Problems With Trinity

(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

These verses teach us many things and one of the most important is about the nature of the person of God. There is a foundational truth in these few verses that goes deep into the heart of what we as Christians believe.

Who is God? More specifically who is the God worshipped in Christianity? Is it the god of the trinity that is so strongly held by almost all Christians sects, denominations and faiths or is the true God someone else?

This is an important issue and one that must be discussed and addressed for if we are wrong, we may be worshiping a myth and a lie. If the God we worship is not in fact the God of truth, then who or what are we worshiping?

The Jewish God

Now let us look at and try to understand the roots of the Christian faith. Jesus Christ was born a Jew of the tribe of Judah, which was one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Looking back into the Old Testament we see that in every reference to the Lord God they spoke of just ONE God. In fact this was a key foundation of Judaism and one of the points which set it apart from all the other pagan religions of the time. Judaism was and is still today a monotheistic religion.

In fact when we look back at the law, and in particular the Ten Commandments, we see that this principle of one God was enshrined in the law. Note the words that immediately precede the giving of the Ten Commandments.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. – (Deuteronomy 6:4)

We might wonder why the Lord God saw fit to enshrine such a teaching into the law. But it is evident that God was making a distinction between the rites, rituals and worship of the nation of Israel to separate it from all the other nations who worshiped pagan gods.

The pagan religions of the time had many different gods within the one form of worship. In fact in almost all of the pagan religions the basis of their gods was a trinity. They all taught that their gods were a trinity of gods forming a triune godhead. And the reason why is that almost all of the forms of worship derive from the same source: Babylon of the Chaldees. The Babylonians influenced the religions of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Canaan, Syria, even early Hinduism and Tao teachings of Japan.

But the God of Israel was not like these pagan false gods and He defined who He was when He spoke to the people of israel saying He was ONE God, not many, not a trinity but one God. And thus the Israelites were separated from all the other nations around them because theirs was a monotheistic religion.

One God, One Lord, One Spirit

Skipping forward to New Testament times we see in the first section of these verses Paul says there is only one God who is the Father of all, there is only one Lord and Saviour, who is Jesus Christ and there is one Holy Spirit given to each person. We should also compare this to Ephesians 4:4-6 which says,

4 There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – (Ephesians 4:4-6)

This raises an interesting point concerning the nature of God.

The scripture tells us that there is ONLY one God, who is the Father. He is above all, through all and in all. There is no other God but the Father and no one compares to Him.

Even Jesus Christ said of His relationship to the Father that the Father was greater than himself. He made this point a number of times, for example,

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. – (Luke 18:18-19)

And;

You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. – (John 14:28)

And Paul also says, speaking about Christ,

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, – (Philippians 2:5-6)

So while Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Saviour of mankind, the Son of God and the firstborn of all creation, He is not equal with God the Father. Jesus is the Son of God and He is called “God” by the Father, as seen in Hebrews 1, but Jesus is not equal with the Father. And even in this verse we see God the Father recognise that He is God to the Son.

8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” – (Hebrews 1:8-9)

Likewise, nowhere in the bible do we see it recorded that the Holy Spirit is ever referred to as God. Yes the Holy Spirit is holy, just as God the Father and Jesus Christ are holy, but nowhere is the Holy Spirit called “God.”

This raises some difficult questions for the church at large with regards to the fundamental church teaching regarding the trinity.

Problems With Trinity

Here is a question that needs answered. Is the God of the Jews the same God that Jesus Christ worshiped and likewise the same God of Christianity?

Yes He is. God the Father is still God the Father who was God of Israel and is God of the Christian church. Jesus Christ is now the Lord and saviour for it is through Him that we have salvation, but it was by the grace of God the Father that this opportunity was given to us. The work of grace that provides salvation is the work of the Father.

So knowing this to be true, when and how did the God of Christianity become a trinity? When was the triune relationship established in the church that is so widely accepted in the churches today? And when did God cease to be a monotheistic God and become a triune God?

The Father is ONE God. He is not a trinity. Jesus is a God also but He is not part of a triune godhead, and the Holy Spirit has never been called God anywhere in the New Testament. In fact the word and concept of trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the New Testament.

Now I don't know about you, but I get wary of things that are taught as doctrine in the church where there is no scriptural foundation, and the doctrine of trinity is just such a teaching. Furthermore even the most learned of theologians cannot adequately describe what the doctrine of trinity is all about, so how are the masses of Christians expected to understand it?

God is not a God of confusion, as the bible tells us,

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, – (1 Corinthians 14:33)

But the doctrine of trinity is confusing, misleading and in complete conflict with the truth of the bible.

When people say, “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,” they get the first two right, but the Holy Spirit is not God, so the statement is false. Don't get me wrong, I am not degrading or downplaying the role of the Holy Spirit one iota. I am merely showing the falseness of this doctrine since it does not concur with the truth in the bible.

Furthermore, when they make claim to the trinity and use the above statement, they are making all three; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to be equal. They say of the trinity that it is “one God in three persons,” making all three part of the one and thus all equal in stature. This is clearly wrong for Jesus did not ever claim to be equal to the Father, as quoted above, and nowhere is the Holy Spirit accorded the status of being God.

So where did it come from? The doctrine of trinity did not exist in the early church at all. It was an introduced doctrine brought in during the councils of Nicea and Constantinople. It was brought in at the behest of Emperor Constantine, who was actually a pagan and a sun worshiper and who was used to the trinity worship under the Roman pagan religions.

Furthermore it was deemed acceptable on the basis of a fabricated scripture in the bible that never appeared in any of the early texts. Under great pressure from Rome during the dark ages, the bible scholar Erasmus was forced to include a false translation of 1 John 5:6-8 to give the doctrine of trinity some scriptural weight. This has been one of the most argued about verses in the bible and thankfully most modern translations have gone back to early Greek texts and removed it. It does however still exist in the Authorised Version or King James Version of the bible and readers of those texts should beware.

Now if trinity is a pagan doctrine that has been allowed to infiltrate the church, how should we as Christians behave? We should reject this doctrine and focus our worship on the Father and the Son not some three-headed myth and figment of the imagination of some pagan ruler from days gone by.

Look to Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour and recognise God the Father as the architect of your salvation by faith through grace. And seek to receive the Holy Spirit who can and will open all things up to you so that you learn and are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

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