The Trinity

Father and Son

My Father is greater than I.—John 14:28

David Stein

There are few controversial doctrines that elicit the passions of those in organized Christianity quite as much as the Trinity. Part of the reason is that some view anyone who denies the Trinity as blasphemously diluting the deity of Jesus Christ. Even entering into a discussion of this subject is fraught with difficulties over ardently held positions.

A good place to start is to define terms. What is meant by “Trinity” does differ from person to person. Here are two definitions:

“The term designating one God in three persons … ‘the Trinity’ has been found a convenient designation for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It signifies that within the one essence of the Godhead we have to distinguish three ‘persons’ who are neither three gods on the one side, nor three parts or modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God.”—Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter Elwell, ed., p. 1112

“We may define the doctrine of the Trinity as follows: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.”—Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem, p. 226

To be sure, these and other doctrinal definitions have changed in response to new arguments against them. Nevertheless, this is a fair place to start.

A key element in Trinitarian doctrine is the equality between Jesus and the Father—both believed to be manifestations of the one God, both co-eternal and co-equal. This assertion runs into immediate problems when we consider a few statements of Jesus:

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35). This suggests that the son at one time did not have all things in his hand (see also Mark 13:32).

“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:18,19). The Jews misinterpreted Jesus’ words and thought he was making himself equal to God. Jesus corrected their error with the clear statement that he can do nothing of himself.

“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). This clearly shows the authority of the Father to judge was given to the son (see John 5:26,27).

“Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things” (John 8:28). Jesus needed to be taught of the Father (see Hebrews 5:7-9).

“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:18). The Father gave commandments to his son, demonstrating a distinction in person and rank.

“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.” (John 14:28). The Father is greater than the son.

“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:42). Jesus was sent by God, a reality that would be impossible if Jesus were indeed God.

Another difficulty for Trinitarians is Jesus’ description of his heavenly Father as his God: “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). Jesus has his own God, the heavenly Father, and he said these words after his resurrection!

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). Even on the cross, Jesus cried out to his God!

Jesus most definitely distinguishes himself from God: “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God” (John 13:3). Jesus came from God and went back to God. Clearly he cannot be this God from whom he came and to whom he went!

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). And yet we have seen Jesus! Therefore God is other than Jesus and Jesus cannot be God!

The apostle Paul also clearly marks the difference between the Father as God and Jesus as Lord: “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:3). “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not” (2 Corinthians 11:31).

In these three examples, and many others in Paul’s letters, he distinguishes between the Father who is the one God, and our Lord Jesus, who is the son of God.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17). Paul tells us that Jesus Christ has his own God, the Father!

Having looked at a number of Scriptures that clearly teach a distinction between the Father as God and Jesus as the son and show a subordination of Jesus to the heavenly Father, we might wonder how the doctrine of the Trinity could be sustained. Our friends in Christendom do have texts they believe confirm their belief, and we will look at five of these.

1. “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).

This might appear to support Trinitarian thought. However, in Scripture “oneness” is often used metaphorically. For example, a husband and wife must become “one” (Matthew 19:5,6). Believers are characterized as “one” bread and “one” body (1 Corinthians 10:17; Romans 12:4, 5).

It is this latter case of oneness which we realize Jesus is using to describe his relationship with the Father. It is not a oneness of being in the nature of a trinity, but rather a oneness of heart, a oneness of thought, a oneness of purpose.

Jesus demonstrates this meaning when he said: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. … That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11,21, 22). This passage helps us interpret John 10:30, and what Jesus meant by being “one” with his Father.

2. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

The King James Bible takes a clear doctrinal stand: “The Word was God,” a phrase that is used to show Jesus is God. However, there is a legitimate question about how to translate the Greek text. William Barclay, a Trinitarian writer, has supplied one of the better explanations of the meaning of this text. Since he believes in the Trinity, there is ostensibly no bias in his exegesis. He writes:

“Finally John says that the word was God. This is a difficult saying for us to understand, and it is difficult because Greek, in which John wrote, had a different way of saying things from the way in which English speaks. When the Greek uses a noun it almost always used the definite article with it. The Greek for God is theos and the definite article is ho. When Greek speaks about God it does not simply say theos; it says ho theos. Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun that noun becomes much more like an adjective. John did not say that the word was ho theos; that would have been to say that the word was identical with God. He said that the word was theos—without the definite article—which means that the word was, we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God. When John said the word was God, he was not saying that Jesus was identical with God; he was saying that Jesus was so perfectly the same as God in mind, in heart, in being that in him we perfectly see what God is like.”

This explanation has much to commend it. The reasonable conclusion is that it does not teach the Trinity. Some translations reflect the details of the Greek better than others. For example:

Emphatic Diaglott: “In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.”

Moffatt: “The Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.”

Greber: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was a god.”

New World Translation: “In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”

3. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:6).

The original Greek says exactly the opposite of what the King James translation says. Paul says that Jesus did not have equality and did not try to grasp equality! Here are a few accurate translations:

New American Bible: “Your attitude must be that of Christ: Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at.”

Goodspeed: “Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he possessed the nature of God, he did not grasp at equality with God.”

Weymouth: “The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had. He always had the very nature of God. Yet he did not think that by force he should try to become equal with God.”

Emphatic Diaglott: “Let this disposition be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though being in God’s form, did not meditate a usurpation to be like God.”

World English Bible: “Who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.”

The original Greek text clearly indicates that Jesus did not even think about attempting or contemplating to be equal to God! This is in marked contrast with Lucifer who did (Isaiah 14:12-14).

4. “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8).

The apostle quotes Psalm 45:6 and applies it to Jesus. This would seem to be a clear reference to Jesus as God. However, the word “God” is applied to others than the Almighty God both in the Old Testament and the New. For example Moses is designated “God”: “And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God” (Exodus 4:16, ASV). “And Jehovah said unto Moses, See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet” (Exodus 7:1, ASV).

The Hebrew word translated God is elohim and has the basic meaning of “mighty one.” It is applied most often to the Supreme God, but also to angels, magistrates, rulers, and judges. As such, the meaning must be determined from the context.

Jesus possesses a godship in the sense of being a mighty one; after all he is the son of God as the psalm teaches! In this connection we might revisit John 10 where Jesus was about to be stoned for saying he and his Father were one: “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:33-36).

Jesus had ample opportunity on this occasion to declare he was part of a triune God. But instead he simply quoted Psalm 82:6 showing his status as one of the gods and particularly as the son of God.

Let’s sum up this point by quoting the apostle Paul: “For even if there are so-called Gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords) yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5,6, NKJV).

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

Although these words do support the Trinity, they are spurious and do not appear in any of the oldest manuscripts. A footnote in the Emphatic Diaglott makes this observation:

“This text concerning the heavenly witness is not contained in any Greek manuscript which was written earlier than the fifteenth century. It is not cited by any of the ecclesiastical writers; not by any of early Latin fathers even when the subjects upon which they treated would naturally have lead them to appeal to its authority. It is therefore evidently spurious.”

Conclusion

A foundation belief in the Bible Students’ fellowship is that our Lord Jesus suffered and died as “a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). This is fundamental to understanding the divine plan. However, the doctrine of the Trinity produces an inescapable contradiction to the “ransom for all.” If Jesus were God, or at least the second person of God, he would be immortal. The one possessing immortality cannot die. Yet the Bible declares clearly and in many places that Jesus did die! How could an immortal God die?

The Bible portrays Christ’s death as a human being as a real sacrifice, with real suffering, as a ransom corresponding to Adam, the original perfect man. Therefore Jesus had to be a perfect man to pay the penalty of Adam’s sin or he could not provide a corresponding price. The reward God gave him for his faithfulness unto death was the divine nature (John 5:26).

The “ransom for all” uncovers error and clarifies the truth of many doctrines of the Bible. And it demonstrates the error of the Trinity. Let us rejoice in a clearer understanding of the relationship between the heavenly Father and his son, our Lord Jesus Christ.