(Doctrine of the Trinity)
“The word ‘Trinity’ is never used, nor is the doctrine of Trinitarianism ever explicitly taught in the Scriptures, but Trinitarianism is the best explication of the biblical evidence…Because Trinitarianism is not taught explicitly in the Scriptures, the study of the doctrine is an exercise in putting together biblical themes and data through a systematic theological study.”[1]
Essential elements of the Trinity include:[2]
1. God is One.
2. Each of the persons within the Godhead is Deity.
3. The oneness of God and the threeness of God are not contradictory.
4. The Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is eternal.
5. Each of the persons of God is of the same essence and is not inferior or superior to the others in essence.
6. The Trinity is a mystery which we will never be able to understand fully.
Key biblical verses expressing the Three as One:
God revels himself as the Father in Matthew 3:16-17 when he speaks from heaven declaring that he is pleased with His son, Jesus.
Jesus testifies that God is Father when he taught the disciples to pray to God as “Father” (Luke 11:2).
God the Father confirms Jesus as His son in Matthew 3:16.
The Holy Spirit testifies on behalf of the Father that Jesus is the Son in John 15:26.
The Holy spirit is confirmed to be equal with God the Father and Jesus by Peter in Acts 5:3, 4 when he condemns Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit and concludes that he has lied to God.
So, if there is a God the Father, Jesus the Son, and Holy Spirit, are they equal in essence, ability, and eternality? Matthew 28:19 declares: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Here we read the implied message that all three components are equally important and essentially the same. It is also inferred in Genesis 1:26 that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are present with God the Father at the time of creation when it is written “let us make man in our image.” And in John 1:1-3 it tells us that Jesus was with God in the beginning and that he was part of all creation. The Holy Spirit is also confirmed as being part of God in 2 Corinthians 3:17; “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
As demonstrated, there are three distinct “persons” of God described in the Bible. It is also clear that there is one and only one God: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4)! God declares it Himself in Exodus 20:2-3 that He (singular) is the LORD who brought the people out of Egypt and that they are to have no other god before Him. If Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not a part of the Trinitarian Godhead, then they would be other gods and not worthy of our praise. Yet in Revelation 5:12 Jesus [the Lamb] is worshiped in Heaven and the angels sing that he is worthy “to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” It appears obvious to me that the Bible, while never declaring the Trinity in name, supports the doctrine of Trinitarianism through numerous verses both in the Old and New Testaments.
[1] H. Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 48.
[2] House, 48.
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2 comments:
Well, a related Trinitarian issue, is, Are Rastafarians Christian, pagan, or are Christians Pagan?
There is another view than the idea that “Christianity” is pagan; it is the view that the Roman Church and its Protestant daughters are Pagan, but that true adherence to the teaching of Christ Jesus Words Only, is neither pagan nor polytheistic and wanton. It is Judaism corrected by revelation through Yeshua Messiah.
This is debated at:
Messian Dread: Rasfafari V. the Pagan Cult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJre1UYzZs0&feature=PlayList&p=57DFCE435B9C29DB&index=7
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia meets none of the criteria of inclusion into the Trinity. He was not deity, therefore I would conclude that Rastafarianism is pagan. Just as any belief system that does not include Jesus Christ as part of the triune God.
As for the belief that following the words fo Jesus will lead you to truth, I agree. So listen to the words he says in John 5:39 - "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me." The Old Testament is not corrected by Jesus, it is fulfilled by Him.
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