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Understanding the Trinity Lake Pointe Hot Topics Allen Hainline Sept 13, 2014

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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?

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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)?

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How would you respond to skeptics? Some claim that the Trinity is contradictory 3 Gods are 1 God

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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

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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.

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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

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Source: carm.org /trinity

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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Trinitarian Heresies Modalism One God in 3 modes Arianism Unitarian God is only 1 person Tritheism 3 gods, no unity in essence

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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

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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

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Tritheism Mormons believe in 3 gods Actually more as Mormons can eventually become gods and God was once a man

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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)

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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

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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.