The Trinity

Here is a post about the Trinity--a concept that has never made much sense to me, even when I was in the Southern Baptist school and/or Methodist church.

Some of my earliest memories were of being told that Jesus created the Heavens and the Earth. And, in fact, I hear the same thing these days in the Religious discussion groups. I mean, despite the fact that the Bible says "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,"(Gen. 1: 1) there still seems to be some kind of confusion about this. Some Christians will say that the Trinity is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all of which are referred to as God. But, this would make Genesis 1: 1 say, "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the heaven and the earth," right? It wouldn't have been just Jesus? Or, did I miss something?

(I'm not knowledgeable enough about Hebrew to give a good Structuralist Interpretation for "בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.")

This is why the Trinity is confusing.

And, it gets more confusing....although, the Christians claim that the Bible is very clear about it....even though they've never really been able to give many details.

I've heard from many Christians that the Trinity is three persons with the same purposes (which would make the idea the same as the Mormon idea). And I've been told that the Trinity is one being in three different forms, like water, ice, and steam are all the same, just in different forms.  And, one God in three Divine Persons, or three persons who share one essence and/or being. There have been many slight variations on the idea. Even the term "consubstantial" is used in reference to the relationship among those in Trinity.

Some of those answers seem very similar to the Mormon idea of the Godhead.

There are the parts Bible that point to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit as being completely separate from each other. I want to talk about these; but, before I do that, I just want to point out that I'm not very proficient in Hebrew and Koine Greek, so any detailed analysis of the words themselves is something that I cannot do.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen 1: 26) I've heard many Christians claim the first person plural usage in this verse is referring to the Trinity, but I would always ask why the first person plural was not used throughout the rest of the Bible when God was referring to Himself? Not to mention, "God" has written in the first part of Genesis was written in the plural form in the original Hebrew (as I've read in a few accounts), and the question remains as to why the plural form of God's name wasn't used in the rest of the Bible and why God didn't use the first person plural to refer to Himself in any place other than the first part of Genesis?

There is the Comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7–8), which is the only verse in the Bible that directly links the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:  "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." However, this is generally considered  by many scholars to be a later, Latin addition. The part in bold do not appear in the early, Greek manuscripts, but they don't start appearing much later....after the doctrine of the Trinity was officially established in the 4th and 5th centuries.  Seems interesting that this would be added to the Bible when the Trinitarian groups and Non-Trinitarian groups were discussing the idea. Some reports claim Constantine's power and influence as doing away with the Non-Trinitarian groups. I mean, he was the one who was the force behind standardizing the sixty-six book Bible most of us accept Scripture nowadays.

Throughout the New Testament, there are conflicting verses that point at the Father and Son as one, but there are many that point at the Son and the Father being very separate. Among some of them:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost[.]" (Matthew 28:19) If someone knows more about Koine Greek syntax than I do, let me know, but this verse seems to be Jesus pointing out three different beings. He didn't say 'us' and he didn't make any reference to them being the same; no, he point them out individually.

"But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him." (1 Corinthians 8:6) Seems pretty clear, at leas to me. There is one God:  Heavenly Father.

These are two verses that I hear brought up in reference to the Trinity, but they have always said the opposite to me when I read them.

Through the Gospels, Jesus refers to God, the Father, as very separate from Him, even in Matthew 27: 46, when Jesus cried, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani." Jesus talks of returning to Heavenly Father and how the Father is greater than him.

And, "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark 10: 18) See? Jesus keeps referring to God as separate, at least when I read it, it does.

Even, John 1: 1-3. I've heard the Trinitarian response to this verse and I've heard the Mormon interpretation to this verse, and I've heard a multitude of others. Most of which, are valid interpretations. This is from just reading the Bible.

Not to mention, if the Doctrine of the Trinity is correct, the idea that God would sacrifice Himself to Himself to help save humanity... Or, that part of the Trinity (Jesus) came down in the flesh to Earth (either rendering the Trinity 2/3 strength or having 1/3 of the Trinity in the flesh on Earth).... Or, the idea that Jesus makes references to him and God being one, but I don't recall Jesus making references to the Holy Spirit being part of the 'one-ship' with God and Jesus....

There are a lot of things that don't add up when it comes to the Trinity, but I can see the validity in the interpretation of the Bible that brings up the idea of the Trinity. During my tenure as a Southern Baptist and Methodist, the idea of the Trinity never really added up to me, especially when I read the Bible for the first as a whole in high school. The denial of the Trinity is not something that I believe just because it is Mormon doctrine, but the non-Trinitarian view of the LDS church was a big reason I joined.

I know, I know, Christians don't interpret the Bible, they only take the words as they mean....which is textbook Structuralist Interpretation. And, I know, I know, it is not what the Christian thinks, it is what God said. (I hear these all the time)