A Further Study of the Trinity
By Carolyn Pinon
The following is written for all my loved ones, for my brothers and sisters in faith, and for anyone interested in taking the time to search the scriptures for eternal truths as revealed in God's word. We all know there is much confusion and division among those of us who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe we would all love to see believers united as one, just as Christ prayed to his Father in John 17:21-23. That unity must have an authoritative basis, though, and the only proven and reliable source we have for such unity is the word of God.
I have not written this to cause more division, but if there are leaders among us who will take these things to heart, it possibly could happen. So, how does one justify the possibility of more division? Does the possibility of division mean we should not consider a truth that has been overlooked or misunderstood? We commend the men of the Restoration Movement for, even though some thought they brought division among the churches of their day, they wanted to unite all believers who wanted to return to the beliefs and practices set forth in the original standard for unity – the word of God.
Do we believe in an absolute truth? Does truth really matter to us? Are the scriptures really the standard that we go by faithfully? Are we courageous enough to check out a different UNDERSTANDING of truth that is not what we have believed, but is faithful to the teachings of the Bible? Had the Restoration pioneers FAILED to answer YES to those questions there would have been no Restoration Movement started. How about us today? How do we answer those questions? Do you suppose it matters to God?
You may be surprised when you read what truth I am concerned about, because, like the majority of my brothers and sisters, I wouldn't have even thought it a possibility to be in error on this matter ten years ago. It has taken about seven years for me to study this through and get my misunderstandings lined up with the WHOLE of the scriptures. Now it is obvious to me what the plain teaching is, but I know it will also take you time to study and understand, just as it took me time. Hopefully, it won't take you as long as it took me, and I hope you won't say, "It won't take me long at all, I'll not even consider it!"
We need NOT be fearful to TEST, to SEARCH OUT, and to PROVE all things in light of the scriptures. We have more reason to fear IF WE DON’T. The scripture gives EACH of us a command to: "TEST ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST WHAT IS GOOD." 1 Thes. 5:21. We have that obligation, and we should not ignore searching out the scriptures for ourselves along with others who hold the word of God as the absolute guide for truth.
We know that some churches tell their members never to take literature from and never to listen to anyone who teaches anything different from their own leadership or their own church. Some are even taught that they cannot understand what is right in the scriptures without the direction of their church leaders. May we never be that shackled! Good leadership is helpful, but it must never take away our freedom to see for ourselves what God has said in His word.
May God guide and bless us all as we earnestly seek knowledge of Him and His truth.
BELIEF IN THE ONE GOD OF THE BIBLE
I have read and studied the scriptures for over fifty years, and the longer and deeper I have studied, I have found that there are doctrines in the church at variance with the scriptures. I’m not talking about things where we have the liberty of opinion, but about those beliefs that should be in harmony with the elemental doctrines of scripture. How many of us ever give thought to checking out for ourselves and proving from the scriptures what we have accepted as truth and doctrine? To do this we have to be willing to study the scriptures without the idea of proving what we already believe.
I have come to think that when the restoration pioneers died, the Restoration Movement in the church just about died with them. It seems those of us who followed were content to leave off THE SEARCH just where those men had left it. I know that statement may raise eyebrows (and to those who are persuaded that all truths have been restored, it may cause them to look upon me as somewhat of a heretic) but I hope you will bear with me and consider a topic that I never, before, thought I would have a second thought about questioning: the doctrine of the Trinity.
Would our church leaders today dare go on a thorough search to see if there is, indeed, a different and true interpretation that would turn us around completely from being trinitarians to being Biblical unitarians as were the early Christians? You will, undoubtedly, think - "They were not!" BUT - - -
Have you given it a thorough investigation in the scriptures, from a DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE without PREJUDICE, or do you rely completely on what you have been taught - the way you have always looked at it? Probably some of you may be like I was: I could turn to scriptures and talk to Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons and explain our Trinitarian point of view and feel like I came out "the winner" - or so I thought. I still think THEY are mixed-up in their theology, I still don't agree with many of their teachings because they are contrary to the scriptures, but I'm just saying I THOUGHT I was prepared to defend my beliefs and to explain the scriptures (as I understood them) to anyone who gave me the opportunity. But I have found out that I was wrong, in a very important area, according to the teachings of the scriptures. I hope you will give me a hearing and let me explain why I believe the scriptures teach belief in only one true God - not three (not the Trinity).
How wonderful it would be if we all had the courage and the zeal of the men of the early Restoration Movement! They were not afraid to challenge doctrines that did not line up with the scriptures. They examined the scriptures and found there were indeed areas where their churches' practices and beliefs were not Biblically based. They were not afraid to examine a different view from what was accepted, with the scriptures being the yardstick by which to measure everything. They were not resistant to change, if what they previously believed PROVED WRONG in light of the full context of the scriptures! Are we that desirous of the truth and are we that courageous, OR are we fearful of being alone and stepping away from the majority? Remember the flood and how few there were who cared about what God said – only eight in the whole world! "Majority" doesn't count for being right with God!
Before going any further, I would like to clarify that I am still fully persuaded that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, the only begotten Son of God who is preeminent above all, and the perfect Lamb of God who died to redeem us and bring us into a new covenant relationship with the Father, and that he is the great high priest and only mediator between God and man.
"For there is ONE GOD and one mediator between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus." - - 1 Timothy 2:5.
What I believe differently about is this: From many scriptures it is evident that God, the Father, is the creator, rather than Jesus, and that in the prologue of John 1, it does not say "In the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was God," rather it says - "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." - John 1:1 (And I still believe that “the word” became "flesh" in the person of Christ - John 1:14.)
I would like to give the following quotations from Sir Anthony Buzzard’s Web Magazine, Focus on the Kingdom, Volume 2 No. 7 April 2000 available at www.focusonthekingdom.org/27.htm#3.
“John’s Hebrew background gives us another clue to his brief words about "the word." We should of course remind readers that there is no justification in the Greek text for putting a capital W on word. Translations do this because they have already assumed (due to tradition) that the word is the Son before his birth. But the Son of God does not appear until John 1:14. At that point God’s wisdom/word/promise becomes for the first time fully and uniquely embodied in the human being, Jesus. "All things were made through IT," says John, "and without IT [the word of God] nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3).”
“The translation we give here [above] is the one which appeared in English versions of the Bible prior to the KJV in 1611. "Through IT," not "through Him" is a perfectly possible rendering of the original. It is an assumption, unproved, that John meant the Son at that stage. What he wrote was the "word," not yet the Son.”
Note: The Greek language does not use capitalization in the way the English language does. Also, the Greek pronouns, “autou” and “autos” may mean “him” or “it” (in John 1) depending on the understanding of the context.
The following quote is from Focus on the Kingdom, Volume 2 No. 6 March 2000:
“It was "Wisdom" who assisted at the creation of the universe (Prov. 8:30), but since the Lord God acted, as He says, alone, it follows logically that Wisdom was not at that stage a Person other than the One Lord God. Thus also in John 1:1-4 it cannot be the Son who was "with God" at the original creation. English translations of the Bible — eight of them — were correct when they rendered John 1:1-4 "It [the word] was with God. All things were made through it [the word] and without it nothing was made that was made." Again, Isaiah 44:24 prevents us from imagining that there was a Second Member of the Trinity, the Son of God, active in the Genesis creation. God’s word in John 1 is simply the word of God, His creative wisdom and plan. That expressive activity of God was later embodied in the human Messiah who arose in due time, and by miraculous intervention, from a family in Israel just as Moses had predicted (Deut. 18:15-19).”
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The "word" (logos) may be understood as the whole of God's manifold wisdom (Proverbs 8:22-30): His eternal plan, the eternal purpose that God has always had, (it was with Him from the beginning) and embodied the very essence of who God is ("The word was God"). Paul tells us about this plan and says that it was also A MYSTERY (that is it was hidden from men until the appointed time according to God's great purpose):
Eph 1:9-10 "Having made known to us THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL, according to His good pleasure WHICH HE PURPOSED IN HIMSELF, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times HE (God) might gather together in one all things IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; in him."
Eph. 3:9-11 "And to make all see what is the fellowship of THE MYSTERY, which FROM THE BEGINNING of the ages HAS BEEN HIDDEN IN GOD who created all things THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, to the intent that now THE MANIFOLD WISDOM of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE which HE (GOD) ACCOMPLISHED in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In verse 9 above, we see that the purpose of God was brought to pass THROUGH Jesus - that it was through Jesus that God created all things BECAUSE Jesus made possible the fulfillment of God's eternal plan and purpose. The fact that GOD created all things THROUGH Jesus does not mean that Jesus was the CREATOR or that he PRE-EXISTED before he came to earth as the Son of God. John 1:14 says that "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus became the full expression of what God planned from the beginning. God knew Jesus BEFORE HE EVER BROUGHT HIM INTO BEING, as He knows ALL THINGS before they come to be. This "ALL-KNOWING" attribute of God is reflected in Isaiah 46:9-10 and in Romans 4:17:
"Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure." - - Isaiah 46:9-10
"GOD, who gives life to the dead and CALLS THOSE THINGS WHICH DO NOT EXIST AS THOUGH THEY DID" - - Romans 4:17 -
And because GOD FOREKNEW Jesus, He knew that Jesus would be THE ONE, the only perfect one, THROUGH WHOM HE (GOD) could accomplish his plan and bring His purpose into reality. The Word [logos] in John 1:1 may be thought of as God's eternal wisdom and purpose and plan. God's plan was with Him in the beginning. (He didn't just, one day, have a new thought that He hadn't ever thought of before - no, His plan was with Him from the beginning.) In John 1:14 - when: "the word became flesh" God's plan was actively set in motion when He brought His only begotten Son into the world as a human being.
Jesus literally was the image of God
(2 Cor 4:4). Jesus was not like the
"first Adam" (who was ALSO called the son of God-
Luke 3:38, and was ALSO made in God's image
- Gen. 1:27). The "first Adam" became sinful and
rebellious (which God foreknew). God's plan, therefore, was to bring into
existence the "last Adam"- Jesus. Yes, Jesus became the "last Adam," (1 Cor
15:45). God foreknew that Jesus would be pure and perfect and thus
would reflect the true image of God. It was "in" him and "through" him
that God was able to bring His eternal plan into reality. That is why we
are told: "For in (Greek "en") Him all things were created that are in
heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through (Greek
"di'") Him and for Him. (Col 1:16).
We need to study verses that are hard to understand in light of clear
scriptures that tell us specifically about God, and understand that HE, the
Father, as Jesus said, is the ONLY TRUE GOD (John 17:3). We need to be sure
that our understanding is not "twisted," as Peter warned about people who were
untaught or unstable. Yes, there are things in Paul's writings that are "hard
to understand" (2 Peter 3:15-16). That is why we need to compare scripture with
scripture, and let the CLEAR teachings be the determining factor in clarifying
those scriptures that may not be so clear. Isn’t it just possible that we have
been taught HOW to "SEE"
the meaning of certain verses so that they "FIT"
our doctrine, rather than making our doctrine line up with what the
scriptures are actually saying?
One scripture passage that I had trouble understanding, because I had been taught to understand it according to the Trinitarian doctrine, is that one found in John 8:56-58
John 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
John 8:57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
Why would Jesus say, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad?" Doesn’t that make sense when we remember that God had revealed to Abraham, as told in Genesis 28:14c ". . . And in you AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.” We know this “SEED” - that would be a blessing to “all the families of the earth”- was to be Christ. This is confirmed in Galatians 3:16, where it explains about the promises made to Abraham and to his SEED, who is Christ:
“Now to Abraham and his SEED were THE PROMISES MADE. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but AS OF ONE, "And to your SEED," who is Christ.” - - Galatians 3:16
So we understand that Jesus was not saying that Abraham literally SAW HIM, PERSONALLY, but rather Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced “TO SEE MY DAY,” that is, the DAY that Christ would come to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. God had (perhaps in a vision) REVEALED to Abraham that ONE DAY the Christ - the Messiah, the Redeemer, and Savior - would be coming (one of his own offspring) and that revelation made him rejoice.
You see, many have taken the wrong clue from those Jews who did not understand Jesus and responded: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" But that is not what Jesus was saying. And when Jesus responded: "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am he" – Jesus was trying to tell the Jews that he was the long-awaited Messiah - THE ONE THEY WERE LOOKING FOR - who had been promised by God through Moses and the prophets. But the Trinitarian translators of that passage wanted to “clarify” their INTERPRETATION of what Jesus said by translating it as saying “before Abraham was, I AM” - so they tried to make it look like Jesus was saying that he was the “I AM” of the Old Testament. But that is not what Jesus actually said. The Greek, when translated correctly, should read: “I am he,” NOT “I AM” in all capital letters. Those capital letters do not exist in the original Greek.
Jesus knew his PRE-ORDAINED position in the eternal plan of God (as the Messiah - the Son of God) and he knew that his place had been secure from before the foundation of the world. - - (1 Peter 1:20). The ALL-CAPITALS “I AM” is not true to translating the Greek, because Christ said: “ego eimi” - the common expression of the Greek-speaking people when they wanted to say “I am he.”
To illustrate that point, in the very next chapter, in John 9:9, after Jesus had healed the man born blind, and the Jews were asking the man born blind if he were that man, he responded: “I am he.” The blind man used the same Greek words (“ego eimi”) that Jesus used when he said, “I am he” in John 8:58.
Also, in John 4:25-26 when Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, she said she knew that Messiah (who is called Christ) was coming. Jesus said to her, (in Greek) “Ego eimi, ho lalon soi” - which means, translated: “I am he, the one speaking to you.”
John 4:25-26 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." (The word order is changed a little in English Bibles so it reads more like we speak, rather than using the order of the Greek which would more exactly read: “I am he, the one speaking to you”.)
When Jesus used the expression “I am he” in response to the woman at the well, He was telling her that He was that “Messiah” (the Christ). In Jesus' discussion with the Jews He was also trying to tell them He was the Messiah, but they just didn’t get it – they just didn’t want to get it. They tried TWISTING what He said to them, but He never declared Himself to be God. He told them that He was the Son of God. He was, indeed, God’s only begotten offspring, God’s only begotten Son. That does not mean he was saying that he was God. Being God’s only begotten Son is NOT SYNONYMOUS with being God.
"The Bible does not confuse Jesus with God. It says that Jesus is like God, God’s image. The Greek word for image is "eikon," defined by Strong's # 1504.
"eikon, i-kone'; from G1503; a likeness, i.e. (lit.) statute, profile, or (fig.) representation, resemblance:--image." An image is a likeness but not the very being represented. From the Greek work eikon we got the word icon which means: "a usually pictorial representation." We see this same idea illustrated as Jesus explains to Phillip the likeness He shares with His Father:
(John 14:9-11 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us
the Father'? {10} "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words
that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does
the works. {11} "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me
for the sake of the works themselves."
We see that Jesus desires the same likeness (or oneness) to be seen in His followers as there is likeness (oneness) with Jesus and the Father, when He prays to the Father:
John 17:11) "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.. . .(22-23) "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: {23} "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
(Col 1:15) "He is the image [eikon) of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
(1 Cor 11:7) "For a man . . . is the image (eikon) and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. "
(Rom 8:29] For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
In Col 1:15, an improper understanding has been given to the word "image" by those who want to equate the word "image" with actually being the thing represented rather than a reflection or likeness or representative of "the real thing." We can understand the meaning of "image" better when we look at 1 Cor. 11:7 and Romans 8:29, where we understand a likeness is intended rather than actually being that one.
A scholar examining the relationship of Jesus to God comments that in the New Testament "devotion to Jesus did not involve confusing him with God or making Jesus a second God…Early Christians maintained firmly the overarching superiority and uniqueness of God and their traditional [Jewish] orientation to Him" (Dr. L.W. Hurtado, One God, One Lord, pp. 121, 123)."
The above quote may be found in an article entitled "Believing Impossible Things" by going to: http://www.focusonthekingdom.org/26.htm
There are many declarations in the gospels telling us who Jesus is (The Christ, The only begotten Son of God, the Son of Man, the Son of God, etc., and NOT ONE of them says: Jesus is “God the Son.” Isn’t that rather overwhelming evidence that that idea had to come from men who did not accept the CLEAR teachings of the scriptures? I don’t believe God was trying to trick us to see if we could find out who Jesus really was. I think He PLAINLY tells us – HE IS HIS SON – THE ONLY BEGOTTEN ONE.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, THE SON OF GOD.
John 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; THEREFORE, also, that Holy One who is to be born WILL BE CALLED THE SON OF GOD. (The angel did not say: “The Holy One who is to be born is God the Son.”)
Luke 4:41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was THE CHRIST
John 1:49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are THE SON OF GOD! You are THE KING OF ISRAEL!"
John 5:25-30 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of THE SON OF GOD; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has GRANTED THE SON TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF, and HAS GIVEN HIM AUTHORITY to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. (It is God, the Father, [“the only true God”] who has the power to GRANT the Son to have life in himself, and God HAS GIVEN the Son authority. IF the Son were also God, he would have these as an INHERENT PART OF HIS BEING and they would not have to be GRANTED, or GIVEN, to him BY GOD.)
John 10:35-36 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' BECAUSE I SAID, ‘I AM THE SON OF GOD’” (Jesus CLEARLY says that he is claiming to be THE SON OF GOD, NOT GOD. In verse 35, above, he uses Psalm 82:6 to show them that even the scriptures refer to some men as gods [Hebrew: elohim] who are judges or spokesmen for God, and he was claiming to be the Son of God, not God, but they didn’t want to hear.)
John 5:30 "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (This statement CLEARLY shows that Christ does not claim power and authority from himself - which he would rightly possess if he were God.)
John 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, who is to come into the world."
John 1:34 "And I have seen and testified that this is THE SON OF GOD." (The witness of John the Baptist.)
Luke 22:69-70 “Hereafter the SON OF MAN will sit on the right hand of the power of God." Then they all said, "Are You then THE SON OF GOD?"
So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am.” (The Greek has here: “Ego Eimi” –“I am he”)
Matthew 26:63-64 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD!" Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself THE SON OF GOD."
The Jews knew WHO He claimed to be - the Son of God, NOT God. They refused to accept the witness that God gave through the signs and miracles and good works that Jesus did as He CONFIRMED the word of the LORD to them. There was really no fault in Him, but they would not accept what He told them, even in the face of all the miracles. So, because the Jewish leaders were ENVIOUS of him, they determined to get rid of Him.
[Mark 15:10 For he knew that THE CHIEF PRIESTS (Annas and Caiaphas) had handed Him over BECAUSE OF ENVY.]
But the RESURRECTION was to be God’s ultimate confirmation that Jesus is, indeed, HIS SON - THE MESSIAH. Read what the apostle Paul said about Jesus being declared to be the Son of God …by the resurrection from the dead:
"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which HE PROMISED BEFORE through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and DECLARED TO BE THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER according to the Spirit of holiness, BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD." - - Romans 1:1-4
John 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Mat 27:42-43 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; FOR HE SAID, ‘I AM THE SON OF GOD.'"
(“Son of Man” is also a name given to Jesus 86 times in 82 verses of the New Testament. “Son of God” is found 45 times in 44 verses referring to Jesus. “Lord Jesus” or “Lord Jesus Christ” is found 119 times in 116 verses. These are the most-used names for Jesus.)
How exciting it would be to see a new dedication and a new zeal for searching for the truth today as Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone did in their day! This would not mean going over the scriptures, in the same way as we always have, with the same way of trying to prove our doctrine, not wanting to see anything else. If we do that, we will continue to FAIL to see the real meaning that brings the whole of the scriptures into a CLEARER, UNIFIED FOCUS. We need doctrines that really line up with the scriptures and don't require that we develop an "interpretation" different from what the words of the scriptures PLAINLY say.
Study has caused me to change my position so that I could let the scriptures actually say what they say and not have to "spiritualize" the words to make the words fit what the church teaches. (And I'm not talking about obvious metaphors.) Nothing has given me a surprise like finding out that the Trinity is not really supported by the CLEAR teachings of the Bible, nor is it supported by the earliest HISTORIC RECORDS that tell what happened to bring about a change in the belief held by the early church - which had been UNITARIAN, not TRINITARIAN. I now have been persuaded (after fifty years of study and believing that I understood the truth and held the proper doctrine on the Trinity) that I was one of those who just "THOUGHT" there was scriptural support for that belief. But I was not so wise and not so knowledgeable as I had thought I was.
It was about seven years ago that I heard an Englishman, Sir Anthony Buzzard, speaking on the radio. At the time, he was speaking about the kingdom of God and about the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. That's one of those doctrines about which I had already changed my belief from what I had been taught in the church. I did not think that anyone's eternity would be in jeopardy if they didn't understand it. Therefore, I basically felt I should not cause any trouble by bringing up the fact that I believed in the millennial reign of Christ (the future-coming glorious, thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth). I understood that this was a “taboo” subject and would earn you a bad name among fellow Christians. But I have never understood why the church was so averse to it, because it is definitely discussed in the scriptures.
If you do a study about "millennialism" you will find that the majority of the church today accepts the AMILLENNIAL interpretation, which simply means "no millennium". The basis for Amillennialism actually originated with and was popularized by two theologians - Origen and Augustine. They lived during the 3rd and 4th centuries. Their teachings have been the official teachings of the Catholic Church from that time to this day. Though most Protestant churches protested and broke with other erroneous teachings that had been brought into the church through the years, they continued to hold on to Amillennial teaching. I guess that is because most had never thought to study the subject enough or to question whether it was right or not. It's what they had grown up believing.
The church has NEVER yet fully RECOVERED from all the ERRONEOUS doctrines introduced during that time when the Catholic Church was totally in control. It was the only recognized church, and it had all the power of the Roman Empire behind it. If you are interested in a brief historical study of how the AMILLENNIAL INTERPRETATION came to be, and how, the belief of the church was ORIGINALLY “PREMILLENNIAL” - I would suggest you get a copy of Evangelical Dictionary of Theology by Baker Book House, and read their Section entitled “Millennium, Views of the”- starting on page 714, or see sections of this article with this link: List of Articles about the Millennium .
By the way, Origen was the theologian who thought of “spiritualizing” prophecies about the millennial reign, or the kingdom of God. Origen didn’t want the prophetic scriptures about the glorious earthly kingdom to mean what they literally said, so he developed "spiritualized interpretation". Augustine was the Catholic theologian responsible for “allegorical interpretation." Allegorical interpretation teaches that the church is the only "kingdom of God" there will ever be on earth. According to Augustine's allegorical interpretation, this present age IS "the thousand year reign" spoken of in Revelation 20, and there will be no other literal thousand year reign of the Lord on the earth.
Origen and Augustine did not accept that the reign of Christ would literally come to the earth in power and great glory, except as was manifested in the church. They looked for no other power and glory for the kingdom of God than what was invested in the church, here and now. I believe that is why there is so much pomp, splendor, and power that the Catholic Church wants to claim for itself. They are trying to claim for the church the power and glory ascribed to the kingdom of God by the prophets. But the first century church did not have that understanding about the church being the only manifestation of the kingdom of God on the earth.
The church of the first century actually BELIEVED IN THE EARTHLY MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST TO COME. They literally believed in what the book of Revelation tells about it, as well as what the Old Testament prophets had to say about the glorious kingdom of God. There are writings of very early church fathers that testify to their belief in the coming glorious kingdom of God when Christ will, indeed, be King over all the earth, when His reign will be seen and acknowledged by the whole earth. Everyone will know the Lord and obey Him. All the kingdoms of this world will belong to Him and submit to Him, just like it says: "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" --(Rev 11:15).
Click on these links: Views of James A. Harding and The Views of Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell for their views on the topic of the millennial reign of Christ. You'll see that men who were early leaders in the Restoration Movement had views that were made unpopular by men who wanted to stay with the Catholic Amillennial View. Too bad we didn't have more men like Stone, Campbell, and Harding who were not afraid to challenge doctrines that didn't ring true with the scriptures. We need more searchers and leaders today, who will not be afraid to examine this doctrine.
But I have gotten off the topic, so back to what I was saying about the Trinity.
As I continued to tune in from day to day, Anthony Buzzard began saying things with which I disagreed concerning the Trinity. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:21, I felt I should NOT fear to "TEST ALL THINGS" according to the scriptures, so I sent off for some of his material to compare with the scriptures.
I admit that, at first, I was so defensive of what I believed that I had a hard time really wanting to go any further in my study of his material. In fact, at one point I just decided to put aside his stuff, and just concentrate on looking at the scriptures in the way I always had, but he was presenting SCRIPTURES that clearly contradicted what I had been taught about the Trinity. Deep down, I was apprehensive of letting go of what I had always believed, and besides that, I had been SURE I had really understood what I believed according to the scriptures – at least I thought I had.
However, there were things I couldn't explain, and I began to realize that I wasn't being honest until I gave a fair hearing to all the scriptures he used to explain why God could not be a Trinity. Some of those verses that began to get through and bother me were: Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10, Isa. 44:24, Isa. 45:18, 22; Isa. 46:9; Malachi 2:10; Mark 10:6; Acts 17:24-31; 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6; 1 Timothy 2:5; John 17:3; and Eph. 4:4-6. I know how Trinitarians (having been one) try to get around what those verses say, but in all honesty I can only say that you have to "TWIST" those scriptures and not let them say what they really say if you want to insist on a triune God. "Three in One" is NOT what the scriptures say about God, anywhere.
Deut. 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is ONE! (“ONE” - the number, NOT “UNION” nor “UNITED”.)
The scriptures in the Old Testament are just as INSPIRED by the Spirit of God as are those in the New Testament. I DO NOT believe there is "progressive revelation" in the scriptures that CHANGE what God is like; He is unchanging, always THE SAME:
Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I DO NOT CHANGE; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Isa 43:10 "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe ME, and understand that I am HE. Before ME there was NO GOD FORMED, NOR SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME. (Notice every time a pronoun is used that refers to who God is specifically, it is always a SINGULAR pronoun.)
Isa 44:24 "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am THE LORD, WHO MAKES ALL THINGS, Who stretches out the heavens ALL ALONE, Who spreads abroad the earth BY MYSELF."
(No one was GOD'S agent or helper – so this would EXCLUDE Christ AS THE CREATOR. The scripture says GOD, ALL ALONE, and BY HIMSELF, made all things. Read the scripture above again. It's CLEARLY stated.)
Isaiah 45:18 "For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: "I AM THE LORD, and THERE IS NO OTHER." (I- (singular)- AM THE LORD.)
Isaiah 45:22 ""Look to ME, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I AM GOD, and there is NO OTHER." (The singular pronouns "Me" and "I" CANNOT mean THREE beings. "NO OTHER" excludes all others.)
Isaiah 46:9 "Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is NO OTHER; I am God, and there is NONE LIKE ME." ("NO OTHER" excludes anyone else. - " NONE like Me" (singular - Me) definitely limits God to One being - without peer. If you take it for what it says, it is CLEAR.)
Malachi 2:10 "Have we not all ONE Father? Has not ONE God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?" (This excludes the Son from being the one who "created us" because the CLEAR implication, in the PARALLELISM of Hebrew writing, is that the ONE Father is the ONE God who created us.)
Acts 17:24, 30-31 "GOD, who made the world and everything in it, since HE is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands . . . 30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, "because HE has appointed a day on which HE (God) will judge the world in righteousness BY the MAN whom He has ordained. He (God) has given assurance of this to all BY RAISING HIM (Jesus) from the dead."
1 Corinthians 8:4, 6 "Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is NO OTHER GOD BUT ONE." . . ."yet for us there is ONE GOD, THE FATHER, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we for HIM; and ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST, through whom are all things, and through whom we live."
(Our understanding of "Lord" has come to be synonymous with God, but originally the word "lord" could be used of human beings who were IN A SUPERIOR POSITION OR HELD AUTHORITY - which Jesus is and does. [The Hebrew understanding of the word "god" was ALSO APPLIED TO certain MEN such as Moses and David or to angels, and also to Christ. See Exodus 7:1, Zech. 12:8, Psalm 82:6, Psalm 97:7] The Hebrew word for "God" or "gods" is "elohiym" or “elohim”, defined in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary as:
"430. 'elohiym, el-o-heem'; plur. of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but spec. used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty."
John 10:34-36 "Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? 35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' BECAUSE I SAID, ‘I AM THE SON OF GOD’?"
Psalm 45:6-7 "Your throne, O god, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions."
1 Corinthians 8:6 "Yet for us there is ONE God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and ONE Lord Jesus Christ, THROUGH whom are all things, and through whom we live.
"THROUGH whom are all things" is understood in the FOREORDAINED POSITION that God had reserved from the beginning for His only begotten, sinless Son, Jesus, who came as the last "Adam" - the perfect one FOREKNOWN to God as the one THROUGH WHOM HIS PLAN for the ages would come to fruition, and for whom, and through whom, God planned ALL THINGS because Jesus was the ONLY ONE through whom His plan could be accomplished, because Jesus met the qualification of the sinless, perfect "lamb of God" who was able to take away the sin of the world – “through whom we live.”
1 Peter 1:20 "He indeed was FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, but was manifest in these last times for you."
That was said of Christ, but also Christians were CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD - BUT being FOREORDAINED or "CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD" does not mean PREEXISTENCE - as we can understand in Ephesians 1:3-4:
Ephesians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He CHOSE US in him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."
God chose us before the foundation of the world because, as Paul says in Romans 8:29, He foreknew us - that is: He knew us before we ever came into being. He foreknew everything about each one of us.
"For whom HE FOREKNEW, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." - - Romans 8:29.
In the same way that God foreknew us (and all things) He knew the Lord Jesus before He ever came into being. God's foreknowledge enabled him to say things (and plan ahead for all things) as if they had already happened. God sometimes states things through prophecy in language that sounds as if those things had already happened or come to pass.
Before Abraham EVER had a son, God told him He had ALREADY MADE him a FATHER of many nations. We are reminded of this in Romans 4:17 which says: "(as it is written, "I HAVE MADE you a FATHER of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed; GOD, who gives life to the dead and CALLS THOSE THINGS WHICH DO NOT EXIST AS THOUGH THEY DID."
That is an important understanding about God and His Prophetic word: God "CALLS THOSE THINGS WHICH DO NOT EXIST AS THOUGH THEY DID." That thought helps us to better understand the way some things are stated in prophetic scripture that otherwise might be somewhat confusing.
In God's mind, those things He foreknows are as good as done. Prophecies are sometimes written in the "prophetic past tense" [example: Isaiah 53, the prophecy of the suffering of Christ, is written as if his rejection, suffering, and sacrifice had already happened at the time of Isaiah's writing, but was actually hundreds of years away (in the future) at that time].
Isaiah 46:9-10 "'Remember the former things of old, For I am GOD, and there is NO OTHER; I am GOD, and THERE IS NONE LIKE ME, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'" (Notice all the SINGULAR PRONOUNS, and that there is “NO OTHER”.)
1 TIMOTHY 2:5 "For there is ONE GOD and ONE MEDIATOR between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus." (This clearly says "One God" and then identifies that there is one mediator between God and men - the MAN Christ Jesus, NOT the GOD-MAN Christ Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, and (being the express image of God) he has a GREATER MEASURE of Godly attributes than other men, and God has invested His GREAT POWER and HIS SPIRIT in Jesus without measure - thus enabling him, for testimony and witness, to demonstrate to all that he is, indeed, the SON OF GOD.)
Romans 1:1-4 "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which HE PROMISED BEFORE through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and DECLARED TO BE THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER according to the Spirit of holiness, BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD."
The verse above says that Jesus was "DECLARED to be the Son of God ... by the resurrection from the dead" - Nowhere do the scriptures ever say He was DECLARED to be God. The scriptures say PLAINLY and REPEATEDLY that Jesus is the SON OF GOD and the SON OF MAN; and that was also Jesus' claim - not that He was God, but that he was SENT by God. Jesus said that the Father is the ONLY TRUE GOD in John 17:3:
John 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
Ephesians 4:4-6 "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism; ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, who is ABOVE ALL, and through all, and in you all.
The above verse affirms: (1) There is ONE LORD - JESUS, the preeminent one over all men, SUPERIOR IN POSITION AND AUTHORITY OVER ALL MEN, and (2) There is ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL who is ABOVE ALL–superior over all, including the Lord Jesus. Jesus, HIMSELF, said HIS FATHER WAS GREATER THAN HE:
John 14:28 "You have heard ME say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved ME, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' FOR MY FATHER IS GREATER THAN I." (If the Father and the Son were co-equally GOD, what Jesus said above would be inconsistent with being co-equally God, as also the following verses show in 1 Cor.15:27-28.)
The following scripture puts the relationship of Jesus to the Father in CLEAR language, showing that God, the Father, is indeed above ALL - INCLUDING THE SON.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28 "For "He (GOD) has put all things under his (Jesus') feet." But when He says "ALL things are put under him (Jesus)" it is EVIDENT that He (GOD) who put all things under him is EXCEPTED. [God made Himself an EXCEPTION when He put all things under Jesus] (28) Now when all things are made subject to Him (GOD-singular), then the Son himself will also be subject to Him (God - singular) who put all things under him, that GOD may be all in all." [Jesus, the Son, will also be subject to God when ALL things are subject to God. This also takes co-equality out of the picture.]
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The following quotations are taken from two articles: “The Trinity: Time for a Public Discussion” and “Elohim Does Not Mean God in Two Persons” - found in the Focus on the Kingdom Magazine, edited by Sir Anthony Buzzard, found on the web at: www.focusonthekingdom.org/58.htm#1.
From an article about Trinitarianism vs Unitarianism in the Encyclopedia Americana:
“Unitarianism [belief in the Father as the ‘only true God’ (John 17:3) and in Jesus as the Son and Messiah] as a theological movement began much earlier in history; indeed it antedated Trinitarianism by many decades. Christianity derived from Judaism, and Judaism was strictly Unitarian. The road which led from Jerusalem to the Council of Nicea was scarcely a straight one. 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.”[1] - - From Encyclopedia Americana, 1956, Vol. 27, p. 2941.
“Jesus himself fully endorsed the Jewish view that God is One Person (Mark 12:28-34). He aligned himself with the Jewish view of God. “We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). No Jew thought that God was a “family of two” or three or a Trinity of divine, coequal “Persons.” Jesus agreed with the Jewish theologians about who God was. To interfere with that Jewish understanding of the nature of God is something of a slap in the face for the saints of the Hebrew Bible and the Apostles.”
“Christians should begin to follow Jesus in this crucially important matter. For too long they have been lured into subtle forms of polytheism — and polytheism breaks the first commandment. The fragmentation we now witness amongst believers could be healed if they returned to the great, cardinal Truth that God is One Lord (Deut. 6:4, affirmed by Jesus in Mark 12:28ff.).”²
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I cannot begin to cover the material I have studied with all the scriptural references, but I beg you to take the time to seriously and fair-mindedly read the articles that you have free access to on the web at www.focusonthekingdom.org/, where you may click on "Focus on the Kingdom" Magazine" (back issues) and go from there. Also, they have a “Search” box where you may type in a scripture like: “John 1:1” or a topic like “Trinity” and you will get a Search Result with all the issues of the magazine where those scriptures or topics are addressed. Just click on the one you want and it automatically comes up. So please take advantage of this and get on the web at www.restorationfellowship.org or www.mindspring.com/~anthonybuzzard.
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I do not have time to say much about the Holy Spirit, except to say that one verse that makes the Spirit of God more understandable to me is the one in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 where a comparison of "the spirit of man" is made with "the Spirit of God." We all understand that the spirit within us is not a separate personality from us, but we say things like: I will be with you in spirit. We are not talking about someone different from us going to be with someone. Neither is God's Spirit a separate personality from Him, rather we may understand that God's Spirit is the expressive, interactive presence of God being with us and working His will in the earth. (God is everywhere!) As man's spirit is a part of man, God's Spirit is the part of God that reveals His word and comes to dwell in man as a witness that we belong to Him.
1 Cor 2:10-11 "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF THE MAN WHICH IS IN HIM? Even so no one knows the things of God EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF GOD."
Romans 8:16 "The Spirit Himself (or "itself" - auto in the Greek - no capital letters) bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."
Just as our spirit can be grieved, so can God's spirit be grieved. Ephesians 4:30 says: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Again that is no reason to try to make a separate personality of the Spirit of God, anymore than we should think that we have a separate personality in our spirits. But the Spirit is another topic, with not enough time and space to cover for now. _______________________________________________________________________
I think we have become so enmeshed and focused on the way of interpretation that we have been taught, that we just think there CANNOT be any other way of understanding that would be RIGHT. It is so tremendously emotional to think of pulling away or changing from what we have been brought up to believe in the church. It's not just the doctrine, but it's the fellowship of the people with whom we have had such a strong bond and common fellowship in a faith that is at the heart of who we are.
To think of having to make a choice that would fracture that bond (if it has to come to that) makes the decision for anyone to change so extremely hard. How do we handle it when WHAT we have fully believed is brought to light as false? When our arguments and interpretations are challenged with scriptures that better fit the whole of scripture, when a valid explanation is given to show how this idea of the Trinity was not really what the early church believed, but that it was initiated through the forceful efforts of the Council of Nicea by a group of unscrupulous men with the help of the Emperor, with all his power - then we have to really study out all the facts and scriptures and give a fair hearing if we are really truth-seekers.
Please read the well-documented (easy-to-read, fast moving, thought-provoking) book entitled "When Jesus Became God" by Richard E. Rubenstein, which may be purchased at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156013150?v=glance-73k for $11.00, I believe. Also, please read the book entitled "The Doctrine of the Trinity, Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound" by Anthony Buzzard, who also had to change his understanding about God to make it line up with the scriptures. His book is also available through www.Amazon.com. It has a section of scripture references at the end for easy location of particular verses dealing with the subject of God and His only begotten Son and the page on which you can find discussion about them in his book. Please get a copy and study it along with the scriptures, and ask God's guidance and wisdom to help you understand the truth.
I had to ask myself: "Is my holding onto my belief going to make it acceptable with God if it is not what the scriptures actually teach?" Do I think I can make it "truth" just because I believe it and want to be part of the group who holds to that doctrine? We know what the right answers are to those questions. I am hoping there will be many who will want to become a part of a new effort in the church to continue the movement that seeks to go back completely to “the apostles’ doctrine.” By reviving the spirit of the Bereans, being brave enough to look honestly at the scriptures, and being willing to change when error is revealed, we may lock arms with those men who began the original Restoration Movement so long ago. I pray that God will help us all to do just that.
Seeking the Truth in the Scriptures,
Carolyn Pinon
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