The word "Trinity" is never used in the Bible. But references to "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" are everywhere.
From the very first verse of the Bible:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
John places Jesus there in the beginning referring to him as "The Word of God":
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... ...The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
References to prophets being "filled with the Holy Spirit" occur throughout the Old and New Testaments.
In Isaiah 9 we encounter the Father and Son as the same Being:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In Matthew 3, we encounter all three in the same scene:
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Jesus' last words bundled them together in one Name:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as "The Helper" or "The Comforter" or "The Advocate"
However, I'm telling you the truth. It's for your advantage that I'm going away, because if I don't go away, the Helper won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
And Jesus explained the Spirit to one of the great Pharisees (while clearly expecting him to already know all about it):
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?
Finally, the Apostles' Creed, one of the oldest summaries of Christian beliefs embraced by Catholics and Protestants alike reads as follows:
- I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
- And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
-- Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:
-- Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried:
-- He descended into hell:
-- The third day he rose again from the dead:
-- He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
-- From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: - I believe in the Holy Spirit:
- I believe in the holy universal church:
-- the communion of saints:
-- The forgiveness of sins:
-- The resurrection of the body:
-- And the life everlasting.
Your quotes of the holy spirit do not say to worship it. Rather they show people being filled with it, like its a power.
Not until the fourth century C.E. did the teaching that the holy spirit was a person and part of the “Godhead” become official church dogma. Early church “fathers” did not so teach; Justin Martyr of the second century C.E. taught that the holy spirit was an ‘influence or mode of operation of the Deity’; Hippolytus likewise ascribed no personality to the holy spirit. The Scriptures themselves unite to show that God’s holy spirit is not a person but is God’s active force by which he accomplishes his purpose and executes his will.
It may first be noted that the words “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (KJ) found in older translations at 1 John 5:7 are actually spurious additions to the original text. A footnote in The Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic translation, says that these words are “not in any of the early Greek MSS [manuscripts], or any of the early translations, or in the best MSS of the Vulg[ate] itself.” A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, by Bruce Metzger (1975, pp. 716-718), traces in detail the history of the spurious passage. It states that the passage is first found in a treatise entitled Liber Apologeticus, of the fourth century, and that it appears in Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts of the Scriptures, beginning in the sixth century. Modern translations as a whole, both Catholic and Protestant, do not include them in the main body of the text, because of recognizing their spurious nature.
It is true that Jesus spoke of the holy spirit as a “helper” and spoke of such helper as ‘teaching,’ ‘bearing witness,’ ‘giving evidence,’ ‘guiding,’ ‘speaking,’ ‘hearing,’ and ‘receiving.’ In so doing, the original Greek shows Jesus at times applying the masculine personal pronoun to that “helper” (paraclete). (Compare Joh 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15.) However, it is not unusual in the Scriptures for something that is not actually a person to be personalized or personified. Wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs (1:20-33; 8:1-36); and feminine pronominal forms are used of it in the original Hebrew, as also in many English translations. (KJ, RS, JP, AT) Wisdom is also personified at Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:35, where it is depicted as having both “works” and “children.” The apostle Paul personalized sin and death and also undeserved kindness as “kings.” (Ro 5:14, 17, 21; 6:12) He speaks of sin as “receiving an inducement,” ‘working out covetousness,’ ‘seducing,’ and ‘killing.’ (Ro 7:8-11) Yet it is obvious that Paul did not mean that sin was actually a person.
So, likewise with John’s account of Jesus’ words regarding the holy spirit, his remarks must be taken in context. Jesus personalized the holy spirit when speaking of that spirit as a “helper” (which in Greek is the masculine substantive pa·raʹkle·tos). Properly, therefore, John presents Jesus’ words as referring to that “helper” aspect of the spirit with masculine personal pronouns. On the other hand, in the same context, when the Greek pneuʹma is used, John employs a neuter pronoun to refer to the holy spirit, pneuʹma itself being neuter. Hence, we have in John’s use of the masculine personal pronoun in association with pa·raʹkle·tos an example of conformity to grammatical rules, not an expression of doctrine.—John 14:16, 17; 16:7, 8.
Lacks personal identification. Since God himself is a Spirit and is holy and since all his faithful angelic sons are spirits and are holy, it is evident that if the “holy spirit” were a person, there should reasonably be given some means in the Scriptures to distinguish and identify such spirit person from all these other ‘holy spirits.’ It would be expected that, at the very least, the definite article would be used with it in all cases where it is not called “God’s holy spirit” or is not modified by some similar expression. This would at least distinguish it as THE Holy Spirit. But, on the contrary, in a large number of cases the expression “holy spirit” appears in the original Greek without the article, thus indicating its lack of personality.—Compare Ac 6:3, 5; 7:55; 8:15, 17, 19; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9, 52; 19:2; Ro 9:1; 14:17; 15:13, 16, 19; 1Co 12:3; Heb 2:4; 6:4; 2Pe 1:21; Jude 20, Int and other interlinear translations.
At Matthew 28:19 reference is made to “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” A “name” can mean something other than a personal name. When, in English, we say, “in the name of the law,” or “in the name of common sense,” we have no reference to a person as such. By “name” in these expressions we mean ‘what the law stands for or its authority’ and ‘what common sense represents or calls for.’ The Greek term for “name” (oʹno·ma) also can have this sense. Thus, while some translations (KJ, AS) follow the Greek text at Matthew 10:41 literally and say that the one that “receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward,” more modern translations say, “receives a prophet because he is a prophet” and “receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man,” or similar. (RS, AT, JB, NW) Thus, Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930, Vol. I, p. 245) says on Matthew 28:19: “The use of name (onoma) here is a common one in the Septuagint and the papyri for power or authority.” Hence baptism ‘in the name of the holy spirit’ implies recognition of that spirit as having its source in God and as exercising its function according to the divine will.
Further evidence against the idea of personality as regards the holy spirit is the way it is used in association with other impersonal things, such as water and fire (Mt 3:11; Mr 1:8); and Christians are spoken of as being baptized “in holy spirit.” (Ac 1:5; 11:16) Persons are urged to become “filled with spirit” instead of with wine. (Eph 5:18) So, too, persons are spoken of as being ‘filled’ with it along with such qualities as wisdom and faith (Ac 6:3, 5; 11:24) or joy (Ac 13:52); and holy spirit is inserted, or sandwiched in, with a number of such qualities at 2 Corinthians 6:6. It is most unlikely that such expressions would be made if the holy spirit were a divine person. As to the spirit’s ‘bearing witness’ (Ac 5:32; 20:23), it may be noted that the same thing is said of the water and the blood at 1 John 5:6-8. While some texts refer to the spirit as ‘witnessing,’ ‘speaking,’ or ‘saying’ things, other texts make clear that it spoke through persons, having no personal voice of its own. (Compare Heb 3:7; 10:15-17; Ps 95:7; Jer 31:33, 34; Ac 19:2-6; 21:4; 28:25.) It may thus be compared to radio waves that can transmit a message from a person speaking into a microphone and cause his voice to be heard by persons a distance away, in effect, ‘speaking’ the message by a radio loudspeaker. God, by his spirit, transmits his messages and communicates his will to the minds and hearts of his servants on earth, who, in turn, may convey that message to yet others.
Ruʹach and pneuʹma, therefore, when used with reference to God’s holy spirit, refer to God’s invisible active force by which he accomplishes his divine purpose and will. It is “holy” because it is from Him, not of an earthly source, and is free from all corruption as “the spirit of holiness.” (Ro 1:4) It is not Jehovah’s “power,” for this English word more correctly translates other terms in the original languages (Heb., koʹach; Gr., dyʹna·mis). Ruʹach and pneuʹma are used in close association or even in parallel with these terms signifying “power,” which shows that there is an inherent connection between them and yet a definite distinction. (Mic 3:8; Zec 4:6; Lu 1:17, 35; Ac 10:38) “Power” is basically the ability or capacity to act or do things and it can be latent, dormant, or inactively resident in someone or something. “Force,” on the other hand, more specifically describes energy projected and exerted on persons or things, and may be defined as “an influence that produces or tends to produce motion, or change of motion.” “Power” might be likened to the energy stored in a battery, while “force” could be compared to the electric current flowing from such battery. “Force,” then, more accurately represents the sense of the Hebrew and Greek terms as relating to God’s spirit, and this is borne out by a consideration of the Scriptures.
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Even as an electric current can be used to accomplish a tremendous variety of things, so God’s spirit is used to commission and enable persons to do a wide variety of things. (Isa 48:16; 61:1-3) As Paul wrote of the miraculous gifts of the spirit in his day: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but there is the same spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, and yet there is the same Lord; and there are varieties of operations, and yet it is the same God who performs all the operations in all persons. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for a beneficial purpose.”—1Co 12:4-7.The spirit has qualifying force or capacity; it can qualify persons for a work or for an office. Though Bezalel and Oholiab may have had knowledge of crafts before their appointment in connection with the making of the tabernacle equipment and priestly garments, God’s spirit ‘filled them with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge’ so that the work could be done in the way purposed. It heightened whatever natural abilities and acquired knowledge they already had, and it enabled them to teach others. (Ex 31:1-11; 35:30-35) The architectural plans for the later temple were given to David by inspiration, that is, through the operation of God’s spirit, thus enabling David to undertake extensive preparatory work for the project.—1Ch 28:12.
God’s spirit acted on and through Moses in prophesying and performing miraculous acts, as well as in leading the nation and acting as judge for it, thereby foreshadowing the future role of Christ Jesus. (Isa 63:11-13; Ac 3:20-23) However, Moses as an imperfect human found the load of responsibility heavy, and God ‘took away some of the spirit that was on Moses and placed it upon 70 older men’ so that they might help in carrying the load. (Nu 11:11-17, 24-30) The spirit also became operative on David from the time of his anointing by Samuel onward, guiding and preparing him for his future kingship.—1Sa 16:13.Joshua became “full of the spirit of wisdom” as Moses’ successor. But the spirit did not produce in him the ability to prophesy and perform miraculous works to the extent that it had in Moses. (De 34:9-12) However, it enabled Joshua to lead Israel in the military campaign that brought about the conquest of Canaan. Similarly, Jehovah’s spirit “enveloped” other men, ‘impelling’ them as fighters on behalf of God’s people, fighters such as Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.—Jg 3:9, 10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24, 25; 14:5, 6, 19; 15:14.The spirit of God energized men to speak his message of truth boldly and courageously before opposers and at the risk of their lives.—Mic 3:8.Its being ‘poured out’ on his people is evidence of his favor, and it results in blessings and makes them prosper.—Eze 39:29; Isa 44:3, 4
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The mystery of the Holy Spirit is indeed challenging.
It took all the brainpower of all the early church leadership to come to an agreement about how to deal with it. Here's the Nicene Creed which was the best all that brainpower could do to figure it out.
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I'm sorry but did you even read the article? The nicene creed was lead by Emporor Constantine who was not a Christian. So this creed is filled with mythical doctrine written by the Romans
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Constantine was shall we say a "token Christian" and didn't get baptized until he was on his death bed believing that that would allow him to sin all he wanted before playing his "get out of hell free card".
He stopped the persecution of Christians, for which I am thankful, but by getting the government involved he made Christian leadership desirable for people seeking personal wealth, power, and glory.
This plagues the Roman church to this very day.
But despite this, Constantine knew nothing about what books were authentic and what were not and deferred to what the majority of Christian leaders at the time had been using for over 200 years.
So, while Constantine had horrible impact on how the Roman / Eastern church departed from truth for the rest of history, he did not affect what is Biblical Christianity (Protestantism) because that depends only on what the original Greek of the original writers with demonstrable apostolic authority.
I have looked into this in detail while teaching a Bible study series on where the elements of the Apostle's creed came from. It's all in the Bible and the creed faithfully summarizes it.
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I have been a bible instructor for 19 years and have disproved the Trinity many times. In my and my colleagues experience, we have found that only by twisting the scriptures can you say the Trinity is real, because there are a few scriptures that are spurious in nature and have been proven to be interpolations. Why would the church feel the need to add scriptures to the bible to prove the Trinity if it was already there to begin with?
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The good news is that you are doing your best to study the Scriptures like the good Bereans of Acts 17. If you keep that up, you will at least have a good case to present to the Lord Jesus at your personal judgment. :o)
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Stan, you are reading the Trinity into the Bible. Read the Scriptures in simplicity, not in the traditions of men. It will amaze you.
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I have studied the Trinity thoroughly. Jesus himself told his disciples to "make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
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KJV Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"and of the"... would imply that they had three names, not one name singular. This is if we even accept the text as is. There is strong evidence that this verse itself is a textual corruption.
In Acts 2:38: Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Why didn't Peter follow the proper procedure?
Eusebius cites Matthew 28:19 many times in his work, always in the same form: "Go ye and make disciples of all nations in my name, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you."
Perhaps the reading has been corrupted after all, but you may accept as is if you wish.
I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but I just want to share what I know and offer you something to think about. Jesus came to glorify God, not to make himself God. To make a man God takes glory away from God.
I will assume that you are a Catholic by your beliefs and use of the NIV. If so then of course I understand that it is foundational to your religion that you accept Jesus as God and we can part ways.
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Not Catholic. Bible believer. As Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father." The Biblical evidence for the deity of Christ is overwhelming. The evidence I presented in this post makes my case as best I can.
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