Transcript of Understanding the Trinity Lake Pointe Hot Topics Allen Hainline Sept 13, 2014.
- Slide 1
- Understanding the Trinity Lake Pointe Hot Topics Allen Hainline
Sept 13, 2014
- Slide 2
- Why is This Topic Important? What if you didnt understand some
of the most basic things about your spouse? Many Christians know
more about Tony Romo or American Idol contestants than about Gods
nature How many would answer yes if I asked if God is a person?
Could you witness to a cultist and explain from the Bible why they
are wrong?
- Slide 3
- Outline What does the Bible reveal about the Trinity? What are
the common ways this is misinterpreted? How did the early church
understand the Trinity? Was the Trinity just decided by a close
vote at Nicea (as Dan Brown asserts)?
- Slide 4
- How would you respond to skeptics? Some claim that the Trinity
is contradictory 3 Gods are 1 God
- Slide 5
- There is only One God OT and NT Teach that God is One Hear, O
Israel! The L ORD is our God, the L ORD is one! Deut 6:4 You
believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and
shudder. James 2:19 we know that there is no such thing as an idol
in the world, and that there is no God but one. I Cor 8:4b
- Slide 6
- God is 3 Persons Matt. 3:16-17, "And after being baptized,
Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens
were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and
coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying,
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.
- Slide 7
- God is 3 Persons I Peter 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey
Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood
- Slide 8
- Source: carm.org /trinity
- Slide 9
- Trinity in the Old Testament? Gen. 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let
Us make man in Our image, Gen. 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make
man in Our image, Gen. 3:22, "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the
man has become like one of Us Gen. 3:22, "Then the Lord God said,
'Behold, the man has become like one of Us Psalm 45:6-7, "Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the
scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
wickedness; Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee. Psalm
45:6-7, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of
uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Thy God, has
anointed Thee. Quoted in Hebrews 1:8 Not as Explicit - Why? Not as
Explicit - Why? Trinity best understood after incarnation of
Christ
- Slide 10
- How Did NT Authors affirm one God and 3 Persons? NT authors
didnt want to call Jesus the Father but wanted to call him God Used
about every other means of affirming deity Mostly applied OT
passages about YHWH to Jesus and referred to him as kyrios Rom
10:13 quotes from Joel 2:32 in saying whoever calls on the name of
the Lord will be saved but applies this to Jesus In a few places
even called Jesus theos John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him,
My Lord and my God! Holy Spirit pneuma Lord: (Jesus) kyrios God the
Father: theos
- Slide 11
- How Did NT Authors affirm one God and 3 Persons? Passages
calling Jesus theos (not just kyrios) Hebrews 1:8-12 Titus 2:13. we
await our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5-7 1 John 5:20b: we are in him who is
true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. The antecedent of the word this is his Son, Jesus Christ, who
is the true God and eternal life in essence
- Slide 12
- Misunderstandings/Heresies Oneness Pentecostals Jesus was the
incarnate Father But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed
intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing
at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens
opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7:55-56
- Slide 13
- Distinctness of the Father and Jesus Matthew 11:27. Jesus says,
All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows
the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the
Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Matthew
26:39. Jesuss prayer in Gethsemane: And going a little farther he
fell on his face and prayed, My Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Here Jesus clearly differentiates himself from the Father in that
he prays to the Father and prays, not that his will (Jesus will) be
done but that the Fathers will be done
- Slide 14
- Jesus is God Col 1:15-19 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesall things have been
created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in
Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the
church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so
that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it
was the Fathers good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in
Him
- Slide 15
- Jesus is God Again the high priest was questioning Him, and
saying to Him, Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? And
Jesus said, I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven. Tearing
his clothes, the high priest said, What further need do we have of
witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?
And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. Mark 14:61-4
Son of Man is an allusion to Daniel 7:13-14 Given an eternal
kingdom; all peoples serve(worship) him Coming with the clouds of
heaven (OT phrase reserved for God)
- Slide 16
- Holy Spirit is God Jesus says, But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26 John 15:26: When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send
to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from
the Father, he will bear witness to me. John violates Greek grammar
by using masculine pronoun to refer to the Spirit, but Greek word
pneuma (spirit) is neuter In verse 26, the Spirit of truth who
proceeds from the Father, who is a masculine pronoun The Holy
Spirit is not an it but a person! Read Acts 5:3-4 How does this
reveal the Spirit is God? Equates lying to Holy Spirit to lying to
God
- Slide 17
- Personhood and Divinity of Holy Spirit Isaiah 6:9,10Isaiah said
that Jehovah spoke to him; but Acts 28:25 says Holy Spirit spoke
through Isaiah 1 Cor 2:11A non-entity cannot know the mind of an
infinite God 2 Cor 13:14Holy Spirit placed in a position of honor
& equality with other two persons of Godhead Acts 8:29Holy
Spirit speaks to Philip Acts 13:1-2Do invisible, active forces
speak? Note use of Greek word "I" (ego) only used of persons John
14:26Teachers have personality. Eph 4:30Can only grieve someone
with feelings, and inanimate objects dont have feelings. Source:
Phil Kelso
- Slide 18
- 3 Persons 3 centers of consciousness but all are of the same
nature/essence and thus there is but 1 God! Objection: If the
father is God and the Son is God then the Father is the Son Is here
refers to nature not identity
- Slide 19
- Trinitarian Heresies Modalism One God in 3 modes Arianism
Unitarian God is only 1 person Tritheism 3 gods, no unity in
essence
- Slide 20
- Modalism One God in 3 modes Like water solid, liquid, or gas
Flawed analogy one man can be father, son, husband Oneness
Pentecostalism TD Jakes used to be
- Slide 21
- Unitarianism/Arianism Arius of Alexandria there was a time when
the Son was not Acknowledged Jesus as Creator of all else but
misinterpreted begotten as born rather than referring to as being
of the same nature as Jehovahs Witnesses still follow this heresy
Muslims Mohammeds misunderstanding of Christian trinity God the
Father, Jesus the son of God, Mary the mother of God
- Slide 22
- Tritheism Mormons believe in 3 gods Actually more as Mormons
can eventually become gods and God was once a man
- Slide 23
- History of Trinitarian Thought Trinity revealed in New
Testament But no model given for understanding details Early
theologians helped elucidate passages Tertullian coined the term
Trinity In Against Praxeas (early 200s), writes that Father, Son
and Holy Spirit are one in condition, nature and power Praxeas
argued from John 10:30 I and the Father are one But passage implies
2 beings, there is a plural Greek verb (are), and the direct object
is abstract not personal Used Unum (one essence) not Unus (one
person)
- Slide 24
- What really happened at Nicea? Council held in 325 AD Council
held in 325 AD No canon discussions Was a vote affirming Jesus
divinity Wasnt close (2 dissenters out of 300 bishops) Wasnt close
(2 dissenters out of 300 bishops) Was there pressure from
Constantine? Was there pressure from Constantine? These same
Christians had been quite willing to die for beliefs under previous
Roman emperor Is there an early Christianity without a divine
Jesus? Is there an early Christianity without a divine Jesus? The
oldest Christian sermon, the oldest account of a Christian martyr,
the oldest pagan report of the Church, and the oldest liturgical
prayer (1 Cor. 16:22) all refer to Christ as Lord and God. Craig 24
Constantineheld a gathering known as the council of Nicea(325
A.D.)Until that moment in history Jesus was viewed by his followers
as a mortal prophetnot the Son of GodJesus establishment as the Son
of God wasa relatively close vote Da Vinci code, p. 233
- Slide 25
- Athanasius Opposed Arius and defended and articulated the
Trinity Nicene Creed: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of all things, visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus
Christ the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only-begotten,
that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance
with the Father [homoousios], through Whom all things came into
being, things in heaven and things on earth, Who because of us men
and because of our salvation came down and became incarnate,
becoming man, suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended
into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
And in the Holy Spirit.