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Other
Articles on the Trinity Controversy
Beware
of Polytheism
The Doctrine
of Christ
The Lord Our God
Is One
Trinity Doctrinal Chart
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Beware of Polytheism
Historically Christianity religion along with Judaism and Islam
have been categorized as monotheistic religions. However, since
many Christians believed in the Trinity, some felt their claim of
monotheism was suspect. Since the Trinitarian's historic phrase
"one substance" was nebulas enough to imply their three
gods were one person--the Trinitarian wing of the Christian church
was accepted as monotheistic.
The word "Trinity" does not appear in
the Bible. Adolf Harneck, a Trinitarian and noted church historian
observed that as late as the 3rd Century most Christians did not
believe the holy Spirit was a personality but merely the power of
God.1 Early church writers, such as Irenaeus, Clement
of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, Arnobius and
Lactantius, were very explicit in affirming that the Heavenly
Father alone is the supreme God and that Jesus is completely
subordinate to His authority and will. As educated converts from
Paganism vied for positions of authority in the church. They
brought with them the pagan concept of a "triune god"
that was resisted by ordinary believers. "The victory of
orthodoxy [so called] was a triumph of priests and theologians
over the indeed deeply rooted faith of the people."2
In 325 AD Emperor Constantine convened the
Council of Nice and through political intrigue with the bishops
had the Nicene Creed formulated. It stated that the Father and Son
are coequal and coeternal. This disagreed with Jesus' words,
"My Father is greater than I." (John 14:28) "I can
of mine own self do nothing my judgment is just; because I seek
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me." (John 5:30) "as my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you." (John 20:21) "I ascend unto my Father, and
your Father: and to my God and your God." (John 20:17)
Note that the Heavenly Father is said to be the
God of Jesus. Jesus spoke of his Father in John 17:3 as the
"only true God."
Then in AD 381, 300 years after the Christian
Church began, the holy Spirit was declared a God and the dogma of
the Trinity was forged by the Trinitarian wing of the Church at
the Council of Constantinople. They defined the Trinity as three
Gods in one substance. This was not a Scriptural teaching held
from the inception of the Christian Church. This was the forging
of a tradition that would plague the church for centuries.
Why the Tradition Endured
In the whole Bible there is only one scripture
that seems to teach the concept of three persons in one. It is the
King James rendering of 1 John 5:7, 8, "For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and
these three agree in one."
The words italicized in this scriptural
quotation are not found in any of the oldest and most reliable
Biblical manuscripts. That they are not a genuine part of the
original text is the unanimous verdict of contemporary scholars,
evangelicals included. Look up 1 John 5:7, 8, in the Revised
Standard Version, New American Standard Version, New International
Version, etc. These translations do not agree with the King James
Version. They omit these italicized spurious (not authentic)
words. Why? Because overzealous Trinitarians added these words
after the Council of Constantinople in AD 381.
More properly translated 1 John 5:7, 8, reads:
"For these are three which testify; the spirit, and the
water, and the blood; and the three are of one." 3 Here
the holy Spirit is part of the only trinity (three in one) taught
in the Bible. But it is a trinity of non-personalities, the water
(Jesus' baptism), the spirit (Jesus' anointing), and the blood
(Jesus' death). Blood and water are not persons; therefore, the
third part of this trinity-the holy Spirit is not a person either.
Rather, it is the Holy influence or power of God.
Since the corruption of 1 John 5:7, 8, was not
yet discovered by the Reformation period, the Protestant Reformers
accepted the tradition established in 381 AD of three Gods in
"one substance." Until the mid 20th Century, the esteem
of the King James Version by many Born-Again Christians bordered
on Divine inspiration; therefore, they were locked into the
corruption of 1 John 5:7, 8. But now with their exposure to new
translations, Born-Again Christians are redefining "the
Trinity."
Trinitarians now claim that the phrase
"one substance" was not used to teach that the Father,
Son, and holy Spirit were one person. Rather they were of the same
nature and one in purpose, yet three distinct persons. However,
history indicates to the contrary.
"The Papacy has in some of its churches,
as, for instance, in the monastery of the so-called Trinitarians
of Madrid, an image of the Triune God, with three heads on one
body. The Babylonians had something of the same. Mr. Layard, in
his last work, has given a specimen of such a triune divinity,
worshipped in ancient Assyria." 4
"In the unity of that one Only God of
the Babylonians, there were three persons, and to symbolize that
doctrine of the Trinity, they employed, as the discoveries of
Layard prove, the equilateral triangle, just as it is well known
the Romish Church does at this day." 5
In the mid-20th Century C. S. Lewis was
considered an outstanding spokesman for Protestantism. Lewis
affirms the "one substance" view of the Trinitarians:
"We could never have guessed in advance, any more than a
knowledge of squares would have enabled us to guess at a cube.
He contains 'persons' (three of them) while remaining one god,
as a cube combines six squares while remaining one solid body.
We cannot comprehend such a structure any more than the
Flatlanders could comprehend a cube." 6
This traditional view of the trinity was an
unfortunate 4th Century (381 AD) departure from the teachings of
Jesus and his Apostles. This was bad enough, but the redefining of
the Trinity by many contemporary Born-Again Christians has crossed
the line to polytheism. To say that the Father, Son, and holy
Spirit are coequal and coeternal Gods, one in purpose and all of
the same nature, yet separate and distinct persons is plain and
simple polytheism--a worshipping of three separate Gods. This was
a gross departure from true Christianity.
A Return To Jesus' Teachings
Meanwhile in 1864 Benjamin Wilson, a
Christadelphian, published THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT--an interlinear
Greek-English translation. It was one of the first to render 1
John 5:7, 8 correctly, its effect was electrifying. Many Christian
groups founded after its publication didn't believe in the
Trinity. Also, THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT rendered John 1:1, "the
Word was with the God and a god was the Word." This defines
Jesus as "a god" who was inferior to and separate from
the Father. Several translations in the 20th Century that follow
this rendering have raised the ire of Trinitarians. However, THE
BIBLE TRANSLATOR (Vol. 28, No. 1, Jan. 1977) published by
translators who are Trinitarians, said of this rendering--"As
a word-for-word translation it cannot be faulted."
Elohim
The word "God" in the Old Testament
is often a translation of the Hebrew word ELOHIM. Since Jesus and
the Father are both called ELOHIM, it is asserted that they are
the same being. But angels (Psalm 8:5), Abraham (Genesis 23:5,6),
Israel's judges (Exodus 21:6) and the Church (Psalm 82:6) are also
called ELOHIM 7 in the Scriptures. ELOHIM signifies: a mighty one,
prince, ruler, or judge; and since it is scripturally used to
refer to men and angels, as well as to God, its use in referring
to our Lord Jesus Christ does not in any way prove his equality
with God. Nor is there any validity in the assertion that, because
ELOHIM is plural in form, its application to God indicates that
there is more than one person in God. In Exodus 7:1, Moses is
called ELOHIM by God. Was Moses plural? Certainly not, for the
word ELOHIM, like our English word "sheep," can be
either singular or plural, as the occasion demands.
Several scriptures seem to refer to the holy
Spirit speaking, however, other scriptures also symbolically
portray non-personal entities as exercising personality traits. In
Proverbs 1:20-22, "wisdom" is portrayed as speaking and
referred to by the personal pronoun "she." Also, in Luke
7:35, wisdom is designated "she" and has children. In
Romans 7:11, "sin" is spoken of as exercising mental
deception.
A dilemma for Trinitarians! How can the concept
that the Father, Son, and holy Spirit are three Gods that are
coequal harmonize with Isaiah 11:2-10? In this Kingdom scene, the
Son will receive the spirit of the Father that he might have the
wisdom to perform the work of the Kingdom. If these are three
equal Gods, why will the Father need to give his Son a third God
to enable the Son to exercise wisdom?
Endnotes
Adolf Harnack, OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA,
Translated by E. K. Mitchell (Starr Kemp Press, 1957) P.266.
Ibid. P. 266.
Benjamin Wilson, THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT; NESTLE
AND MARSHALL; and THE INTERLINEAR GREEK-ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT.
Rev. Alexander Hislop, THE TWO BABLYONS
(Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959) P.17.
Ibid. P.16.
C. S. Lewis, THE BEST OF C. S. LEWIS
(Washington, D.C: Cannon Press, 1974) P.282.
See STRONG'S CONCORDANCE and NEW ENGLISHMAN'S
CONCORDANCE.
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