The New Testament book 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.read more
What are the scriptures that the gospel Mark is teaching about God? Is the Trinity in Mark? — Is Jesus Christ God Almighty, and also God the Son, or is he the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Son of Man? Is the holy Spirit portrayed as a person in Mark?
Mark 1:1 – “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (ESV).
Mark opens his gospel by briefly mentioning basically the theme of his gospel, and what it will prove — ‘that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’.
“Some important manuscripts here omit the Son of God” (NAB note on Mark 1:1). One important point that we can glean from this is that no manuscripts of Mark 1:1 call Jesus ‘God,’ or ‘God the Son.’
Mark 1:9-11 – “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit, like a dove descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased'” (NAB). In this scene, Jesus is in the water, and is obviously not the holy Spirit that came down upon him, or God, who is in heaven. The holy Spirit, rather than being portrayed as a person, or intelligent entity, is coming down in the air “like a dove”. Trinitarians assert that these scriptures support the Trinity in Mark. How? Trinitarians count, one, two, three . . . there’s the Trinity! The mention of the three together doesn’t make them a Trinity in Mark, any more the mention of “Stephanus, Fortuna=&0=&together make them a Trinity. As we can see, not one aspect of the Trinity doctrine is supported in these verses. There is no equality, no existing from eternity, nothing about being Almighty, nothing about all three being God, being the same “being”, or of the same “essence”, or “substance”, etc.
Mark 1:13– “He remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan” (NAB). – Since “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13 NRSV), so Jesus cannot be God, because “Jesus, the Son of God . . . was tempted in every way, just as we are” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV).
Mark 1:24 – “Jesus of Nazareth . . . I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” (NAB) – “The Holy One OF God”, Jesus, is obviously not God.
Mark 2:5-7 – “When Jesus saw their faith, he saw to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, ‘ Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (NAB). Does this assertion made by Jesus’ enemies, that, ‘only God can forgive sins’, mean that Jesus is God, as Trinitarians claim? Notice next Jesus’ favorite title that he uses to describe himself:
Mark 2:10 – “The Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” (NAB). – “The Son of Man” cannot be God, since “God is not a human being” (Numbers 23:19 NAB), whereas “the Word [Jesus] became flesh” (John 1:14). When Jesus was born on earth, he was “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV), so he could not be God. The ‘authority to forgive sins’ had been bestowed on Jesus as God’s “representative” (John 5:43 Williams New Testament), obviously. God doesn’t need anyone’s authority to do anything. “He does whatever he pleases” (Job 23:13 NIV). Regarding Jesus’ authority, Matthew 9:8 says, “The crowd . . . praised God for sending a man with such great authority” (NLT 2013 edition). Jesus admitted, “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment – what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49 NLT). Jesus said, “God sent me” (John 8:42 NIV), so he could not be God.
Mark 2:28 – Jesus once again refers to himself as “the Son of Man”. “The Son of Man” cannot be God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).
Mark 3:11 – “You are the Son of God”. Even the demons, whom he cast out, knew who he was, and admitted it. He was never called “God”, or “God the Son,” a Trinitarian concoction never used in the Bible.
Mark 5:7 – “Jesus, Son of the Most High God”. Once again, Jesus is called ‘God’s Son’, this time by a demon-possessed man, but not “God the Son,” a Trinitarian mythological concoction never used in the Bible.
Mark 6:4– “A prophet is not without honor except in his his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” (NAB)– Jesus calls himself “a prophet” – which is one who represents God. A prophet, by definition, cannot be God himself. Jesus said, “I came as my Father’s representative” (John 5:43).
Mark 8:29 – “‘Who do you say that I am?’Peter said to him in reply, ‘You are the Messiah'” (NAB), – not “God”, and not “God the Son”, which is a Trinitarian concoction that is never used in the Bible. This would have been the time to identify Jesus as God, if that’s what Peter believed. It would also have been the time for Jesus to adjust Peter’s thinking, and let him know he was God or Trinity, if that were the case.
Mark 8:31 – “the Son of Man must suffer”. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect . . .” (Hebrews 5:8,9 LSB). God has never been on earth, so he has never suffered. “No one has ever seen God” (1 John 4:9). Since Jesus suffered on earth, and was seen by many, he cannot be God. God is “perfect in knowledge” (Job 36:4; 37:16), so he does need to learn anything. Since Jesus did learn from his sufferings, for this reason also, he can’t be God.
Mark 8:38 – “the Son of Man… when he comes in his Father’s glory”. The Son of Man is not God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).
Mark 9:7 – “a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is my Son.'” – In this transfiguration scene, “God [is] in heaven” (Luke 15:18,21), Jesus is on earth, and God calls him his “Son”. Obviously, they are two entirely separate and distinct, different people, who are not of the same “essence”, or “substance”, or “being”.
Mark 9:9 – “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” – The Son of Man is not God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), plus “God . . . will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV), and “this Jesus God resurrected” from the dead (Acts 2:32 HCSB; Revelation 1:18).
Mark 9:12 “the Son of Man must suffer much”. God is not the Son of Man, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), and stayed in heaven (Matthew 6:9), not suffering on earth.
Mark 9:31 – “the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men … and they will kill him” – The Son of Man can’t be God, because “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), whereas “God . . . will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV)..
Mark 9:41 – “you belong to the Messiah“. The Messiah obviously cannot be God.
Mark 10:17,18 – “A man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.'”(NIV). Trinitarians falsely claim that Jesus was coyly implying that he is Almighty God, when the man called him “Good Teacher”, and by saying, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The account begins with Jesus responding to a man who called him “Good Teacher.” These are the words Jesus is responding to when he asks why he had been called good. And then he further clarifies by saying, “No one is good but God alone.” Since he was called “Good Teacher,” Jesus is responding specifically to being called “Good TEACHER.”
The Trinitarian interpretation of Mark 10:18 contradicts Scripture. They are interpreting Jesus at Mark 10:18 to mean that no one can ever be called morally “good,” except God alone. However, the scriptures do indeed call people “good” in reference to moral goodness, thus demonstrating that the Trinitarian interpretation of Mark 10:18 cannot be correct. Notice:
“The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good”. (Matthew 12:35).
“Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
“And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man” (Luke 23:50).
“For [Barnabas] was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” (Acts 11:24).
Notice what Jesus said about his teaching:
“What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me” (John 7:16 GNB)
Trinitarian claims about Mark 10:18 thus contradict the scriptures. Obviously, Jesus was saying that he’s not only not God, but is inferior to God. Thus, the scriptures disprove the “equality” aspect of the Trinity doctrine.
Mark 10:33– “the Son of Man will be delivered over”. The son of Man is not God, because “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).
Mark 10:40 – “James and John . . . said to Him, ‘Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory . . . But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give” (LSB) – If Jesus says he doesn’t even have that much authority, then who does? – It must be his Father. Jesus here shows his inferiority to his father. Jesus admitted, “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49 ESV). “He has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27 NIV). Jesus is totally dependent upon his Father for his authority.
Mark 10:45 – “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” God doesn’t serve anyone, but Jesus does, which shows their entirely separate natures.
Mark 10:47 – “When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout ‘Jesus, Son of David.'” – Notice, Jesus is never called “God”, but here he’s called “the Son of David”, an expression that cannot apply to God. God is no one’s son. This is another proof that Jesus cannot be God.
Mark 10:51– “The blind man said, ‘Rabbi,'” – He called Jesus “Rabbi”, meaning teacher, not God. Teacher is one of Jesus’ titles, but God isn’t.
Mark 11:9 –“God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.” This is a fulfillment of Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh'” (LSB), referring to Jesus coming in the name of Yahweh, which means that Jesus cannot be Yahweh.
Mark 11:21– “Peter said to Him, “Rabbi . . . ‘” (NASB) – Rabbi means teacher, which was one of Jesus’ titles, but Peter did not call Jesus God. In fact, neither did anyone else in the Bible.
Mark 11:22 – “Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Have faith in God'” (NAB), which means Jesus isn’t God, referring to his Father as God. Jesus was illustrating in the case of the withered fig tree, how faith in God can ‘move mountains’ (verse 23).
Mark 11:25– “So that your Father in heaven may forgive you”=&1=&The Father in heaven is the one who grants forgiveness, not Jesus.
Mark 11:28,29– “Who gave You this authority? . . . by what authority I do these things “ – Someone gave Jesus his authority. Who?
Mark 11:33 – “Jesus said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things'” (NIV). Where does Jesus’ authority come from? Jesus said, “I have not spoken on my own authority” (John 12:49 ESV). “The Father . . . has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27 NIV).Jesus’ authority comes from God the Father, which proves he is not only not God, he’s not even equal to God.
Mark 12:6 – “They will respect my son.” – Jesus, the Son, inferior to his Father.
Mark 12:12– “knew that the story was about them” – killing the Son, Jesus. Since “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Jesus cannot be God.
Mark 12:14– “You teach the truth about God’s way.” – Not Jesus’ way, or the Trinity way, but “God’s way”.
Mark 12:29 – “Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! Yahweh OUR GOD IS ONE Yahweh” (LSB margin) – The greatest commandment is to love God, not Jesus or Trinity. “One” is the Greek word “heis”, meaning the numerical one, not a compound unity, as Trinitarians would have us believe. Not two or three, not divided, not Trinity. The main teaching of Jesus, he said, was that ‘Yahweh God is one person only’, “God is only one [Greek: “heis”] (Galatians 3:20 NASB), which flatly contradicts the Trinity doctrine of a 3-in-one God. “Heis” is the numeral one.
Mark 12:32,33 – “the scribe said to Him, ‘ . . . HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART . . . ” (LSB). God is referred to as being only “one” person.The scribe described him by the singular personal pronouns “he” and “him”. Jesus agreed with the scribe’s characterization of God as being “he” and “him” (Mark 12:34). On the other hand, if God was really “eternally three coequal and coeternal persons” “within the one being that is God” (The Forgotten Trinity, p 23), what should have been said was, “they are one and there is no other but them“. Not only is the Trinity doctrine not found in the scriptures, the scriptures resoundingly prove the Trinity to be one of the “false doctrines” “not to teach” (1 Timothy 1:3 NIV).
Mark 12:33 – “sacrifices we offer to God”, not Jesus, or Trinity.
Mark 12:35 – “the Christ is the Son of David” – God is not the son of David, nor is he anyone’s “son”.
Mark13:26 – “the Son of Man is coming” – God is not the Son of Man
Mark 13:32– “No one knows… not even the Son. Only the Father knows.” – Trinitarians claim that Jesus is omniscient. This verse proves otherwise, because Jesus admitted he didn’t know when the end would come. If Jesus is God, how could he not know everything? – The Son, Jesus, doesn’t know the day and hour, only God the Father does – obviously the two are separate and distinct individuals, they’re not of the same “being”, “substance”, or “essence”, and the Father is superior to the Son. Trinitarians’ claim that Jesus was Almighty God on earth is soundly refuted by this one scripture.
The same thing is true for the holy Spirit, that is, that no one knows the exact time of Jesus’ return but the Father. If the Holy Spirit is really a person, the third person of the Trinity, how could it be kept out of the loop about this extremely important prophetic event? Are we to believe that one or two members of this exclusive Trinitarian “Godhead” could keep a secret from the other two members, while at the same time sharing the same eternal and divine “essence” of being the one true God?
Since God knows things the Son doesn’t, obviously, God is superior to Jesus, they are two different, distinct and separate individuals.
Mark 14:21– “For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago” (NLT). “The Son of Man” is Jesus, not God. “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), but “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), so Jesus cannot be God
Mark 14:24 – “My blood which is the new covenant that God makes with his people” – Yahweh God, the superior one, makes “the new covenant” and seals it with Jesus’ blood. Jesus is “the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). “SAYS YAHWEH . . . I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT” (Hebrews 8:8 LSB margin). Jesus’ blood was shed in his sacrificial death. Since “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Jesus cannot be God.
Mark 14: 36 – “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” (LSB). – Obviously Jesus is speaking as a subordinate to his Father, which proves they are separate persons, and that “the Father is greater than” Jesus (John 14:28).. Jesus was not praying to himself, nor was he praying to a Trinity. In saying ‘all things are possible for you’, Jesus is referring to his Father’s Almightiness, in contrast to his total dependence upon his Father (John 5:19; Hebrews 5:7,8). By mentioning both his will and his Father’s will as being different, the separate identities of Jesus and his Father are highlighted.
Shown below are some scriptures that are used to prove Jesus Christ is Almighty God. Let’s carefully examine these in the light of the scriptures.
Isaiah 9:6 – “Mighty God”. Notice that the scripture doesn’t call him “Almighty God”. It calls him “Mighty God”. Jesus is powerful, but not all-powerful. Almighty God told Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:1 NKJV). The verse also predicts: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given”. “Child” and “son”cannot apply to Almighty God because “God is spirit” (John 4:24), and “God is not human” (Numbers 23:19 NIV).
John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (NAB). “Was God: lack of a definite article with ‘God’ in Greek signifies predication rather than identification” (NAB note on John 1:1). That means that “was God” is a predicate description about Jesus, but does not identify him as Almighty God. Other translations render it as:—“what God was, the Word was” – REB ; “The Word was divine” – AAT; Moffat. Jesus admitted, “I have come here from God” (John 8:42 NIV), so he couldn’t be Almighty God.
John 1:14 – Jesus “became flesh,” so Trinitarians call him “God-man.” But consider, thousands of people saw Jesus, and, “God is not human” (Numbers 23:19 NIV). In fact, Jesus said: “God is spirit” (John 4:24).
John 1:18 – “No one has seen God at any time” ( NASB).Obviously, Jesus wasn’t, and couldn’t be, God Almighty, since, “No one has ever seen God” (1 John 4:12 NIV).
Romans 9:5 – “the Messiah, who is God over all” (NIV). However, “Paul’s point is that God when is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah” (NAB note).Notice how this verse can be accurately translated: “theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, the Messiah. God who is over allbe blessed forever” (NAB). “from them by natural descent came the Messiah. May God, supreme over all be blessed.” – REB – This verse is also incorrectly translated in some other translations to make it appear that Jesus, the Messiah, is God. The way many translations render this verse, “the Messiah, who is God over all,” contradicts the Trinity doctrine itself. “In this Trinity . . . None is greater, or less, than another. But the whole three Persons are . . . coequal” (Athanasian Creed). The accurate rendering of Romans 9:5, “the Messiah. God who is over all,” harmonizes with other scriptures, such as: “One God and Father of all, who is over all” (Ephesians 4:6).
Colossians 2:9 – “In him, in bodily form, lives divinity (not God) in all its fullness” – NJB; see also CSB; NAB. “And in Christ you have been brought to =&0=&If having God’s fullness made one God, then Christians would be God also, because they “have been brought to fullness.”.
Colossians 1:19 – “because God wanted all fullness to be found in him” (NJB; others). It was God’s decision and action that caused his “fullness” to be in Jesus.
Colossians 3:1 – “Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (NAB). Obviously, Christ is not God, but is at “his right hand”.
2 Peter 1:1 – ” . . . the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (KJV). “Symeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of equal value to ours through the righteousness of our God and the savior Jesus Christ” (NAB margin).” . . . through the righteousness of our God and the Savior Jesus Christ” (NRSV margin). ” . . . given through the saving justice of our God and of the Savior Jesus Christ” (NJB margin). (This verse is translated differently in many translations, making it appear that Jesus Christ is Almighty God). ” . . . of our God, and the savior, Jesus Christ” (Concordant Literal Translation). ” . . . of our God, and savior Jesus Christ” (Phillips). ” . . . of our God, and savior Jesus Christ” (Weymouth). That two different individuals are referred to is made clear by these accurate translations, as well as the very next verse:
2 Peter 1:2 – “the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” – God and Jesus are different individuals, separate and distinct.
Matthew 1:23 – “they will call Immanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.'” – NJB. Twice in context, we’re told his name is Jesus (1:21,25; 2:1) – Does not mean Jesus is God. See the list of Hebrew names that incorporate God’s name (i.e. Jehu means “Yahweh is He” (2 Kings 9:2)), in the article on this website entitled, “Is Jesus Christ Almighty God?—Matthew”.
Luke 1:31,32,35 – “You shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High . . . the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (NAB) – This is who the angel said he was, not God. “Son of the Most High” means that Jesus is not “the Most High,” but is his “Son.” “The Son of God” is certainly not God Almighty. In the Bible, Jesus is never called “God the Son,” an unscriptural term that Trinitarians like to use.
Hebrews 1:3 – “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (NIV). “Radiance” and “representation” are terms that indicate that Jesus is not God, but that he is like God. “He is the reflection of God’s glory.” NJB – Obviously, he couldn’t be God. An image in a mirror is not the same as the original, not even equal to it..
Hebrews 1:8 – “But of the Son he says, ‘God is your throne forever and ever'” (NRSV margin). “God is your throne.” – AAT; Moffat. (translation issue, with many translations rendering the verse: “Your throne, O God,” making it appear that Jesus is God). This verse quotes Psalm 45:6, which can be accurately rendered, “Your throne is from God” (NJB).
Matthew 8:29; Luke 4:34,41 – Demons acknowledged Jesus was “the Son of God” or “the Holy One of God”, but never said that Jesus was God Himself.
Mark 14:61-64 – Saying he is “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One…the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One,” obviously means he is a different person than his Father, since the Son is different from the Father, and sitting at the right hand of God sets him apart from God also.
Daniel 7:13,14 NASB- Referencing Jesus as the “Son of Man” who “approached the Ancient of Days” and “was given authority…so that all people would obey him” also means he is not the Ancient of Days, not “God”, who is “from eternity” (Psalm 90:2 NJB), not “Yahweh”, who “never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), but he is the Son.
John 8:58 – “Before Abraham was born, I am,” is not even good English, it’s in the wrong tense of the verb, because it is wrongly translated. Nevertheless, Trinitarians often use this verse to “prove” Jesus is God by connecting this “I am” to the “I Am” of Exodus 3:14. A better translation of John 8:58is: “before Abraham was even born, I have always been alive” (NLT margin). This shows that the issue was Jesus’ age, not his identity. It should more accurately rendered: “I existed before Abraham was born” – AAT; Moffat.; CBW.
John 17:5 – “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” – NIV ftn. – Obviously an inferior [Jesus] speaking to a superior [God].
Revelation 1:17-18 – “I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead.” This Jesus could not be God since Habakkuk 1:12 says God “will never die.”
John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd,” does not make Jesus God, since the context says:
John 10:18 – “This command I received from my Father.”
John 10:36 – “I am the Son of God”. Jesus was accused of ‘making himself God’ (John 10:33), and his refutation of that here in verse 36 is clear proof that Jesus did not claim to be God.
Obviously there are two people here in these scriptures. Jesus was with the Father (John 1:2), who is superior, prior to coming to earth, and who cannot die (Habakkuk 1:12), whereas Jesus died (1 Corinthians 15:3), and “was dead” (Revelation 1:18) for a time. So there is a distinct difference between them.
Matthew 25:31-33 – Yes, the Son of Man, not the Ancient of Days, will do the judging. Why?
John 5:27 – Because the Father has given the Son of Man, Jesus, authority to do the judging.
“The Gospel according to Matthew . . . no otherwas so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity”—Preface to Matthew in the New American Bible (NAB). Since Matthew was so prominently in the ancient world, we should surely find some evidence of the Trinity doctrine somewhere in the book if it’s there.
“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. This reference by prominent a modern-day indicates that the Trinity doctrine is the thing that God has revealed most prominently. If so, we should surely find it in Matthew.read more
Is the Trinity in Matthew?