its descendant translations include this verse.
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, The Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. -1 John 5:7”
Seems pretty definitive doesn’t it? In most other versions of the bible the text is slightly different.
“For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” –New International Version
The part about them being one is missing. Most biblical scholars are pretty sure that this is a case of a margin note being incorporated into the full text. The term “in agreement” is slightly less definitive than “three are one.” Still, we have a reference to The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost at least being in agreement. Let’s look for some better references.
At one point in the New Testament Jesus responds to the crowd: “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” –John 8:58
Jesus uses the same term to describe himself as God does when talking with Moses. Jesus refers to himself as I AM.
In another reference Jesus tells his disciples that: “Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen The Father. How can you say, ‘Show us The Father’?” -John 14:9
If seeing Jesus is equivalent to seeing The Father, then Jesus and The Father must be equivalent. While speaking with a crowd, Jesus tells them: “I and The Father are one.” –John 10:30
Some people try to explain this as Jesus saying that he and God are of the same mind on the issue, but the crowd he is speaking to understands his meaning.
“Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from The Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” –John 10:31-33
There are two sections that spell out Jesus’ relationship with The Father very explicitly. One comes from the prophecies in Isaiah.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” –Isaiah 9:6
The next section comes from the book of John.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. –John 1:1-3”
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from The Father, full of grace and truth.” –John 1:14
In both instances, Jesus is referred to as God. Even without considering The Holy Spirit, Jesus is called God, and The Father is called God. You have at minimum a duality.
Now with The Holy Spirit, there are other references. When Jesus leaves he says The Holy Spirit will come to teach the disciples.
““And I will ask The Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth.” –John 14:16-17a”
The term used for advocate or helper is paraclete. The word implies equivalency, a helper of the same kind. If Jesus is equal with God, since he is God, then what other teacher could be equal but God?
When Jesus sends out his disciples he gives them these instructions: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 28:19
The Name of is singular, indicating that what comes after is one: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. These are by no means all of the points that lead to the doctrine of the Trinity, but hopefully they are enough to shed some light on what it means.
Mormons & Jehovah’s witnesses
These two groups are the most well known of the ‘christian’ groups that do not follow the view of the Trinity. Here is a basic description of their views.
The Jehovah’s witnesses believe that Jesus is a created being. He was the first created being, and God made everything else through him.
The Mormons teach that Jesus is the son of God. He is the brother of Lucifer. His physical body came about through God having sex with the Virgin Mary. Jesus and God are completely different individuals.
About the Author:
Stephen Mayo lives in Montana with his wife, daughter, corgi, and three cats.
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