Four Reasons Why the Trinity Doctrine is Not Biblical

Today I'm going to be talking about something that a church member here has been asking me about a subject that he'd like to hear on. And by the way, all of you are welcome if you ever have a suggestion about a topic that you'd like to cover, because as the Bible says there in 1 Thessalonians 5, 21, test all things whole fast to that which is good.

And so we're open to examining whatever subject is out there, but in the light of the Bible. What does the Bible say about this? And so this member has been asked me about this subject, and it's a very important one because it's called the cardinal belief of traditional Christianity. And it was almost 30 years ago that our church on July 27, 1993, had to face a major departure of the faith once given.

We're just a year away from the 30th anniversary of what happened at that time. A small group of church leaders at the top attempted to impose a teaching on the church, and it was not discussed, but imposed upon the ministry and the membership.

It caused a major division in the church of which we are the largest group that did not go along. Yet, as we will see, this teaching about the Trinity is neither biblical nor convincing. What happened at that time is a type and a partial fulfillment of a prophecy where God said that there would be times all the way to the end time when certain leaders, either outside or inside the church, would as Daniel 7.25 say, they or he will try to change the laws and the times. I'd like to read it from the contemporary English version, Daniel 7.25.

It says, he will be cruel to God's chosen ones. He will try to change God's law and the sacred seasons. Other translations have festivals. In other words, the feast days, including the Sabbath. And it happened to us, yes, in a small scale. It's not like what's going to happen with this beast power that's going to impose upon the whole world a certain type of teaching. It's going to be commanded with pain of death if you do not follow along. We know there's going to be a mark of the beast, all of this.

And in a sense, it happened to us almost 30 years ago that false teachings were tried to be imposed upon the church. As it says in Isaiah 8, verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Again, another translation makes it clear. The New Living Translation says, look to God's instructions and teachings. People who contradict His word are completely in the dark. Don't follow them if it's not according to God's word.

And we should live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Matthew 4. And when you focus on this subject of the Trinity, it doesn't have an auspicious beginning when one of the supporters, theologian and expert on the subject, named Harold Linsel, writes in a handbook of Christian truth, pages 51 and 52, says, he who has tried to understand the mystery fully of the Trinity will lose his mind.

But he would deny that Trinity will lose his soul. So I don't want to lose my brain. I don't want to lose my soul. So I would like to share with you in this message four key reasons why the Trinity doctrine is not biblical and examine it open-mindedly. See what it really is all about. Because we don't have a prejudice. If it's taught in the Bible, if it's something clear, we'll keep it.

But if it's not, raging animals pulling at us will not let us yield. We are not going to yield to anything that is false belief, no matter how popular it can be. According to the Trinity, number one, the first reason, it says that God is only one being but composed of three persons.

Now, it's talking about one being, not three beings, one. And yet, within this one, there are three persons living inside. It also says that they are less than individuals. They're not quite persons as we would be persons because we're individual. But they're not individual. So they're less than individuals because they do not have a will of their own. They have what is called a collective will. In other words, they have one will. But somehow, it's three persons, but they don't have three wills. They're not independent. They don't have their own volition and ability to decide things. It's something that all three sort of divide on collectively.

Now, does that make sense? No, it doesn't. But that's part of the teachings. As the United Church of God book, well, it's the paper, The Nature of God in Christ explains, quote, The various Trinitarian constructions make God analogous, which means similar, to a turtle with three heads under a shell, with the appropriate head manifesting itself at the proper time. So, just like kind of a three-headed turtle, but only one head pops out.

It can be either or it can be one of the three, but it can't be the three at the same time, because then that would mean that there's individuality in it. And so, it's a very confusing thing to try to understand. Is this what the Bible reveals? That God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit are only one being? Well, let's look at the Bible and see if this is the case. What do we see is the main teaching in the Bible about God? Let's go to the very beginning in Genesis 1, verse 1. It says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The term there used in the Hebrew is Elohim. And the term Elohim is a plural noun that can be used for one being or more than one. So here, it is talking about one within this Godhead that was the one that created the universe. But there's more than one involved here, as we read in verse 26 of Genesis 1. Then God, Elohim again, said, let us make man in our image. Well, if it's only one, He would say, let me make man in our own image.

But He doesn't. He says, let us make man in our image. And here it's talking about more than one being involved.

Later on, in chapter 3, verse 22, it says, Then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us. Again, so here in this Godhead, we have more than one involved that can be like us. And as we shall see, it's talking there about another being that is equal to the one who became God the Father. And at the beginning, they were both involved in the creation of Adam and Eve. Notice also in Genesis 11, verse 7.

Genesis 11, verse 7, it says again, the Lord said, come, let us go down and there confuse their language. Let us go down. So it doesn't talk about, let me or I will go down. Let us. So He's talking to another being that shares this divinity with Him. As we go through the Bible, what we see is very importantly highlighted in John chapter 1. So we go from the beginning, what God, the Bible reveals. Now, let's go to the middle because here is where God's nature and relationships are best described in detail. John chapter 1, verse 1, which is a parallel to Genesis 1.1. It says, and God created the heavens and the earth. But now we're going to see this Elohim. And yet in the New Testament, what is this Elohim actually consist of? John starts just as it says in Genesis 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. So now we understand, let us go and do these things and let us make men and women in our image. Now we understand there are two that are involved. It says in verse 3, All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. So God who became the Father delegated to God who became the Son, the creation of this entire universe of Adam and Eve and everything involved. It says, nothing was created without Him. Verse 4, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He came down. This second spirit and divine being made Himself into man, but God the Father was still up in heaven. See, there are two involved here. Notice what it says in verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So here, only begotten means that He is of the same race, stock, family. This comes from the Word Study Bible, Zodiacis, the Greek expert. It says, Jesus Christ is of the same family as God.

There is ample evidence in the Scriptures that the Godhead is a family. From the book, Was Christ God? page 20. And so this begins to clear that we have God the Father, we have God the Son, and that they form this family, which is going to expand in the future. Notice the next Scripture, verse 18. Did people know who the Father was in the Old Testament? Verse 18 of John 1, it says, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

So Jesus Christ came to reveal the role of the Father because the Father had given Christ all responsibility and authority to do the creating. And so Christ was the one that corresponded with the people in the Old Testament. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And of course, there are many other Scriptures, but in this short message, I don't have time to cover them all. But it says here in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. It's talking about the Israelites departing Egypt. All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. See, it wasn't God the Father because Christ came to reveal it. There was no need to reveal God the Father until Christ came down. He was the one that interacted in the great majority of times. We know in the Old Testament there are also mentionings of things that have to do with God the Father and prophecies, but that was pretty much shaded. It wasn't very clear at the time. So, continuing on, let's go to the end of the Bible. We've seen what was in the beginning. We've seen what was in John. And now, let's go to Revelation 22, the last Revelation description that God gives of Himself. And what do we see? Do we see the consistency of the Elohim, God the Father, Jesus Christ working through things in this orderly way? Let's go to Revelation 22, in verse 1. It says, talking here about an angel when the New Jerusalem has come down, and He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. So, inside this New Jerusalem, here's the place of rulership. What do we see? God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Lamb. They are in charge. Now, God the Father is overall in charge. Christ is under God the Father, but He's also God. And it says in verse 3, So, it's all going to be one big family. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. All will be part of that same family. We are children, and we'll be glorified children of God. And it says at the very end of this verse 5, And they shall reign forever and ever. Yes, a kingdom of kings and rulers over the entire universe. There's a lot of real estate out there that is underdeveloped. There's a lot to be done with that. Do you think God created all of these, approximately 150 billion galaxies? I'm not talking about stars. Just talk about 150 billion galaxies. And out of those, there's around 150 to 200 billion stars in each one. I mean, that's countless. And yet, they're all working through physical laws, but it's all undeveloped territory for the future of the glorious children of God.

So, clearly, the lamb described here in Revelation 22 is not the same being as a father. How can you have one being and two of those are sitting on thrones? It's an impossibility. Now, if you had maybe God and it says, and the sun is coming out and the Holy Spirit is coming out, well, that would be much more clear that there is one being. But here, they're both sitting, and they're not the same persons. They've got different functions and different personalities. Also, you don't see a third person on a throne, and God does not lie. This is a faithful portrayal of what is going to be the reality. It's God the Father and Christ the Son. But, although they are divine and they've always existed, they're not one being. So, that is the first blow against the doctrine of the Trinity.

Now, there's a lot of confusion. Maybe I'll cover this in the second point. Secondly, the Trinity says that the Son of God is eternally being generated by the Father. So, there's this God the Father and He's just kind of got this electricity going, and that's the way the Son exists because the Father is giving Him all of this energy and power and all of this. But don't turn off the light, please! Put the Son out. And they actually teach that Christ is not self-sufficient, that it has to depend on God the Father generating the Son. And then, according to this idea of the Trinity, it is God the Father and the Son that generate the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit. Or, it wouldn't exist either. So, the Son of God, according to this, does not have life in Himself. It has to be generated through God the Father. But yet, what do we see in the Bible? Let's go to Philippians 2. This is an important revelation about the nature of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2, verse 5, we'll go all the way to verse 8. Paul says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And so, here, the second being in that Godhead, the Word who became Jesus Christ, it says that He was equal to God in substance, in nature, in power, but that He humbled Himself. And He didn't grasp it as a right that He was going to retain. It says here, He emptied Himself.

Another translation, which helps understand it, the New Living Translation, says, You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. That's what makes it such a great sacrifice. He divested Himself of His immortality and power and glory that He had for eternity, just to work out this plan of salvation for all of us, to be able to die for our sins. What a great sacrifice! We'll never be able to fully understand how deep it is. In John 17, verse 5, John 17, verse 5, Christ is praying to God the Father, and He says, So Jesus had His own glory. It wasn't eternally being generated by God the Father.

And so again, the Bible says that Christ had that glory. He had that equality. He didn't need the Father to be able to exist. Yet there's this oneness and unity in them, which is so important. And so it isn't vital for us to understand much of the confusion and deceit about this doctrine has to do with the terms used in the Bible for one.

Because that's something Trinitarians do not want you to take into account. And that is that in the Hebrew, as in the Greek, there are two main words for one. One in Hebrew is Ehad, E-C-H-A-D, kind of a shod, but it's more like Ehad, which just any Hebrew Chaldee lexicon defines as, quote, to unite, to join together, to be in unity. Whereas, Yahshid, Y-A-C-H-I-D, generally means one number. So that's a numeral. Yahshid is one, like we would use one person. In English, we don't have two words for one. We use one for two different reasons. We can say there's one person outside, or we are all one in unity. But it doesn't mean there's one individual in unity. It means a group. But we're all of the same mindset, the same purpose. So in the Old Testament, you have these two words. And it's used right away, Ehad, as unity of mind and purpose, and not one as a numeral. Notice in Genesis 2, verse 24, when God is actually pronouncing Adam and Eve as husband and wife.

It says in verse 24, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Was that the numeral? Do they sort of morph like two amoebas into one? Become one being? No. But it means there's a oneness of spirit, of attitude, of sharing and loving each other. In the New Testament, we have the same type of diversity with two words that translate as one. One of them mainly has to do with the numeral one, one thing. Whereas the second has to do with the oneness. And we're going to see this in a moment in John chapter 10, in verse 30. John chapter 10, in verse 30, Christ said, I and my father are one. So you see Trinitarian say, oh yes, that you see, there's just one being there. Well, sir, first of all, let's learn your grammar. Right? There's two words here. One is hen, which means one in unity, in essence, in purpose. Notice what Young's or no, Robertson's word pictures. If you look it up there in John 1030, it says the term one, hen in Greek. It's neuter, not masculine, like heist. That's the second word. That's the numeral one, normally. It says not one person, but one essence or nature. They have something they share together. But it says not one person. How many Trinitarians are going to admit that? No, they don't want you to see that. There are two different terms for one. The Bible will bring up these different terms. Notice in John 17, verses 22. John 17, it says in verse 21. It starts in verse 21 and all the way to verse 23. Here are three verses, and there's five times that the word hen is used for one that is not talking about the number one, but the same purpose and attitude. It says in verse 21, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one hen in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. So here are all the brethren that have God's Spirit, that are following God's truths, and for them to be of one mind, one attitude. It's not talking about the numeral one. And Christ is not saying that God the Father and He are one in the numeral one. Rather, they are one in harmony, in nature, in essence.

It goes on to say in verse 22, Well, we are one body of brethren, but we're not composed of one being. Neither is God the Father and Jesus Christ. Verse 23, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, not one being, but one attitude in mine, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. So again, it's a clear revelation. Why we've had thousands of years of confusion? Because God doesn't reveal these things unless you're being called to the truth, and you have the love of the truth. And you're not going to follow mandates or orders from men about what to believe if you don't prove it for yourself in the Bible. That's what is the main characteristic of God's people. They're not going to follow anything unless it's proven in the Bible that it's so. And they'll suffer martyrdom if necessary.

So when we pray to God, this is why it's also important, we pray to God the Father, God the Son, is the mediator, Jesus Christ, but they are not the same being. Christ is not the same being as the Father, and also nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. It's not even there. If there were three beings and three persons, or one being and three persons, well, wouldn't the Holy Spirit be a mediator to? Why is it that there's only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ? So it's two. Thirdly, the third reason, the way the idea of the Trinity was cruelly imposed primarily by the threats of two Roman emperors, Constantine and Theodosius I. Those were the two that basically forced the idea of the Trinity upon that Catholic Church at that time.

There was threat of confiscation of property and death as a heretic if you did not follow these instructions by these two Roman emperors.

In the booklet is God a Trinity. I brought one here, and you can see it right there. It's God a Trinity. Very complete. I read 84 pages to prepare for this. Not only that, but going through it, but it's always good to have a thorough knowledge before you speak. It says in page 13, in that stormy period, we often see debates not between truth and error in those councils, but between one error and a different error.

A fact seldom recognized by many modern scholars. It wasn't between the true church and the false church. It was about the false church with two different versions of their own ideas about God. In their book Passover Before Messiah and After by Donna and Mal Brodhurst, they mention the Nicaean council that was headed by Emperor Constantine in 325 AD. There were two main subjects covered. The Arian, which had to do with the idea of the nature of God and whether he was a Trinity or not, and the Passover controversies about when and how to keep the Passover.

Those were the two main discussion points. They say, quote, the Paschal, which means the Passover controversy, and you can include the other, the Arian controversy on the Trinity, was, quote, settled at the Council of Nicaea. Not theologically, not by discussions about biblical topics, but politically.

Colossians said, this is the way it's going to go. This side is the one I'm siding with, and all the rest I threaten you. Persecution, destitution, because we're not talking about a democracy in those days. This is a Roman Empire. This is the fourth beast. This was made out of iron. This was a dictatorship. And so, if you didn't obey the Emperor, there was no appeal. There was the cross, or impalement, or whatever. There wasn't an appeals court here. The Emperor was a total and absolute ruler. It was settled by eliminating one of the viewpoints. Church law had been laid down. As far as the Christian Passover, and we can also add, and the Trinity, the beginning of the Dark Ages can be set at 325 AD.

That's when the true believers in the Church had to flee, and basically try to leave the Roman Empire. Go to places where the Emperor's power was not going to reach you. And so, the Church fled for a period of 1,260 years, from what we understand. And sure enough, it talks about the woman fleeing. This is not talking about at the end time, but the woman would be fleeing for 1,260 years, from 325 AD to 1585, which is when Spain declared war on Elizabethan England.

And it started the war against England and Spain, of which the Spanish Armada was defeated by the British and never again was the papal and Emperor power going to be able to control England. And that was the beginning of the flourishing of freedoms and everything that we have. But during that period, they mentioned here, as the Dark Ages, because there was no room for dissidents, for not agreeing.

And so, they talk about the Nicene Council and kind of the first formulations of the Trinity, although they never said that the Holy Spirit was God at that time. But it's interesting, they talk about that Council, but they don't talk about the next Council, which was in 359, some 34 years later, when one of Constantine's son, named Constantius II, convened the Council of Seleucia, where there were 500 bishops. Now, they met in two different places, but this was a church council, and instead of 300 as a Council of Nicaea, they had 500 at that time. And guess what?

Constantius was Arian. He believed in the Arian belief that Christ was a created being and that he was not equal with God the Father. And so, they passed this Arian creed. Oh, you can't say that because Catholics want to believe everything went along with the Council of Nicaea. No, the next one overturned the Council of Nicaea, and they became Arian for a time period. And then, a new emperor came, which was Emperor Theodosius I, and he was the one that laid down the law that it was going to be the Trinity and nothing else.

In the famous Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, Theodosius confirmed and threatened. This is the only way to believe in the Roman Empire. This is what Charles Freeman in his book AD 381 writes. It says that conclusion, this is the end of the book after he's gone through all the evidence.

It's a very good book. He's actually not even a believer. He's just a historian, which is a little bit more objective because he doesn't have any dogs in the fight or anything like this. He's just looking at it. This is his conclusion. The conclusion that can be put forward is a radical one, but it seems to best fit the historical evidence. Through the intervention of the state, talking about the Roman Empire, Theodosius brought to a premature end a debate that was still vital and full of possibilities.

The church was forced by the sheer weight of imperial power to acquiesce in a doctrine that had not come to fruition, and that, if debate had been allowed to continue, might never have ended having a trinity. In 380, before this Council, Theodosius had already had this decree and basically had the Council to reconfirm what he believed. In 380, he says, Let us believe the one deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, again, one person. Believe he's one person.

But as for the others, those that don't agree, since in our judgment they are foolish madness, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics. They will suffer the punishment which our authority will decide to inflict. And then, after the Council of Constantinople, he decreed, we permit no heretics to hold their unlawful assemblies and be expelled outside the walls of the city. So this persecution was worse than what started with Constantine. Well, that's the way the Trinity doctrine was established. It was imposed with the threat of death and branding. And Theodosius had just recently been baptized. He didn't know anything about theology, but this is the side that he accepted, and it became the norm throughout the Roman Empire.

And of course, in the Church of God, we're not going to accept threats from anybody. We're going to continue obeying biblical truth to the end. Notice in Jude 3, Jude 3, it might go over just a little bit because of this important topic. Verse 3, it says, The Bible has already been delivered. This is what we believe in. We're not going to believe in different councils that contradicted each other and caused the dark ages to start. In Acts 5, 29, this is what we answer, just like the apostles, when they were threatened to quit believing. In Acts 5, verse 29, it says, We have to put God and His Word first if you want to be a true Christian. If you want to be a nominal Christian, just believe what you best desire. Just go along with the crowd, but God's people do not have that determination. Lastly, the fourth point is, the Trinity conceals the greatest truth about man's true potential, being part of the God family. See, if God is one being, well, how can we be part of a family if He is one being, a closed system? In Romans 8, 29, Romans 8, 29, it shows here what is the future. It says, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. We're going to be like the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. That word here, brothers and sisters. So we are going to be part of that family. We are going to be brothers and sisters. We're going to be part of God's family.

In Hebrews 2.10, this is a very important scripture as well. Hebrews 2, verse 10, talks about the purpose of creating mankind. Verse 10, For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, talking about God the Father, and the purpose, to bring many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. So He's bringing His children to glory. We're going to share. We're always going to be younger brothers and sisters of Christ. We'll never be the same or with God the Father, but we are going to be part of that family. He says it's the firstborn among many brethren. Well, firstborn means He's the first resurrected as a spirit being again. He has taken the right hand of the Father. He sits there. He's returned with all the glory. But He says the brethren are going to be part of that family as well. Notice the last scripture, 1 John 3, verses 1-3. So important to understand the nature of God.

It says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Who knows that in the world? Nobody. It's not something taught that we can be children of God. Because if God is one, He's not a family. But if there is this family of God the Father and God the Son, and He being the first of many brethren, then that's the case. Verse 2, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has yet not been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, talking about Christ, when He returns, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. That's being like Him, not some inferior being that is of another class or race. We're going to be part of the same race and class, although subordinate to God the Father and Christ. And if we have that hope, then what is the purpose of our life now? Verse 3, And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure. We're going to live His life. We're going to maintain that spiritual and doctrinal purity to the end, because that's our hope. We want to be part of that kingdom. When Christ comes back, we want to be ready. And so now you know why the doctrine of the Trinity is wrong and diabolical, and why God the Father and Jesus Christ are truly creating a God family that we can all be part of.