DOES THE LETTER OF JAMES SUPPORT THE TRINITY?
Revised on May 29, 2020
James’ short letter to early Christians doesn’t have a plethora of references to God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit, but what it does have is more than enough to demolish Trinitarian notions. First of all, notice who James says that he is a servant of:
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1 NIV). James identifies himself as serving two distinct personages, namely Almighty God and Jesus Christ. These two are not mysteriously merged together, as Trinitarians assert. Their distinctive separateness is maintained. Notable by absence are references to the Trinity and the holy Spirit. If these are real, why isn’t James serving them?—The Trinity, of course, is fictional, which is why James isn’t serving the Trinity. He’s not serving the holy Spirit because it is not a person, even though it is real. “The holy Spirit” is called “it” at John 1:32 (ESV); 14:17 (NAB, REB), Acts 2:33; 8:16; 11:15 NAB, and Romans 8:16,26,27 (NAB;REB). Persons are not called “it”. The holy Spirit is God’s “power” (Acts 1:8).
“God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13 NIV). This scripture itself proves that Jesus cannot be Almighty God, because “Jesus the Son of God . . . high priest . . . has been tempted in every way, just as we are—-yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:14,15 NIV). The scriptures are crystal clear—-God cannot be tempted, yet Jesus was tempted in every way, thus proving that Jesus cannot be Almighty God.
“A pure and faultless religion in the sight of God the Father is this . . . ” (James 1:27 REB). Notice that “God” is referred to as the Father. Jesus said that his “Father” is “the only true God” (John 17:1,3). This excludes anyone else from being included in “the only true God”. In fact, clarifying the matter even further, Jesus said that “the true worshippers will worship the Father” (John 4:23).
“Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (James 2:1) – Trinitarians have claimed that, since Almighty God has “glory” (Zechariah 2:1 NIV), references to Jesus’ glory mean that Jesus is God Almighty. However, Jesus said that “the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory” (Matthew 16:27 NIV), so it is obvious that Jesus’ glory does not equal his Father’s glory, but derives from his Father’s glory. Thus, their claim is scripturally debunked.
“You believe that there is one God. Even the demons believe that — and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV), as opposed to believing that other “gods” are also real. The demons know that there is one “only true God”, who is Jesus’ Father (John 17:1,3). The Trinity doctrine asserts that ‘the Father is God, the Son is God, and the holy Spirit is God. That’s three Gods, despite Trinitarian denials. James 2:19 makes it perfectly clear that there is only one Almighty God, not three Almighty Gods, as confirmed by James 5:4:
“The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (James 5:4 NIV). James shows here that the “one God” that he refers to is “the Lord Almighty”, just as Galatians 3:20 says “God is only one” (NASB), not three. The Bible never refers to Jesus Christ (“the Lamb”) or the holy Spirit as “the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 21:22 NIV).
There is only one “the Lord Almighty”, the one who “cannot be tempted”. Trinitarianism finds no support in the Letter of James. In fact, the doctrine of the Trinity is resoundingly contradicted by the short Letter of James.
5 thoughts on “DOES THE LETTER OF JAMES SUPPORT THE TRINITY?”
Doesn’t James also say in 1:27: Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this…? It seems James thought there was more to God than just “the Father”. And the context of “You believe God is one” is that such a belief is insufficient because even demons believe that. I found this page because I thought James was a great support to the trinity, maybe some of the clearest earliest, but I guess sometimes we discover what we want to find.
Thank you for your reply. This article has been revised and improved so as to further clarify the main scriptural points. Your comments proved helpful.
James 1:27 can also be translated as: “A pure and faultless religion in the sight of God the Father is this . . . ” (REB). In checking the syntax of the Greek, we find that God is the Father in James 1:27. In fact, Jesus said that “the only true God” is the “Father” (John 17:1,3). Therefore, the Bible excludes anyone else from being “the only true God”. Jesus also said that “the true worshippers will worship the Father” (John 4:23).
Regarding James 2:19, James is making the point that mere belief in the one true God is insufficient, and, yes, ‘even the demons believe that’. Certainly, we should believe in “the only true God”, and not believe that other gods are real. James goes on in the next verse to emphasize his main point: “faith divorced from actions is futile” (James 2:20 REB).
While The Letter of James was not written to prove the Trinity doctrine is false, when it does touch on some points that are pertinent, we can use those points in “studying the scriptures every day to see whether [the Trinity] is true” (Acts 17:11 REB).
The Greek scripture which is translated into english does not say in “sight”of god , the greek word is παρὰ which means before .The king james bible says” before ” so how can you say ” Can also can be translated as A pure and faultless religion in the sight of god the father .
Is not a serious sin to change scripture to suit a belief. someone with true faith doesent need to change anything.
Several translations render “para” as “sight” at James 1:27. The basic meaning in this context is “in the viewpoint go God”. James is giving God’s viewpoint of what the true religion of God the Father looks like when practiced, or in action.
The translation of”para” as “sight” does accurately represent the essential meaning of the Greek in this context.