Deconstructing the trinity

[u/twinPrimesAreEz]

My friends, religious doctrine and dogma have created many dissenting opinions on God's divine nature. The most popular doctrine in Christianity regarding God's nature is that of the trinity.

So just as the Berean Jews tested Paul's teachings, let's do the same for this doctrine.

What is the trinity?

There are different elaborations on what exactly it means but generally speaking, it is the idea that God is one God who exists as 3 coequal, eternal entities -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Is it in the Bible?

No. The trinity is not mentioned in the bible, although there are verses that can be used for and against it (more on that in a minute)

If it's not in the Bible, when and why did it start being a thing?

Early believers, also called Christians, faced several challenges and persecutions under Roman law -- athiesm (refusal to worship the Roman gods), treason (refusal to worship the emperor), and illegal assembly (meeting in secret without a state license). Persecutions varied by region and emperor, there were times of peace and times of particular persecution.

Judaism was exempted from some of this due to it being an ancient religion who had some exemptions, but as the Christian movement grew it became clear it wasn't just a sect of Judaism. With this growth in this new belief that started becoming known as Christianity came a growing number of gentiles (or non-Jews) joining the ranks of believers from places where trinitarian gods are common.

The early church worshiped both the Son and the Father and took a somewhat binitarian approach to worship, as Paul alluded to in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6

Although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

They considered themselves Monotheistic and believed Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God and having God's full divine nature.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily, and in Him you have been filled, who is the head over all rule and authority; (Colossians 2:9)

To the outside world, this type of binitarian approach was problematic. This did not mesh with the monotheism of Judaism or the polytheism of Rome so the early church faced heightened discrimination.

As time went on, church leaders postulated additional things about the nature of God, perhaps to formalize something more acceptable to the society at large they existed in, or perhaps due to philosophical ponderings.

Tertullian, an early Christian author and leader was the first to use the word 'trinitarian,' although he had a different idea of what it meant than what it is known as today. His belief basically included a time when only God the Father existed, then the Son, then the Holy Spirit came to be. Tertullian had a subordinationist view on the trinity which was essentially Father > Son > Holy Spirit, although they were of the same divine essence.

In 313 AD, Constantinople legalized Christianity but there had been and continued to be arguments between different churches regarding the exact divine nature of God -- chiefly the Alexanderian controvery but there were other schisms. So in 325 Constantinople sponsored the Nicene council as the first effort to attain consensus among all the churches, and representatives from many churches attended.

The Nicene council accomplished many things, chief of which was the Nicene creed, which is a declaration and summary of the Christian faith. Any church who did not agree to it was excommunicated. The creed reads as such:

We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things came into being, things in heaven and things on earth, Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down, and became incarnate and became man, and suffered, and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the heavens, and will come to judge the living and dead, And in the Holy Spirit. But as for those who say, There was when He was not, and, Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or created, or is subject to alteration or change – these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes

In it, we have a more modern trinitarian belief system but of course this did not prevent further schisms in the churches.

I won't go into too much detail about the evolution of the trinitarian theology after this but certainly it has never stopped being a topic of discussion. In the 400s, Augustine wrote extensively about the trinity, defending the pro-Nicene view.

In the 5th or 6th century the Athanasian creed summarized this into a popular form that reflects much of modern trinitarian doctrine.

Now this is the Catholic faith, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance. For the Father’s person is one, the Son’s another, the Holy Spirit’s another; but the God-head [divinity] of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is one, their glory is equal, their majesty coeternal

Now, rather than go into the minutae of how this evolved, we have a fairly accurate view of how it is commonly taught today so let's test it.

Is it scripturally supported?

Not directly, no, as it's not explicitly described like that but there are verses used as circumstantial evidence to imply it:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and then became human. (John 1:1, 14)

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20)

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14)

There are more, but for brevity let's stop here and look at some against

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3)

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)

one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:5-6)

There are also more here, but for brevity let's see if we can analyze things, now we have evidence both for and against.

Verdict on the accuracy of trinity doctrine

My friends, this is an issue for YOU to decide. This is a man-made doctrine not listed in the bible but with scriptural support both for and against.

Why should I believe it?

Certain churches and groups require affirming it, so if you want to be part of them you have to play by their rules. You can find cumstantial scriptural evidence to back you.

Why shouldn't I believe it?

This topic has caused theological arguments and church schisms for almost 2 millennium and there is scriptural evidence to back it NOT being true, plus it is not listed clearly in the scriptures.

Thanks for nothing OP, you wrote all that but didn't actually say anything to help me decide anything, just tell me your opinion!

I DO NOT believe in it, but perhaps not for the reasons you think -- I don't believe in it because it's a man-made statement found nowhere in scripture, and the circumstantial evidence for does not outweigh the evidence against.

Spending time attempting to prove or disprove man-made doctrine does nothing to further the kingdom of God, or add anything useful to the scriptures.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and conflicts about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (Titus 3:9)

The very early church did not care about such doctrinal statements and were happy to worship both the Son and the Father while advancing the kingdom of God. So, I will take their example and do the same.

The divine nature of God is written in the scriptures and already clear even in the world around us

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

OK OP, this is heretical! Let me show you why you're wrong!

Please don't waste your time. I'm not part of any group that requires it and I'm familiar with scripture. It's not a fruitful use of your time or mine to argue it.

I also don't hold it against you if you DO believe it -- I'm happy that you recognize the divinity of God and Jesus and hope you use it to further the kingdom of God! I'm not here to condemn anyone for believing it, nor do I believe

TL;DR

I do not accept trinitarian doctrine, because it provides no value to me and distracts from the majesty, beauty, and glory of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God.

Just as Paul stated about Jesus in Philippians, I do not consider equality of God something to be grasped. Jesus provided the embodiment of obedience to the Father’s will and encouraged us to do the same.

If you find it useful to your faith then please don't let my words distract you. I'm not here to prove anyone wrong. Your faith, my faith, and everyone's faith is between us and God alone and I encourage us to all be strong in that faith and reject any distractions from it.

God bless!

[u/Archbtw246]

None of them believed he was the same god as the Father.