| TRUTH OR TRINITY |
Churches have advocated God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost since the fourth century AD. During the first century, though, the apostles never taught that God was the Son, but that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. It is reasonable, then, for me to conclude that the doctrine of the three-in-one God is incorrect. It is my belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not God.
Until 200 AD, no one ever spoke of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as a three-in-one deity. Furthermore, there was no formal doctrine of Trinitarianism (the teaching of the three-in-one God) until the fourth century. This was documented by Alvan Lamson, a writer of history: "The modern doctrine of the Trinity is not found in any document or relic belonging to the Church of the first three centuries... It was of later origin". (396).
Even the New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that Trinitarianism did not become a part of the Christian doctrine until the fourth century. A passage from the encyclopedia reads, "When one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century... The dogmatic formula "God in three Persons" was the product of 3 centuries of doctrinal development" (qtd. in Buzzard and Hunting 73). This doctrine did not develop as a result of biblical study. The bible never refers to Jesus Christ as "God the Son". The New Testament, however, refers to Jesus Christ as God"s Son 68 times. The word Trinity is not even in the Bible. Not only does the Bible deny the Trinity and call Jesus Christ the Son of God, but it also distinguishes the differences between God and Christ.
An example of such a difference can be found by comparing a verse in Hebrews to a verse in James. First, Hebrews 4: 15 says of Jesus Christ, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Then, James 1:13 says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." If God cannot be tempted with evil, then God cannot be Jesus Christ, who, as our high priest, was tempted in all points.
So, if God cannot, according to these and many other verses, be the same person as Jesus Christ, then why did the Trinitarian doctrine develop? The answer is easily found in the study of the ancient history of people and their religious beliefs.
History shows an age old tendency for people to turn to three-in-one gods. This tendency was in existence long before Christ was ever born. The Romans were chief among the triune pagans and paid tribute to their Trinity, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury. Such pagans gained notoriety in the Christian church as more and more of them converted to Christianity during the first three centuries. Soon, Christian leaders were persuaded to add many of the pagan rituals and beliefs to Christian dogma.
By the fourth century AD, the mixed doctrine began to cause strife and divisions among Christians. Constantine, emperor and recent convert to Christianity, was interested in the outcome of these arguments. He called together in Nicaea, a Council of Bishops from far and wide. Aria, the Bishop most opposed to the Trinitarian dogma, was unable to attend the Council. The Creed that resulted from the Council of Nicaea I was the first document that officially called Jesus Christ and God an indistinguishable being.
The council of bishops that signed the decree, however, did not do so wholeheartedly. Many of them assented to it because of the imperial pressure of Constantine to do so, while others, at the time, hadn't given the matter any thought. The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "For it was the proclamation of the Nicene Creed that first opened the eyes of many bishops to the significance of the problem there treated; and its explanation led the Church to force herself into compliance with those principals, to which, in the year 325, she had pledged herself without genuine assent". (16:410).
The decision of the Nicene Council was final; death was the penalty for anyone who was found to be recalcitrant. "Many Christians were put to death as a result of their refusal to worship Jesus Christ as God. These harsh penalties gave other dissidents ample reason to become subjective to the Nicene doctrine." (Buzzard and Hunting 88).
The Nicene Creed is primarily responsible for the Trinitarian doctrine that is ingrained in the Christian religion today. Even so, modern versions of the bible offer a slim basis for Trinitarian beliefs. The most prominent passage that contains a Trinitarian formula is Matthew 28:19. It says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." A fourth century scribe, Eusebius, quoted Mathew 28:19 eighteen times using the words "in my name" rather than "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". After the Council of Nicaea I, however, Eusebius thrice quoted the same verse using the Trinitarian formula. This shows the powerful impact that the Nicene decision had on the subject of the person of Christ (Wierwille 20).
However, the foremost authority on the subject, Christ himself, never said, "I am God." Instead, he spoke of God as being his Father. The many passages in which Jesus Christ referred to God demonstrate his belief that he was inferior to God.
Indeed, many scriptures point out God's superior nature, especially those concerning God's superior knowledge. Mark 13:32 tells us, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." This clearly shows that only God is omniscient.
God's superior knowledge is not the only difference between he and his son. The scriptures also show that God and Jesus Christ have distinguishable wills. Matthew 26:39 is one such passage: "And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." John 5:30 also separates the will of God from the will of Jesus Christ. "I (Jesus) can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
Many religious sects explain that God and Jesus Christ can have distinguishable wills and still be one entity by calling the Trinity a divine mystery. I do not dispute that there are divine things that people cannot know. God said in Deuteronomy 29: 29 that there are secret things that belong only to him. However, in II Peter 1: 3 God said that he has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Therefore, divine mysteries will never pertain to our life and godliness. Whether or not Jesus Christ is God does pertain to our life and godliness; for if Jesus Christ is God, we do not have redemption. The legalities of our redemption are set forth in Romans 5: 12-21.
Briefly, these verses say that we lost grace and gained sin and death by the sin of one man, Adam. Therefore, another man, who had to be of Adam and Eve's descent (Genesis 3:15) was required to regain grace, acquire redemption, and defeat sin and death. The only way for this man to do so was to live a lifetime of being tempted as Adam was, yet without sin. So in order for us to have legal redemption, The Messiah had to be human as Adam was, not a deity.
The knowledge of who Christ is also pertains to our life and godliness because it is idolatrous for us to worship anyone or anything that is not God. Even Christ, the perfect man, the redeemer of sins, the Son of God, is not to be worshipped.
Jesus Christ's human nature dictates that he is not to be worshipped, but does not detract from the significance of who he is. In fact, his humanity is what makes him such a wonderful Savior. It would have been no great feat for a deity to withstand the torture that Christ bore - a deity would have had the power to make the whole event painless for himself. However, to be human and to bear such torture was a great feat - Jesus Christ felt every stripe as vividly as any human would have.
I am eternally thankful to Jesus Christ for the stripes that he bore for me; yet I cannot worship him. I worship only the one true God, who is the Father of Jesus Christ my Savior.
Works Cited:
Buzzard, Anthony F., and Charles F. Hunting. The Doctrine of the Trinity. Morrow: Atlanta Bible College, 1994.
Encyclopedia Brittanica. Vol 16. USA: Benton, 1961. 24 vols.
Lamson, Alvan. The Church of the First Three Centuries. Boston: Walker Fuller and Co., 1865.
Wierwille, Victor Paul. Jesus Christ is Not God. New Knoxville: American Christian Press, 1981.