Each time I’ve released a video on the Trinity – this will be the fourth one – I get people commenting that I don’t really understand the Trinity doctrine. They are right. I don’t understand it. But here’s the thing: Each time someone has said that to me, I’ve asked them to explain it to me. If I truly don’t understand it, then lay it out for me, piece by piece.  I’m a reasonably intelligent fellow, so I think that if it’s explained to me, I would be able to get it.

What response do I get from these Trinitarians? I get the same old tired proof texts that I’ve seen for decades. I don’t get anything new. And when I point out the incongruities in their reasoning and the textual inconsistencies between their proof texts and the rest of Scripture, I again get the derisive response: “You just don’t understand the Trinity.”

Here’s the thing: I don’t need to understand it. All I need is some real empirical proof that it exists. There are a lot of things I don’t understand, but that doesn’t mean I doubt their existence. For example, I don’t understand how radio waves work.  Nobody does.  Not really.  Yet, every time I use my cell phone, I prove their existence.

I would argue the same about God. I see evidence about intelligent design in the creation around me (Romans 1:20). I see it in my own DNA.  I am a computer programmer by profession. When I see computer program code, I know someone wrote it, because it represents information, and information comes from a mind. DNA is infinitely more complex code than anything I’ve ever written, or could write, for that matter. It contains information that instructs a single cell to multiply in a very precise way so as to produce a very chemically and structurally complicated human being. Information always originates from a mind, from an intelligent purposeful consciousness

If I were to land on Mars and find words carved into a rock reading, “Welcome to our world, Earthman.” I would know that there was intelligence at work, not random chance.

My point is that I don’t have to understand the nature of God to know that he exists. I can prove his existence from the evidence around me, but I can’t understand his nature from that evidence. While creation proves to me the existence of a god, it doesn’t prove that he is a three-in-one entity.  For that I need evidence not found in nature.  The only source for that type of evidence is the Bible. God reveals something of his nature through his inspired word.

Does God reveal himself as a Trinity? He gives us his name almost 7,000 times.  One would expect him to also name his nature, yet the word Trinity, which comes from the Latin trinitas (triad) is nowhere to be found in Scripture.

Jehovah God, or Yahweh if you prefer, has chosen to reveal himself and he has done that in the pages of the Bible, but how does that revelation work? How does it come to us? Is it encoded in Scripture?  Are aspects of his nature concealed in the holy writings, waiting for a few intelligent and privileged minds to decipher the hidden code? Or, has God simply chosen to tell it like it is?

If the Most High, the Creator of all things, has chosen to reveal himself to us, to reveal his very nature to us, then shouldn’t we all be on the same page? Shouldn’t we all have the same understanding?

No, we shouldn’t. Why do I say that? Because that is not what God wants.  Jesus explains:

“At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:25-27 BSB).

“Those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” According to this passage, the Son does not choose the wise and learned.  When his disciples asked why he did that he told them in no uncertain terms:

“The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them… This is why I speak to them in parables.” (Matthew 13:11,13 BSB)

If someone thinks he is wise and learned, intelligent and scholarly, special and visionary, and that these gifts grant him the ability to decipher the deep things of God for the rest of us, even God’s true nature, then he is deceiving himself.

We don’t figure God out.  God reveals himself, or rather, the Son of God, reveals the Father to us, but he doesn’t reveal God to everyone, just to the chosen ones. This is significant and we need to think about what quality our Father is looking for in the ones he chooses to be his adopted children. Is he seeking intellectual prowess?  How about those who promote themselves as having special insights into God’s word, or proclaim themselves as God’s channel of communication? Paul tells us what God is looking for:

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, BSB).

Love is the thread that weaves back and forth to unite all knowledge into a whole.  Without it, we cannot get the spirit of God, and without that spirit, we cannot get to the truth. Our heavenly Father chooses us because he loves us and we love him.

John writes:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 BSB)

“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me—or at least believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:9-11BSB)

How is it possible for God to communicate truth in such plain speech and simple writing which his adopted children can understand, yet which he hides from those who think themselves to be wise and intellectual? For certainly the wise or intellectual ones, by Jesus’ own admission in Matthew 11:25, can’t understand the meaning of unity or love between the Father, the Son, and the chosen ones through the holy spirit because the intellectual mind seeks complexity so that it can distinguish itself from ordinary folk. As John 17:21-26 says:

“I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:21-26 BSB)

The oneness that Jesus has with God is based on the unity that comes from love. This is the same oneness with God and Christ that Christians experience.  You will notice that the holy spirit is not included in this oneness. We are expected to love the Father, and we are expected to love the Son, and we are expected to love one another; and more than that, we want to love the Father, and we want to love the son, and we want to love our brothers and sisters. But where is the command to love the holy spirit?  Surely, if it were the third person of a holy Trinity, such a command would be easy to find!

Jesus explains that it is the Spirit of truth that moves us:

“I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.” (John 16:12, 13)

Naturally, if you believe that the Trinity doctrine defines the nature of God, then you want to believe that the spirit guided you to that truth, right? Again, if we try to work out the deep things of God for ourselves based on our own ideas, then we will get it wrong every time. We need the spirit to guide us. Paul told us:

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.”  (1 Corinthians 2:10,11 New Living Translation)

I don’t believe the Trinity doctrine defines God’s nature, nor his relationship with his Son, Jesus Christ. I also believe that the spirit guided me to that understanding.  A Trinitarian will say the same thing about his understanding of God’s nature. We can’t both be right, can we? The same spirit did not guide us both to different conclusions. There is only one truth, though there can be many lies. Paul reminds the children of God:

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV)

Let’s explore Paul’s discussion of the unity of mind and thought a little bit more as it is an important scriptural theme and therefore essential to our salvation. Why do some people think that we can each worship God in our own way and with our own understanding, and in the end, we’ll all end up with the prize of eternal life?

Why is understanding God’s nature vital?  Why does our understanding of the relationship between the Father and the Son affect our chances at getting everlasting life as children of God in the resurrection of the righteous?

Jesus tells us: “Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” (John 17:3 BSB)

So, knowing God means life. And what about not knowing God? If the Trinity is a false teaching originating in pagan theology and forced down the throat of Christians on pain of death, as it was by the Roman emperor Theodosius after 381 CE, then those who accept it do not know God.

Paul tells us:

“After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 BSB)

Okay, okay. So, we can all agree that knowing God is crucial to pleasing him and gaining his approval which leads to eternal life.  But if you believe in the Trinity and I don’t, doesn’t that really mean that one of us doesn’t know God? Is one of us in danger of losing out on the prize of eternal life with Jesus in the kingdom of the heavens? It would seem so.

Well, let’s review. We’ve established that we can’t figure God out by sheer intellect.  In fact, he hides things from the intellectuals and reveals them to childlike ones as we saw at Matthew 11:25.  God has adopted children and, like any loving father, he shares intimacies with his children that he doesn’t share with strangers.  We’ve also established the way he reveals things to his children is through the holy spirit. That spirit guides us into all the truth.  So, if we have the Spirit, we have the truth. If we don’t have the truth, then we don’t have the Spirit.

That brings us to what Jesus told the Samaritan woman:

“But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23, 24 BSB)

So, Jehovah God is looking for a particular type of individual, one who will worship him in spirit and in truth. We must therefore love truth and be guided by God’s spirit into all the truth that we earnestly seek. The key to gaining that knowledge, that truth, isn’t by our intellect.  It is through love.  If our heart is filled with love, the spirit can guide us right through.  However, if we are motivated by pride, the spirit will be hindered, even blocked altogether.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV)

What this represents is huge; it is no trivial matter.  If the Trinity is true, then we must accept it if we are going to be among those worshipping the Father in Spirit and in truth and if we are going to be the ones he favors with eternal life. But if it is not true, we must reject it for the same reason. Our eternal lives hang in the balance.

What we’ve said before, bears repeating. If the Trinity is a revelation from God, then the only evidence of it is to be found in Scripture. If the spirit has guided men to the truth and that truth is that God is a Trinity, then all we need is childlike trust and humility to see God for what he truly is, three persons in one God.  While our feeble human minds may not be able to grasp the manner in which this triune God can be, that is of little consequence. It would be sufficient that he reveals himself to be such a God, such a divine, three-in-one being. We do not need to understand how this works, but only that it is so.

Surely, those who have already been led by the Spirit of God to this truth can now explain it to us in a simple way, a way that little children can understand. So, before we look at the evidence in Scripture used to support the Trinity, let us first examine it as defined by those who would claim to have had it revealed to them by God’s holy spirit.

We will start with the ontological Trinity.

“Wait a minute,” you might say. Why are you putting an adjective like “ontological” in front the noun “Trinity”? If there is only one Trinity, why do you need to qualify it? Well, I wouldn’t, if there were only one trinity, but in fact there are many definitions.  If you care to look at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, you’ll find “‘rational reconstructions’ of the Trinity doctrine, which employ concepts from contemporary analytic metaphysics, logic, and epistemology” like “One-self Theories”, “Three-self Theories”, “Four-self, No-self, and Indeterminate Self Theories”, “Mysterianism”, and “Beyond Coherence”.  All these things are guaranteed to bring the mind of the wise and intellectual endless delight. As for the childlike, ah, not so much.  In any case, we won’t get muddled down by all these many theories. Let’s just stick to the two main theories: The ontological Trinity and the economic Trinity.

So again, we will start with the ontological Trinity.

“Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being. The “ontological Trinity” refers to the being or nature of each member of the Trinity. In nature, essence, and attributes, each Person of the Trinity is equal. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share the same divine nature and thus comprise an ontological Trinity. The teaching of the ontological Trinity says that all three Persons of the Godhead are equal in power, glory, wisdom, etc.” (Source: gotquestions.org)

Of course, that creates a problem because there are so many places in the Bible where the “power, glory, [and] wisdom” of one member of the Trinity—the Son—is shown to be subordinate or inferior to the “power, glory, [and] wisdom”, of another member—the Father (not to mention that there is never any exhortation to worship the holy spirit).

In an attempt to solve that, we have the second definition: the economic Trinity.

“The economic Trinity is often discussed in conjunction with the “ontological Trinity,” a term that refers to the co-equal nature of the Persons of the Trinity. The term “economic Trinity” focuses on what God does; “ontological Trinity” focuses on who God is. Taken together, these two terms present the paradox of the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Spirit share one nature, but they are different Persons and have different roles. The Trinity is both united and distinct.” (Source: gotquestions.org)

All of this is presented as a paradox. The definition of a paradox is: A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. (Source: lexico.com)

The only way you can legitimately call the Trinity a paradox is if this “seemingly absurd” doctrine is proved to be true.  If you cannot prove it to be true, then it isn’t a paradox, it’s just an absurd teaching. The only possible source for evidence to prove that the ontological/economic trinity is true, is the Bible.  There is no other source.

How does CARM, the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, prove the teaching is true?

(Just to warn you, this is pretty long, but we really have to read it all to get the full height, and breadth, and depth of this kind of Trinitarian thought. I’ve left the Scriptural references but removed the actual quotations in the interest of brevity, but you can access the full text by using a link which I’ll put in the description field of this video.

The Economic Trinity

As stated above, the Economic Trinity deals with how the three persons in the Godhead relate to each other and the world.  Each has different roles within the Godhead and each has different roles in relationship to the world (some roles overlap).  The Father-and-Son is an inter-trinitarian relationship since it is eternal (more on this below).  The Father sent the Son (1 John 4:10), the Son came down from heaven not to do his own will but the will of the Father (John 6:38).  For a single verse that shows differences in roles, see 1 Pet. 1:2, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood,” You can see that the Father foreknows. The Son became man and sacrificed himself. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the church. That is simple enough, but before we discuss this further, let’s look at some of the verses that support the difference of roles among the three persons of the Trinity.

The Father sent the Son.  The Son did not send the Father (John 6:44; 8:18; 10:36; 1 John 4:14)

Jesus came down from heaven, not to do his own will, but the will of the Father. (John 6:38)

Jesus performed the redemptive work.  The Father did not. (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24)

Jesus is the only-begotten.  The Father is not. (John 3:16)

The Father gave the Son.  The Son did not give the Father or the Holy Spirit. (John 3:16)

The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does not send the Father and the Son. (John 14:26; 15:26)

The Father has given the elect to the Son.  Scripture does not say that the Father gave the elect to the Holy Spirit. (John 6:39)

The Father chose us before the foundation of the world.  No indication that the Son or the Holy Spirit chose us. (Eph. 1:4)

The Father predestined us to adoption according to the intention of his will.  This is not said of the Son or the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:5)

We have redemption through Jesus’ blood, not the blood of the Father or the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:7)

Let’s summarize.  We can see that the Father sent the Son (John 6:44; 8:18).  The Son came down from heaven not to do his own will (John 6:38).  The Father gave the Son (John 3:16), who is the only begotten (John 3:16), to perform the redemptive work (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24).  The Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit. The Father, who chose us before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), predestined us (Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:29), and gave the elect to the Son (John 6:39).

It was not the Son who sent the Father.  The Father was not sent to do the will of the Son.  The Son did not give the Father, nor was the Father called the only-begotten.  The Father did not perform the redemptive work.  The Holy Spirit did not send the Father and Son.  It is not said that the Son or the Holy Spirit chose us, predestined us, and gave us to the Father.

Furthermore, the Father calls Jesus the Son (John 9:35), not the other way around.  Jesus is called the Son of Man (Matt. 24:27); the Father is not. Jesus is called the Son of God (Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35); the Father is not called the Son of God.  Jesus will sit on the right hand of God (Mark 14:62; Acts 7:56); the Father does not sit on the right hand of the Son. The Father appointed the Son as the heir of all things (Heb. 1:1), not the other way around.  The Father has fixed the time of the restoring of the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:7), the Son didn’t.  The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the Church (1 Cor. 12:8-11) and produces fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).  These are not said of the Father and Son.

So, clearly, we see differences in function and roles.  The Father sends, directs, and predestines.  The Son does the will of the Father, becomes flesh, and accomplishes redemption.  The Holy Spirit indwells and sanctifies the Church.

Now remember that the ontological trinity, which the economic Trinity supports, states that “all three Persons of the Godhead are equal in power, glory, wisdom, etc.” The et cetera represents everything else.  So, reading all the above, where do we find equality in power, glory, wisdom, knowledge, authority, or anything else?  If you read all those bible verses without any preconceived ideas, without anyone telling you in advance what they mean, would you believe God is revealing himself to you by holy spirit as a Trinity? As three distinct persons making up one being?

What conclusion does the writer of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry article draw from all this:

Without these distinctions, there can’t be any distinctions between the persons of the Trinity and if there are no distinctions, there is no Trinity.

Huh?  I would look at all those distinctions to prove there isn’t a trinity, because they prove the three are not equal at all, but the writer of this article is turning all the evidence against there being a Trinity on its head and claiming that the evidence proves the Trinity after all.

Imagine if the police were to come to your door one night and say, “Your neighbor was found murdered. We found your gun at the scene with your fingerprints on it. We found your DNA under the victim’s fingernails.  We have three Witnesses who saw you enter the house minutes before the gunshot was heard and who saw you running out afterwards.  We have also found his blood on your clothes.  Finally, before he died, he wrote your name in blood on the floor.  All this evidence proves conclusively that you didn’t murder him.  In fact, if it were not for this evidence, you would be our prime suspect.”

I know. That is an absurd scenario, yet that is essentially the scenario of this CARM article.  We are expected to believe that all the Biblical evidence that disproves the Trinity, doesn’t disprove it at all. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Have these scholars lost their ability to think rationally, or do they just think the rest of us are fools. You know, sometimes there are no words…

It would appear that the purpose of the economic Trinity theory is to try to get around the mountain of scriptural evidence that demonstrates that the three members of the trinity are not equal to each other in any way. The economic trinity tries to shift the focus from the nature of the Father, Son and holy spirit to the roles each plays.

This is a cute trick. Let me show you how it works. I’m going to play a video for you. I have not been able to ascertain the source of this video, but it is evidently an excerpt from a debate between an atheist and a Christian Creationist. The atheist asks what he obviously believes is a gotcha question, but the Christian shuts him down quite effectively. His answer reveals some real insight into the nature of God. But that Christian is undoubtedly a Trinitarian. The irony is that his answer actually disproves the Trinity. Then, to conclude, he ironically engages in a nifty little piece of fallacious reasoning. Let’s listen:

Reinhold Schlieter: I’m confused.  Being philosophically consistent and being very honest person, I’m sure you can tell me where God came from. And in addition, in addition, once you have told me where God comes from, please try to clarify how you can figure that a spiritual force can have an impact on a material universe to create it.

Dr. Kent Hovind: Alright, your question, “Where did God come from?” assumes that your thinking of the wrong—obviously, it displays—that your thinking of the wrong god. Because the God of the Bible is not affected by time, space, or matter. If He’s affected by time, space, or matter, he’s not God. Time, space and matter is what we call a continuum.  All of them have to come into existence at the same instant. Because it there were matter, but no space, where would you put it? If there were matter and space, but no time, when would you put it? You cannot have time, space, or matter independently. They have to come into existence simultaneously. The Bible answers that in ten words: “In the beginning [there’s time], God created the heaven [there’s space], and the earth [there’s matter].

So you have time, space, matter created; a trinity of trinities there; you know time is past, present, future; space is height, length, width; matter is solid, liquid, gas.  You have a trinity of trinities created instantaneously, and the God who created them has to be outside of them. If he’s limited by time, He’s not God.

The god who created this computer is not in the computer. He’s not running around in there changing the numbers on the screen, okay? The God who created this universe is outside of the universe. He’s above it, beyond it, in it, through it. He’s unaffected by it. So, for…and the concept that a spiritual force cannot have any effect on a material body…well then, I guess you’d have to explain to me things like emotions and love and hatred and envy and jealousy and rationality. I mean if your brain is just a random collection of chemicals that formed by chance over billions of years, how on earth can you trust your own reasoning processes and the thoughts that you think, okay?

So, ah…your question: “Where did God come from?” is assuming a limited god, and that’s your problem. The God that I worship is not limited by time, space, or matter. If I could fit the infinite God in my three-pound brain, He would not be worth worshipping, that’s for certain. So that’s the God that I worship. Thank you.

I agree that God is infinite and cannot be affected by the universe. On that point, I am in agreement with this fellow. But he fails to see the impact of his words on his own belief system. How can Jesus who is God according to Trinitarian theory be affected by the universe? God cannot be limited by time.  God does not need to eat.  God cannot be nailed to a cross. God cannot be killed. Yet, he will have us believe that Jesus is God.

So here you have a wonderful explanation of the infinite intelligence and power and nature of God that doesn’t fit with Trinitarian theory. But did you notice how he still tried to introduce the Trinity into his argument when he quoted Genesis 1:1? He refers to time, space and matter as a Trinity. In other words, all creation, the entire universe, is a Trinity. Then he subdivides each element of this universe into its own trinity.  Time has past, present, and future; space has height, width, and depth; matter exists as a solid, liquid, or gas. A Trinity of Trinities, he called it.

You can’t just call something that exists in three states, like matter, a trinity.  (Actually, matter can also exist as plasma, which is a fourth state, but let’s not confuse the issue further.) The point is that we are seeing a common technique here.  The logical fallacy of false equivalence.  By playing fast and loose with the meaning of the word, trinity, he is trying to get us to accept the concept on his terms.  Once we do, he can then apply it to the real meaning he wants to convey.

Do I accept that Jehovah, Jesus, and the holy spirit all have different roles?  Yes. There you have it, the economic Trinity.  No, you don’t.

Do you agree that in a family you have a father, a mother and a child that all have different roles? Yes. Can you define them as a family? Yes.  But that is not equivalent to the Trinity. Is the father the family? Is the mother, the family? Is the child, the family? No.  But is the Father, God?  Yes, says the Trinitarian.  Is the Holy Spirit, God? Yes, again.  Is the Son, God?  Yes.

You see, the economic Trinity is just a way to try to take the evidence that disproves the ontological Trinity, and explain it away.  But in reality, most of those who use the economic Trinity to explain away the evidence against the ontological Trinity still believe in the ontological definition of three distinct persons in one being, who are all equal in all things. This is a magician’s trick.  One hand distracts you while the other hand performs the trick.  Look here: In my left hand, I hold the economic trinity.  Everything the Bible says about the different roles performed by the Father, Son, and holy spirit is true.  Do you accept that? Yes. Let’s call it a Trinity, okay? Okay.  Now in the right hand, “abracadabra,” we have the real trinity.  But it’s still called the Trinity, right? And you accept the Trinity, right?  Oh. Yeah.  Okay, I get it.

Now to be fair, not everyone who is a Trinitarian accepts the ontological trinity. Many these days have developed their own definitions. But they still use the term, Trinity.  That’s a very important fact. It’s the key to explain the compulsion people have to accept the Trinity.

For most people, the definition doesn’t really matter so much. It used to matter. In fact, there was a time that you’d be tied to a stake and burned alive if you didn’t agree with it. But nowadays, not so much.  You can come up with your own definition and that’s okay. Just as long as you use the term, Trinity. It’s like the password to gain entry to an exclusive club.

The analogy I just used of a family actually fits with some definitions of the Trinity now in circulation.

If the only child in a family dies, it is no longer a family.  All that remains is a couple.  I asked a Trinitarian what happened when Jesus died for three days. His answer was that God was dead for those three days.

That is not the Trinity, but again, what matters is that the term itself is used.  Why?

I have a theory, but before I explain it, I should state that with this series of videos, I’m not trying to convince Trinitarians that they are wrong. This argument has been going on for over 15 centuries, and I’m not going to win it.  Jesus will win it when he comes.  I’m trying to help those who are awakening from the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses not to fall prey to another false doctrine. I don’t want them jumping from the frying pan of false JW theology into the fire of mainstream Christian dogma.

I know the appeal to belong to some group of Christians can be very strong. Some will reason that if they have to bend a little, if they have to accept another false doctrine, it is a price that they are willing to pay. Peer pressure and the need to belong is what drove first century Christians, at least some of them, to try to get the Gentiles to get circumcised.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. (Galatians 6:12 NIV)

I believe it is a valid argument to apply that to our current situation and re-read the verse thus:

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to believe God is a Trinity. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. (Galatians 6:12 NIV)

The need to belong to a group means that the person is still trapped by the indoctrination of the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  “Where else will I go?” is the question most commonly asked by all who start to wake up to the falsehood and hypocrisy of JW.org.  I know of one Jehovah’s Witness who is trying to get reinstated even though he knows about all the false teachings and the UN affiliation hypocrisy and the child sexual abuse coverups.  His reasoning is that it is the best of all the false religions. His need to belong to a religion has clouded his mind to the fact that the chosen of God, the children of God, belong only to the Christ. We do not belong anymore to men.

So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)

Of course, Trinitarians hearing this will claim they do have proof.  They will claim that the proof for the Trinity exists throughout the Bible.  They have many “proof texts”.  From this point forward, I’ll be examining these proof texts one by one to see if they do indeed provide the scriptural evidence for the doctrine, or if it is all smoke and mirrors.

For now, we’ll end and I’d like to thank you for your kind attention and, again, express my appreciation for your support.

 

Meleti Vivlon

Articles by Meleti Vivlon.
    171
    0
    Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
    ()
    x