Doctrine of the Trinity - Upon Further Review

At the core of orthodox Christian theology is a baffling dogmatic concept called the doctrine of the Trinity that supposedly explains the nature of Jesus’ divinity. The Trinity is the culmination of nearly three centuries of contemplation by proto-orthodox Christian leaders about the nature of Jesus’ divinity and how it relates to God and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The end result is an exceedingly paradoxical doctrine that describes how the three are the same God while being separate but coequal beings. The Catholic Encyclopedia takes a stab at explaining the paradox in the Dogma of the Trinity: “The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion—the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another … the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.”

St. Augustine explained the Trinity this way in the late fourth century CE (from On Christian Doctrine):

The Father is God.
The Son is God.
The Holy Spirit is God.
The Father is not the Son.
The Son is not the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not the Father.
There is one God and only one God.

The doctrine of the Trinity even has a shield—the diagram type, not the marching-as-to-war type. The English version looks like this:

Adding to the paradox is the assumption in Christian orthodoxy that the Father begot the Son. But wait a minute; if Christian orthodoxy tells us that the Father and the Son are/is the same God, and God has existed for eternity (more Christian orthodoxy), then the Son must have existed as the Father before he begot himself as the Son! If you are now thoroughly confused, don’t worry about it; it’s unlikely you’re the source of the problem. Christian leaders have never denied the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is a major paradox. So how have they solved this problem? They have waved it off by calling it a mystery. The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us what a mystery is. “Mystery: This term signifies in general that which is unknowable, or valuable knowledge that is kept secret.”

If the Trinity is a mystery and a mystery is something that is unknowable or something whose truth is kept from us, then why should anyone believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is true? Christians believe it is true as a matter of faith. For the church it serves the purpose of feeding the faith of the followers, but it has also served another very important and entirely different purpose.

The history of early Christianity provides insight into how the doctrine of the Trinity was created and why it was established as canon. As discussed in Chapter 1, early Christianity was divided by several factions, each vying for supremacy. Each faction held a different view of the nature of Jesus and denounced other views as heretical. Among the most significant factions were the proto-orthodox Christians [the faction that would eventually prevail and become the orthodox Christians—the Roman Catholic Church], Marcionite Christians, Ebionite Christians and Gnostic Christians.

Recall that Marcionite Christians did not believe the God of the Hebrew Bible and the God of Christianity were the same. They differed in too many ways. In particular, the former was extremely wrathful and vengeful compared to the latter. Marcionites believed that Jesus was completely divine but only appeared to be human (docetism). Ebionite Christians believed in a single God, but it was their view of Jesus that differed the most from that of the proto-orthodox Christians. Ebionites believed that while he was on Earth Jesus was completely human. He was not divine nor was he infused with the spirit of God. Jesus was a wholly righteous person whom God adopted for a special mission. Gnostic Christians had their own factions and differences in doctrine. Some Gnostics are known to have held a dualistic view of Jesus and Christ.

The various Christian sects fought over their theological differences with polemical writings and back-and-forth assertions of blasphemy and heresy, especially regarding the very nature of Jesus and his relationship to God. Even in the fourth century there was a heated difference of opinion about the nature of Jesus’ divinity within the ranks of the now orthodox Christians. The Arian sect, led by a deacon of the church in Alexandria named Arius, believed that Christ was created by God at some time in the past and was therefore a separate deity. The orthodox Christians finally established the concept of the Trinity to settle the disputes, but not before they had prevailed over the other Christian factions and were free to decide which dogma would become orthodox.

At the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church in 325 CE (First Council of Nicaea in present-day Turkey), the groundwork was laid to establish the doctrine of the Trinity. Roman Emperor Constantine called on bishops throughout the Christian world to convene the council with the primary objectives of promoting unity and disposing of heresy. The first council focused on the nature of Jesus’ divinity but left some loose ends regarding the nature of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity was finalized as orthodoxy at the second council, the Council of Constantinople in 360 CE.

In addition to achieving a unified explanation for the nature of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the Trinity provided a way to counter the accusation that Christians were polytheists. If Yahweh is God and Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God, then Christians must be worshipping three Gods. No, because the three are the same God; therefore, Christians are monotheists. Another problem was solved.

The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, nor does any term that clearly unites the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity was gleaned from various scriptures that can be interpreted as a possible link between the three. A somewhat direct reference to the three, called the Johannine comma (short clause), can be found in some versions of 1 John 5:7-8:

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

The first appearance of these two verses was in a ninth century version of the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible.²⁰ Such a late date for its first appearance suggests that the verses were either unwittingly inserted (perhaps thinking that a note written in a margin by a former scribe was text that had been accidently omitted earlier) or the verses were a forgery intended to provide more biblical evidence for the Trinity. A very large percentage of the hundreds of existing early Greek manuscripts of 1 John do not contain the Johannine Comma. It’s still in the King James Version but has been removed in many modern versions of the Bible.

There are several scriptures that contradict the Trinitarian concept that Jesus was always the Son of God. According to Acts 2:32-33, disciple Peter spoke these words: “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost …” Acts 13:33 quotes the apostle Paul: “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day [day of resurrection] have I begotten thee.” In Romans 1:3-4 Paul wrote these words: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” These scriptures connect the inception of Jesus’ divinity to his resurrection, contrary to the Trinitarian concept that Jesus has always been God!

In addition to the verses that tie Jesus’ divinity to his resurrection, there are many other scriptures that don’t comport at all with the doctrine of the Trinity. Many times in the four Gospels, Jesus is said to have prayed. If Jesus were also God, he would have been talking to himself. In 1 Corinthians 11:3: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” If Christ is God and God is the head of Christ, then Christ must submit to himself. In Matthew 27:46 we find a non-Trinitarian verse, straight from Jesus’ mouth during his crucifixion: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” A Trinitarian Jesus would more likely have cried out “My God, my God, what was I thinking?”

Jesus’ words in John 14:28 certainly seem to contradict the Trinity: ”Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”

Regarding the second coming of Christ, Matthew 24:36 quotes Jesus: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” How could the Son be God and not know when he would return, while the Father is the same God and does know? Omniscience is a fundamental part of the very definition of the Christian God, which Jesus is supposed to be according to the doctrine of the Trinity. He’s not supposed to be a junior god or an apprentice god; he’s supposed to be the one and only all-knowing Real Deal.

Perhaps the most obvious contradiction to the Trinity is found in Mark 19:16-17: “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he [Jesus] said unto him, Why callest me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.” Here Jesus rebuked the individual for calling him good because good only applied to God. Jesus was effectively saying, “Don’t ask me, I’m not God!” I can imagine how the bishops at the First Council of Nicaea might have dealt with this troubling scripture:

Bishop John (after reading these two verses to the council): “I hereby move that these verses in Mark be entered into the record and that we indefinitely table our efforts to combine the natures of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into a single doctrine. Do I hear a second?”

Bishop Paul: “Objection! We have other scriptures to work with, and we must not forget the first commandment of our commission: Thou shalt obey thine emperor.”

Defending the doctrine of the Trinity is a tough task when the Bible has so many scriptures that contradict it. At the first ecumenical council the bishops were commissioned to bring unity to the Christian ranks, in part by eliminating perceived heresy. Unfortunately, the different interpretations of the nature of Jesus’ divinity were in large part due to contradictory scriptures. The bishops obviously didn’t let that sidetrack the fulfillment of their commission.

The concept of the Trinity is utterly comparable to saying that a circle and a triangle and a square are the same unique, supreme geometric shape. Yet a circle is not a triangle, and a triangle is not a square, and a square is not a circle. This violates the unassailable associative law of logic. The Trinity likewise violates the associative law of logic. Specifically:

If A = B and A = C and A = D, then
B = C = D.
Substituting God for A, Father for B, Son for C and Holy Spirit for D, then it necessarily follows that,
The Father is also the Son, and the Son is also the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is also the Father, but
The doctrine of the Trinity says n-o-o-o-o, they are not the same!

The Trinity also violates mathematics, which is fittingly called the language of the universe. If the Trinity were true, then conditionally unity = duality = trinity. However, one never equals two—in any way, shape or form. And two never equals three—in substance, manifestation, or any other characteristic. Likewise, one never equals three—be they apples, oranges or deities. Well, actually there is a very special case, but absolutely only one, in which unity = duality = trinity. It’s the same as when 1 + 2 + 3 = 7. It’s when you’ve got the wrong answer!

Despite the insurmountable problems with the reality of the Trinity, let’s grant for a moment that the doctrine is true, that Yahweh, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the same God. Some ominous implications now arise. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace and the very personification of love. However, the Trinitarian baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, is now one and the same with the wrathful God of the Old Testament. He would have already drowned every human and every other creature on planet Earth, except for the eight members of the Noah family and the lucky pairs (and maybe some sevens) of the creatures onboard the ark. Not a single, precious, gift-from-God human baby out of millions over the entire planet was spared from Jesus’ Godly wrath during the global flood. Christian dogma tells us that we are already sinful when we are born because Adam and Eve defied orders and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. All the precious babies that were drowned by the Trinitarian Jesus were guilty of only one thing—having been born! And what about the completely innocent human fetuses that died when their mothers were drowned? They were erased from history before the mutated DNA they had inherited from Adam and Eve could morph them into sinful creatures by seeing the light of day.

A Trinitarian Jesus would have been born in human form with skeletons overflowing his Godly closet. Surely the bishops at the First Council of Nicaea did not consider this when they were putting a stop to claims that “they” regarded as heretical.

Summarizing the doctrine of the Trinity:

It is not defined or explained in the Bible.
It is contradicted by many verses in the Bible.
It violates all reasonable logic.
It violates the language of the universe.
It means that Jesus begot himself.
It is a dogmatic contrivance that was cobbled together to short-circuit rival theologies.
It provided Christians with a way to sidestep the accusation that they were polytheists who believed in three Gods.
It tarnishes Jesus’ prince-of-peace persona.
A concept consisting of three entities that are one God, existing from one substance, while also being a Godhead of three separate and coequal beings is a concept concocted with word games.
Calling the doctrine of the Trinity a mystery and bestowing it with faith do not make it true.

It is too late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the Platonic mysticisms that three are one, and one is three; and yet that the one is not three, and the three are not one … But this constitutes the craft, the power and the profit of the priests.
— Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of the U.S., in an 1813 letter to John Adams, 2nd president of the U.S.)

Notes:

20. The New Testament in an Improved Version, (Thomas B. Wait and Company, Boston reprint of London edition, 1809), John 5:7-8 verses.