The Trinity Briefly Defined
It is important that I define what the Trinity, the position I believe to be Biblical, is in light of the fact that so many people reject misrepresentations of it. I was reminded of this by a commentor on the first post. Some of his arguments, though well-intentioned, displayed a lack of understanding about what the Trinity is. I'm not meaning to single him out, either. Most people who reject the Trinity don't truly know what the doctrine is or think they do and argue against their misrepresentation. Sadly, even many long-time Christians don't know what the Trinity is or how to articulate it. The Trinity, from what I gather, is seldom taught anymore within evangelical circles -much like some of the other great doctrines of the faith such as justification by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.
I believe Dr. James R. White, in his book entitled The Forgotten Trinity, was correct in saying:
So, it seems prudent to lay forth a very basic definition with a few comments. Dr. White's simple definition, as found on p. 26 of the book, will suffice:
Notice what is being said and what is not being said. We aren't saying that there is one God who is three Gods. We aren't saying that there is one Person who is three Persons. We are saying there is one Being within which exists three distinct Persons sharing the same essence of nature of Deity. We distinguish between Being and Person. A rock has being, but a rock is not personal. Being and person are not synonyms, though in our experience they usually are treated as such because we, as humans, are both beings and persons. Within each human subsists only one person. However, being and person are categorically different. With God, the infinitne God, the God who created, the eternal YHWH, there exists three Persons who equally share this same nature. Sound hard to comprehend? Sure, but a) it is not illogical, as some presume (they assume that being and person are the same category), and b) it is what we believe is revealed in the pages of Scripture, and if that is true, then we can fuss and complain about it all we want, but we are insulting God Himself.
The doctrine of the Trinity also fully acknowledges that the Son took on a role of submission to the Father for the sake of God's purpose in redemption. This does not mean that the Son is inferior to the Father any more than it would mean that I am less human than the President of the United States. I have an inferior role, but I am not less human. Likewise, Christ voluntarily assumed a role of submission, concealing His equality with the Father by donning a human nature, but that does not mean that He is any less, by nature, God. Hence, for one to argue that Christ's display of submission to the Father is proof for rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity would be moot. We acknowledge that, but we reject that it means an ontological inferiority (an inferiority in nature).
The doctrine of the Trinity also fully acknowledges and embraces the personal distinctions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is part and parcel of Trinitarian thelogy. That is why we say that there are three distinct Persons within the one Being that is YHWH -distinct in person, not in being or nature or essence. If one is going to think that they have destroyed the doctrine of the Trinity in one swoop by demonstrating a passage of Scripture which shows Jesus as being distinct from the Father, for example, then this shows an ignorance of what we are saying.
I have heard some argue, and I believe correctly, that the New Testament itself is the revelation of the Trinity. That which was concealed in many ways in the Old Testament has now come to light in the New Testament -namely, the revelation of the Son and the sending forth of the Spirit. Thus, the New Testament does not only reveal to us the Suffering Servant, Christ Jesus, and the redemption He wrought through His life, death, and resurrection, but it also reveals to us something about the nature of YHWH God.
I hope this brief explanation serves to clarify matters.
If you reject the Trinity and are reading this blog, then I pray God would grant you an open mind, and I pray that you would acknowledge and question your presupposition of Unitarianism -that God is one (which we agree with) but can only be one in Person as well -in light of God's self-revelation.
I believe Dr. James R. White, in his book entitled The Forgotten Trinity, was correct in saying:
"The single greatest reason people struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity is miscommunication. It is very rare that anyone actually argues or debates about the real doctrine of the Trinity. Most arguments that take place at the door, or over coffee, or at the workplace involve two or more people fighting vigorously over two or more misrepresentations of the doctrine itself. It is no wonder so many encounters create far more heat than they do light." (p. 23)
So, it seems prudent to lay forth a very basic definition with a few comments. Dr. White's simple definition, as found on p. 26 of the book, will suffice:
"Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Notice what is being said and what is not being said. We aren't saying that there is one God who is three Gods. We aren't saying that there is one Person who is three Persons. We are saying there is one Being within which exists three distinct Persons sharing the same essence of nature of Deity. We distinguish between Being and Person. A rock has being, but a rock is not personal. Being and person are not synonyms, though in our experience they usually are treated as such because we, as humans, are both beings and persons. Within each human subsists only one person. However, being and person are categorically different. With God, the infinitne God, the God who created, the eternal YHWH, there exists three Persons who equally share this same nature. Sound hard to comprehend? Sure, but a) it is not illogical, as some presume (they assume that being and person are the same category), and b) it is what we believe is revealed in the pages of Scripture, and if that is true, then we can fuss and complain about it all we want, but we are insulting God Himself.
The doctrine of the Trinity also fully acknowledges that the Son took on a role of submission to the Father for the sake of God's purpose in redemption. This does not mean that the Son is inferior to the Father any more than it would mean that I am less human than the President of the United States. I have an inferior role, but I am not less human. Likewise, Christ voluntarily assumed a role of submission, concealing His equality with the Father by donning a human nature, but that does not mean that He is any less, by nature, God. Hence, for one to argue that Christ's display of submission to the Father is proof for rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity would be moot. We acknowledge that, but we reject that it means an ontological inferiority (an inferiority in nature).
The doctrine of the Trinity also fully acknowledges and embraces the personal distinctions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is part and parcel of Trinitarian thelogy. That is why we say that there are three distinct Persons within the one Being that is YHWH -distinct in person, not in being or nature or essence. If one is going to think that they have destroyed the doctrine of the Trinity in one swoop by demonstrating a passage of Scripture which shows Jesus as being distinct from the Father, for example, then this shows an ignorance of what we are saying.
I have heard some argue, and I believe correctly, that the New Testament itself is the revelation of the Trinity. That which was concealed in many ways in the Old Testament has now come to light in the New Testament -namely, the revelation of the Son and the sending forth of the Spirit. Thus, the New Testament does not only reveal to us the Suffering Servant, Christ Jesus, and the redemption He wrought through His life, death, and resurrection, but it also reveals to us something about the nature of YHWH God.
I hope this brief explanation serves to clarify matters.
If you reject the Trinity and are reading this blog, then I pray God would grant you an open mind, and I pray that you would acknowledge and question your presupposition of Unitarianism -that God is one (which we agree with) but can only be one in Person as well -in light of God's self-revelation.
posted by Mathetes | [quick link]
3 Comments:
Arlene,
Thank you for posting, and thank God for His grace in rescuing you from the JW's! I tend to stay away from using analogies because they tend to convey only part of the story and can leave it open for misinterpretation, but the water one is a decent one with some explanation to qualify how far we are going with it. I would only add, for the sake of technicality, that these tree states of water must exist simultaneously. If I recall from my engineering days, there is something called a "triple point" where the three states co-exist simultaneously.
A lot of folks wrongly understand the Trinity as God changing hats -God is the Father, then He is the Son, and then the Son returns to heaven and comes as the Spirit. That is modalism, a heresy rightly rejected in the early church. Others go to the other extreme and assume that the Trinity means that there are three gods. And yet others assume that it is a completely incomprehensible and illogical statement, which is untrue as well. But yes, we have One God who is revealed in three distinct, co-equal, and co-eternal Persons. God has always been the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Let me just add that, while I do obviously believe the doctrine of the Trinity is discernible from the pages of Scripture if you let the text speak for itself, I do not mean to imply that the doctrine is easy to understand. It can be apprehended from the Scripture clearly, but that does not mean it can be fully comprehended. Such is no difficulty, however, nor does it make God the "author of confusion" as some JW's (and their materials) claim. I will write something on that in the future, but suffice it to say that if that reasoning was taken to other doctrines of Scripture (or even other aspects of life, such as how light travels), then we would be forced to reject them as well.
Can I comprehend how God is fully sovereign, having decreed all things that come to pass, and yet we are fully responsible before His just judgment? No, I can't, but I can apprehend it from Scripture very plainly.
Can I comprehend how exactly Christ became incarnate? No, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. We must bend to the Scriptures rather than subjugating them to our own warped sense of how God should or shouldn't be.
"The secret things belong to YHWH our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. " (Deut 29:29)
Hi Arlene,
Thanks again for writing. I am encouraged to know someone who is an ex-JW. See, there is someone close to our family that has been "studying" with a friend of hers who is a JW for a few years now. It is upsetting to us on a number of levels, and obviously because we care about this person and their relation to God!
I appreciate any advice you have in reaching those being indoctrinated. I am going to be meeting with her soon. This blog was spawned from my research which was originally aimed at helping this loved one, as the Lord wills. I am going to be careful to not condemn but to be as clear as possible. She has heard their "side" of the story for a few years, now. Now it is time to put forth the truth in a gentle but consistent and clear manner.
I will be using the NWT for now. You are right... as bad as it is, as much deception as there is in it, the truth still shines its rays through the darkness. Along the way, I can show how the NWT employs dubious translation tactics to avoid certain conclusions that are evident in the original language. I pray that God would be with us and grant her eyes to see.
The goal, at the end of the day, is not to "win her to my team," but to introduce her to the Lord Christ as He truly is and to the salvation that is found only in Him.
Soli Deo Gloria
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