The Trinity
Rev. Steve Marlowe
Thus says the LORD {YHWH, the Lord YAH}: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this: That he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising loving kindness, Judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For these I delight, says the LORD {YAH} (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
“LORD,” is the standard translation for the Hebrew name for God, as found in the English translation of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. God, the Father, who gave all things to the Son of God (Luke 10:22), called Him LORD (see Hebrews 1:10 NKJV). The Tetragrammaton consists of four consonant letters, the four letters in Hebrewיהוה (transliterated as YHWH), the very name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are Yodh, Hey, Waw, and Hey. The name is derived from a verb that means "to be", "to exist", "to cause to become", or "to come to pass," as in the Hebrew word “hawah,” modern Hebrew “havah” (see Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words # 1933). There is a lack of consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form Yahweh is accepted almost universally, although the euphonious hybrid name Jehovah continues to have wide usage.
The short form יה, YAH, was given to Moses (Exodus 3:14). The expression YAH is found in Halleluyah, Praise YAH! YAH is essentially “the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Since the Babylonian invasion of the Kingdom of Judah, Jewish traditions do not pronounce יהוה nor do they read aloud the name, YHWH, but instead they replace it with a different term, such as Adonay, Elohim, or Eloah. Common substitutions in Hebrew are אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, the literal translation of “ My Lords”,to mean “The Plural of Majesty,” or Elohim (literally "gods" but traditionally translated as singular that is "God") in prayer, or HaShem ("The Name") in everyday speech.
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation’” (Isaiah 12:2 NKJV).
Does the Trinity help teach us to truly know who the LORD (YHWH, YAHWEH) is?
Is the Trinity essential to believe in, as a prerequisite to receiving salvation?
Commonly known fact: The word “Trinity” does not appear anywhere in the Bible, nor was it initially taught by Christ, apostles, or teachers of the Bible. The Trinity is not to be found explicitly in the Bible. Trinitarians teach Bible passages that are meant to imply the Trinity but are taken out of context. If the Trinity doctrine is said to be essential to believe to receive salvation, then why did the Savior not teach it? Why did it only formalize as a Doctrine between the years 325 A.D. to 381 A.D.?
Fact: After the Apostolic period, 30 A.D. to 90 A.D., false beliefs flourished during the Post-Apostolic period, for example, the Gnostics were an early challenge to Christianity.
The Catholic Encyclopedia identifies the Trinity as “...the central doctrine of the Christian faith” (1912 ed.). The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults, states, “The Dogma of the Trinity is the central dogma of the Catholic faith. Only with belief in it can one grasp and explicitly believe other central teachings” (Donald Wuerl, Ronald Lawler, editors, 2005, p. 150). The Book: Catholicism states, “Whoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold to the Catholic Faith. Unless he keeps this faith whole and undefiled, without doubt, he shall perish everlastingly. The Catholic faith is this: We worship one God in the Trinity” (George Brantl, editor, 1961, p.69). According to the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant Denominations, all Christians are to believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as defined by Trinitarians, that is the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet not three Gods (Elohim), one God (EL or Eloah). How does the Bible define and describe the relationships? If the Trinity, as defined by church councils in the fourth century, is so essential to our salvation, then why was it not explicitly taught in the first three centuries in the church, and why are the Gospels devoid of Trinitarian teaching, that God is three Person in One God? What about the salvation of all the people in the first, second, and third centuries, who knew nothing about it?
The Trinity is considered essential, sacred, and fundamental and most Christian churches view it as the litmus test for deciding who is and who is not a Christian. James White, theology professor, and conservative Baptist, writes: “We hang a person’s very salvation upon the acceptance of the doctrine… No one dares question the Trinity for fear of being branded a ‘heretic’... We must know, understand, and love the Trinity to be fully and completely Christian” (The Forgotten Trinity, 1998, pp. 14-15).
The Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have excommunicated, persecuted, and murdered thousands of believers in Christ for not believing in the Trinity, a Doctrine that they honestly admitted to not understanding, and there is no evidence in the Bible of a Triune God. Many Christians will tell you that they believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but in reality, do not believe in three Persons in One God. They, non-trinitarian Christians, were mostly executed for failure to believe in the Trinitarian Doctrine as a formula per the dictates of the Councils of Bishops over three hundred years after Christ death and resurrection.
The LORD, Christ, has told us to glory in knowing Him, however, through the Doctrine of the Trinity, Trinitarian scholars have said some interesting and challenging things about our ability to understand God as Triune. A Handbook of Christian Truth: “The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. He who has tried to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind; but he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul” (Harold Lindsell and Charles Woodbridge, 1953, pp. 51-52). Would God really deny salvation to any believer in Christ because of their inability, and incapacity, of understanding what learned Christian theologians admit is incomprehensible to human understanding, namely comprehending the Trinity? Nowhere is it written in God’s word, the Bible, “‘You will be denied salvation because you are incapable of understanding and therefore truly believing in the Trinity,’ thus says the Triune God.” We are admonished by the apostle Peter, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15). But according to The Encyclopedia Americana, on the subject of the Trinity, it states, “beyond the grasp of human reason” (1980, Vol. 27, “The Trinity”). If we honestly try to give a defense for the Trinity, we are indeed defenseless! “The doctrine of the Triune God is mysterious in its origin and its content… It is a doctrine that revolves around a mystery that has fascinated and challenged the minds of men down the centuries… Today it is being challenged by many as unintelligible and irrelevant… in its traditional formation and presentation” (The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity, Edmund Fortman, 1972, p. xxv-xxvi). Christian author and noted theology professor Harold Brown writes, “It has proved impossible for Christians actually to understand the doctrine or explain it in any comprehensible way. The Doctrine of the Trinity… surpasses our human ability to understand and that must be respected as a divine mystery” (Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church, 2003, p. 128).
Many Christians have tried to defend their faith in the Trinity, however, according to Professor James White, previously quoted, “The [Trinity] doctrine is misunderstood as well as ignored. It is so misunderstood that a majority of Christians when asked, give incorrect and at times downright heretical definitions of the Trinity” (p. 16). The majority of Christians cannot defend the Trinity without heretical statements, which means the majority of Christians do not know the Trinity even though they confess to knowing it to others. How are Christians to defend or deal with the Doctrine of the Trinity that is impossible for Christians to understand, a doctrine that is unintelligible, misunderstood, presents strange paradoxes, and is widely disputed? Many sincere believers have wondered if this sounds like a doctrine on which to base our faith and salvation when the apostle Paul has assured us that “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Most Christians, when it comes to understanding the Trinity, ascribe to Modalistic thinking without knowing it to be heretical. When Christians try to explain the Trinity, many are doing so in Modalistic terms. As stated by theologian Harold O. J. Brown in his book “Heresies,” he writes, “The word modalism is unfamiliar to most Christians, yet it is the most common theological error among people who think themselves Orthodox. It is the simplest way to explain the Trinity while preserving the Oneness of God, unfortunately, it is incorrect” (p. 99). Modalism upholds the deity of Christ but does not see Him as a distinct Person from the Father. It holds that God reveals Himself under different modes in different ages, the Father in the Old Testament as creator and given of the Law, and as the Son in the New Testament offering salvation, and then as the Holy Ghost after Christ’s ascension. Modalism ensures the full deity of Christ, and it avoids the suggestion that He is a second God. Many Christians would be shocked to know that this expression is not the Doctrine of the Trinity, but heresy! A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, on the subject of the Trinity, states, “Precisely what that doctrine is, or rather precisely how it is to be explained, Trinitarians are not agreed among themselves” (Lyman Abbott, editor). Imagine, your salvation depended on how a Trinitarian Pastor taught the Trinity to you! This is reminiscent of the blind leading the blind. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: acknowledges that “Trinity is a second-century term found nowhere in the Bible, and the Scriptures present no finished Trinitarian statement” (“Trinity”, Vol. 4, 1988, p. 914). The New Encyclopedia Britannica, “Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament… The Doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies… It was not until the 4th century that the distinctness of the three and their unity brought together in a single Orthodox Doctrine of one essence and three persons” (1985 edition, Micropedia, Vol. 11, p. 928).
Historian H.G. Wells, in his book: The Outline of History, points out that, “There is no evidence that the apostles of Jesus ever heard of the Trinity–at any rate from him” (1920, Vol. 2, p. 499). Martin Luther, a leader of the Protestant Reformation, preached a sermon and he said, “It is indeed true that the name ‘Trinity’ is nowhere to be found in the Holy Scriptures, but has been conceived and invented by man” (reproduction in The Sermons of Martin Luther, John Lenker, Vol. 3, 1988, p. 406). Millard Erickson, research professor of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes that the Trinity “is not clearly explicitly taught anywhere in Scripture, yet it is widely regarded as a central doctrine, indispensable to the Christian faith. In this regard, it goes contrary to what is virtually an axiom (evident truth) of biblical doctrine, namely, that there is a direct correlation between the Scriptural clarity of a doctrine and its cruciality to the faith and life of the church. In view of the difficulty of the subject and the great amount of effort expended to maintain this doctrine, we may well ask ourselves what might justify all this trouble” (God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity, 1995, p. 12). Dr. Erickson seems to be telling us that a doctrine not clearly seen in Scripture is not worth having, and not a doctrine at all.
After reviewing the statements of noted theologians and historians, the question goes begging, and therefore, “It is understandable that the importance placed on this doctrine is perplexing to many Christians. Nowhere is it, the Trinity, clearly and unequivocally stated in Scripture… How can it be so important if it is not explicitly stated in Scripture? …The Doctrine of the Trinity developed gradually after the completion of the New Testament in the heat of controversy… The full-blown doctrine of the Trinity was spelled out in the fourth century at two great ecumenical councils, Nicea (A.D. 325) and at Constantinople (A.D. 381)” (see The Trinity, 2002, p. 102). This was all done by arguing, bickering, and combative bishops in two councils over 325 years after Christ without on “Thus says the LORD, ‘I am the Triune God.’”
Did Greek Philosophy play a part in the development of the Trinity? “Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC) believed in the divine triad of God, the ideas, forms, and the spirit world, though he nowhere explained or harmonized this triad” (Christian Platonists of Alexandria, Charles Biggs, p. 249). Bible scholars John McClintock and James Strong explain, “Toward the end of the 1st century, and during the 2nd, many learned men came over both from Judaism and paganism to Christianity. These brought with them into the Christian schools of theology their Platonic ideas and phraseology” (Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 1891, Vol. 10, “Trinity,” p. 553). “The Alexandria Catechism school, which revered Clement of Alexandria, Egypt, and Origen, the great theologian of the Greek Christian Church, as it heads, applied the allegorical method to the explanation of the Scriptures. Its thought was influenced by Plato. Its strong point was [pagan] theological speculation. Athanasius and the three Cappadocians [the men whose Trinitarian views were adopted by the Catholic Church starting at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople] had been included among its members” (Hubert Jedin, Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A Historical Outline, 1960, p. 28).
Edward Gibbon’s History of Christianitystated “If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism [basic religion in Context] of the first Christians… was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the Trinity. Many of the Pagan tenets, invented by the (Greek descended) Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief” (Edward Gibbon, History of Christianity, p. xvi, 1883 ed.) The link between Plato’s teachings and the Trinity as adopted by the Catholic Church centuries later is so strong that Edward Gibbon, in his masterwork, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, referred to Plato as “‘The Athenian sage,’ who had thus marvelously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation–the Trinity” (p. 574).
THE TRINITARIAN DOCTRINE
Christians are supposed to believe, according to Trinitarianism, that there is only one God, which exists as one essence (Gk. homoousios) in three Persons (Gk. hypostasis).
The three Persons are: God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Ghost
However, the three Persons of the Trinity are distinct: The Father is not the Son.
The Son is not the Father.
The Holy Ghost is not the Father or Son.
Therefore, The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet not three Gods (Heb. Elohim means gods), one God (Heb. Eloah means God). Elohim means gods, and therefore, Elohim is not, nor can be, part of the equation or Trinitarian formula.
The Bible teaches One supreme God: “Hear, O Israel, YAHAVAH our God is One YAHAVAH” (Deuteronomy 6:4). YAH means I AM, and havah, originally hawah modernized to havah, and so havah means, to be, to exist, to be ever-present. God revealed to Moses the meaning of His name: “I AM Everpresent,” behold the name of God, YaHaVaH, originally YAHAWAH, both have the same meaning. Is this One Divine Person being described here with the name of YAHAVAH (YAHAWAH, scholars like YAHWEH), or is this YAHAVAH three Persons in this passage of Scripture?
Who is YAHAVAH according to the Bible? Our God YAHAVAH states, “I, even I, am YAHAVAH, And besides Me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). Who is speaking here, one Person, two Persons, or three Persons? Only one person speaks in terms of I, as He said, “I, even I, am YAHAVAH. There is only one Person here speaking, not three.
“Thus says the YAHAVAH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel…” (Isaiah 43:14). According to the Trinity, there are three distinct Persons, and so it behooves you to ask, which Person is speaking here claiming to be the only Savior? Only one Person, of the so-called Trinity, is our Redeemer and Savior. How many Saviors unto salvation and eternal life do we have? Again, our LORD says, “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” (Isaiah 43:10). The earth is His, and He alone is our God. There is no God in three Persons speaking here, just One God, YAHAVAH. Sadly, this truth will not be received, and so the lament, 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Christ is the only Rock
“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one'” (Isaiah 44:6-8).
Compare
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). The Father and God of our Lord YAHSHUA, the Son of God, gave all things to the Son. “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand’ (John 3:35). Christ is the only Rock!
The One speaking to us throughout the Bible is the Word of God, YAHSHUA, the Son of God. YAHSHUA says, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the LORD YAH, ‘Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty… I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last…’” (Revelation 1:8,11a). According to the Book of Revelation, only One Person is speaking here, not three, and therefore, Only One Person speaking as recorded in Isaiah reveals all things, Christ YAHSHUA.
Christ is our only God to the glory of His God and Father
20 But now Christ {YAHSHUA} is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man [Adam] came death, by Man {YAHSHUA the Rock} also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who areChrist’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He {YAHSHUA} delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when He {YAHSHUA} puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He {YAHSHUA} must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy thatwill be destroyed is death. 27 For “He {God the Father} has put all things under {YAHSHUA} His feet.” But when He {the Father} says “all things are put under Him,” {YAHSHUA} it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
The Father gave all things to the Son, and that makes the Son of God supreme over all things, and He, the Son, is the only God over all things. And the Son, YAHSHUA, has the right to claim all things. Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!
