The Trinity

Background


This page is about why all of orthodox Christianity believes in the Trinity or Triune God.
It is for those who have never studied why we believe in a Three-IN-One God.

There are various groups, one being the Dan-ites, [the followers of an individual named Dan who used to be a Christian but is now going farther and farther away from Christianity]. Jews also have trouble believing in this because they worship the same God as Christians do but they believe the Messiah has not yet come. Christians are sure that he came in the form of Jehoshua, Yeshua, Joshua or better known as Jesus the Christ. You did know that the last name of Jesus was NOT Christ did you not?


If you don't believe me simply look up his last name in the phonebook of the time and you will not find it there :-) I guess those "phonebooks" would have been recycled by now.

He was called Jesus the Christ. Christ means the Messiah.

1. Dan stated on Facebook that the Bible does NOT teach the trinity. He also stated that Jehoshua, Jesus was not the son of God but a son of God and a great teacher. [I assume he is now almost fully metamorphosed into a Jewish gentile :-)]

2. He also now casts doubt on the gospel of John where it shows with almost 1/2 of your brain tied behind your back that Jesus was with God, equal with God, as was the Holy Spirit.

"orthodox" simply means, the main beliefs of all Christians as outlined in the various creeds such as the Nicene Creed.

Here is the basic Nicene Creed which has had a few I think minor changes by various groups as outlined on this page.   
The bolded texts are the ones Dan could not agree with now that he has started his own sect, because he does not see the trinity in the Bible. Tune in below the quote to see why he must have torn out part of his Bible to have that belief! :-)

"We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

*Catholic means universal not Roman Catholic.
**Apostolic means handed down from the apostles of Jesus..

Now you must understand Dan has become a legalist which means a follower of the letter of the law or torah; until he finds something he disagrees with then he uses his "logic". 

The problem with anyone's logic but God's is that God's ways are higher than our ways. They don't always seem logical to an earthly mind.

After all, would you offer up your son to die a ghastly death dying slowly on the cross while he tries to push himself up repeatedly to alleviate the constant pain?

How can someone dying solve any problems? Perhaps you should think about Hitler and WWII if you do not know. Not saying it is comparable but we can draw similarities. Jesus willingly gave up his life to fulfill [which in Hebrew means "complete" or "finish"] the prophecies about the Messiah.

You see in Jewish life, sacrifices were offered to atone for sins or be a representation of the fact that one is atoning for his or her sin.

The Scriptures Do Teach The Trinity

I have a 4 1/2 page document [rough draft] explaining every detail. If you want it please contact me and ask for the Trinity Document and I will attach it to an email. It will be in pdf format so you will need a pdf reader like Adobe Reader or others. 

Use cpedley "at" gmail ".com"
Now you will have to change "at" for the proper symbol and add .com at the end of the word gmail ....

Scriptures Supporting a Trinity, a "Three-in-One" God
[More discussion is in my trinity document you can request as shown above. Right now I will simply make a brief comment about each scripture. By the way, I have looked at many Bible versions and they all agree.]

1. Genesis 1:1 [a good place to start]
KJV+ [means King James Version with Strong's concordance" The numbers refer to the meaning of the actual Hebrew (H) or Greek (G) words translated to English. 


Gen 1:1  In the beginning H7225 God H430 created H1254 (H853) the heavenH8064 and the earth.H776 

H430
אלהים
'ĕlôhı̂ym
el-o-heem [English phonetic pronunciation of the Hebrew word]
Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically 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.

Now any Bible-revelation-believing-Christian would need NO OTHER PROOFS !

Elohim refers to a plural God, more than one, and yet the OT God usually only mentions one God!

So WHO else was there being a CREATOR other than God? Does God have a split-personality disorder? :-)

Keep watching for the "Elohim's" or "us's"' in the rest of the scriptures.

Gen 1:26
KJV - Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

KJV+ Gen 1:26  And GodH430 [Remember Elohim, the plural?] said,H559 Let us makeH6213 manH120 in our image,H6754 after our likeness:H1823 and let them have dominion ...

Again the plural form of God is used, Elohim, ["God, Elohim, Us, Our]. 

Notice that he said "Let US make man in OUR image".

All plural. Should be a hint dawning upon you right about now :-)

Also we are made in God's image. We have a spirit [where God or the "dark side", satan speaks to us, a soul [mind, will and emotions] and a body. Do I really have to explain "body" :-)

This compares to God the father that scripture teaches no man but Moses has ever seen [maybe even Moses did not?], the Spirit [the Holy Spirit] and The Son who was begotten as the man Jesus.

Genesis 3:22

KJV 

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 

Gen 3:22  And the LORDH3068 GodH430 said,H559 Behold,H2005 the manH120 is becomeH1961 as oneH259 ofH4480 us, to knowH3045 goodH2896 and evil:H7451 and now,H6258 lestH6435 he put forthH7971 his hand,H3027 and takeH3947 alsoH1571 of the treeH4480 H6086 of life,H2416 and eat,H398 and liveH2425 for ever:H5769 

Notice again God is speaking and the plural form of God "Elohim" is again used. H430 as you saw above means the "plural" God...

Notice also that men [who were building the tower of Babel] were attempting to become like God, to know good and evil as the PLURAL God does.

Now a few more scriptures without comment bolded where there is indication of a PLURAL God. 

VERSES of PLURALITY

Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 

Is. 6:8 (KJV)  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 

Who is "us" referring to?

Who is saying "Here am I; send me"

Is. 48:16

(ESV)  Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there." And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit. 

(KJV)  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 

Who was God sending? What does "from the beginning" mean?

Is it not the son, Jesus who was sent?
===============================
Is. 61:1 

(KJV)  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 

(KJV+)  The SpiritH7307 of the LordH136 GODH3069 is uponH5921 me; becauseH3282 the LORDH3068 hath anointedH4886 me to preach good tidingsH1319 unto the meek;H6035 he hath sentH7971 me to bind upH2280 the brokenhearted,H7665 H3820 to proclaimH7121 libertyH1865 to the captives,H7617 and the opening of the prisonH6495 to them that are bound;H631 

(LITV)  The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me, because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and complete opening to the bound ones; 

Who is speaking here in Is. 61:1?Who was anointed to preach good tidings?Who is to bind up the brokenhearted?Who is to proclaim liberty to the captives?Who is the proclaim the opening of the prison to them that are bound?

Is it not Jehoshua, Joshua, Jesus?

If not then this Jesus must be lying here when he stood up in the temple and read from Isaiah 61.

MKJV Luk 4:13  And when the Devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him for a time. 

Luk 4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And a report went out throughout all the neighborhood concerning Him. 
Luk 4:15  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 
Luk 4:16  And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And, as His custom was, He went in to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 
Luk 4:17  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And unrolling the book, He found the place where it was written, 

Luk 4:18  "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed, 
Luk 4:19  to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." 

Luk 4:20  And rolling up the book, returning it to the attendant, He sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him. 
Luk 4:21  And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears. 
Luk 4:22  And all bore witness to Him and wondered at the gracious words which came out of His mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son? 

Hundreds of years before Jesus was sent it was prophesied what his mission would be. Jesus stood up and proclaimed he was sent by God to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah given many years before. He volunteered while in heaven if you read Isaiah 61.

He was part of the Godhead, the son, long before he came to earth. That is when he volunteered to come "Here am I, send me!"

[There is much more for later]

However I must point out this point.

Do you believe John the baptist was supposed to baptize people?

Do you believe Jesus was baptized by John the baptist? Why?

As part of the great commission do you believe it was Jesus that said these words?


MKJV Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. 
Mat 28:19  Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 
Mat 28:20  teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.

If there was not a trinity, then why would Jesus tell his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? 

*Then some uninformed do not understand that Jesus was always there with God. The book of John tells us that:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 

Joh 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 
Joh 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. 
Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God; his name was John. 
Joh 1:7  This one came as a witness, to bear witness concerning the Light, so that all might believe through him. 
Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 
Joh 1:9  He was the true Light; He enlightens every man coming into the world. 
Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. 
Joh 1:11  He came to His own, and His own received Him not. 
Joh 1:12  But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name, 
Joh 1:13  who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God. 
Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth. 
Joh 1:15  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I spoke: He who comes after me has been before me, for He was preceding me. 
Joh 1:16  And out of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace. 
Joh 1:17  For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 


Yes, an unbeliever or someone who is not enlightened enough to know would read this and not understand it.

But as Christians we have the Holy Spirit and it is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that:

Jesus was the Word.
The Word was with God.
The Word was God.
He was there in the beginning with God.
He was the creator because everything that was made was made through Him.
The Word [Jesus] was made flesh and lived among his people but they did not know him except for some.
The ones that did know who he was became his followers and built the church, the "body" of Christ as they were instructed by Jesus to do. 

Now there  are roughly 2.1 billion Christians in the world. None of us are perfect but it all started with one man, Jesus, who always was, but was made flesh so we could hear him and believe.

And to those who believe, they become the sons of God and inherit eternal life.

There are many more references about the trinity-nature of God. But guess what? IF you do not believe the ones I have already given, you really are not going to believe if I gave you 10,000 more evidences because YOU have DECIDED NOT to believe.

Free choice. God's gift to human beings. We can eat junk food our whole lives or we can eat nutritious food. We can drink beverages full of sugar which help to make us fat or we can drink more water, get some exercise and have a well-rounded diet.

We can also choose to live FOR OURSELVES for everything that gives us pleasure and to hell with the rest of the world. 

Or we can decide to live for others, to help others as much as we possibly can. 

God gives us freedom to choose to believe him or not. We must all live or die with the consequences of our actions.

My prayer for you is that you might see the LIGHT, Jesus the Messiah and believe! Choose real life! Amen.

I can tell you from personal experience, cross the bridge to belief, and it will be like a whole new world opens up to you that you did not see before. 

Your life will not be perfect, BUT you will have the giver of life at your side ready to help you.

Would you like a free Bible software program with many versions and references you can download and read on screen?

On my Windows PC I use E-Sword found at 

http://www.e-sword.net/

After you download and install the program, inside the program there are all kinds of references that you can also download for free.

There are also copyrighted Bibles and references that you can pay for and download as well if you like.

Sincerely

Charles Pedley

Editor