The Mystery of the Trinity
An honest, clear statement of the Trinity Doctrine would be:
"For there are three persons who compose the only true God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And these three persons are the One God."
It isn't a difficult statement for anyone to write, let alone an inspired Bible writer. But you will never see that (or anything close to it) in the inspired scriptures.
“...speculative thought began to analyze the divine nature until in the 4th century an elaborate theory of a threefoldness in God appears. In this Nicene or Athanasian form of thought God is said to consist of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all equally eternal, powerful and glorious.” - Encyclopedia Americana, 1944, v. 6, p. 619, “Christianity.”
The Trinity is considered to be "one God in three Persons," yet many sincere believers have found it to be confusing, contrary to normal reason, and unlike anything in their experience. How, they ask, could the Father be God, Jesus be God, and the holy spirit be God, yet there be not three Gods but only one God?
This confusion is widespread.
“It is held that although the [trinity] doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended (though it may not be comprehended) by the human mind." - p. 116 Encyclopedia Americana, ‘Trinity.’
Many who accept the Trinity view it similarly:
“The Vatican Council further defined that the Christian Faith contains mysteries strictly so called (can. 4). All theologians admit that the doctrine of the Trinity is of the number of these. Indeed, of all revealed truths this is the most impenetrable to reason. Hence, to declare this to be no mystery would be a virtual denial of the canon in question.” - Catholic Encyclopedia, ‘The Blessed Trinity,’ 1917.
Paul VI in the Credo of the People of God expressed the same faith in the words already quoted in previous catecheses: "The mutual bonds which eternally constitute the Three Persons who are each one and the same Divine Being, are the blessed inmost life of God thrice holy, infinitely beyond all that we can conceive in human measure" - p. 4, L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, July 11, 1968.
“…it is necessary to recall that in Catholic belief the trinity of persons within the unity of nature is a mystery which ultimately escapes understanding;” - p. 900, Dictionary of the Bible, Macmillan Publ. Co., 1965.
“The Holy Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Orthodox Faith. With our finite and limited minds, we are unable to comprehend the Holy Trinity at all….” -
http://www.orthodox.net/articles/holytrinity.html
“Scholars across the millenia of the Christian Era have spent their ingenuity to no avail in attempting to explain the Trinity of God. …. A relationship contradicting human reason at the a priori level.” - p.630, Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, Bethany House Publ., 1982.
A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge says: "Precisely what that doctrine is, or rather precisely how it is to be explained, Trinitarians are not agreed among themselves."
"The Trinity is a mystery . . . . , which could not be known without revelation, and even after revelation cannot become wholly intelligible." - Theological Dictionary, by Catholic scholars Karl Rahner and Herbert Vorgrimler.
However, contending that since the Trinity is such a confusing mystery, it must have come from divine revelation creates another major problem. Why? Because divine revelation itself does not allow for such a view of God: "God is not a God of confusion." -1 Corinthians 14:33 (RSV)
With that Scripture in mind, would God really be responsible for a doctrine about Himself that is so confusing that even Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholars cannot really explain it?
Furthermore, do people have to be theologians 'to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent'? (John 17:3, JB) If that were the case, why did so few of the educated Jewish religious leaders recognize Jesus as the Messiah? The disciples of Jesus were the humble common people, not the religious leaders. His faithful disciples were, instead, humble farmers, fishermen, tax collectors, housewives. Those common people were so certain of what Jesus taught about God that they could teach it to others and were even willing to die for their belief. (See Matthew 15:1-9; 21:23-32, 43; 23:13-36; John 7:45-49; Acts 4:13)
If the nature of God truly is a "mystery", then scriptures like John 17:3 become very confusing: "And this is the way to have eternal life...to know you, the only true God," (NLT)
God is not so cruel as to tell us that we need to know Him in order to gain eternal life but then not be able to receive it because His very nature is a "mystery"!
Also, given that Man was made in God's image (Gen. 1:26), then shouldn't Man naturally understand God's nature? If man is made in God's image, then why does Man not display any kind of a tri-nature about him whatsoever? Certainly if God possessed such a tri-nature, and such a fundamental tri-nature aspect is conspicuously absent in Man, how then could it be said that Man was made in God's image? He could have easily been created with three personalities. But God expressly made him in his image with one mind, one personality: one person.
“When the writers of the New Testament speak of God they mean the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When they speak of Jesus Christ, they do not speak of him nor do they think of him as God.” - John M. Creed, Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, in his book, The Divinity of Christ, p. 123
The real mystery is why the Trinity Doctrine is still such an accepted teaching in 95 per cent of Christendom despite the relative ease to demonstrate its pagan and unscriptural history and convoluted reasonings.
An honest, clear statement of the Trinity Doctrine would be:
"For there are three persons who compose the only true God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And these three persons are the One God."
It isn't a difficult statement for anyone to write, let alone an inspired Bible writer. But you will never see that (or anything close to it) in the inspired scriptures.
“...speculative thought began to analyze the divine nature until in the 4th century an elaborate theory of a threefoldness in God appears. In this Nicene or Athanasian form of thought God is said to consist of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all equally eternal, powerful and glorious.” - Encyclopedia Americana, 1944, v. 6, p. 619, “Christianity.”
The Trinity is considered to be "one God in three Persons," yet many sincere believers have found it to be confusing, contrary to normal reason, and unlike anything in their experience. How, they ask, could the Father be God, Jesus be God, and the holy spirit be God, yet there be not three Gods but only one God?
This confusion is widespread.
“It is held that although the [trinity] doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended (though it may not be comprehended) by the human mind." - p. 116 Encyclopedia Americana, ‘Trinity.’
Many who accept the Trinity view it similarly:
“The Vatican Council further defined that the Christian Faith contains mysteries strictly so called (can. 4). All theologians admit that the doctrine of the Trinity is of the number of these. Indeed, of all revealed truths this is the most impenetrable to reason. Hence, to declare this to be no mystery would be a virtual denial of the canon in question.” - Catholic Encyclopedia, ‘The Blessed Trinity,’ 1917.
Paul VI in the Credo of the People of God expressed the same faith in the words already quoted in previous catecheses: "The mutual bonds which eternally constitute the Three Persons who are each one and the same Divine Being, are the blessed inmost life of God thrice holy, infinitely beyond all that we can conceive in human measure" - p. 4, L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, July 11, 1968.
“…it is necessary to recall that in Catholic belief the trinity of persons within the unity of nature is a mystery which ultimately escapes understanding;” - p. 900, Dictionary of the Bible, Macmillan Publ. Co., 1965.
“The Holy Trinity is one of the great mysteries of the Orthodox Faith. With our finite and limited minds, we are unable to comprehend the Holy Trinity at all….” -
http://www.orthodox.net/articles/holytrinity.html
“Scholars across the millenia of the Christian Era have spent their ingenuity to no avail in attempting to explain the Trinity of God. …. A relationship contradicting human reason at the a priori level.” - p.630, Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, Bethany House Publ., 1982.
A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge says: "Precisely what that doctrine is, or rather precisely how it is to be explained, Trinitarians are not agreed among themselves."
"The Trinity is a mystery . . . . , which could not be known without revelation, and even after revelation cannot become wholly intelligible." - Theological Dictionary, by Catholic scholars Karl Rahner and Herbert Vorgrimler.
However, contending that since the Trinity is such a confusing mystery, it must have come from divine revelation creates another major problem. Why? Because divine revelation itself does not allow for such a view of God: "God is not a God of confusion." -1 Corinthians 14:33 (RSV)
With that Scripture in mind, would God really be responsible for a doctrine about Himself that is so confusing that even Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholars cannot really explain it?
Furthermore, do people have to be theologians 'to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent'? (John 17:3, JB) If that were the case, why did so few of the educated Jewish religious leaders recognize Jesus as the Messiah? The disciples of Jesus were the humble common people, not the religious leaders. His faithful disciples were, instead, humble farmers, fishermen, tax collectors, housewives. Those common people were so certain of what Jesus taught about God that they could teach it to others and were even willing to die for their belief. (See Matthew 15:1-9; 21:23-32, 43; 23:13-36; John 7:45-49; Acts 4:13)
If the nature of God truly is a "mystery", then scriptures like John 17:3 become very confusing: "And this is the way to have eternal life...to know you, the only true God," (NLT)
God is not so cruel as to tell us that we need to know Him in order to gain eternal life but then not be able to receive it because His very nature is a "mystery"!
Also, given that Man was made in God's image (Gen. 1:26), then shouldn't Man naturally understand God's nature? If man is made in God's image, then why does Man not display any kind of a tri-nature about him whatsoever? Certainly if God possessed such a tri-nature, and such a fundamental tri-nature aspect is conspicuously absent in Man, how then could it be said that Man was made in God's image? He could have easily been created with three personalities. But God expressly made him in his image with one mind, one personality: one person.
“When the writers of the New Testament speak of God they mean the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When they speak of Jesus Christ, they do not speak of him nor do they think of him as God.” - John M. Creed, Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, in his book, The Divinity of Christ, p. 123
The real mystery is why the Trinity Doctrine is still such an accepted teaching in 95 per cent of Christendom despite the relative ease to demonstrate its pagan and unscriptural history and convoluted reasonings.