Blessed Trinity? Is God Triune?
By Tara Chapman
April 2008
Scriptures using KJV, unless otherwise noted
“Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed trinity!” a popular Catholic and Protestant hymn boasts. Do these words speak truth? Is God really a trinity, a three-in-one God?
Before my calling, I’d long been a baptized member of a popular Protestant sect of Christianity. I’d always been taught that God was a trinity made up of three persons in one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Catholics and Protestants alike insist that a person must believe in the trinity in order to be saved.
Jerome, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. said, “"The true profession of the mystery of the Trinity is to own that we do not comprehend it.”[i]
Well, now that’s quite a statement, isn’t it? The bible says that, “…a good understanding have all they that do his commandments” (Psalm 111:10).
Jerome was a bishop in the Catholic church, so he didn’t keep God’s commandments and so had no understanding. It’s apparent, also, that he thought we are not supposed to be able of understanding. Well, the one thing he had correct is that the so-called “mystery of the trinity” cannot be understood. That’s because it’s not from God. It’s a confusing doctrine. The bible says, “God is not the author of confusion” (I Cor. 14:33a).
Ah, but take a look at Revelation 17:5. It talks about a whore church (a church that mixed the pure true worship of God with heathen worship of false gods—spiritual fornication or harlotry/whoredom), and she had a name called “Mystery Babylon the Great.” The word Babylon literally means “confusion.” From Babylon all heathen religions sprang. “Mystery Confusion.” The truth of the matter is that the “mystery of the trinity” teaching is a false doctrine that came straight from Babylon, from where all confusion derives. The Great Babylonian church in Revelation is none other than the wicked Catholic Church. The Catholic Church adopted the trinity doctrine from the heathen sun-worshiping religions.
Nimrod (Genesis 10:9-10) was over the kingdom of Babel and was worshiped as a god. He and his wife Semiramis supposedly conceived a son, and Nimrod died, but when the child was born—named Tammuz—he was worshiped as the reincarnation of Nimrod. These same people are worshiped in the same ways in different cultures—just with different names. In Egypt, for example, Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz became Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Tammuz is also known as Mithra and other names. He is worshiped as the sun god. Semiramis is known as Isis, Astarte, Eostre, Ishtar, and others and is now most commonly known as Easter. Thus, along with Easter and all the other pagan holidays and doctrinal beliefs that the apostate Roman Catholic Church adopted from heathen mystery Babylonian religions, the RCC adopted the pagan trinity doctrine.
The word “trinity” is not in the bible, nor is “triune.” There is one verse trinity fanatics like to use to as so-called proof to back up their trinity belief. They point to I John 5:7 and claim it states: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Unfortunately for their belief (but fortunately for everyone, for the truth is much better than this damned doctrine of the trinity), this verse has been added and is rightly excluded in many English translations of the bible. I refer the reader to the following link for a comparison of the translations and also some of the commentary: http://bible.cc/1_john/5-7.htm. The text is not found in any of the Greek manuscripts, and it’s only found in some of the Latin Vulgate manuscripts. The Latin Vulgate was done by Jerome and is the official Latin bible of the apostate Roman Catholic Church. In other words, it was dishonestly added in order to deceive the masses into believing a false doctrine that the RCC wanted to adopt from the heathen religions.
There is only one other verse that is ever used—though rarely—to try to prove the trinity doctrine. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
At first glance, someone who was brought up being indoctrinated with belief in a trinity would likely say, “There is proof of the trinity!”
First, notice the preceding verse, verse 8: “And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power (authority, as noted in the reference) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Jesus has all the authority. In Acts 2:38, it says a person should be baptized in the name of Jesus. This means by Jesus’ authority. Then, the rest of the verse says that a person will then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Going back to Matthew, verse 20 says that Jesus will be with believers unto the end of the world. Yet, we know He is in heaven! He and the Father are with us in the sense that we have the begettal of the Holy Spirit, the SAME Spirit of which they are composed.
Matthew 28:19 should say, “baptizing them INTO,” as some translations of the bible, like the American Standard Version and the English Revised Version render it. Yes, we are baptized IN the name (authority) of Jesus, INTO the name of the Father (the Father of Jesus and all the begotten sons of God, for it is the Father who begets sons), and of the Son (Jesus is the one who died as a sacrifice to atone for our sins to make it possible for us to receive eternal life), and of the Holy Spirit (it is the Spirit of God—the Spirit of which both the Father and the Son are composed—with which we are begotten as sons of God after baptism). WE, as begotten sons of God each have a begettal of the SAME Spirit that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) possesses. God the Father uses His Spirit to reproduce/conceive/beget new sons and daughters. That certainly does not sound like some phony trinity doctrine to me. I plan to be BORN again at the first resurrection—at Jesus’ return to this Earth—as a Spirit daughter of God, with my new completely Spirit body to forever be with my Lord and elder brother Jesus Christ and to be one of many daughters of the Father. What in the world will the trinity fanatics be able to say then about their phony doctrine? There will be thousands and thousands of Spirit members of the family of God, those, who through the last several thousand years have been begotten by God’s Spirit and have loved God, had faith in Jesus and kept their commandments. There will be one Father, an elder brother, and many thousands of other sons and daughters of the Most High. We will all have the same DNA, if you will. The same family Spirit. In that way, we will be one, but we will all be individuals. God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ/Messiah Yahushua are two separate individuals, but they are ONE in that they are ONE family unit, sharing the SAME “DNA” Spirit and the same MIND and POWER. The bible also makes reference to a man and his wife becoming ONE flesh. My husband and I are ONE, but we are two separate beings.
Each man has a spirit—the spirit of man. God has a Spirit—the spirit of God. My spirit is not a separate person. The children a man and wife has will not only receive physical traits from their parents, but they will also receive spiritual traits. A person’s personality, talents, interests, and intelligence are somewhat passed on by the spirit genetics (for lack of a better term). Anyone begotten with God’s Spirit should have the mind of God, the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2:16; Rom. 15:5) As the Father and the Son are one, we are to be one with them (John 17:11, 21-23). ONE family (Ephesians 3:14-15).
It’s very simple for one to understand if one simply reads the bible and has not been influenced by preconceived lies. The bible talks about God’s Spirit being poured out upon people (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). Can a PERSON be “poured out?”
Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit that the Father would send to believers in John 14:16, 26. Peter explained in Acts 2:38 that if a person repents of breaking God’s law and is baptized, he or she can receive that promise of the Holy Spirit.
But, back to John chapter 14. What’s this “he” business? In verse 16, Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (or Helper), that he may abide with you forever.” Continuing to verse 17, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” In verse 26, it says “he,” talking about the Holy Spirit, will “teach you all things.” Well, I’ll get to the “he” and “him” shortly, but first look at verse 20. It says, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Well, that verse alone contradicts Trinitarians. If WE are also ONE with them, in UNITY with them, then that blows the triune/trinity/three-in-one bogus idea out of the water. If you add up all those begotten with God’s Spirit, there’s no longer three (never was three, but TWO—God the Father and God the Son). This whole trinity thing is really quite a sham.
Anyway, back to “he” and “him.” Greek employs what is called “grammatical gender.” (Hebrew does, too.) So do the “Romance languages,” such as Italian, French, and Spanish. Each noun is assigned a gender. Usually, the bible talks about the Spirit as a thing, an “it.” We shouldn’t be bothered that it has been assigned a male gender in some of these verses.
What are we to think about the following verses?
*Judges 5:31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
*Psalm 19:4-6 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words
to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which
is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to
run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his
circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven
and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her
light to shine.
Proverbs 9:1-3 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
Proverbs 8:1 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
Proverbs 4:7-9 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Acts 12:10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
I’ve not seen anyone ever make a deal out of these verses and others like them. No one really thinks the sun or gates are male persons. No one really thinks the moon, wisdom, and understanding are women. At least, I’ve never met anyone whom has uttered such a thing. I’ve also never heard anyone talking about our spirits as separate persons in us. Of course not!! How ludicrous! People have the sense to know better. But, when it comes to having preconceived ideas fed to them all their lives, people have a hard time seeing the obvious truth when they read their bibles.
It’s pretty clear that the apostles did not care anything at all for the supposed “third person” of the “trinity.” It’s because there is NO “third person!” The Spirit is just THAT, the SPIRIT, not some third person in a “trinity.”
Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Read also: I Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:13; Eph. 1:2-3; Phill. 1:2; Col. 1:2-3; I Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1-2; I Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 3; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1-2; I John 1:1-3; 2 John 1:3; Jude 1
There is no third person in any of their greetings. Someone forgot to tell Paul, Peter, James, Jude and John about the Holy Spirit being a person! Oops!
I remember lying awake in bed at night sometimes, trying to get an understanding of some of the whacked out things I was taught. The top three things I never understood were: an ever-burning hell by a loving God and the teaching that everyone has an immortal soul, despite the reward of the saved is supposed to be eternal life/immortality; going to heaven or hell when we die, and yet the bible talks about resurrections from the dead; and the mysterious TRINITY. Lies, lies, and more lies. At least when I finally saw the truth, it all made SENSE for once, and I knew I wasn’t crazy for having RATIONAL thoughts. The false doctrines are what make NO sense and are totally crazy and IRRATIONAL.
Another point at the center of the trinity doctrine is that all three persons of the trinity are co-equal. Say what?! My bible records Jesus as saying: “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). And in another place: “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all” (John 10:29). He’s greater than the firstborn /eldest son, the whom had glory with the Father before He came to be born as a human of a woman, AND He’s greater also than all of us who are now begotten sons and daughters and will be brought to birth at the first resurrection sons and daughters. Pretty clear-cut. The Father is greater than ALL his sons and daughters that He brings into His FAMILY—both the elder Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AND the rest of us whom are His children, too.
The TRUTH is, is that God is a FAMILY, consisting in heaven of a FATHER and a SON:
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?
who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a
garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name,
and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?(Proverbs 30:4).
Ephesians 3:14-15 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”
The Father and elder Son are in heaven. All those begotten are on the earth. When a woman is pregnant, she and her husband refer to the child within her womb as their son, daughter, or child. So it is with us who are begotten with God’s Spirit, even though we have not yet been born but only begotten, we are still considered “sons of God,” though we are still “sons of man.” Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of man” much more often than He called Himself the “Son of God.” He was both, and those of us begotten with God’s Spirit are both, too. And we CAN abort our spiritual begettal (see my study article on Spiritual Abortion—Once Saved, Always Saved?), if we are not faithful unto the end.
Our beloved brother, the apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2).
John later did get a glimpse of what Christ looked like when he was given the Revelation of Jesus. Read Revelation 1:13-16. Compare Daniel 7:9. The only way we can see Him as He is to be spirit-composed. Paul recorded for us, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (I Cor. 15:50). Luke 16:26 shows that it’s impossible for the unsaved to enter into the Kingdom, because only the spirit-composed individuals can inherit it. The “gulf” fixed is the gulf between flesh and blood and eternal spirit, sin and righteousness. Revelation 22:15 also shows also that sinners are not admitted into the gates. There were a lot of teachings and parables by Jesus that showed that many would seek to enter in and could not, but there would be great weeping and gnashing of teeth. Exodus 33:20 says, “And [God] said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
So, we have to be spirit, and in order to gain that, we must repent, be baptized, and have hands laid on us to receive the begettal of God’s Spirit, and then we will be born again at the first resurrection, at Jesus’ return at the seventh trump. But, we won’t be angel spirits. We’ll be children of God. Angels aren’t to be worshiped. Those in the family of God are (Revelation 3:9). Those who overcome and will be in the first resurrection will be co-inheritors of the Kingdom with Christ (see my study article Heirs of the Kingdom) and will be kings and priests over flesh and blood human beings during the 1,000 years after Christ’s return. Those in the first resurrection will no longer be named “man” or “mankind.” As Genesis 5:2 states, people were given the name “Adam,” meaning “mankind.” The first man Adam was made a living soul, but the last Adam a quickening spirit (I Cor. 15:45). We were originally made in the image of God, but were made with earthly bodies, of the dust. But, we shall bear the image of the heavenly when we who are begotten of God are resurrected (I Cor. 15:49, John 3:12).
Again, our name is Adam, meaning “mankind.” But, when we are born again (John 3:6-8), we will have a new name.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
John 17:11 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. (Yes, as the Father God and the Son God are ONE, so also will ALL the sons (and daughters) of God be ONE—One FAMILY, the God Family—a triune trinity with the Spirit being a separate person totally leaves out our chances of joining the God family as children of God.)
Revelation 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
We who are begotten by God will have the SAME name as our Father and our elder brother. We will no longer be called Adam/mankind. We will be children of the Most High. We will be ONE FAMILY. God is a family, not a trinity. There is God the Father, God the Son our Lord and Savior—the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18, Rev. 1:5), and then there’s all the OTHER children (sons and daughters) of God that will be born from the dead (or changed if still alive at Christ’s coming)—born that time of Spirit, born of God, rather than born of flesh, of mankind.
John 10:25-38:
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 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 hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Jesus was quoting Psalm 82:
God (Elohim) standeth in the congregation of the mighty (El); he judgeth among the gods (Elohim). How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods (Elohim); and all of you are children of the most High (Elyown). But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God (Elohim), judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Elohim is the plural of Elowahh. Jesus is the inheritor of the nations. The Father gives Him the Kingdom, but those of us in the first resurrection are co-inheritors with Christ and will also judge. See my study article on Heirs of the Kingdom.)
I Corinthians 6:2
Do ye not know that the saints
shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy
to judge the smallest matters?
John 17:1-26:
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. [Hmmm, no mention of the Holy Spirit, the supposed 3rd person here—just the Father and the Son]. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. [Indeed, Jesus was God with His Father from the beginning, the ONLY begotten Son from the beginning—He was God before he came to the earth to be born of a woman—an Adam/mankind.] I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 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. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 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: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Hebrews 2:10 For it became him (Jesus), for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Jesus was the firstborn from the dead—the Adam/mankind death—to be glorified. But, He wasn’t to be the ONLY Son brought to glory.)
Read with no preconceived false ideas, the bible should easily be understood as teaching that God is a family. The human Adam/mankind family is a TYPE of the God family. Most human families share ONE surname. The father and the mother become ONE, and they conceive children. The Heavenly Father wants more children, but He doesn’t want to FORCE anyone to love Him and His holy and perfect way. Those who desire to be in His family will desire His way. The bible makes no secret about it. It clearly teaches a Father and a Son, and it teaches that there will be more “sons of God” and “children of God.” It says we will be just like Him. It says we will have the same name. It says we will be glorified, born again, Spirit-bodied. It says we will have eternal life and inherit all things with Christ our elder brother. It says we will all be ONE. One WHAT? One God. There is one true God. God is a FAMILY.
Bless-ed trinity?
It’s a bless-ed thing for all the children of God that it’s not.