Moses,

Thank you for your response, your points are well taken.

 

I believe, as Paul did, that there is but one God, the Father, and there is one Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 8:6). And I believe as Jesus himself did, that his Father is the only true God (John 17:3).

 

There are two distinct beings in the pages of Scripture, God and Jesus. God is a Spirit Being, He is our Heavenly Father, He is the Holy Spirit, He is the Creator of the Universe, He Created the Angels, He Created Adam, He is Lord over Israel in the OT, and He is Lord over Jesus now. Jesus is a man, he is Lord over us, he is King, he is a descendant of Adam, he is the Christ, or the Messiah, he is the only Begotten son of God, he is the son of man, he is the one that the entire OT from Gen 3:15 on is pointing to, he is the passover lamb, he is the mediator between us and God, he is God's prophetic Word made flesh, he is our owner for he bought us for a price, he is our savior and redeemer.

 

Jesus is not a GodMan (the Trinity), not our Heavenly Father (Modalism), not Michael the Archangel (JWs), not Lucifer's spirit brother (Mormonism), not just a prophet (Islam), not just a good guy (Modernism), etc.

 

I believe that the Doctrine of the Trinity is textbook eisegesis, not exegesis at all. The best examples of eisegesis in all of Religion can be found when Trinitarians try to make Col 1:16 say that Jesus Created the Heavens and the Earth back in Genesis, when the context is Paul talking about the Resurrection and the New Creation through Jesus Christ; or Trinitarians trying to make John 8:58 say that Jesus was claiming to be God, when the context is Jesus talking to the Pharisees about Judgement Day for Israel, and the fact that he will resurrect and judge Abraham, it has nothing to do with Moses and the Burning Bush. Those are 2 of the 17 verses that we hear over and over from Trinitarians trying to make Jesus a GodMan, so if we sound "worn out" or if we sound like we "just skimmed over your paper," that is the reason, but I assure you that we take the question of "who is Jesus?" very seriously and we are not just skimming over the points you made.

 

Some things that you said that were extra-biblical are: three distinct persons, co-equal and co-eternal, persons within the Godhead, fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ is the eternal God and Creator of the Universe. All of those ideas come from the early Creeds, and are the conclusions of men, they are not found in the pages of Scripture.

 

Back to the Debate. You are correct that "the Father" refers to God, and that "the Holy Spirit" refers to God, so that's not the Debate. Nothing in your proof-texts however make the Holy Spirit out to be a different person than the Father, but those terms are used in different ways. The first point you argued however is even more pressing, and that is that Jesus is God. So that is our Debate, "who do you say that I am?" -Jesus. I will handle your first verse, Heb 1:8.

 

The English language makes a clear distinction between God and god. But when translating Hebrew or Greek, which have no upper and lower case distinctions, the translator is tasked with making the distinction himself. The translators do a poor job of this in Heb 1:8. Satan is referred to as the god of this age in 2Cor 4:4, the Judges are called gods (Ps 82:6) which Jesus quotes in John 10:34 when he is admonishing the Pharisee's error, Moses is called god (elohim) in Ex 7:1, etc. These verses all mean the same thing that Heb 1:8 means. Lessor divinities or people with God's authority or Kings or beings like Satan with great power or the Messiah which was given all power and all authority by God, all are called "god." Heb 1:8, if read in context, is about the coming of the Messiah from vs 2 on. This Messiah and King of the New Kingdom that is coming has the same attributes as the Authority that God had over Israel in the OT (Ps 45:6). So thinking that the authority that God has given to the Messiah (the prince) makes the Messiah God is like thinking that Pharaoh literally thought that Moses was God in Ex 7:1. Both would be poor scholarship. And both would be eisegesis. Another example would be the story of Joseph and the Pharaoh. Pharaoh gave Joseph the signet ring, and full authority over the people, so when Joseph made a ruling it was just as if it were Pharaoh were the one making the ruling. But that doesn't mean that Joseph is Pharaoh. That's the mistake that you are making.

 

I know that paradigm shifts are very difficult, and it's difficult for you to see the Trinity with our eyes, so let me try to show you how we see the Trinity with some quick fiction:

 

<<  Since Satan is called the God of this Age in 2Cor 4:4, we assert that the Doctrine of the Quadrity is essential for the Christian to hold to. God the Fallen One is called the exact same word in 2Cor 4:4 as God the Son is called in Heb 1:8, "theos" in both verses. So it is clear that Satan is God. All Christians must adhere to the Quadrity, "4 separate co-equal and co-eternal persons, yet the same one God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Fallen One," as an essential of the faith.  >>

 

Pretty easy to refute huh. What I just said was utter nonsense.

 

Let me know your thoughts on my points in Heb 1:8, and let me know if you'd like to respond to the question I asked in my previous email.

 

God bless you in the powerful name of His anointed one