Good Morning readers,
I am taking a class on Biblical counseling and something
that I read in the text over the last couple of days has provoked me to do a
little Bible study. For those of you who may not realize it, I am not a
Trinitarian. I believe that God is completely One, all by himself. I believe,
as the Bible says, that Jesus Christ is the express image of this formerly
invisible God. Jesus Christ is not just part of a triune God but he is the Only
God who manifested himself in flesh.
I am studying for my bachelor’s degree through a Trinitarian
school. I have been through several theology classes and have had to endure
teachings on the doctrine of the trinity, though I don’t believe it. I have
seen all of this as an opportunity to learn. I have tried to be respectful and
have only voiced my opinion on a couple of occasions when the situation merited
it. I have had not great arguments over this issue and almost no one in my
classes, instructors included, was offended when I said I was Oneness.
The class I am taking now is Biblical counseling. The author
of the textbook we are using is decidedly Trinitarian; he is so Trinitarian
that he almost doesn’t use the word God in a sentence but uses “the Trinity.”
As I am reading through this book, I have come across a couple of things that
really bothered me. In talking about the Trinity (which is not really what the
class is about) the author says:
“Before they created, the Trinity related. What were the
Father, Son, and Spirit doing before they created? … They were experiencing
constant uninterrupted, intimate relationship.”
The author goes on to say:
“What did the Trinity do before they created? They enjoyed
each other and bragged on each other. They were thrilled with each other. They
shared sheer delight.”
“Father, you are incredible.” “Son you are amazing.”
“Spirit, you are awesome.”
"There was never a time when the Trinity was denied the pleasure of delighting in their mutual glory."
The author of this book would have us to believe that there
are three beings in heaven (how this is one God I will never know) involved in
an intimate relationship. He even goes so far as to say that the three members of the Trinity are eternally united in a celestial hug. This is completely unscriptural. The word of God says
in Isaiah 43:
Isaiah 43:1 – But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,
O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: For I have redeemed thee,
I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
43:3 – For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy one of Israel;
thy Saviour.
Throughout this entire chapter God continues to refer to
himself as “the Holy One” and say things like “I did this” or “I did that.”
There is no room for this author’s idea of “they did this” or “they did that.”
It simply isn’t there. The prophet continues writing to say:
Isaiah 43:10 – Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me.
43:11 – I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no
Savior.
43:12- I have declared and have saved …
Again in Verse 14: Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel.
The Holy One
There is no mention in any scripture of the holy three. So
where did this idea come from? It came from the Greeks and Romans. Most of us
know that the Greeks believed in many gods. They also believed these gods
quarreled among themselves. Furthermore, they believed these gods had lewd,
intimate, even incestuous relationships among themselves. In their jealousy for
power, these gods fought over control of the universe and put curses on one
another.
In contrast, the Holy One of Israel is always depicted in
scripture as a God who is God all by himself. This is the main reason I have a
problem with the aforementioned explanation of a Trinitarian God. This author
would have us to believe that there are three beings in heaven who eternally
worshipped one another from before the earth was created. His explanation
borders on the lewd and causes one to think of the perverted, lewd
relationships that the pagans of the ancient world attributed to their gods.
This does not sound like a Holy God to me. Our God is anything but lewd.
I have close friends who are Trinitarian. I would venture to
say that many of them would not agree with the description this textbook gives
us of the three members of the Trinity praising one another. I believe most
people who self-proclaim to be Trinitarian do not actually understand that the
idea of a Trinity is anything but Biblical. It does not come from Jewish
thought and cannot be found in the Old Testament at all. The apostles who wrote
the New Testament had no thoughts of a Trinitarian God. Any reference to the
Father, son, and Holy Spirit in the New Testament are best answered by an
understanding of God’s Oneness.
While I try to respect the beliefs of others, I cannot find
the idea of a Trinity in scripture. The same author of this text spends a good
deal of time warning his readers not to mix pagan ideas with their Biblical
counseling methods. Yet I contend that he is doing exactly that with his
ludicrous ideas of the members of a Trinity having intimate relationships among
themselves throughout eternity.
Isaiah 43:11 – I, even
I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Savior.