My Personal Christian Blog

Thanks for sliding into my blog site. This blog bog is a spin-off from my website at http://www.niteowldave.com/. Call me a Night Owl, as my full-time mission and hobby are jabbering from midnight until 8 a.m.ish with chatter bugs across the world. Hoot, hoot! Being a retired newspaper guy and a Curious George, I've written and assembled a whack of stuff that I hope you'll find interesting and thought-provoking. Check out the Stories bar on the right side, below, for all my articles - from my web site and this blog.




March 11, 2008



The Word "Trinity" Is Not In The Bible.
Does That Mean It Is Not Real?

Some critics of the Trinity doctrine claim that since the word "trinity" is not found in the Bible, it isn't true.

Some assert that if God wanted us to believe in the Trinity, He would have stated the doctrine clearly.

It is illogical to claim that since the word is not found in the Bible, its concept are not taught there. For example, the word "Bible" is not found in the Bible either, but we use it anyway.

Likewise, the words "omniscience," which means "all knowing," "omnipotence," which means "all powerful," and "omnipresence."
This means "present everywhere," are not found in the Bible either. But we use these words to describe the attributes of God.

The words Protestant, Roman Catholic nor pope are not found in the Bible, either.

Following are other words that the Bible does not use but the concepts are mentioned.

Atheism:

The teaching that there is no God. "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." See Psalm 14:1.

Communion:

The word we use to describe the Lord's supper which is taught in 1 Cor. 11:23-27. The word "communion" - is not found in the NASB, NIV, or KJV Bibles.

Divinity:

The word means divine quality or a godlike characteristic, is not in the Bible. Yet, we speak of the godlike quality of the Lord God. See Psalm 139.

Incarnation:

The word means the word (God) who became flesh. Yet, this is definately taught in the Bible. See John 1:1:14.

Monothesim :

The teaching that there is only one God. See Isaiah 43:10; · 44:8.

Rapture:

The teaching that the Christians who are alive when Jesus returns will be caught up to meet Him in the air. See 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

Not all things in the Bible are perfectly clear.

Take a look at the book of Revelation. It contains many things that are not clear and which must be interpreted after examining all of the Bible.


Even then, there are disagreements as to what some things mean. Yet, we know that the truths there are true whether or not we discover them.

TRINITY PROOF

There are several scriptures that demonstrate a Trinitarian aspect.

Matthew. 28:18 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

2 Corinthians 13:14 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

Ephesians 4:4-7 says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.


"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift."

Jude 20-21 says, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life."

Those who claim it is either impossible for God to exist in three persons and/or that the Trinity is really borrowed from pagan three-god figures are missing it.

Many add that a person is by necessity an individual being. Therefore, they conclude, that the Trinity really teaches three gods.


The problem with this criticism is that it denies the very nature of the doctrine of the Trinity to begin with.

First:

Trinitarianism denies that there is more than one God. It is clearly monotheistic in spite of what the critics want to claim.

Second:

There is a word used to describe a unity of three separate gods. It is the word "triad." A triad is not a trinity. A triad is three separate gods -- as in Mormonism.

A Trinity is one God in three persons.

A triad is polytheistic.

A Trinity is monotheistic.

Third:

There is no logical reason to deny the possibility that three persons can exist in one God. Critics may not like it, but it is not a logical impossibility.

God is infinitely complex and we cannot understand His vastness nor simply claim He can't exist in three persons.


Instead, we should look at the Bible to see what it says about God and see if the Trinity is taught.

Theologians admit that the word "person" is not the perfect word to use because it carries with it the idea of individuals who are different beings.


This is what we are familiar with and this is one of the problems with using the term "person" when describing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

But this is what we must use when we see that when the Bible speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each are called God, each speak, and each have a will. They exhibit attributes of personhood.

In describing what we observe, we are forced to use words that we are familiar with. "Person" is just such a word. But it does not necessitate here that each person is an individual being.

Fourth:

Trinities are known and accepted by people as observed in nature.
We see that creation itself is Trinitarian. Time is past, present, and future.
There are not three times. Likewise, space is height, width, and depth. Matter is solid, liquid, and gas.

The Bible says that God's invisible attributes are made known in creation. Romans 1:20 says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made."

One of the doctrines that many people fail to understand concerning Jesus is the doctrine of the hypostatic union. This is in the teaching that Jesus has two natures: God and man.

In other words, Jesus is both God and man at the same time. This is why we see some scriptures that point to Him being divine and others pointing to Him being a man.
Below is a chart illustrating the two natures of Jesus as derived from scripture.

Jesus is one person, GOD MAN.

He is worshiped. See Matthew 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9).
He is prayed to. See Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:1-2.
He was called God. See John 20:28; Hebrews. 1:8.
He was called Son of God. See Mark 1:1.
He is sinless. See 1 Pet. 2:22; Hebrews. 4:15.

He knew all things. See John 21:17.
He gives eternal life. See John 20:28.
The fullness of deity dwells in Him. See Col. 2:9.
He worshipped the Father. See John 17.

He prayed to the Father. See John 17:1.
He was called man. See Mark 15:39; John 19:5.
He was called Son of Man. See John 9:35-37.
He was tempted. See Matthew 4:1.

He grew in wisdom. See Luke 2:52.
He died. See Rom. 5:8.
He has a body of flesh and bones. See Luke 24:39.

The Trinity is not a made-up doctrine. Rather, it is a doctrine derived from studying God's word.

It is true that God cannot die. It is also true that man can die. But we see that Jesus has two natures, not one.

It was the human part of Jesus that died on the cross, not the divine.


But, because He is both God and man in one person, and because He was sinless, His sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of the world.