THE TRINITY: PART THREE

SCRIPTURES THAT DISPROVE THE DOCTRINE

The emphasis of part one, "The Trinity: Is God Three Persons In One?" was to point out that "Father", "Son" and "Holy Spirit", are not three different Persons, they are three titles of God. This is consistent with the fact that in the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, Jehovah has many titles.  

Part two, "The Trinity: Elohim" was written to show that while it is true "Elohim" is a plural noun, that does not prove that God is three Persons in one.

In this paper we will look at several scriptures that go to prove that the doctrine of the Trinity is not only illogical, it is unscriptual, and most importantly, it demeans the Person of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Let us look first at Isaiah 9: 6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Councilor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace". This verse is, of course, a prophecy concerning Christ. Note that He is referred to as "Son", in the phrase "a Son is given". Note also that He shall be called "everlasting Father". That is to say, the Son shall be called "everlasting Father".

But, the reader may object, "How can the Father and the Son be the same Person?" The answer is that they are titles of Jehovah, Who is one. There are several passages in the Old Testament that tell us that Jehovah is the Father. Is. 9:6, quoted above is one of the Old Testament verse which proves that the Father and the Son are One Person.

Another Old Testament verse that proves that the Father and the Son are one is Is. 63:16, "Doubtless, thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: Thou O Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting". We know from at least two New Testament verses that Christ is our Redeemer, i.e. Rev. 5:9, "…for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood …" and Eph. 1:6-7, "..He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, …".

Is. 63:16 tells us that the Father is the Redeemer. The New Testament verses quoted above tells us that Christ is the Redeemer. In other words, the Father is the Redeemer and Christ is the Redeemer. There are obviously not two Redeemers, therefore, Christ and the Father are one. If we see Christ as the Son only, as opposed to fulfilling all the titles of Jehovah, that makes no sense. That is to say, if Christ is the Son and the Father, we must understand that to mean that He fulfills the offices of "Father" and of "Son", they are not two different "Persons".

Now let us consider a passage that when interpreted to refer to two Persons demeans the deity of Christ. That passage is I Cor. 15:27-28, "For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, 'all things are put under Him,' it is manifest that He is excepted, Which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him That put all things under Him, that God may be all in all".

Note the phrase in verse 27, "when He saith, all things are put under Him". This comes from Psalms 110:1 which reads, "He saith that all things will be put under Him". Let us consider that verse so that we may have a true interpretation of I Cor. 15:28. "Jehovah said unto Adoni, 'Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool". "Adoni" is one of the Old Testament titles of Jehovah. As was mentioned above, Christ is Jehovah in the flesh. Therefore, Psalms 110:1 is saying that Jehovah will put all things under the feet of Adoni, one of His many titles.

Now that we have seen that it is Jehovah that will put His enemies in subjection (i.e. "make Thine enemies Thy footstool") it is clear that I Cor. 15:28, which is based on Psalms 110:1, can not mean that Christ is to be made subject, for it is Christ, Who is Jehovah in the flesh, that does the subjecting. I suggest a fresh look at this verse.

Christ is God and cannot be put in subjection to anyone. That being the case, let us consider more carefully I Cor. 15:28 which reads, in part, "then shall the Son also Himself be subject". Note the wording. This verse does not tell us that it is Christ Who will be made subject to God, it is "the Son" Who will be made subject. By understanding this verse to say that the office of Son (not the Person) will be made subject, we have a more accurate understanding of this verse, and it does not demean the deity of Christ.

Some have suggested that the phrase "sit Thou at my right hand" proves that Jehovah and Adoni are two different Persons. The fact is that "at My right hand" is often used as a figure of speech to indicate, not place, but position. That is to say, to sit at one's right hand implies a position of power and authority, much as it still does today. (Please see the paper on this web-site,Does Jesus Christ Sit Next To God In Heaven? for the Scriptural evidence of the fact that the phrase is to be taken figuratively.)

Others may object to the suggestion that the Father and the Son are the same Person on the basis of the fact that while Christ was on earth, the Father was in heaven, therefore, they must be two different Persons. Let us examine that thought.

We read in Gen. 3:8, "And they heard the voice (should be translated "footsteps" as it is elsewhere in the Old Testament) of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day". Jehovah (Christ in bodily form, please see the paper Jesus Christ is Both The Jehovah And The Manifestation of Jehovah) was on earth. But God, Whose Name is "Jehovah" was obviously in heaven at the same time. Surely we can not say that there must have been two Jehovahs, one on earth walking in the garden and another in heaven. But all is clear when we see that Christ is the manifestation of Jehovah Who is spirit. That is to say, Jehovah, Who is spirit is everywhere, and the manifestation of Jehovah was walking in the garden. If we see that truth in this situation, why then, must "Father" and "Son" be two different Persons in other situations?

Consider also Gen. 17:1, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram....". Again, Jehovah was on earth speaking with Abram. There were not two Jehovahs, one on earth and one in heaven. There is Jehovah, Who is spirit in heaven and Jehovah manifest on earth speaking to Abraham. Again, because that is true in this passage, there is no reason to assume different Persons in the New Testament when we read of the Father and the Son, even if One is in Heaven while the Other is on earth.

Many have pointed to the fact that while on earth, the Son spoke with the Father. That, it is said to prove that the Father and the Son are two different Persons. I believe that Jehovah was, in a sense, speaking to Himself in different offices. I believe that, because there is a precedence for that. Let us examine that thought.

We read in Gen. 1:26 that, "Elohim said 'Let us make man in our image' ". As the paper on Elohim proves from Scripture, Elohim is Jesus Christ. It is not the Father or the Holy Spirit who wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24-30). It is Christ and not the Father or the Holy Spirit who will stand on the Mt. of Olives (Zech. 14:4). So, in Gen. 1:26 we have Jehovah, in His office of Elohim, speaking with Himself in His office of Holy Spirit, Who was to breathe into man's nostrils. This proves that Jehovah does indeed "speak with Himself" in His varying offices. Since that precedence was set in Gen. 1:26, I believe the same is true of Christ while on earth. That is to say, Jehovah, in His office of Savior, spoke with Himself in His office of Father. See also Gen. 3:22, Gen. 11:7 and Is. 6:8, all of which show Jehovah speaking to Himself.

It might be helpful to discuss some of the reasons that the doctrine of the Trinity is so widely accepted. May I say first, that its wide acceptance in itself, does not prove its correctness, just as the wide spread acceptance of the teachings of the Catholic Church before Martin Luther did not prove its correctness.

I believe that there are basically two reasons for the acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. One is that most English translations of the Old Testament do not show the Hebrew titles and the name, "Jehovah". So the readers of the English translations are not aware of the many titles of Jehovah. So when that reader enters the New Testament, he is not used to thinking in terms of God's titles. Therefore, when he reads of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the reader assumes three Persons, rather than three titles.

The other reason for the almost universal acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity is that, unfortunately, most Christians begin their Bible study with the New Testament. So that even if the Hebrew titles were available to the English reader, he would be relatively unaware of them. The New Testament did not come out of a vacuum. It stemmed from the Old Testament, and we can not understand any doctrine found in the New Testament unless and until we read and study the Old Testament.

There are many scriptures, especially in the New Testament, that seem to imply two or three different Persons. May I suggest that the reader try to see those passages in the light of titles, or offices, rather than Persons. By doing so we are not put in the position of seeing Christ as less than the Father or less than God. And we can also understand why Christ is spoken of in the Old Testament as the Father and the Son.

The other papers to be found on this web-site on the doctrine of the Trinity are:

The Trinity: Is God Three Persons In One?

The Trinity: Part Two: "Elohim"

Does Jesus Christ Sit Next To God In Heaven?

This paper was written by Joyce Pollard. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please E-mail me at: janjoyce@aol.com

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