The Trinity - What on Earth is it?

[IndigoChild5559]

most of whom I believe are as puzzled as me if they were honest.

I don't think honesty is the issue. When you are around something constantly, it feels normal to you. They are regularly around others that they trust who profess it. Most people just don't logically question their beliefs. In fact, it is human nature that once we accept something, we tend to only look at those things which confirm it and explain it, and avoid anything that disrupts that belief.

 

[InChrist]

I have mentioned in various posts why I parted from Christianity. However, one thing just continues to bug me -the Trinity. It is to me the weirdest thing imaginable, but it is accepted by millions, most of whom I believe are as puzzled as me if they were honest.

It is a big subject so let us start with one factor. Son of God.
Son has biological, legal and social meanings, but what does it mean here? Why would it be considered as making any sense at all?

I believe in the triune nature of the Godhead because the biblical scriptures reveal the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as One God comprised of three Persons; all having eternal God Nature & Attributes. I don’t necessarily think it’s an easy concept to understand from an earthly human perspective because God is not finite, nor earthly, but eternal Spirit. Nevertheless, I believe God has stamped examples of His Triune Quality throughout the universe …


“In Romans:1:20
Paul argues that God's "eternal power and Godhead" are seen in the creation He made. God's eternal power—but His Godhead? Yes, as Dr. Wood pointed out years ago in The Secret of the Universe, the triune nature of God is stamped on His creation. The cosmos is divided into three: space, matter and time. Each of these is divided into three. Space, for instance, is composed of length, breadth and width, each separate and distinct in itself, yet the three are one. Length, breadth and width are not three spaces, but three dimensions comprising one space. Run enough lines lengthwise and you take in the whole. But so it is with the width and height. Each is separate and distinct, yet each is all of space—just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is each God.

Time also is a trinity: past, present and future—two invisible and one visible. Each is separate and distinct, yet each is the whole. Man himself is a triunity of spirit, soul and body, two of which are invisible, one visible. Many more details could be given of the Godhead's triunity reflected in the universe. It can hardly be coincidence.”

The Trinity

Many Christians are at a loss to understand, much less to defend, the "Trinity." Critics argue that that word is not even found in the Bible. To deal with that issue, we must begin with God,

www.thebereancall.org

 

[Muffled]

Jesus is the one talked about at Revelation 3:14 B who is the beginning of the creation of God.
Created by God's spirit - Psalm 104:30
Beginning means: start
God started creating long before creating the Earth. - Genesis 1:26 - heavenly Jesus is part of the 'us' in verse 26.
Thus, created Jesus was the first of God's creation - Colossians 1:15; Proverbs 8:22
Jesus gives credit to his God as being Creator at Rev. 4:11

I believe that doesn't mean the beginning of creation. God can create at a any time and if it is a new thing it is a new beginning. Such was the conception of Jesus.

I believe psalm 104:30 has no reference to Jesus.

I believe the "us" could be anything and certainly does not state that it is Jesus.

I believe there is nothing about pre-existence in those.

 

[Eli G]

A belief is nothing if it does just come from a person's mind. Any belief has to be supported by a reliable source, and human imagination is not that kind of source. There is enough evidence of this in psychiatric hospitals.

For example: if the Bible says that God's creation had a beginning (Gen. 1:1), then that belief is supported by the Bible... and the opposite would be denying what the Bible says.

A person who believes the opposite of what the Bible says is an enemy of the Intellectual Author of the Bible: God, who inspired it with His own spirit.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I believe that doesn't mean the beginning of creation. God can create at a any time and if it is a new thing it is a new beginning. Such was the conception of Jesus.
I believe psalm 104:30 has no reference to Jesus.
I believe the "us" could be anything and certainly does not state that it is Jesus.
I believe there is nothing about pre-existence in those.

I can agree Psalm 104:30 has No reference to Jesus because it is God who sends forth His spirit to create
Jesus gives all the credit to his God as being The Creator (singular) at Revelation 4:11
To me there is pre-existence involved with the first prophecy found at Genesis 3:15
Satan is the pre-existing angel that gets bruised in his head (Hebrews 2:14 B)
ALL the angels were created before the visible material world came into existence - Job 38:4-7
In order for Lord Jesus to have the voice of The Archangel then Jesus had a per-human life - 1st Thess. 4:16
Heavenly Jesus thus being the promised 'seed' (Messiah) of Gen. 3:15 whom God would send to Earth for us

 

[FredVB]

I don't really make it hard for myself. There is one supreme being, this is God. God is one being and there no other being near to being like God. Yet Jesus said he was one with the Father. The Father in Heaven is God, so what could that mean? The beginning of the gospel account of John states that the Word with God, from whom came the creation, is God. In this unity then the Word with God, Logos, is in full unity with the heavenly Father with no inconsistency or lack of full agreement, as one being. The Spirit then, identified with God, is in that unity which is the one being God. Jesus is the incarnation that came, as light in the darkness, among us. As our Lord we should observe the things he told, for us.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Yet Jesus said he was one with the Father.

Genesis says of a married man and woman that they "become one flesh." Do you take that literally? And if not, then why would you turn around and take literally the very similar statement by Jesus that he is one with the father?

 

[LuisDantas]

I don't see what is so difficult about the Trinity.

It means that the Trinitarian Christianity take on God is that it is One yet has three aspects or emanations.

Whether they count as separate entities or as manifestations of a sole god is entirely a function of convenience of the moment.

Maybe it is easier for me to accept that because I do not expect Abraham's God to either exist nor to have a human-like personality.

 

[Kathryn]

The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person.

 

[YoursTrue]

Genesis says of a married man and woman that they "become one flesh." Do you take that literally? And if not, then why would you turn around and take literally the very similar statement by Jesus that he is one with the father?

You're learning. Good for you! Of course, there's 2 more opinions to go.

 

[YoursTrue]

The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person.

Meantime the Holy Spirit (or Ghost... it's Halloween time) was not mentioned in John 1. It says in many translations
1"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
God and the Word. The Word it says in that translation was God. That's two anyway, or if you figure God was a Trinity, and the Word was with the Trinity, that makes four.
Go figure.

 

[cataway]

Matthew 24:36​

“Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.

 

[Dimi95]

The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are called three divine persons.
Person is defined as the subject of existence and life which is called hypostasis in the traditional church language.

Various men arose over its history seeking to refashion it by their own criteria.
-Arius wanted the idea of a created Christ to prevail.
-Nestorius, the idea of a Buddha-like 'enlightened man', blessed with Christ-hood.
-Marcion tried to advance the idea that Christ is a new, merciful God, supplanting the God of the Hebrew Bible.

Neither this, nor any body which endorses it, is by any honest definition Orthodox.

Orthodox meaning that he helds to the belief of the entire Christian body prior to the Nicene Creed.

From the First and Second Councils, which examined Arius's claims, came what we know as the Nicene Creed.
In both Councils, the Fathers closed their 'book' by saying that if any change so much as a letter in this Creed, he was anathema - no longer in the Church.

All these people that tried to 'refashion it' ,they have one thing in common and that is 'messing' with the Third Person.

 

[Dimi95]

Meantime the Holy Spirit (or Ghost... it's Halloween time) was not mentioned in John 1.
It says in many translations
1"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Logos means:
-word,speech, statement,discourse,
-a computation, account,
-reason, judgment, understanding

It comes from log-o-, suffixed form of leg-'to collect, gather,'
with derivatives meaning 'to speak',
on notion of 'to pick out words'.

God and the Word. The Word it says in that translation was God. That's two anyway, or if you figure God was a Trinity, and the Word was with the Trinity, that makes four.
Go figure.

You are known for your tricks in your answers.
When are you going to learn Koine so we can talk?

'The Word' is literally transliterated into English as 'the principle of reason' by the context of John 1.
You know that to be as 'Logos' in Greek.
There is no better explenation then that.

The funny thing is that JW argue about it , a belief that came into existence in the late 19 century.

Go figure it out how are they any relevant to the Trinity.

You havw limited knowledge about this matter , so it will be better to not make such 'naive' statements that you cannot defend.






.

 

[Yokefellow]

Meantime the Holy Spirit (or Ghost... it's Halloween time) was not mentioned in John 1.

That is because the Word of God is *alive*, not dead.

In other words, the Holy Ghost is there by default and thus, it would be redundant to mention it.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

 

[IndigoChild5559]

That is because the Word of God is *alive*, not dead.

In other words, the Holy Ghost is there by default and thus, it would be redundant to mention it.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Are you aware that when the author of Hebrews wrote this, the only "Word of God" that existed was Moses (the Law) and the Prophets? Even the Writings had not yet been added (Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, etc.) and the NT would not be canonized for hundreds of years to come.

 

[Yokefellow]

Are you aware that when the author of Hebrews wrote this, the only "Word of God" that existed was Moses (the Law) and the Prophets? Even the Writings had not yet been added (Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, etc.) and the NT would not be canonized for hundreds of years to come.

I believe the same God authored both Old and New Testaments.

The Scribes simply wrote it all down.

 

[YoursTrue]

That is because the Word of God is *alive*, not dead.

In other words, the Holy Ghost is there by default and thus, it would be redundant to mention it.

Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Oh. Well I was thinking of Halloween and the often ugly ghouls and monsters people think are cute.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I believe the same God authored both Old and New Testaments.

The Scribes simply wrote it all down.

I was tempted to reply to this, but since you actually quoted me, and then didn't bother addressing what I actually said, but simply introduced irrelevant material, I don't think you deserve a reply.

 

[Yokefellow]

Even Genesis describes the Trinity.

Whoever 'authored' it, wrote about it in a very detailed way.