WHO IS GOD?
-Jesus himself referred to his “Father” as “the ONLY true God” (John 17:1,3).
“There is . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ONE GOD AND FATHER”—Ephesians 4:4-6 LSB
“For us there is ONLY one God, the Father”—1 Corinthians 8:6 NASB
WHO IS JESUS?
“The true God” has “his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:20).
“Yahweh” “God Almighty” “has glorified His servant Jesus” (Exodus 3:15; 6:2,3; Acts 3:13 LSB).
Trinitarians sometimes claim the holy Spirit is person because of Jesus’ words:“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 LSB), and conclude that the holy Spirit has a personal name. Therefore, we do well to ask, “Is the holy Spirit a person”?
EXAMINING MATTHEW 28:18-20
“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”—Matthew 28:19 LSB
If we take “name”t literally at Matthew 28:19, then the three have only one name, because “name” is singular, not plural.
“The doctrine of the Trinity is embedded in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation” (The Master’s Seminary Blog). With such a bold statement as this, we would surely expect the Trinity to be in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Is the Trinity in Genesis?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “Let us make mankind in our own image” (Genesis 1:26 NIV). The Hebrew word “Elohim” is translated “God,” which is the plural of “El,” so it is asserted that “Elohim” stands for the Trinity. In other words, it is claimed that “the Trinity created the heavens and the earth,” and “the Trinity spoke to itself (“us”) about creating humans.” Since, however, the Hebrew “Elohim” is also used for excellence or majesty, and, in the Bible, often is used for the Almighty God, Yahweh. Even the singular pagan god Dagon is described as “Dagon our god [Elohim]” (1 Samuel 5:7). So the use of “Elohim” does not guarantee that the “God” referred to is plural. The Biblical Almighty God is a singular God, according to the Bible. Notice: “Yahweh is our God. Yahweh in one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4 LSB). The Hebrew word for “one” used here is “echad”, the numeral “one”. Jesus quoted this by saying, “YAHWEH OUR GOD IS ONE YAHWEH” (Mark 12:29 LSB margin). The Greek word for “one” used here is “heis”, the numeral “one”. “God is only one” (Galatians 3:20 NASB). “There is no God but one . . . for us there is but one God” (1 Corinthians 8:4,6). Even if “Elohim” had been used in its plural sense in Genesis 1:1,26, there is nothing to indicate a threesome. Thus, Trinitarians simply imagine the Triune God right into the text Genesis 1:1,26. and never stop to really think it through. There isn’t even one single aspect of the Trinity dogma in this context, i.e., nothing about three being God, or Almighty, or eternal, or equal, or of three being of one “substance”, “essence”, or “being”, etc. There’s simply nothing in the text to even hint at three of anything.
Psalms is one of the longest books in the Bible. Based on what many scholars and experts assert, we would expect to find this doctrine in such a long and prominent Bible book. Is the Trinity in Psalms?
Does it strike you as odd that even the most scholarly proponents of the doctrine admit it is neither understandable nor explainable?
“The most difficult thing about the Christian concept of the Trinity is that there is no way to completely understand it or explain it. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him. But we do trust the Bible, which teaches that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the same time, the Bible also teaches there is only one God. So, the one God exists in three Persons.
It’s possible to understand some facts about the Trinity and some of the relationships the different Persons of the Trinity have to one another. But, ultimately, how a single Being can exist in three distinct Persons is incomprehensible to us. Our inability to understand, however, does not mean the doctrine of the Trinity is untrue or unbiblical. The word Trinity is not found in Scripture. It is a useful term in discussions of the triune God, as we speak of three coexistent, co-eternal divine Persons who are One. Although the word itself is not found in the Bible, the concept represented by the word Trinity certainly is.”-–GotQuestions.org
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Trinitarians claim that the doctrine of the Trinity is found throughout the Bible. The Old Testament book of Job, with its 42 chapters, is one of the longest Bible books, so if what is asserted to be the main doctrine of Christianity is true, one would expect to find at least some evidence of it in Job. Is the Trinity in the book of Job?
Job 1:6; 2:1 – “Now it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before Yahweh and Satan also came among them.” “Again it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before Yahweh, and Satan also came among them to stand himself before Yahweh” (LSB). “In the Old Testament, “sons of God” often refers to angelic beings. This phrase suggests a gathering of divine beings in the heavenly court. The term is used similarly in Genesis 6:2 and Job 38:7, indicating beings created by God who serve Him . . . The use of “LORD” in all capitals signifies the divine name YHWH, emphasizing God’s sovereignty and authority. This setting underscores God’s supreme rule over all creation, including the spiritual realm” (Bible Hub Study Bible). Jesus, at Matthew 22:41-46 quotes and applies Psalm 110:1 in a way that makes it obvious he is not Yahweh. At these two heavenly meetings, Yahweh, the angels and Satan were in attendance. But where are Jesus and the holy Spirit, since they are supposedly equal members of the Trinitarian “Godhead”? Are they AWOL? Jesus is real, and has existed since his “origin . . . from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2 NRSV). Even though Jesus was alive back then, and may have been at that heavenly meeting, it was Yahweh God who handled matters with Satan. As we will see later in this article, the holy Spirit is not a person, so it couldn’t attend the meeting. These views into the heavenly realm give evidence against the Trinity.
Is the Trinity in Matthew?
“A true and accurate knowledge of the Trinity is a blessing in and of itself . . . the Trinity is the highest revelation God has made of himself to His people. It is the capstone, the summit, the brightest star in the firmament of divine truths”—The Forgotten Trinity, page 10
“The Gospel according to Matthew . . . no other was so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity”—Preface to Matthew in the New American Bible (NAB)
Trinitarians have used some scriptures out of context to assert “proof” of their dogma that the holy Spirit is a person. Is the holy Spirit a person? This article analyzes some of the assertions Trinitarians have made about certain scriptures, claiming the holy Spirit is a person. These so-called “proofs of the personhood of the holy Spirit” are each debunked, one by one, as follows. The Trinitarian “proofs” of “the personhood of the holy Spirit” are shown in italics, and the Biblical explanations of truth follow each one.
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It is often said that the holy Spirit is “the third person of the Trinity”, the three-in-one Godhead. Can it be, however, that there can be a part of the holy Spirit, only “a portion” of the holy Spirit? Yes, this is exactly what the scriptures themselves indicate, as we will see from the following scriptures:
“The LORD then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied but did not continue”—Numbers 11:25 NAB
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
“We meet the triune God as he gives himself to us in the
history of salvation, as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”—Fred Sanders
“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