The image above represents the views of the vast majority of Christian denominations, organizations and groups. The quotes below indicate how much belief in the Triune God is considered to be orthodox, or normal, for Christians.
“God is triune; there are within the Godhead three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”—J J Packer
“The Holy Spirit, part of the Triune God Himself, lives in the hearts of each person who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ—Billy Graham
“A cornerstone belief of the Christian faith, the doctrine of the Trinity . . . What is the doctrine of the Trinity? . . . There is only one God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal, coequal Persons where each Person is independently conscious and self-directing but never acting independently of one another and always manifesting the same character attributes and the same nature. Where in the Bible is the Trinity taught? . . . It is taught in 25 of the 27 books of the New Testament and in 13 of the 39 books of the Old Testament”—“Does the Book of Isaiah Teach the Trinity?”, Reasons to Believe (RTB) blogsite, by Hugh Ross, July 20, 2020
The New Testament left of 2 Corinthians was written about 25 years after Jesus’ death and the start of Christianity. Is the Trinity doctrine in 2 Corinthians?
“The Trinity is one of the most important teachings of the Christian faith. It defines God’s very essence and describes how he relates to us”—The Forgotten Trinity, back cover
Since Second Corinthians was written about twenty-fives after the start of Christianity, we would expect to see at least some evidence of such an important doctrine as the Trinity in the letter’s 13 chapters, if it is a true Christian doctrine. Let’s examine scriptures from this book which tell us something about God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit.
Let’s look at the evidence to see if the Trinity doctrine is in Revelation chapters 17-22. The word “trinity” is never mentioned, just as it is never mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, and God, Jesus, and the holy Spirit are never mentioned in the same verse or even in the same context, in these chapters. So, let’s examine the evidence that we do find in these chapters, and see where it leads us!
“The Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings”—Revelation 17:14 NIV . Trinitarians claim that Jesus’ titles here, “Lord of lords and King of kings,” mean that he is Almighty God, because Almighty God also has these same titles. However, their claim is undercut by scriptural evidence from Ezra 7:12 where “Artaxerxes” is identified as “king of kings” (NIV), and by Daniel 2:37 where “Nebuchadnezzar” (Daniel 2:1),is also identified as “the king of kings” (NIV). Even more powerfully, “the Lamb”, who is Jesus Christ, is identified as “the Lord of lords and King of kings”(NIV). The “Lamb” was “slain” (Revelation 5:6 NIV), and Jesus said he “was dead” (Revelation 1:18 NIV). Since the Scriptures tell us that “God . . . will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV), Jesus Christ cannot be Almighty God!
The book of Jude was written by Jesus’ half brother Jude some three decades after the start of Christianity. At this stage, we would expects to find some mention of the doctrine of the Trinity, if it is true. But, just like the rest of the scriptures, there is no mention of a Trinity in Jude.
Jude 1—“To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Christ Jesus” (NIV). “God the Father” is obviously a completely separate and distinct person from “Christ Jesus”. If the Trinity doctrine were true, we would expect there to be some mention of it, or the holy Spirit (which is real), at this point, but there isn’t.
Jude 3 – “Fight hard for the faith, which has been once and for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3 NJB).
“God replied to Moses: I am who I am. Then he added: This is what you are to tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you”—Exodus 3:14 NAB
“Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”—John 8:58 NASB. Many translations of John 8:58 capitalize “I Am” so as to convey the idea of a title. As a prominent Bible study guide says,“The ‘I am’ denotes absolute eternal existence, not simply existence prior to Abraham. It is a claim to be Yahweh of the OT” (Ryrie Study Bible note on John 8:58).`
The Bible’s final book, Revelation, predicts the future for the Church and humankind. The Trinity doctrine is said to be the main doctrine of Christianity, so we would expect to find the Trinity in Revelation, if the doctrine is true. The very first verse of the Book of Revelation gives us a clue as to the answer to the question of whether the Trinity doctrine is in Revelation:
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, WHICH GOD GAVE HIM to show his servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1 NIV). [Emphasis ours].
“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 about his existence 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).
The book 1 Peter opens up with a statement that has been that has been used to support the Trinity doctrine. The question for us to consider is, “Do we find the Trinity in 1 Peter?” Trinitarians point to the naming of the three who are said to be in the Trinity as proof of its existence. For example:“Investigating the time and circumstances that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ” (1 Peter 1:11 NAB). Trinitarians claim that “the Spirit of Christ” indicating things means it is a person. Many translation use “he” rather than “it.” However, “it” is the more accurate translation, as also rendered in the NRSV, and KJV. Additionally, Trinitarians overlook the very next verse, which talks about “the good news” which was “preached to you [through] the holy Spirit sent from heaven” (1 Peter 1:12 NAB). “The holy Spirit” was “sent from heaven,” by God.
“No slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16 NAB).
It is frequently asserted by Bible preachers and teachers that Jesus Christ Is Almighty God, along with God the Father, and ‘God the Holy Spirit,’ they are part of a Trinity. If this is so, then we should find plenty of scriptural evidence to support it. Do we find the Trinity in 1 Timothy? Since 1 Timothy was written by Bible scholar and teacher, the apostle Paul, to counter false teachers and false teachings, let’s see what it says.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1 NIV). God and Christ are here clearly portrayed as two separate and distinct individuals. As if this is not enough, it is further emphasized in verse 2:
“Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (1 Timothy 1:2 NIV). “Grace, mercy and peace” are said to come from both God and Christ, with no mention of the Holy Spirit. This omission of the Holy Spirit would be surprising and confusing if the Trinity were true, but since the Holy Spirit is not a person, this statement makes perfect sense.
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever” (1 Timothy 1:17 NIV). This sets Almighty God totally apart as being “eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God”, since Christ was created, died, and was visible while on earth.
“There is one God and one mediator between God and Christ, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5 NIV). By definition, the mediator cannot be either of the two parties that he mediates “between”. Therefore, it is obvious that Christ cannot be either”God” or “mankind”. No, Christ is “the man”, the “one mediator”. This one scripture is enough to obliterate Trinitarian notions.
“Who gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:6 NIV). “Sacrificed himself” (REB). Jesus died as a ransom sacrifice. Almighty God “Yahweh . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), therefore Jesus cannot be Almighty God. This one fact also obliterates the Trinity.
“He appeared in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16 NIV). KJV and NKJV have “God was manifest in the flesh”, however, footnoted editions admit that the Greek did not originally read this way. Notice the following footnotes to 1 Timothy 3:16:
“Many later (eighth/ninth century on), predominantly Byzantine manuscripts read ‘God,’ possibly for theological reasons”—NAB note
“NU-Text reads Who”—NKJV note. [NU-Text means the Nestle-Aland Greek Text (N-A) and the United Bible Societies Greek Text (UBS). By the 26th edition of N-A and the 3rd edition of UBS, the two Greek texts were identical.]
John 1:14 says “The Word [Christ] became flesh” (NASB). Numbers 23:19 says that “God is not human” (NIV), and John 1:18 says that “No one has seen God at any time” (NASB). God has never been on earth, nor “in the flesh”, nor “human”, but the Bible says Christ was seen by a lot of people on earth (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1-3), and was “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV), obviously Christ cannot be Almighty God.
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you” (1 Timothy 5:21 NRSV). God and Jesus are just as separate and distinct from each other as they are from the angels.
“Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—-God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:14-16 NIV). Here, we plainly see that Almighty God is set apart from Jesus Christ, and God is the only one who has eternally been immortal (compare Revelation 1:18), and whom no one has ever seen (John 1:18).
In each of the eight times that God and Jesus are mentioned in 1 Timothy, their being distinct and separate is made very clear. Also, the Holy Spirit is only mentioned twice, and each time it is called “the Spirit” (1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1), which is not something that a person is called. These eight simple Biblical statements of God and Jesus together devastate the Trinity dogma. In fact, the Trinity doctrine confuses pure Biblical truth, because it fits the description of one of the “false doctrines” that Christians are commanded in this letter “not to teach” (1 Timothy 1:3,4 NIV).
Based on the textual evidence, the Trinity doctrine is not found in 1 Timothy.