2. in response to the charge that I "spent much time
defining the Trinity"...this really makes me feel like my paper was
glanced over very quickly. I only took one paragraph to define the
doctrine of the Trinity and the body of the paper was proving that Jesus Christ
and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons from the Father and yet equally God in
their nature. Thus, that I am not "interested in my audience",
I believe, is wholly unwarranted. I did assume that you know what the Trinity
was and I only stated what I believed was the Trinity so that you, my audience,
could know where I was coming from and what I was seeking to prove from the
Scriptures. 1) I can assure you
that I gave your email the respect that I would desire of my own.
2) Some how you have concluded that YOUR version of the Trinity is
different from the Roman Catholic version of it. You are in error to assume
this.
3.
in response to the charge of "extra biblical
sources"....again, this gives me more reason to believe that my paper was
not read thoroughly but only glanced over. Never once in my paper to do I
quote a church father or a theologian when proving the doctrine of the
Trinity. In all my body paragraph I was careful
to only exegete the text of Scripture as I believe that Scripture is the only
source in which the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed! I expressly said
in my introduction that I believed the sole infallible authority for Christian
doctrine is the God-breathed Scriptures alone. Sola
Scriptura. 1) Notrin adequately mentioned the extra biblical man-made
phrases that you use with respect to the Trinity. I would add to his
response that Jesus was subordinate to God indicating that he was not
co-equal. Jesus attributed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as being unforgivable,
another indicator that the H.S. is God's Spirit...and that coequality is not
biblical. As for co-eternal, John 1:1 "In the BEGINNING was the
Word" This phrase alone departs from any semblance of the realm of the
"eternal" (eternity has no beginning and no ending) Jesus had a
beginning (he was born after many years of prophesy) and an end (he died)...and
then he was resurrected unto eternal life!!!!!!! 2) My friend,
if scripture was what you accepted as your sole source of truth we would not be
having this exchange with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity.
4. in all of this, I must point out that so far these responses
are nothing more than "red herrings" since they have not dealt with
the arguments that I have presented from Scripture. Truly, if I have
misread the texts of Scripture, then one should be able to point out the
grammatical and syntactical errors from the readings of Scripture. I
should also point out that this responses from you
gentlemen are the times to refute my exegesis or belief from the
Scriptures. Hidden offered to say that there are
"many" biblical accounts of MEN who were saviors yet offers not a
single scripture to prove the assertion. That men were often called
"Elohim"...etc....if the Bible does not teach the doctrine of the
Trinity, then I believe that there should be Scripture
that could refute such a belief. But I was offered none. I have offerered many scriptures that teach the points that make
up the doctrine that is the Trinity. if they are understood in a wrong
manner, then I would appreciate you correction on the understanding that one
should have of them and not simply an flat out rejection of the Trinity because
you take it as part of "roman Catholic dogma" (of which I am not
Roman Catholic nor did I use Roman Catholic sources at all in my paper). Moses (your name sake) is a perfect example
of one who was considered a savior. Joseph was another savior to
5.
Perhaps it would do me better to offer me an understanding of the relationship
of God the Father to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that you both have.
That is, offer to me an affirmative statement of what you believe the Godhead
to be like so that I can understand where you both are coming from. Right
now, all that I know is that you both understand the doctrine of the Trinity
and reject it. God is the
Father--Creator of all things, Jesus was God's Son...born to a woman by a
divine miracle, the Holy Spirit is God's force, energy or spirit, and his method
by which he interacts with his children (among other things)
I hope we
can continue these conversations and I will attempt to respond to what is
relevant to our discussion. In further discussions, however, I would hope
to get a response back to material that was presented BY ME and not what you
have heard before. I think we should all agree to this that way we will
not talk past each other. I will
respond as I feel led to respond, if this requires me to part from addressing
your particular points, then I'm afraid I will do so, whether you call it a red
herring or not ;)
Grace and peace be unto you from God
our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
Hidden