The truth about the trinity

[mrveggieman]

feel free to read through every single religion thread. none have we been able to have a productive conversation. if someone posts that they agree with you, they receive "thank you, i appreciate your opinion" if I post it opens the floodgates for how wrong christianity is. You are welcome to look at every single religion thread we have had. If I thought someone actually wanted to know, i would probably reply.

Yes we have disagreed on a lot of issues but I am still interested in hearing your opionion. I would not waste my time on P&R if everyone on here agreed with me. What fun would that be? I posted this topic because this is something that I and I'm sure a lot of others have had questions on the whole concept of the trinity and who better to get insite on it than a preacher? It's your call to participate or not but it would be a shame if you didn't.

[ensbergcollector]

Yes we have disagreed on a lot of issues but I am still interested in hearing your opionion. I would not waste my time on P&R if everyone on here agreed with me. What fun would that be? I posted this topic because this is something that I and I'm sure a lot of others have had questions on the whole concept of the trinity and who better to get insite on it than a preacher? It's your call to participate or not but it would be a shame if you didn't.

normally churches of christ don't spend a lot of time focusing on the trinity, mostly because we don't spend a lot of time talking about the spirit. I am ok, not talking about the trinity, not so much the spirit, but I digress.

My initial thoughts are these:

jesus routinely talked about the spirit so the idea of the holy spirit shouldn't be an issue (not saying it is)

*It is understandable that the term and idea of the trinity didn't come about until the council of nicea because neither jesus nor the first century church were concerned with the idea of doctrine.
* as the church grew, unfortunately, doctrine was something that was needed so it was discussed and some things were established.
* I don't have a strong desire to argue for the trinity though I don't see where it is an issue either.

my issue comes with the second paragraph where the writer attempts to "prove" that jesus wasn't god or god's son. He is using human logic and applying it to God. doesn't work like that. If we limit God to man's restrictions then all of the bible is junk, (which is why many people think all of the bible is junk).

I would assume the author is attempting to argue for the "all religions are really the same" and by making jesus nothing more than a prophet then he fits in line with the islamic idea of christ. however, it is impossible to ignore jesus' claim that he is the only way to heaven and the only way to the father. that statement makes him either a bold faced liar or we have to believe him. if he is a bold faced liar then he can't be a prophet or a good teacher.

I also love any time someone has so much pride in themselves that they can make statements like "The christians who claim that Jesus is God, has misunderstood the whole christian religion" because he basically wants to imply that he is smarter than the millions of christians that have lived for the past 2000 years, including the disciples, apostles, and those who actually walked with jesus.
If the disciples believed jesus was the son of God, i find it hard to believe that they misunderstood but that this guy figured it out.

[PDawson21]

The Hebrew word for God is el in its singular form. The most common form used for God is elohim, which is plural in form. How can there be plural form used for only one God? Some suggest that the answer is found in the three persons of the Trinity. Others contend that the plural construct denotes a fullness of deity as opposed to plurality. I submit that both interpretations are correct.

Got this from another website, could say it in my own words, but this is pretty good. Can give more if need be.

[boba]

The Trinity is very scriptural

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

John 10:30
I and the Father are one.

1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Matthew 3:16-17
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost


John 1:1-2

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

The word is Jesus.

Would you like me to continue?

[mrveggieman]

The Trinity is very scriptural

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

John 10:30
I and the Father are one.

1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Matthew 3:16-17
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost


John 1:1-2

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

The word is Jesus.

Would you like me to continue?

Feel free.

[bangsportscards]

Sometimes you gotta have faith!!!!

I did not read this entire thread.

What I am going to do is share my personal testimony.

I was 27, lost in life, and headed nowhere. I struggled with everything and came to the point of thinking what's the use anymore. I was flowing in life with no purpose at all.

Then one day out of the blue a good friend from high school saw me at the zoo, mentioned something about Jesus, and invited me to church.

I went to church for about 2 months and amazingly one day at work I felt pulled to ask Jesus to forgive my sins and take over my life. At that moment a supernatural occurance happened and it was like my eyes were opened to reality!

This all means I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and am now a Christian.

Now in regards to all this Trinity talk, you can read into it as much as you want and try to figure things out with your mind. The kicker is though at some point you'll have to accept some things on faith as you are never going to ever fully understand everything!

Like you have faith in the chair to hold you up that you may be sitting (or the vehicle you may be driving) in while using a computer, at some point it pays to have faith in God and take His Word as something that can lead and guide you into lasting FREEDOM!

I study the bible and work to find out the deep things of the Christian faith, and there's nothing wrong with this, but at some point people are going to have to risk their life with God and Jesus in control!

God bless!

Brian

[duane1969]

I do not consider myself a Christian although I was raised in the Baptist church and spent a lot of time in the Pentecostal church after I married my wife.

Quite frankly, I find it interesting and a bit ammusing that a non-believer presumes to tell believers how wrong they are about their religion. I find it highly egocentric of a person to feel that in their position of non-belief they are some form of an authority on that which they do not subscribe.

With that said, in my opinion, belief in the Trinity works like this...

Christians - believe in it. They believe Jesus exists/existed, they believe God exists and if they are truly devout Christians then they most likely have felt the Spirit and thus, believe as well. Telling these people that what they have experienced was not real is both pointless and patronizing. Imagine trying to tell a person who just climbed out of a swimming pool that water doesn't exists...yeah, sort of like that.

Non-Christians - don't believe it and never will. How can you expect someone to believe in something they have never seen or felt? Instead they will waste countless hours trying to prove it doesn't exist because it makes them feel better that they can convince themselves that they are not being left out of something. Sort of like the kid who hates basketball because he is always the last one chosen to be on a team.

[duane1969]

I would assume the author is attempting to argue for the "all religions are really the same" and by making jesus nothing more than a prophet then he fits in line with the islamic idea of christ. however, it is impossible to ignore jesus' claim that he is the only way to heaven and the only way to the father. that statement makes him either a bold faced liar or we have to believe him. if he is a bold faced liar then he can't be a prophet or a good teacher.

Nice. Lately I have heard a lot of this "Jesus was a prophet" commentary. Best argument I have heard yet against Jesus being just a prophet.

[mrveggieman]

Nice. Lately I have heard a lot of this "Jesus was a prophet" commentary. Best argument I have heard yet against Jesus being just a prophet.

If you don't mind me asking you this Duane why are you not actively a Christian?