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Trinity by Robert Nguyen Cramer (4.9.22.1) |
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| Trinity | Top |
As most Bible dictionaries point out (see http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/trinity.htm.), the Nicene Creed's doctrine of the Trinity as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit -- all constituting the same, one God -- is not found in the New Testament. It a theological doctrine first articulated near the end of the 2nd century A.D., and it became official church doctrine as a result of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. In fact trias, the Greek term for the Trinity, was not used in connection with a Christian godhead until 180 A.D., and even then the Trinity was described as "God, his Word, and his Wisdom." It was only later that the concept evolved that the Trinity constituted a single godhead, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit comprising the same, one God. This concept was unknown to the Christians of the first century.
A justification of the Trinity does appear in the KJV's errant wording of 1Jo 5:7,8, which reads:
"7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."
Only the words above in bold represent the original Greek text of 1 John. The italicized words were added to Erasmus' Greek text of 1 John in his 1522 edition. The added wording had not been in Erasmus' original 1514 edition, so a church official manipulated Erasmus to add the wording to his Greek text. As conservative biblical scholar F.F. Bruce (History of the English Bible, Third Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, pages 141-142) explains:
The words ["in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth."] omitted in the R.V. [Revised Version, 1881] were no part of the original Greek text, nor yet of the Latin Vulgate in its earliest form. They first appear in the writings of a Spanish Christian leader named Priscillian, who was executed for heresy in A.D. 385. Later they made their way into copies of the Latin text of the Bible. When Erasmus prepared his printed edition of the Greek New Testament, he rightly left those words out, but was attacked for this by people who felt that the passage was a valuable proof-text for the doctrine of the Trinity. He replied (rather incautiously) that if he could be shown any Greek manuscript which contained the words, he would include them in his next edition. Unfortunately, a Greek manuscript not more than some twenty years old was produced in which the words appeared: they had been translated into Greek from Latin. Of course, the fact that the only Greek manuscript exhibiting the words belonged to the sixteenth century was in itself an argument against their authenticity, but Erasmus had given his promise, and so in his 1522 edition he included the passage. (To-day one or two other very late Greek manuscripts are known to contain this passages; all others omit it.)
His additional words appears to have derived from a glossed/annotated version of the Latin Vulgate that was translated into Greek and handed to Erasmus as proof that the text was in the original Greek text. (For more details, browse: http://www.bibletexts.com/versecom/1jo05v07.htm.)
The result was that the Luther Bible in German, the 1611 KJV in English, and other Bible versions whose New Testaments were based upon Erasmus' Greek text included that errant text of 1Jo 5:7,8, which for the next four centuries gave theologians a false justification for believing that the 325 A.D. Nicene Council's doctrine of the Trinity was clearly articulated in the Bible.
In Biblical Hermeneutics (edited by Bruce Corley, Steve W. Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy, Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002, page 388), Harold Freeman, in his chapter on "Biblical Criticism and Biblical Preaching" writes:
Textual criticism is the discipline that seeks to identify the original wording of an ancient document. Textual criticism of the Bible benefits preaching by preventing nonbiblical sermons. ...We regret giving up a nice doctrinal sermon on the Trinity based on 1 John 5:7b (KJV). Nevertheless, if it is determined that these are additions to the original writings, whether intentional or accidental, biblical preaching based on these texts cannot occur... Sermons based on spurious or corrupted texts cannot be genuinely biblical. The determination of exactly what the Scripture said is the starting point for biblical preaching.
Also in the same Biblical Hermeneutics, William David Kirpatrick, in his chapter on "From Biblical Text to Theological Formulation," notes (page 366):
Otto Weber calls the doctrine of the Trinity the "classic example of a 'dogma,' in that it interprets the testimony of Scripture" (Weber, 1:350). In Jesus Christ and through the witness of the Spirit, the "unity, life, and revelation [of God] are expressed ... in reflection and interpretation" (Weber, 1:371).
To explore Christ Jesus as reflecting God, as the image and likeness of God, see:
http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/image.htm - "Man (Gen 1:26,27) and Christ as the 'image' of God"
Many early Christians were very concerned that the developing doctrine of the Trinity was a departure from monotheism. Some Christians clearly saw it as polytheistic heresy. It had been bitterly debated until it was settled by Constantine's coercion and edict at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Even with that pronouncement of the Nicene Creed, the theological pendulum swung back and forth until later in the century, as different Roman church officials went in and out of power. Those who were on the losing side at any given time were banished, and some even lost their lives over the issue.
| The Son | Top |
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."
17 Jesus said to her [Mary Magdalene], "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
30 I and the Father are one.
20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
We can gratefully acknowledge and honor the individual roles of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Mat 28:19 being the one place in the Bible where they are listed together but represented as three different entities. Christians are not bound to the non-biblical, later theological hypotheses that all three are somehow the same, one God. Even in the biblical passages that some use to justify that hypothesis, a more careful examination of those texts in context lead to a different interpretation. When we read:
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then stretch out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!”
We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true God—in union with his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this is eternal life.
1Co 15:24-28 (TEV)
24 ...Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. 25 For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be defeated will be death. 27 For the scripture says, "God put all things under his feet." It is clear, of course, that the words "all things" do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ. 28 But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.
Mar 10:17,18 (TEV)
As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone."
Joh 1:17,18 (TEV)
God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (See also an explanation of the correct translation of the Greek text of these verses at http://www.bibletexts.com/versecom/joh01v18.htm.)
1Jo 4:12-15 (TEV)
No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us. We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone declares that Jesus is the Son of God, he lives in union with God and God lives in union with him.
We all should readily admit that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as 1Jo 4:15 insists; we all can gratefully admit that the Son is "the same as God" (Joh 1:18) just as the image in the mirror is the same as the subject in front of the mirror; but there is no biblical basis for having to declare that Jesus is God. (See also an explanation of the correct translation of the Greek text of Joh 1:1 description of "the Logos" as being "the same as God" at http://www.bibletexts.com/versecom/joh01v01.htm.) We, however, do learn from the Scriptures about our own relationship with God -- as the image of God, as Genesis 1:26,27 tells us:
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. [NRSV]
22 Get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to--the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy. (TEV)
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! [NRSV]
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. [NRSV]
| Holy Spirit | Top |
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament refer to God's Spirit, or the Holy Spirit, to represent God's active presence and power. Also Jesus in the Gospel of John (e.g., Joh 14:15-16:15) and Paul in Romans (Rom 8:26-29) both refer to the Holy Spirit as an advocate or defense attorney on our behalf, as the Spirit of truth, as an intercessor. This presence and power of God represents the mind of God. It is not another person with a mind of its own.
| Top of Page |
God is our Father
God is "all in all"
God is Life
God is Love
Athenagoras [writing between 176-180 A.D.] was the first apologist to identify God as Mind (Leg. 10.3). Philo accasionally referred to God in this way, treating him as "the active cause, the most pure and unsullied Mind of the universe" (On the Creation of the World 8), but such a doctrine was only one of his interpretations. Athenagoras himself also used the term "Mind" in regard to the Son...
Both Athenagoras and Theophilus [writing in the late 2nd century A.D.] are willing to call the Son or Logos the Mind of the Father (Clement calls the Logos the Son of the Father-Mind).
For "the image of God" is his Word (and the divine Word, the light who is the archetype of light, is a genuine son of Mind [the Father]); and an image of the Word is the true man, that is, the mind of man, who on this account is said to have been created "in the image" of God and "in his likeness," because through his understanding heart he is made like the divine Word or Reason [Logos], and so rational [logikos]
God is Soul
God is Spirit
God is Truth
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Copyright
1996-2004 Robert Nguyen Cramer
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