The
Trinity and the Bible
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God is one absolutely perfect divine Being in three
Persons. His being is what God is, in relation to the universe he
created. The three are called Persons because they relate to one another in
personal ways. When Christians talk about believing in one God in
three Persons (the Trinity), they do NOT mean:
Rather, they mean:
Therefore,
Theophilus, sixth bishop of Antioch, Syria, is the
first person known to have used the word “Trinity” in his work, Refutation of
Autolycus (A.D. 168) Why do Christians Believe in the Trinity? The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God,
yet all three Persons are called God. There is only one God:
The Father is God:
The Son is God:
See these passages about Jesus’ deity: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 6; John 1:1; John 1:18; John 8:58, 59; John 10:30; Acts 20:28; Romans 9:5; 10:9-13; Colossians 1:15, 16; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:3, 8; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20. The Holy Spirit is God:
More than 60 Bible passages mention the three Persons
together:
See also John 3:34, 35; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:13-15; Romans 14:17, 18; Romans 15:13-17; Romans 15:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11, 17, 18, 19;
1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; 2 Corinthians 3:4-6; Galatians 2:21-3:2; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:11-17; Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 1:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:2, 8; 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 19; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:23, 24; 1 John 4:13, 14; and Jude 1:20-21. Misunderstandings About the Trinity Misunderstanding #1: “The word ‘Trinity’ does not
appear in the Bible; it is a belief made up by Christians in the 4th century.” Truth: It is true that the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but the Trinity is nevertheless a Bible-based belief. The word “incarnation” does not appear in the Bible either, but we use it as a one-word summary of our belief that Jesus was God in the flesh.
The word “Trinity” was used to explain the eternal
relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many Bible
passages express the Trinity. False beliefs
flourished during the early days of Christianity, and still do. Early
Christians constantly defended their beliefs. The following early church
leaders and/or writings all defended the doctrine of the Trinity long before
A.D. 300:
Misunderstanding #2: “Christians believe there are
three Gods.” Truth: Christians believe in only one God. Some people might believe that Christians are
polytheists (people who believe in many gods) because Christians refer to the
Father as God, the Son as God, and the Holy Spirit as God. But Christians
believe in only one God. The Bible says there is only one God. But it also
calls three distinct Persons “God.” Over the centuries people have tried to
come up with simple explanations for the Trinity. There are limits to every
illustration, but some are helpful. For example, it has been said that
The Trinity is a profound doctrine that must be
accepted by faith. Accepting a doctrine by faith does not exclude reason, but
it also means that we cannot always apply the same logic that we use in
mathematics. Without the Trinity, the Christian doctrine of salvation cannot
stand. Some religious groups that claim to believe in the God of the Bible, but
reject the Trinity, have an understanding of salvation that is based on good
works. St. Patrick (A.D. 432) used the shamrock to illustrate
the Trinity. St. Patrick is believed to have used the shamrock as a
way of illustrating the Trinity. He asked, “Is this one leaf or three? If one
leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? If three leaves, why is there
just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery as the shamrock, how
can you hope to understand one so profound as the Holy Trinity?” Even though
this is an overly simple way to explain the Trinity, some teachers find it
helpful. Misunderstanding #3: “Jesus is not God.” Truth: Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
1. Jesus’ own claims
2.
Misunderstanding #4: “Jesus is a lesser God
than the Father.” Truth: Jesus is co-equal with God the Father. People
who deny this truth may use the following arguments and verses. (These heresies
date back to Arius, A.D. 319.) Verses wrongly used to teach that Christ was created:
Verses wrongly used to teach that Jesus is inferior to
the Father:
Misunderstanding #5: “The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit are just different titles for Jesus, or three different ways that God
has revealed himself.” The word “Trinity” was used to explain the eternal
relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Truth: The Bible clearly shows that the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit are distinct persons. Some people think that the doctrine of the Trinity contradicts
the truth that there is only one God. They argue that Jesus alone is the one
true God, and therefore that Jesus is “the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19), and not just the name of the Son. While it is
certainly true that there is only one God, we must allow the Bible to define
what this means. And the Bible makes it quite clear that the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are distinct persons:
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus is not identifying himself as
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is saying that Christian baptism
identifies a person as one who believes in the Father, in the Son whom the
Father sent to die for our sins, and in the Holy Spirit whom the Father and the
Son sent to dwell in our hearts. Misunderstanding #6: “Jesus wasn’t really fully God
and fully man.” Throughout history many people have balked at the idea
that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. They have tried to resolve this
paradox by saying that Jesus was a mere man through whom God spoke, or that he
was God and merely appeared to be human, or some other “simpler” belief.
Admittedly the idea that in Jesus, God became a man, is difficult for us to
comprehend. But the Incarnation—the truth that God became flesh—is the ultimate
proof that nothing is too hard for God (Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37). And this
truth is clearly taught in the Bible. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was fully human: As a child, he grew physically, intellectually,
socially, and spiritually (Luke 2:40, 52). He grew tired; he slept; he sweat; he was hungry and
thirsty; he bled and died; his body was buried (Matthew 4:2; 8:24; Luke 22:44; John 4:6, 7; 19:28-42). After he rose from the dead, he ate and drank with
people and let them see his scars and touch his body (Luke 24:39-43; John 20:27-29; Acts 10:41). The Bible also clearly shows that Jesus was fully God: Jesus did on earth what only God can do: he commanded
the forces of nature (Matthew 8:23-27; 14:22, 33), forgave sins (Mark 2:1-12);
claimed to be superior to the Sabbath law (John 5:17, 18); and gave life to
whomever he pleased (John 5:19-23). Paul said that God purchased the church with his own
blood (Acts 20:28). Paul also said that the rulers of this world
unwittingly crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). All the fullness of God’s nature and being resides in
Jesus’ risen body (Colossians 2:9). Irenaeus, early church leader (A.D. 177), writes, “Now
the Church,… received from the apostles and their
disciples its faith in one God, and the father Almighty, who made the heaven,
and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus,
the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit,
who through the prophets proclaimed the dispensations of God…” Early Christian theologians of the first two centuries
wrote many works defending Christianity from several threats:
The Apostles’ Creed was one of the earliest
statements of faith Christian leaders crafted to clarify basic Christian
beliefs. It emphasizes the true humanity—including the physical body—of Jesus,
which was the belief the heretics of the time denied. I
believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I
believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power
of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the
third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right
hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I
believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting. Amen. The Nicene Creed was written by church leaders
in A.D. 325, and was later expanded somewhat. It was written to defend the
church’s belief in Christ’s full deity and to reject formally the teachings of
Arius, a man who claimed that Jesus was a created, inferior deity. We
believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all
that is, seen and unseen. We
believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of
the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of
one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our
salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was
crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried; on the third
day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven.
He is seated at the right hand of the Father, he will come again in glory to
judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We
believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father and the Son; with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified;
he has spoken through the prophets. We
believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the
life of the world to come. Note: The
Greek word from which the word catholic is derived means “universal.”
The “catholic Church” means the ancient church that agreed with the whole of
the apostles’ teaching, as opposed to false teachers that followed a “secret
revelation” or emphasized only one part of the first century apostles’
teachings.
The Athanasian Creed, written about A.D. 400
and named after Athanasius, a great defender of the Trinity, says the three
Persons are not three Gods, but only one. This is
what the catholic faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the
Trinity in unity. We
distinguish among the persons, but we do not divide the substance. For the
Father is a distinct person; the Son is a distinct person; and the Holy Spirit
is a distinct person. Still the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one
divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is,
and the Holy Spirit is. The
Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is
boundless. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is
eternal. Nevertheless,
there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being. Thus
there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one
uncreated being and one boundless being. Likewise,
the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is
omnipotent. Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent
being.
Thus
the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But there are
not three gods, but one God. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy
Spirit is Lord. There are not three lords, but one Lord. For
according to Christian truth, we must profess that each of the persons
individually is God; and according to Christian religion we are forbidden to
say there are three Gods or three Lords. The
Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father
alone; not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and
of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So
there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy
Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity
none is afore, nor after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the
whole three persons are co-eternal, and co-equal. So that in all things, as
aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. The Chalcedonian Creed, written in A.D. 451 by
church leaders to defend the faith against false teachings, says that Jesus is
fully God and fully man. Therefore,
following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one
and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and
complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable
soul and body; of one substance (homoousios) with the
Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as
regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his
Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood
begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer
(theotokos); one and the same Christ, Son, Lord,
Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change,
without division, without separation; the distinction of natures
being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each
nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence,
not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and
Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from
earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and
the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us. A simple illustration: Ice, Water, Steam All have the same nature,
water. (But of course, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God at the same time.) Important Bible Verses and References
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