Prophetnick77 -- Point 1: First Rebuttal

Point 1: The Trinity--Is it or is it not sound biblical doctrine?

Before beginning it is imperative that we establish some fundamentals for the topic of conversation. The first being that there is only one God and His name is Yahweh (Deuteronomy 4:35; 2Samuel 22:32). The second matter at hand is unequivocally defining two terms from the onset. Those terms are (1) “Being” and (2) “Person” as they will be used repeatedly throughout this debate.

(1) The term “Being” will be used in reference to what Yahweh is. Synonyms for this word will be “nature,” “essence,” and “substance.” Being is an ontological designation speaking to the “stuff” that Yahweh consists of. It describes Deity.

(2) “Person” will be used in reference to each member of the Trinity. We are limited in our language and as such are at a disadvantage to truly describe God in His fullness, but the term “Person” will not be used in its normal connotation of humans, but rather in the sense that a “Person” is one with personality, who thinks, has intelligence, self-awareness, and the ability to reason. The “Persons” are who Yahweh is.

Having established that, the question at hand is: “The Trinity—is it or is it not, sound Biblical doctrine?” To this question I answer that it is sound Biblical doctrine. Before beginning this debate Searchingone1033 asked me what kind of Trinitarianism I hold to and I told him that I hold to orthodox Trinitarianism as affirmed in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The question was then asked if I would be arguing based on these creeds and my response was “no.” I explained that I would be arguing my point based on the inspired Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Scriptures. I will stand by my words and do exactly that, but I would first like to address the claim of illogic concerning the Trinity.

It was asserted that the Trinity is proven by means of a fallacious syllogism and that “Trinitarians acknowledge that God is nowhere described in the Bible as three persons in one being.” Well, in point of fact, this Trinitarian acknowledges no such thing and as per the above definitions we see from the One Being (Substance) of Deity there subsists, Three Persons. Next, we are never told why the reasoning of the Athanasian Creed was fallacious or unscriptural; we are simply told that it is.

The example my opponent has used is a faulty analogy in that he is representing 3 X’s as being 1 X (“A is X, B is X, C is X, but there is only one X”), while this is clearly not the belief of Trinitarians. This would violate the law of non-contradiction that states something cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same sense. In other words, God cannot be both 3 Gods and 1 God at the same time and in the same sense; neither can God be both 3 Persons and 1 Person at the same time and in the same sense. But there is no rule of logic violated in the Trinitarian belief of 1 God eternally existing as 3 Persons.

Now concerning the propositions as set forth in the Athanasian Creed, we can see clearly that they are scriptural and have their foundation in the very Word of God. Observe:

(1) So the Father is God (Malachi 2:10)

(2) the Son is God, (Hebrews 1:8)

(3) and the Holy Ghost is God (Acts 5:3-4).

(4) And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God (Isaiah 43:10-11, 44:6, 8, 45:5-6, 14, 21-22, 46:9).”

Now as it stands, the English word “God” in and of itself is ambiguous. There are many applications of the various Hebrew (El, Elim, Eloah, and Elohim), Aramaic (Elah, Elahin), and Greek (Theos) words translated as “God” in the Bible. The Hebrew word “elohim” alone has reference to at least 5 different groups including:

(1) The one true God of creation (Genesis 1:1)
(2) Idols (Deuteronomy 4:28)
(3) False gods (Judges 11:24)
(4) Angels (Psalm 8:5)
(5) Men (Exodus 7:1)

God is described in Daniel 2:47 as “Elah elahin” (Aramaic for “God of gods”). The Greek word “Theos” is used in reference to:

(1) The one true God of creation (Matthew 4:10)
(2) Men (Acts 28:6)
(3) Idols (Acts 19:26)
(4) Satan (2Corinthians 4:4)

The reasons I make mention of this is that it is not enough that the Father is called God, the Son is called God, and the Holy Spirit is called God. The title in and of itself does not necessitate that each person being called God is the one true God, nor does it irrefutably prove the Trinity. My opponent has claimed that the Trinitarian must take a passage here and a passage there and string them together in order to arrive at the doctrine of the Trinity. To this I say that the Trinitarian observes every passage in context and then systematically arrives at the doctrine. In other words, it is not random passages put together to create foreign doctrine, but rather contextual readings put together to eliminate confusion, contradiction, and error in the Word of God.

As I just stated, the title “God” in and of itself is not enough to make my case, so for this reason I must examine other areas and draw my conclusions based on the all the relevant data. Not only do the 3 Persons in question share the title “God” they also share the title “Lord” as can be seen in 2Corinthians 6:18, John 20:28, and 2Corinthians 3:17. Once again, this is not an exclusive title reserved for Yahweh alone. So now we must extend our search into attributes that do exclusively belong to the one true God, namely: (1) Eternality, (2) Omnipotence, (3) Omniscience, and (4) Omnipresence. There are only three Persons in all of scripture who possess these attributes.

(1) The Father is eternal (Psalm 90:2), as is the Son (Micah 5:2), and the Holy Spirit is as well (Hebrews 9:14).

(2) The Father is omnipotent (Daniel 4:35), as is the Son (Matthew 28:18), and the Holy Spirit as well (Isaiah 40:12).

(3) The Father is omniscient (1John 3:20), as is the Son (John 16:30), and the Holy Spirit as well (1Corinthians 2:10-11).

(4) The Father is omnipresent (1Kings 8:27), as is the Son (John 3:13), and the Holy Spirit as well (Psalm 139:7-18).

Now as such the Trinity is already proven scripturally, for if there is only One Being who possesses these attributes and there are Three Persons which exhibit them, then we must conclude that the Three Persons constitute the One Being.

The case for the Trinity can be further proven in specific acts/functions which God alone can perform. Although there are more I will establish this matter in the mouth of three witnesses: (1) Creation, (2) Salvation, (3) Indwelling.

(1) Isaiah 44:24 tells us that Yahweh has made all things, stretched out the heavens alone, and spread out the earth by Himself, yet scripture reveals the Father as creator (Isaiah 64:8), the Son as creator (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16), and the Holy Spirit as creator (Job 26:13, 33:4). Combine this with God’s use of the plural pronouns “us” and “our” in Genesis 1:26 and the Trinitarian has an airtight case.

(2) Isaiah 43:11 informs us that besides Yahweh, there is no savior. Salvation in scripture is presented as a threefold process involving (1) Justification, (2) Sanctification, and (3) Glorification which is accomplished via resurrection (1Corinthians 15:42-44, 53-54). The Bible affirms that we are justified by the Father (Romans 8:30), the Son (Acts 13:39), and the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 6:11). Likewise we are Sanctified by the Father (1Thessalonians 5:23), the Son (Hebrews 2:11), and the Holy Spirit (1Peter 1:2). The believer’s glorification is procured by the resurrection of our bodies which is an act that the Father (1Corinthians 6:14), the Son (John 6:39-40, 44), and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11).

(3) While dedicating the temple King Solomon asked this question—he said, “Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?” (1Kings 8:27) Stephen in his final speech before he was stoned to death said that God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48 cf. Isaiah 66:1). Paul confirms this point in his speech to the Athenians in Acts 17:24. That being said we can see that God does indeed dwell somewhere; that place being the bodies of believers (1Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19). Since we are the temple of God, it makes no sense to believe that another other than God would dwell in us. From here we see that the Father dwells in us (2Corinthians 6:16), as does the Son (Colossians 1:27), and the Holy Spirit (2Timothy 1:14), hence another example of God’s Tri-unity.

So while an attempt was made to dismiss a doctrine based on its late arrival in Christian confessions of faith or its perceived absence from the earliest writings of second century Christians (Click Here for Ante-Nicene quotes on the Trinity), it has been proven scripturally that the Trinity is in fact a Biblical doctrine.