THE DOCTINE OF TRINITY
IS IT BIBLICAL?
As much as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is Biblical and very important both in the teachings of the Orthodox Church and the Christian life, it is at the same time one of the most debated and denied truth. There are a number of reasons as to why this doctrine is a stumbling block to many and hard to surrender. First, the word “Trinity” itself is not found in the Bible. In fact this term was first used in the third century. Second, there isn’t a single passage in the Bible that gives a detailed teaching of this doctrine. There are an overwhelming number of pieces everywhere in the Bible that refer to the nature of God as one in three persons. However, there isn’t a single passage that leads to such a conclusion by itself. Third the doctrine is hard to understand. The nature of God is amazingly unique. There is nothing like God. “To Whom, then will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?” (Isa 40:18). It is hard to easily understand such a unique being and believe in such a doctrine.
Now the question is: Is this doctrine Biblical or is it a man made fabrication? It is true that the term “Trinity” is not in the Bible but is the concept Biblical? It is true that there is not a single biblical book, a passage or even a single verse is dedicated to explain this difficult doctrine. But does the whole counsel of the Bible (Genesis to Revelation) teach this doctrine? And again it is true that there is no such being that is one in essence but three in persons. But is the God of the Bible such a being – one in nature and three in persons as presented in the Trinitarian doctrine? As long as the Bible teaches such a doctrine, it does not matter whether the term is used in the Bible or not; it does not matter whether the doctrine is summarized in a passage or not; and it doesn’t matter whether it is easy or not for people to understand the teaching. Therefore this paper focuses on proving the biblicality of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
One of the main reasons why people debate and argue on this doctrine is because they don’t really know what the doctrine is teaching. As James R. White said in his book The Forgotten Trinity; recovering the heart of Christian belief, “The Single greatest reason people struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity is miscommunication. It is very rare that anyone actually argues or debates about the real doctrine of the Trinity”.[1] Therefore it would be appropriate to summarize the “real doctrine of the Trinity” in few points first and then prove if these points are supported in the bible.
Even though the doctrine is very complex and huge, the whole doctrine can easily be summarized in three basic propositions. The purpose of this paper would be then proving the biblicality of these propositions.
1. There is one and only one God.
The Trinitarians are monotheists even though unfairly accused of being polytheists. The real doctrine however claims the existence of only one God. God’s oneness is not only in “singularity” but also in nature. There is none like God; He is very unique. Since he is one and only one He is neither dividable nor divisible.[2]
2. There exist three persons in this one and only one God.
Unlike the other monotheists like Judaism and Islam, Trinitarian monotheists’ belief teaches that there exist three persons in the one indivisible and undividable God. Here, it is very important to understand the difference between the oneness of God and the triples of the persons in Him. The oneness of God is in being, or in other words there is one being that is God. But there are triple persons in this being. It might be necessary to identify the difference between a “being” and a “person” to understand this proposition.
“Being” refers to the “essence” or the “substance” that makes God, God. There is only one being who is God in nature or in His essence. “Person” on the other hand refers to “intellect” or “self”. In other words anyone who has his own emotion, self consciousness, will, and knowledge is a person.[3] Person does not necessarily require having a physical body. For example, angles are spirits and therefore they don’t have a physical body. However, since they have emotion, their own will and knowledge, and are self conscious, they have a personality. Again personality does not necessarily refer to life though personality requires life. For example plants have life but they don’t have a personality since they don’t have emotion, a will or knowledge and aren’t self conscious. Therefore, personality shows emotion, will, knowledge, and self consciousness.
Now, there are three individual persons in the being of one God who are self conscious of themselves, who have their own will, emotion and knowledge. There is only one being who is God in nature or essence. However, three persons who are distinct from each other and conscious of their self share this one being or exist in this one being of God. In his book James White quotes the words of Hank Hanegraff explain this truth in simple words, “When speaking of the Trinity, we need to realize that we are talking about one what and three who’s.”[4] Therefore it should be noted that the oneness of God and the triples of his personality do not contradict both logically or mathematically.
3. Each of these three persons is God.
The other point in the teaching of this doctrine is the divinity of each of these persons. Each of these persons in the one God is God. However, the three persons don’t make three (G)gods. This might sound confusing to many; however it is not contradictory because again they are three persons who share the one being that is God.
Before presenting the Biblical evidences for the truthfulness of this doctrine, it is helpful to identify what the true doctrine of the Trinity does not teach. The real doctrine of the Trinity does not teach henotheism. God is one but that does not mean He is the one God that should be worshiped among from other gods. But it means God is the only true God, others like idols are not god at all. The real doctrine of the Trinity does not teach polytheism: a belief in worship of multiple gods nor does it claim tritheism a doctrine that teaches the presence of three different beings who are Gods. Trinitarians believe in the existence of only one being who is God. The true doctrine of the Trinity again does not teach Unitarianism or modalism a doctrine that teaches the oneness of the personality of God who appears in three different names and modes at different time. However, the true doctrine of the Trinity believes that within the one and only one God there exist three distinct and self conscious personalities who are each God.
Now the question will be whether it is Biblical or not. Does the Bible support all the three propositions stated above? If the Bible supports all the above claims then there is no other option. But if the Bible contradicts from any of the above claims them the Trinitarians need to study the word and redefine the doctrine again.
A. Is there one and only one God according to the Bible?
Both the Old and New Testament teach the oneness of God. In the Old Testament the Israelites were told to understand that their God is only one and that they should love him with all their being. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5 RSV). To a believing heart this verse by itself should be enough to prove the oneness of God. However the Old Testament gives numerous verses that teach the oneness of God. In Deut 32:39 God Himself says there is no other than Him “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God beside me”. In many occasions and at different scenes God says the same thing to teach Israelites that He is the only one God. “God dogmatically stated on many occasions that He alone is God and that there was no other gods before Him; there are no Gods besides Him now; and there will be no new ones in the future.”[5] The following verses teach not only God’s “singularity” but also they teach that He alone is God. No one else is God (Isa 37:19, 43:10, 44: 6-8, 45:21-22). Therefore, from Genesis to the book of Malachi, the Old Testament claims the oneness of God.
The belief in the oneness of God was not limited only to Old Testament; however the New Testament equally and uniformly affirms the oneness of God.
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist (1Cor 8:5-6).
Here even though Paul used two of God’s name, God and the Lord, he didn’t present God as two Gods or Lords. The same one God is the same one Lord. Again in 1Tim 2:5 Paul affirms the singularity of God - “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
Both the Old and the New Testaments hold similar teaching as far as the oneness of God is concerned. Nowhere in the Bible was the singularity of God questioned. Not only does the Bible testify the oneness of God, even the devil knows and believes in it (Jam 2:9).
Therefore the true doctrine of the Trinity teaches Monotheism, and the Bible has no place either for polytheism or for tritheism. There is one and only one God, and this only one being of God is the only true God ever there is, and very unique.
B. Are there three distinct personalities in the only one God?
Now the second point these paper seeks to prove based on the Bible is the existence of three personalities in the one being of God. However, the first question that would come to the students of the Bible is the possibility of three personalities in one being. In the entire universe, the world has never seen any being that has three distinct personalities. This fact can make many to question the logicality and truthfulness of the doctrine but in the Bible God is one being with three personalities in Him.
Even though the Bible does not explicitly teach the presence of three different personalities in the being of God, there are references as to the possibility of “multi-personality” in the one God and how many and who they are.
Before answering the how many personalities there are and who they are, it is worthy to study and see how the Bible indicates the possibility of multi personality in God. The first indication is found on the Hebrew word used to point out the oneness of God. In the Shema (i.e. Deut 6:4), the Israelites were taught that the Lord their God is one. The Hebrew language has about nine words that can mean or can be translated as one.[6] Yahid and ehad are two of them.[7] Yahid is used in the Hebrew language to indicate “an absolute or solitary oneness”[8] This word is uniformly used in this sense throughout the OT to indicate absolute or solitary oneness. For example, God told Abraham “Take your son, your only son Isaac whom you love…” Gen 22:2. Here the Hebrew word used for “only” is yahid. This same word is used again in verse 12 and 16 with the same meaning. Other reference to this word can be found in Ps 68:6.
Ehad on the other hand refers to a oneness by the unification of more than one things. Robert Morey defines ehad as a word that “refers to a compound oneness in which a number of things together are described as ‘one’”.[9] For example, in Gen 1:5 Moses calls the first day, that was a compound of an evening and a morning, one day or ehad yom. The same word is used where God said “Therefore shall a man leaves his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” in Gen 2:24. Here ehad is used to teach the unity of a husband and a wife even thought they are two different individuals. Again this same word is used in Gen 11:6 where God mentioned the unity of the people who were determined to build a city and a tower for themselves. Here God says “the people is one”, but it is obvious that the oneness there does not refer to the absolute or solitary oneness, and the Hebrew word used there is ehad. Other references of this word can be found in Gen 34:16, 22; 2 Chron 30:12, Ezra 2:64, and the meaning is uniformly the same.
In the shema where the oneness of God is declared, the word used for one is ehad. This not only allows for the possibility of different personalities in the one being of God, but also the word indicates the presence of a compound unity. “The Hebrew word for one in the Shema is ehadh, which is derived from a verb form having the meaning of to unify. …the unity of God is not that of a simple monad, but is a oneness which allows for and contains a plurality”[10] Therefore the very text that affirms the oneness of God also affirms the presence of plurality in the only one being of God. Therefore it would be wrong to claim solitary or absolute oneness of God.
Again in the Old Testament we find different indicators that teach plurality in the one God. Among them are the plural divine name (Elohim) and the first person plural pronouns God used about himself in a number of places in the Bible. Even though these evidences are strong for the Trinitarians, they are strongly debated by the anti-Trinitarians. Actually they believe that these indicators are examples of pluralis majesticus (plural majesty) which is the use of a plural word to imply the majesty of a king or a high ranking authority.[11] However, these are good evidences for the plurality in the being of God.
Elohim is a divine name in the Hebrew and it is translated as God in a number of places in the English Bible. One thing very remarkable about this name is that it is a plural name (el is the singular form). However, most often it takes a singular verb as in Gen 1:1 where it says “In the beginning God (Elohim) created (a singular verb in the Hebrew text) the heavens and the earth”. The fact that the plural name is used with a singular verb in this kind of verses lead many to believe that this is none other than plural majesty.[12] In fact not only the Unitarians but also many Trinitarian theologians like Millard J. Erickson think it indicates plural majesty. Allan Coppedge on the other hand believe that plurality in God can be seen in the use of Elohim from the fact that sometimes Elohim “speaks with a plural of deliberation” using plural verbs as if one of the persons in God is talking to the others. (Gen 1:16; 3:22; Gen 11:6-7).[13]
In addition to the use of Elohim in the OT, God Himself uses first person plural pronouns and verbs in certain passages in the OT.
“Then God said let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” Gen 1:26
“And God said ‘the man has now become like one of us…’” Gen 3:22
“The Lord said… Come let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” Gen 11:7
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” Isa 6:8.
All these verses not only suggest plurality in God but also show that the persons talk to each other. However this evidence is turned down by the “anti-Trinitarians” again as an example of plural majesty. Robert Morey, however, dismisses the presence of plural majesty in Hebrew language of the ancient times. According to him and the sources he quotes in his book, the idea of plural majesty was invented by a Jewish scholar to silence the Trinitarians claim, and this invention was exposed in the ninetieth century during the debates between Trinitarians and Unitarians.[14] However, this deception is being used until the present time.
What is astounding is that, one hundred years later, the anti-Trinitarians are still using this hoax to dodge the significance of the use of plural pronounce in reference to God. They seem to be totally ignorant of the fact that it is a recent grammatical invention and, thus, cannot be read back into ancient times or texts.[15]
Therefore the fact that there was no such thing as plural majesty in the ancient times, the divine name Elohim and God’s use of first person plural in referring to himself makes it clear that there is plurality in the being of God.
If there is plurality in the being of God, then how many and who or what are they, would be another question that needs to be answered. The bible does not explicitly answer this question saying there are this much persons or things. However, both the Old and New Testament does not teach the presence of anything or any person other than the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in God. The Father is presented as one who has personality in the Bible (Duet 32:6; Isa 63:15-16, 64:8; Mal. 2;10; Matt 6:9, Ps 2:7). “The Father knows (Matt. 6:8, 32), speaks (Matt 3:17), sees (Matt. 6:4,6), loves or hates (1John 3;1), wills (Matt. 3;17), gives or does not give (Matt. 7:11), reveals or hides (Matt 11:25), is or is not pleased (Mark 1:11), forgives or does not forgive (Matt 6:15-16), sends (1 John 4;14), etc”[16] The Son is also presented as one who has personality. In the New Testament, he talked to people (Matt 5:1), expressed emotion (John 11:35), healed people (Matt 8:1-4)… he did everything that a person does. The personhood of Holy Spirit is also affirmed in the Bible. First, he was referred to as “he” (John 16:8, 13, 14), “him” (John 16:7). He is not referred as an “it” anywhere in the Bible. Second, he does things that only a person can do. He comforts, and convicts people (John 16: 7-10), He teaches, guides and speaks (John 16: 12-15), He grieves over sins against Him (Eph 4:30). Therefore, the Holy Spirit has personality. These three were not only mentioned as having personality but also grouped and quoted together in a number of passages in the Bible (Matt 28:19, 2 Cor 13:14; 2The 2:13-14).
While the personhood of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit is obvious, it is very important to realize that they are distinct from each other. The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit, the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is neither the Farther nor the Son. All of them were presented as distinct persons at the time Jesus Christ was baptized. Referring to the Son the Father said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” Matt 3:17. The Son was being baptized by John the Baptist when that voice of God came down from the Father. The Holy Spirit descended down like a dove at the same time (Matt 3:16-17). There is no way for the three persons to be one same person here. In addition, the fact that the Father is not the Son is indicated in John 1:1 where it says “… and the word was with God”. Jesus cannot be the Holy Spirit because in John 14:16 the Son calls Him “another Counselor” indicating that the Holy Spirit is different from the Son. In this same verse, Jesus indicated that the Father and the Holy Spirit are not the same by mentioning that the Father is the one who sends the Holy Spirit. Therefore, according to the Bible, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three different persons not one.
C. Is each of the personalities in the being of God, God?
The presence of only three persons in the being of God is not affirmed only from the fact that the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprite each have personality, but also from the fact that they each are God. Existing in the being of God, all the three equally share the whole of God, and therefore they each are equally God.
The Father is God. The Godhood of the Father is not debated much. It sounds like all the Bible believers agree in the Godhood of the Father. However, the divinity of the Father is clearly stated in the Bible. For example, in referring to the Father, Jesus calls Him God (Matt 6:30; 19:23-26, Mark 12:17, 24-27). In these verses, Jesus interchangeably uses God and the Father. [17]
The Son is God. With regard to the son there is a lot of debate as to His deity. However, the bible is clear on His status as God. He was directly called God (John 1:1-3, 20:28; Heb 1:8). He is everything that God is (Phil 2:6; Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:3). He does only what God can do (Mark 2:1-12), and He claims to be equal with God (John 5:19, 21, 23, 26; 10:30).
The Holy Spirit is God. There are not much direct references to the deity of the Holy Spirit, but the fact that He is deity is undeniable. For example God and Holy Spirit are interchangeably used in 1st Corinthians where Paul teaches that the body of Christians is the temple of God. While he teaches that the Christians’ body is the temple of God in 1Cor 3:16-17, he also teaches that it is the temple of the Holy Spirit in 1Cor 6:19-20.[18] In Acts 5, Peter indicated that lying to the Holy Spirit is none other than lying to God (Act 5:3-4). In Heb 3:7-11 the author of Hebrew quotes what God said in Ps 95:7-11, and attributed it to the Holy Spirit’s speech.
After all the evidences that refer to the teaching of Trinity, there is no other option other than believing in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. It is true that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, and there is not a single passage that teaches the doctrine explicitly. However the whole Bible teaches and refers to the doctrine of God. It is the Bible that teaches the oneness and singularity of God in contrary to Polytheism. It is the Bible that teaches the presence-of and possibility of multi-persons existence in the being of God, contrary to Unitarianism and Modalism. It is the Bible that teaches the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct personalities, and that each one of them is God in contrary to subordination. The doctrine of the Trinity is not an invention, but a doctrine that the Bible “compels” its readers to believe without giving other options to believe otherwise.
Bibliography
Bickersteth, Edward Henery. The Trinity. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1980.
Brown, David. The Divine Trinity. La Salle: Open Court Publishing Company, 1985.
Clark, Gordon H. The Trinity. Jefferson: The Trinity Foundation, 1990.
Coppedge, Allan. The God Who is Triune. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2007.
Edgar, Brian. The Message of the Trinity. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2004.
Erickson, Millard J. God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity. Grand
Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.
Erickson, Millard J. Making Sense of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000.
Franks, R.S. The Doctrine of Trinity. London: Gerald duckworth and co. ltd. 1953.
Letham, Robert. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology and Worship. Phillipsburg:
P&R Publiahing, 2004.
McGrath, Alister E. Understanding the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1988.
Morey, Robert. The Trinity: evidence and Issues. Grand Rapids:World Publishing, 1996.
Placher, William C. The Triune God: An Essay in Postliberal Theology. Louisville:Westminister
John Knox Press, 1989.
Strauss, Lehman. The Godhead: Devotional Studies on the Three Persons of the Trinity.
Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, 1990.
Tavard, George H. The Vision of the Trinity. Lanham: University Press of America, 1981.
Thieme, R. B, JR. The Trinity. Houston: R.B. Theime, Jr., Bible Ministries, 2003.
Toon, Peter. Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity, Wheaton: Victor books, 1996.
White, James R. The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heart of Christian Belief. Mineapolis:
Bethany House Publishing, 1998.
[1] James R. White, The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heat of Christian Belief (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1998), 23.
[2] James R. White, The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heat of Christian Belief (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1998), 27.
[3] Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 168.
[4] James R. White, The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heat of Christian Belief (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1998), 27.
[5] Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 63.
[6] Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 63.
[7] Millard J. Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2000), 33
[8] Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 88.
[9] Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 88.
[10] Peter Toon, Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity (Wheaton: Victor Books 1996), 98.
[11]Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 94.
[12]Allan Coppedge, The God Who is Triune (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press 2007), 71
[13]Allan Coppedge, The God Who is Triune (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press 2007), 71-72
[14]Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 95.
[15]Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 95.
[16]Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Michigan: World Publishing 1996), 263
[17]Millard J. Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2000), 33
[18] Millard J. Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Books 2000), 27
No comments:
Post a Comment