“The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet, there are not three Gods, but one God”—Athanasian Creed

The statement quoted above is said to be the primary belief of most  Christian groups. If this is true, then we should find some evidence of it throughout the Bible.

The 12 relatively short Bible Books called “the minor prophets”, from Hosea to Malachi, make many references to Almighty God “Yahweh”, but no references to Jesus Christ by name, and some references to God’s spirit, or the holy Spirit. There is one famous reference to Jesus, in a verse which predicts his birthplace, and mentions something very significant in doing so:

“But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2 NRSV).

Matthew 2:1-6 confirms that Micah 5:2 accurately predicts the birthplace of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. But Micah 5:2 also does something else very significant. It says that Jesus had an “origin”, a beginning,” not with his birth on earth, in the distant past. This scriptural fact overturns the key Trinitarian claim that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has always been eternal. Jesus’ having an “origin” is powerful proof that he is not eternal. The Biblical fact that is Jesus is not eternal is further contrasted with this:

“Are you not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die” (Habakkuk 1:12 HCSB). Not only does this verse explicitly say that “Yahweh”, who is Almighty God, is “eternal”, it goes on further to say that He “will not die,” ever. This stands in stark contrast to Jesus, his Son, who “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Yahweh God, the Father of Jesus Christ, is the only one who has always been eternal.

“When they look on him whom they have thrust through, they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and they will grieve for him as one grieves over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10 NAB). Many translations it as “look on me,” rather than “look on him.” “Him” is the more accurate rendering according to the oldest Hebrew manuscripts. Right after Jesus “was already dead” (John 19:33 NAB), Zechariah 12:10 is quoted and applied to Jesus’ public execution: “And again another passage says: ‘They will look on him whom they have pierced'” (John 19:37 NAB). The Bible emphasizes the key point that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), whereas “God . . . will not not die” (Habakkuk 1:12).

Another major Trinitarian claim is that Jesus Christ became a “God-man” while on earth, an assertion without any Biblical evidence. It’s just made up.  On earth, Jesus “became flesh” (John 1:14), “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV), but not a “God-man”. Such a designation is impossible  on the face of it because of what the scriptures say, for example:

“I am God and not a man” (Hosea 11:9 NIV).

How can we be absolutely sure that God cannot be a man?

Jesus said: “God is a spirit” (John 4:23 GWT).

Yahweh is often referred to as being ‘the Triune God.’ This terminology, however, stands in contrast what the Bible itself actually says:

“And the LORD [Yahweh] will be king over all the earth. On that day there LORD [Yahweh] will be one [Hebrew: “echad”] and his name one [Hebrew: “echad”]” (Zechariah 12:10 ESV). “Echad” is the numeral “one.” It does not mean a ‘compound unity,’ as Trinitarians like to imagine. Thus, the simple singular nature of Almighty God is emphasized. There is no ‘three-in-one.’

“It shall come to pass I will pour out my spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28 [3:1] NAB). This wording is contrary to the Trinitarian idea that the holy Spirit is a person. In fact, when this scripture is quoted by the apostle Peter on the day the holy Spirit is poured out, notice the wording:

“This is what was spoken through through the prophet Joel: ‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh'” (Acts 2:16,17 NAB). ‘Pouring out a portion of’ a person’ doesn’t make good sense. Understanding that the holy Spirit is God’s “power” (Luke 1:17; Acts 1:8), and not a person, does make sense.

“This is the word of Yahweh with regard to Zerubbabel, ‘Not by might and not by power, but by my spirit’–says Yahweh Sabaoth” (Zechariah 4:6 NJB). The terminology, “by my spirit,” provides strong evidence that the holy Spirit is not a person.

Thus, we have proven that the Minor Prophets have debunked such major Trinitarian claims as:

1. Jesus is eternal, by two separate proofs
2. Jesus was a “God-man” on earth
3. Therefore, Jesus Christ cannot be Almighty God