TRINITAS

The theological construct of the Trinity has always been a profoundly significant subject for me on many levels. Growing up a Southern Baptist preacher’s kid, the basic tenants of Trinitarian doctrine were regularly taught and became very familiar to me, but after walking away from my childhood faith and straying into many false teachings, my theology became a bit warped and muddy. I briefly listened to the false teachings of a group who called themselves, “The Way”, who essential believed in the Arianism brand of heresy that denies the divinity of Christ.  A cult to be sure and they, like the followers of the “Tritheism” doctrines, are easy to spot and avoid. However, other false views of the Trinity are not as easily dismissed, as I unfortunately found out.  Due to the wording of scripture in some places, these ideas tend to hold a bit more sway in the mind of an ungrounded believer, of which I certainly was.  

One such group, emanating from an off shoot of Pentecostalism, whose false teaching is described as the “Oneness” doctrine, had my undivided attention for a time after rededicating my life to the Lord in my mid-twenties. They teach that, “Jesus Only”, is the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, all rolled up into one, concluding that the Trinity is a made up doctrine from the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. I suppose this could be an example of Monarchianism and they were very persuasive in their arguments. They quoted verses that demonstrated the extreme oneness of the Godhead, but would exclude verses that pointed to the distinct differences of the individual members in the Godhead.  Verses such as this conversation between Jesus and Philip:  “Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?” (John 14:8-9)  

It was all very convoluted and a bit kooky but the Lord delivered me from it. However, the deliverance came as a result of labor and study in His word concerning the subject of the Trinity. The experience profoundly affected my teaching ministry, and for many years I believed that I had a superior understanding of the Trinity as a result of the encounter. However, I stumbled onto the “Modalism” view of the Trinity one day, and I realized that I still had some lingering issues that I had been unaware of. The concept of Modalism holds the following view: “God is one, and does not exist as three distinct Persons. Instead, the Persons are simply different “modes” of seeing God.”  I realized that even though I had rejected the “Oneness” doctrine long ago, some of its semantical arguments against orthodox Christian theology regarding the Trinity were still bouncing around in my head. 

They argued that orthodox Christianity has defined the Trinity with the terms “person, personhood”, etc… which are used to describe the members of the Godhead, but they are not necessarily terms found in the Bible used in describing God.  Also, the terms, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit” (tritheism), have been used to describe the Trinity, and while, “God the Father”, appears often in the Bible, no where can you find, “God the Son” or “God the Holy Spirit”. Obviously, these labels and titles are implied within scripture, just as the word “Trinity” is implied but not verbalized, but I could not refute those points and have struggled with them over the years. 

Now, of course I thoroughly accept the orthodox “One God in three persons” concept of the Godhead, but I suppose to some degree, at least semantically, it is easier to understand at least a neo-modalistic form of the Trinity, in which God reveals Himself in three distinct modes. A good biblical definition suggested throughout scripture is, “Manifestations of God”, i.e. God has manifested Himself to us in three distinct ways: as the Father, as the Son, and as the Holy Spirit. We can clearly see Paul telling Timothy this: “…without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.” (1Tim 3:16), and this verse defines the argument for me. 

 

Works Cited

New King James Version, Holy Bible, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. 2000. Print.