What about the Trinity?

What about the Trinity?

By Harley Pinon

For most of my adult life, I would have asked, "What kind of question is that?" Having been baptized at the age of 10, and going on to graduate from Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University), and having preached in Churches of Christ for over 40 years, I equated the trinity with just being as biblical as anything could be.

Before doing further research into the question, I can remember sort of mentally stumbling over the statement that all good Trinitarians learn to say, "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit." I say that I "mentally stumbled" because while saying that, I was aware of the fact that such a statement was no where to be found in the scripture. There are scriptures that speak of the Father and Son, but do they really support the doctrine of the Trinity?

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," (1 Tim 2:5 NKJV) It is quite easy for us to rationalize away this verse by saying, but we believe in "God in three persons, blessed trinity!" But is the "trinity" "of heaven or of men?" What did Jesus have to say about Himself and God? (John 17:3 NKJV) "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." If Jesus isn't God, then Who is He? What does scripture say? (Mat 16:16-17 NKJV) Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." {17} Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Notice these important points:

Jesus pronounces a blessing on Peter.
He doesn't say, your answer is a good start in the right direction, but you didn't make it clear that I am also fully God.
He does say that the given answer was revealed to him by God.

A passage that we quote a lot should be considered also: (Eph 4:4-6 NKJV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; {5} one Lord, one faith, one baptism; {6} one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

(Deu 6:4 NKJV) says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!" Again, it is easy for us to think in terms of three because that is what we have been taught all of our religious lives. To not accept the Trinity is thought by most to mean that you must be a member of some weird cult if you believe otherwise, but the verses continue.

The God of creation is another challenging thought. (Isa 44:24 NKJV) '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;"' In Isa 45:18, we read, "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."

The word "trinity" is not in the Bible. I think almost everyone knows that. Somehow many of us have never asked, if the trinity is not in the Bible, where did it come from? The answer is that it came from the church of the fourth century. A church that had gone into apostasy. It was a church that was corrupted by doctrines of men and that were enforced by Constantine in his own way. Constantine wanted unity among all believers. It was a period of time when religious matters were not decided by public debate, but rather by blood shed. A scripture has come to have new meaning for me. (Mat 11:12 NKJV) "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

I often make reference to (Phil 2:12 NKJV), "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;" It is easy to think we are openly searching the scriptures, but sometimes we think they say what we have heard others tell us they say. I realize that questioning the doctrine of the trinity is not a popular thing to do, but my question is, does it agree with the numerous "One God" statements of scripture?

One other thing to think about: Jesus greatest enemies here are earth were the Pharisees. They hated Him so much that they crucified Him. What was the charge: (Mat 26:63 NKJV) 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!" Wouldn’t it have been a far more serious charge to claim that Jesus was claiming to be God? Isn’t that close to a rhetorical question? Apparently it never crossed their minds to claim that He claimed to be God. Shouldn’t that tell us something?

Other points to consider

If He were God, how could He be tempted in all points like I am?

(James 1:13 NKJV) Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

If He were God, how could He die? -- God is eternal, He cannot die.

If He were God, why did God have to give Him so many things:

His authority: (Mat 28:18 NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

His inheritance (Psa 2:8 NKJV) Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

His words (John 12:49 NKJV) "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

If He were God, why does Paul say, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim 2:5 NKJV)

This article is not intended in any way to exhaust all arguments on the subject. More may be added to this site in the near future. These thoughts are only intended to stimulate your thinking. There is vastly more that can, and probably should be added. Your response is always welcome. For a discussion of the troublesome first chapter of John, I would refer you to an excellent article by Anthony Buzzard. I will try to post thoughts of my own later, but he has an excellent article. The link is John 1:1-14

For a further discussion of this subject see my article Is the Trinity a Salvation Issue? and What Does the Bible Say about Who Jesus Is? For a very detailed study of many questions about the Trinity by my wife Carolyn, with supporting scriptures and links to other sites go to: A Further Study of the Trinity For what some of our restoration leaders thought, you can go to What Others Have Said about the Trinity or What Barton W. Stone said about the Trinity

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