trinitythree
THE TRINITY: PART THREE
The emphasis of part one, “The Trinity: Is God Three Persons In One?” was to point out that “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit”, are not three different Persons, they are three titles of God. This is consistent with the fact that in the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, Jehovah has many titles.
Part two, “The Trinity: Elohim” was written to show that while it is true “Elohim” is a plural noun, that does not prove that God is three Persons in one.
In this paper we will look at several scriptures that go to prove that the doctrine of the Trinity is not only illogical, it is unscriptual, and most importantly, it demeans the Person of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Let us look first at Isaiah 9: 6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Councilor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. This verse is, of course, a prophecy concerning Christ. Note that He is referred to as “Son”, in the phrase “a Son is given”. Note also that He shall be called “everlasting Father”. That is to say, the Son shall be called “everlasting Father“. If the Son is to be called “everlasting Father”, obviously, the Son and the Father are the same Person, not two different Persons.
But, the reader may object, “How can the Father and the Son be the same Person?” The answer is that they are titles of Jehovah. There are several passages in the Old Testament that tell us that Jehovah is the Father. Is. 9:6, quoted above is one of the Old Testament verse which proves that the Father and the Son are One.
Another Old Testament verse that proves that the Father and the Son are the same is Is. 63:16, “Doubtless, thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: Thou O Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting”. The paper on this site Jesus Christ IsBoth Jehovah And The Manifestation of Jehovah proves from scripture that Christ is Jehovah in the flesh and that He was Jehovah of the Old Testament. Therefore, it is clear that Christ is both Father and Son, as both titles are ascribed to Jehovah.
A third Old Testament verse which speaks of the Father is Is. 64:8, “And now O Jehovah, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and we all are the work of Thy hand”. Again, Jehovah is the Father as attested to in Is. 9:6, 63:16 and 64:8. Christ is Jehovah. Therefore, Christ fulfills the two titles of “Father” and “Son”.
I Cor. 15:27-28 is a passage that demeans the Person of Christ when interpreted in the light of the doctrine of the Trinity. “For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is manifest that He is excepted, Which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him That put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”.
Note the phrase in verse 27, “when He saith, all things are put under Him”. It was in Psalms 110:1 that “He saith” that all things will be put under Him. Let us consider that verse so that we may have a true interpretation of I Cor. 15:28. “Jehovah said unto Adoni, ‘Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool”. “Adoni” is one of the Old Testament titles of Jehovah. As was mentioned above, Christ is Jehovah in the flesh. Therefore, Psalms 110:1 is saying that Jehovah will put all things under the feet of Adoni, one of His many titles.
Now that we have seen that it is Jehovah that will put His enemies in subjection (i.e. “make Thine enemies Thy footstool”) it is clear that I Cor. 15:28, which is based on Psalms 110:1, can not mean that Christ is to be made subject, for it is Christ, Who is Jehovah in the flesh, that does the subjecting.
Some have suggested that the phrase “sit Thou at my right hand” proves that Jehovah and Adoni are two different Persons. The fact is that “at My right hand” is used as a figure of speech to indicate, not place, but position. That is to say, to sit at one’s right hand implies a position of power and authority, much as it still does today. (Please see the paper on this web-site,Does Jesus Christ Sit Next To God In Heaven? for the scriptural evidence of the fact that the phrase is to be taken figuratively.)
Unless one sees that “Father” and “Son” are two different offices not two different Persons there is a rather glaring error in the Word of God (which, of course, is not possible) as one compares Matt. 16:28 with Mark 13:32. We read in Matt. 16:28, “Verily I say unto you, ‘There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom'”. This tells us that Christ knew when the Son of man would come in His kingdom, i.e. before some of them died.
But we read in Mark 13:32, “But of that day and of that hour (i.e. the coming of the Son of man-vs.26) knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father”. This verse seems to tell us that Christ did not know when the Son of man will return. If we understand “Father” and “Son” to be two different Persons, we have a contradiction. If we understand that “Son” and “Father” are different titles of Jehovah then all is clear. Let me explain.
I believe that Jehovah in His office of “Father” chose to know when Christ would return. But Jehovah in His office of “Son” chose to not know. It is important to note that Mark 13 tells us that “the Son” will not know, it does not say that Christ will not know. Again, if we fail to see the office of Father and the office of Son in these two passages we have a glaring contradiciton in the Word of God, which, again, is not possible.
Some may object to the fact that the Father and the Son are the same Person on the basis of the fact that while Christ was on earth, the Father was in heaven, therefore, they must be two different Persons. Let us examine that thought.
We read in Gen. 3:8, “And they heard the voice (should be translated “footsteps” as it is elsewhere in the Old Testament) of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day”. Jehovah (Christ in bodily form, please see the paper Jesus Christ is Both The Jehovah And The Manifestation of Jehovah) was on earth but He was obviously also in heaven. Surely we can not say that there must have been two Jehovahs, one on earth and one in heaven. Why then, must “Father” and “Son” be two different Persons?
Consider also Gen. 17:1, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram....”. Again, Jehovah was on earth speaking with Abram. There were not two Jehovahs, one on earth and one in heaven. Again, there is no reason to assume different Persons in the New Testament when we read of the Father and the Son, even if One is in Heaven while the Other is on earth.
Many have pointed to the fact that while on earth, the Son spoke with the Father. That, it is said, proves that the Father and the Son are two different Persons. I believe that Jehovah was, in a sense, speaking to Himself in different offices. I believe that, because there is a precedence for that. Let us examine that thought.
We read in Gen. 1:26 that, “Elohim said ‘Let us make man in our image’ “. As the paper on Elohim proves from scripture, Elohim is Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ. It is Christ, not the Father or the Holy Spirit who wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24-30). It is Christ and not the Father or the Holy Spirit who will stand on the Mt. of Olives (Zech. 14:4). So, in Gen. 1:26 we have Jehovah, in His office of Elohim, speaking with Himself in His office of Holy Spirit, Who was to breathe into man’s nostrils. This proves that Jehovah does indeed “speak with Himself” in His varying offices. Since that precedence was set in Gen. 1:26, I believe the same is true of Christ while on earth. That is to say, Jehovah, in His office of Savior, spoke with Himself in His office of Father. See also Gen. 3:22, Gen. 11:7 and Is. 6:8, all of which show Jehovah speaking to Himself.
It might be helpful to discuss some of the reasons that the doctrine of the Trinity is so widely accepted. May I say first, that its wide acceptance in itself, does not prove its correctness, just as the teachings of the Catholic Church before Martin Luther did not prove its correctness.
I believe that there are basically two reasons for the acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. One is that most English translations of the Old Testament do not show the Hebrew titles and the name, “Jehovah”. So the readers of the English translations are not aware of the many titles of Jehovah. So when that reader enters the New Testament, he is not used to thinking in terms of God’s titles. Therefore, when he reads of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the reader assumes three Persons, rather than three titles.
The other reason for the almost universal acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity is that, unfortunately, most Christians begin their Bible study with the New Testament. So that even if the Hebrew titles were available to the English reader, he would be relatively unaware of them. The New Testament did not come out of a vacuum. It stemmed from the Old Testament, and we can not understand any doctrine found in the New Testament unless and until we read and study the Old Testament.
There are many scriptures, especially in the New Testament, that seem to imply two or three different Persons. May I suggest that the reader try to see those passages in the light of titles, or offices, rather than Persons. By doing so we are not put in the position of seeing Christ as less than the Father or less than God. And we can also understand why Christ is spoken of in the Old Testament as the Father and the Son.
The other papers to be found on this web-site on the doctrine of the Trinity are:
The Trinity: Is God Three Persons In One?
The Trinity: Part Two: “Elohim”
Does Jesus Christ Sit Next To God In Heaven?
This paper was written by Joyce Pollard. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please E-mail me at: [email protected]
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