God Has No Equal

God the Father

The doctrine of the Trinity insists that you believe Jesus is a divine “person” who is equal with the Father. To us this seems glaringly at odds with a host of scriptures that clearly and explicitly say otherwise. God our Father even seems a little indignant when He asks “To whom then will you liken me or shall I be equal?” (Isaiah 40:25) and in another place He says “I am YHWH and there is none else, there is no God beside me.” (Isaiah 45:5) The Old Testament is filled with statements like these and the New Testament likewise declares the unique supremacy and singularity of God’s Being. “For us (Christians) there is one God, the Father, and no other besides Him.” (I Cor 8:4-6)

Trinitarian Dogma Says God is Not Even a Person!

The trinitarian dogma we have inherited insists that God is not even a person! C.S. Lewis said it this way, “We must remind ourselves that Christian theology does not believe God to be a person.” I would suggest that instead listening to C.S. Lewis we should remind ourselves that this kind of thinking is radically anti-biblical. How is it even possible that our theology has reduced God to some type of “substance” or “essence”? Another good question is this… Is Jesus Christ or any other being equal with God the Father?

The Trinity Says God is One Substance

Scripture has been subjugated to philosophy to create the illusion that God is a single essence or substance instead of a single divine Being. In the words of one writer, “God is one what in three whos” (whatever that means). The truth that the God of Israel is an intensely personal God has been replaced by a new belief that God should be thought of as one divine “essence or substance” instead of one Supreme Being. This drastic change transforms the God of Israel into an incomprehensible abstraction thereby depersonalizing the most personal of all beings!

The Trinity Has Some Big Problems

One Catholic scholar observes “a fundamental crisis over plausibility and acceptance of the church’s Christology (read trinity). Incomprehensibility, complexity and remoteness from life and the Bible are the themes of a crisis of belief.” Another notable Trinitarian scholar has acknowledged “We may have to admit that we don’t really know in what way God is one and in what different way He is three.” These are open admissions of the weakness and failure of trinitarian theology. We appreciate this kind of honesty! These are modern scholars who recognize the trinity has some very big problems.

The Bible Says God Has No Equal

On the other hand, “We speak that we do know…” (John 3:11) “For us there is one God, the Father, and no other besides Him” (I Cor 8:4-6) “For us there is one God the Father, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Tim 2:5) There is only one divine person we call God and He has no equal. We know Him as the Father and Jesus Christ is His miraculously conceived, resurrected and glorified human Son. This truth is so straightforward and clear that even children can understand it. It is absolutely and utterly biblical to say that God the Father has no co-equal “persons” beside Him. Remember this… God has no equal.

Jesus Never Claimed to be God’s Equal

The man Christ Jesus made it abundantly clear to His disciples that He did not consider Himself to be God’s equal. “My Father is greater than I…” (John 14:28) and that He (Jesus) said and did only what He had been taught by His Father. For example: “Of my own self I can do nothing…” (John 5:30) Jesus never claimed to be God’s equal but he did claim to be God’s son! Believing that Jesus is co-equal with the Father overrules the words and teachings of Jesus Himself and we think that’s a very bad idea. If you have accepted the notion that Jesus is co-equal with the Father you might want to reconsider. For your own sake please do.

PS: This isn’t hard to understand! The only reason it seems difficult is because our vision has been clouded and our hearing has been dulled by the archaic creeds and dogmas that still afflict the church. Be brave dear friend! Read the scriptures for yourself. See what Jesus said with your own eyes. Hear His words with your own ears. You’ll be glad you did. God Bless.

PPS: Please share this with a friend.

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The Anti-Biblical Trinity

Jesus’ identity and His relationship to God has gotten confusing thanks to the work of men we commonly call “Church Fathers.” These philosopher/theologians left us a ruinous legacy of unscriptural language and ideas in the heady and high-minded nonsense they promoted. Here is something that will help you see things a little more clearly. Unbiblical teachings are essentially anti-biblical because they replace Biblical truths. There is nothing benign about unbiblical doctrines and understanding this is liberating! The Trinity is not only unbiblical, the trinity is anti-biblical and it does not deserve your allegiance.

The Words of Jesus Are Wonderfully Clear

Jesus declared that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would never pass away. The words of Jesus are wonderfully clear and understandable! They tell us that there is one God, the Father and that Jesus Himself is God’s only begotten Son, the Christ (Anointed One). This agrees completely with what Jesus said was the first and greatest commandment, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord!”

The Fabric of Trinitarian Thought

The fabric of Trinitarian thought is woven together with the obscure vocabulary and impossibly confusing notions of Greek philosophy. The so-called “Church Fathers” used their mastery of Platonic philosophy to create a Trinitarian vision of God that the Church ultimately swallowed hook, line and sinker. It is a great tragedy that a Platonic vision of God has replaced the clear teachings of Jesus Christ. Declaring that God is One Essence in Three “Persons” stands in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ who stated emphatically that God is One.

The Trinity is Anti-Biblical

Look in the scriptures yourself. Can you find any support at all for ideas like an essence or substance of God… as if He is made of some eternal spiritual stuff? Do you see words like homouousious on the pages of God’s eternal word? Can you discover the words created for the Trinity like Triune, Co-equal Persons, Trinity, hypostasis or hypostatic union in the Bible? We can’t either. Yet these are the teachings that hold sway in the Body of Christ. These profoundly unbiblical notions have largely replaced the teachings of Jesus who once said “In vain they worship me, teaching the traditions of men” The verdict is in and the ruling is clear. Not only is the trinity un-biblical, the trinity is anti-biblical.

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An Illusion for the Ages

Does Christianity Have A Sacred Cow?

Let’s take a little time to look at what may well be an illusion for the ages. Please forgive me for asking this question out loud but does Christianity have a sacred cow? We all know there are some things we should never question or think about, but let’s go ahead and do it anyway. This will take some bravery on your part but don’t worry! You are totally free to reject everything you are about to read. I just want to share a few thoughts with you that may help you see things in a new light.

Should You Pledge Allegiance?

Beloved, I am your friend and fellow believer in Jesus Christ. We both believe He was born of a virgin and suffered and died a cruel death on the cross for our sake. We both believe he rose from the dead on the third day and now sits at the right hand of God. He is our Savior and Shepherd and High Priest. He is the only begotten Son of God and our Messiah! I suspect we both cherish these truths but there is something else to consider too. Should you pledge allegiance to an old religious dogma that is simply an illusion fabricated by the imaginations of men? This is such an important question that it only makes sense to consider it carefully. You know… understand your options, pray and ask God for insight. Study. Take your time. Sleep on it.

Before the Trinity Was Ever Formulated

Most of us have spent much, if not all of our lives, believing that the only legitimate, safe and orthodox teaching about God and Jesus is the Trinity. I have some shocking and very good news for you though. There is a Biblically harmonious, comprehensible and wonderfully straightforward conception of God and Christ that you should at least learn about. Before the trinity was ever formulated there was a belief that was held by almost all believers in the first three centuries of our faith. You may be totally satisfied with the old wine of Trinitarian dogma, but perhaps not. Regardless, you owe it to yourself to at least see if there is a better alternative.

Ancient Christian Beliefs

There are ancient Christian beliefs that are much more Biblical than the Trinitarian dogma that holds sway over the Body of Christ today. Let’s take a look at what most “primitive” Christians believed long before the church fathers did their work and wrote their creeds. Before these philosopher/theologians assembled under the dubious auspices of a Roman emperor named Constantine there was a simplicity of faith that even unlearned and illiterate believers understood and loved. Many of them died for it.

Those Who Have Eyes to See

Jesus spoke about those “who have eyes to see but see not.” On the other hand some claim to see things that aren’t even there, teaching things that never appear in the Bible. Scripture speaks to this notion in the words of the prophet Ezekiel. “The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man… Say to those who prophecy out of their own imagination; Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!… Their visions are false.” (Ezekiel 13:1-3,7) No less a personage than Martin Luther himself freely admitted “It is indeed true that the name Trinity is nowhere to be found in the Holy scriptures, but has been conceived and invented by man.” Dr. Benjamin Warfield explains “The doctrine of the trinity lies in the New Testament rather in the form of allusions than in express teaching.” These “allusions” form the basis of the trinity.

Children See Things in the Clouds

Children see things in the clouds. “See! There’s a fish and that one looks just like a bird!” It is innocent fun for children to point out what they see in their own lively imaginations. Best of all is when your companions can also see what you see! This is just harmless child’s play and is great fun. Can you imagine sentencing children to death who don’t see what you want them to see? Would you want to kill them? Does that sound even remotely Christian or is it a profoundly evil impulse? But that’s exactly what happened when church councils created creeds based on what theologians imagined seeing in the “allusions” of scripture. Paraphrasing now, “So, you want to be saved? You better see what we see.. otherwise you’ll be damned and we may have to kill you!”

A Matter of Life and Death?

The Roman Empire (the same empire that crucified Jesus) quickly began to enforce its newly written creeds with violence! Accepting or rejecting the Trinity became a matter of life and death. What would any sensible person do? The typical response eventually became, “Well of course I see what you see! It’s perfectly clear!” Many said, “If our religious leaders claim to see that God is a trinity of three persons then I see it too!” The threat of death had a powerful effect on how well believers could see the new Trinitarian belief about God and Jesus! But, did they really see? There were many who paid an awful price to maintain their integrity. I’ve looked long and hard at the pages of the Bible and I can’t see three co-equal persons at all. All I see in scripture is One God the Father, and His only begotten Son, the man Christ Jesus. My heart is at peace with this and my mind is satisfied too. Now… what about you? What do you see?

PS: Yes… these are radical thoughts aren’t they? Then again, Jesus was pretty radical Himself. Imagine that! Now, shake up your friends! Encourage them to think about these things too. Share a link to wonderfultheology.com with someone today. You’ll be doing them a favor. God Bless.

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