Jesus Christ lived and died 2000 years ago and theologians have been thinking about Him and mulling over the question of His identity ever since. His words have been the focus of intense study throughout history and just as He predicted, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) He was indisputably the most important and notable man who ever lived and we continue to ponder His teachings to this very day. We are intrigued by Him and all the marvelous things He said and did. His courage, compassion and crucifixion stir our hearts and inspire our love. One question of particular interest to scholars has been, “Just exactly who is this Jesus of Nazareth?”

Our religious inheritance is largely made up of the musings of the philosopher theologians we call the Church Fathers. Their mastery of Platonic philosophy and their impressive intellectual prowess allowed them to create the well-known dogmas of trinitarian theology. The Church Fathers’ crowning achievement was to enshrine the trinity as the official dogma of the Roman Empire when they met at the Council of Nicea. While they were gifted intellectuals they were also perhaps “ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (II Timothy 3:7) Many think their scholarly but utterly incomprehensible explanations about God and Jesus only served to muddy the waters and “darken counsel by words without knowledge.” (Job 38:2)  The beloved American humorist Mark Twain said it best, “The researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject and it is likely that if they continue we shall soon know nothing at all.”

The theological legacy left to us by the Church Fathers is a dizzying array of dogmas, creeds and strange sounding terminology about God and Christ that make little sense to modern readers and seems irrelevant in our time. If you have ever taken the time to study church history you already know that theologians are incredibly fond of splitting hairs. They are also fond of condemning to hell anyone who dares to disagree with them. Their affinity for hairsplitting is exactly what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of those who “strain at gnats but swallow a camel.” (Matt 23:24) Somehow or another these folks often seem to miss the point… the whole point of the Gospel.

Before we dig any deeper into Christology let’s take a look at the real difference between orthodoxy (right belief) and heterodoxy (heresy). The English Bishop William Warburton explained it best in his classic quote, “Orthodoxy is my doxy and heterodoxy is another man’s doxy.” It’s hard not to love that kind of honesty. Orthodoxy (truth) is what my church believes and heterodoxy (error) is what other churches believe. This is a pretty accurate description of how things work in the religious world.

The Bible’s simple and comprehensible message about God and Christ is much too important to miss! Before He was crucified Jesus prayed for His disciples saying, “This is life eternal that they would know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Most Christians admit to only a vague understanding of the Mystery of God and the Father and of Christ and very few indeed can explain it clearly. Sensible people just want an explanation that is both Biblical and understandable. As believers we look for an approach that makes good Biblical sense and rings true to our ears. We want to learn about God and we want to understand.

Our thesis in this short essay is that a proper and Biblical understanding of Jesus Christ’s identity is vitally important and can only be arrived at by clearly seeing the distinction between divinity and humanity, between God and Christ and between the Father and the Son as it is revealed in the scriptures. This distinction is everywhere apparent in the Bible but not at all evident in the historic creeds of the church. Our church traditions have somehow ignored and obscured an issue that Jesus Himself emphasized throughout His earthly ministry.

When Jesus was being challenged about His identity by His usual adversaries the Pharisees (see Matthew 22:41-46) He quoted a passage from Psalm 110, “The LORD (Yahweh) said unto my Lord (Adoni) sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1-5) To truly make sense out of Psalm 110 you need to understand the difference between Adonai and Adoni. “Adonai” always and only, refers to the one God we call the Father and is a designation exclusively reserved for divinity. “Adoni” on the other hand, is a designation that never refers to divinity but always to human masters and superiors. Understanding this helps us see the relationship between God and Christ as it is meant to be seen and as it is expressed in the inspired language of Psalm 110.

Church traditions, the holy scriptures and peer pressure are the main drivers of religious belief and it’s not unusual for these sources to be seriously at odds with each other. Some Christians have a very high regard for religious traditions while others are of the opinion that traditions are man-made and shouldn’t be trusted. Many Christians think the only valid authority for belief is what is actually written in the Bible. Jesus Himself was often heard to say, “It is written…” Don’t forget it was Jesus’ ongoing conflict with Jewish religious traditions that led directly to His death. We think Christianity’s man-made theological traditions are also suspect and should be approached with caution. Perhaps some church traditions are harmless, perhaps some are not.

It’s interesting to learn that the words tradition and betrayal both come from the same Latin root word “traddutore”. In the words of one writer, traddutore refers to the idea that “translation is always a betrayal of the true meaning of the original.” This understanding recognizes the difficulty of accurately translating thoughts and ideas from one language to another. It’s not at all uncommon to come across the phrase “lost in translation” about this very notion. This seems especially apt when you consider how man’s traditions are so often a betrayal of the actual will of God. History shows that translating God’s revealed will into religious traditions often distorts and betrays the true meaning and intention of scripture.

It’s hard to think of anything Jesus opposed more fiercely than the traditions of men. He looked Israel’s leaders in the eye and declared “it is written” before going on to condemn their teachings. Jesus did this knowing full well their misguided love of tradition would ultimately lead to His own death. The rulers of Israel hated Him for pointing out that their religious traditions were actually treason against God. Jesus said of them, “In vain they worship God making the word of God of none effect by their traditions.” (Mark 7:13) He publicly portrayed the chief priests as a band of hypocritical traitors. Calling them vipers, ravening wolves and hypocrites was hardly the way to make friends.

There is no tradition more firmly entrenched or fiercely defended in Christianity than the doctrine of the trinity. Once the Nicene Council formally enshrined the trinity as Christian orthodoxy it then took centuries of violence, torture and bloodshed for the Roman empire to truly establish the trinity as its official and unquestioned dogma. Although many Christian Bishops were in attendance there is no doubt that the real authority at the Council of Nicea was Emperor Constantine and the Roman Legions he commanded. We are of the opinion that Jesus Christ’s true identity should never have been decided by a Roman Caesar in the first place, but that is exactly what happened.

The tradition of the trinity would have never come to dominate Christendom without the use of force but God can take care of the truth quite nicely by Himself thank you and He certainly never asked us to commit violence on His behalf.  Jesus never killed anyone and neither did His Apostles. We suggest that the doctrine of the trinity is much less a divine truth than an unfortunate mis-translation of God’s revelation that has hardened into an unquestioned tradition. The bloody history of violence unleashed by the trinity is a clear betrayal of the intent and will of God. Mercy got lost in translation as trinitarian dogma reigned supreme and tradition overruled the love of God.

The tragically violent history of Christianity reveals that anyone who dares challenge church traditions stands a very good chance of getting killed. Over the centuries, multiplied thousands of Christians have been slaughtered by other believers who claimed to kill them for God. Simply disagreeing about issues like communion, baptism or the trinity (or even owning the wrong books) has gotten more than a few believers burned at the stake. This happened in spite of Jesus’ teaching that, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Unbelievers see these things all too clearly. Is it any wonder so many of them want nothing to do with Christianity?

Theological traditions have a way of gaining our trust because they are so familiar and seem reassuringly safe. The trick is to see whether or not your personal beliefs are grounded in scripture or tradition. This isn’t complicated, but it isn’t easy either. Sorting it all out can be challenging, especially when you’re dealing with complicated theological issues. What’s a simple child of God to do? It would be a lot easier if the majority was always right but we all know better than that!   …. we do know better than that don’t we?

The only truly safe teachings to include in your beliefs about God and Christ are those that are directly and explicitly taught in scripture. The Word of God is pure and holy and guaranteed to do you good. Jesus said, “The words that I speak are Spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) We can’t say as much for the words and creeds of the ancient philosopher/theologians known as the Church Fathers. Christ’s teachings are the ingredients of a truly healthy theology that brings life, peace and understanding. Please don’t put your trust in man-made theological arguments and traditions as they just aren’t safe. Teachings based on extra-scriptural ideas are spiritually toxic and should be avoided at all costs, no matter how plausible they may sound.

Here’s another perspective that may help shed some light on this issue. These days a lot of people are paying close attention to the things that promote healthy living. Avoiding harmful chemical additives in our food has now become an important part of our national conversation about health. Maybe it’s also about time for us to start avoiding man made theological additives to our faith in our quest for spiritual health.

You may be thinking, “Hey! My theology is endorsed and approved by a lot of really knowledgeable people!”  We’re thinking, “Hey! Just to make sure it’s safe, let’s take a look at the ingredients in your theology in the same way you would look at the ingredients in the food you buy. Are there any unhealthy additives in your theology?” Unless you actually look at the ingredients in your food (and your beliefs about God), you won’t know if they contain any toxic additives or ingredients that could be bad for you! If your spiritual nutrition is contaminated with man-made additives (ideas) that no one even truly understands, that’s a serious red flag.

Most nutritionists agree that the best foods are simple, unprocessed and free of unnatural substances and human meddling. Many modern believers are beginning to argue that these very same qualities should be the essential features of the things we choose to believe. How about your spiritual nutrition? What are the ingredients in your theology?

Here are the ingredients of healthy Christology: There is just one God. He is the God of Abraham and the God of Moses. His name is YHWH. Jesus Christ (who is the Anointed One, our Savior and the Messiah) is God’s only begotten human son. He called YHWH His Father. Jesus never claimed to be God Himself but He did claim to be God’s Son, the Christ. The rulers of Israel hated Him and crucified Him to preserve their own prestige and importance. Jesus died at their hands for our sake but rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. He is coming back and when He does every eye will see Him, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Adoni) to the glory of God the Father (Yahweh/Adonai). Now this, dear friends, is truly healthy theology. All the ingredients are biblical and they are all good for you.

Are there some ingredients you should keep out of your theology? The Apostle Paul certainly thought so and warned us to “beware lest men spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.” Is your theology contaminated with unbiblical philosophical thoughts and unhealthy ideas? Do your beliefs include notions like God’s “substance or essence”? Do you really need to embrace ideas like homoousious, divine substance, hypostatic union, co-equal divine persons, triunity, prosopon and eternal begetting to know God? None of these ideas are found anywhere in the Bible but they are the most common ingredients found in toxic theology. They are the main ingredients that make up the trinity.

This brings us to the notion of sola scriptura which is a nice scholarly way of saying that scripture is the only safe guide to religious belief. Scripture is tried and true, God breathed and perfect. We can’t say the same about the things men have written from their own imaginations. It’s not even a fair contest. Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul warned us to “beware of philosophy and vain deceit” and all the high-minded intellectual nonsense that tries to pass itself off as very important indeed. It is much safer to trust what is written in the Bible than what is written in our dogmas, creeds and denominational confessions.

The Church Fathers wrote about issues and shared their opinions about things that are not even discussed in scripture. This opened up the floodgates for all kinds of wild speculation and nothing good ever came of it. Their insistence that they understood things that God never revealed in the Bible was nothing more than an exercise in human pride. Humility forces all of us to agree with scripture and admit, “The secret things belong to God but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) The Church Fathers did all of us a grave disservice by pretending to know things they did not and could not know.

The Bible presents a straightforward and understandable explanation of God and Christ. It is men who have complicated and confused things. To start with, there is just one God. He is the God of Israel and we call Him our Father. His name is Yahweh. He is called “the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” and the “Ancient of Days” among many other names and titles.  He created everything in the universe, seen and unseen and upholds all things by His power. There is no other God but Yahweh. Just to make sure there is no confusion about this Yahweh declares, “There is no God beside me.” (Isaiah 45:5). This truth is clearly, forcefully and repeatedly revealed in scripture. It is indisputable that Yahweh is the Father spoken of in the Bible. Simple huh? So far so good.

When Jesus was asked “what is the greatest commandment?” (Mark 12:28-30) He answered “Hear O Israel, Yahweh your God, Yahweh is one.” This is known as the Shema and it is fair and accurate to call this the Creed of Jesus. “Listen up Israel! The LORD your God is one LORD!” Even children can understand it. There is just one God and His name is Yahweh (from the letters YHWH or the “tetragrammaton” as scholars like to call it). This understanding of God is pure and undiluted monotheism. Yahweh’s name was viewed as so holy in ancient Israel that the Hebrews were eventually forbidden to even say it out loud under penalty of death. Now THAT is a fine example of a religious tradition run amok! They should have been shouting it from the rooftops. Today no one even knows with any certainty how to actually pronounce the name of God and that is a real tragedy.

There is only one God and He is our Father. That much seems pretty clear but there is a lot of confusion about exactly who Jesus is. Theologians have been pondering this question and arguing about it for millennia. The debate about Jesus’ identity goes back a very long way.  Was Jesus God Himself… the Father incarnate? Or perhaps a co-equal and co-eternal “person” in a triune Godhead? Some speculate that Jesus Christ was Michael the Archangel and now there are even people who think He may have been an ancient alien from outer space. Or was Jesus simply who He claimed to be… no more and no less than the Anointed One, the Christ?

Isn’t it enough to declare that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, the miraculously conceived and virgin born Messiah? This wonderful (and Biblical) simplicity got obscured by the work of the so-called church “fathers” who gave us a near lethal dose of theology based on Greek philosophy. Paul emphatically warned the Colossians about this very thing. “Beware lest men spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men.” (Colossians 2:8) One translation renders this as the “high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking.”

No other man ever spoke like Jesus. People who heard Him speak were amazed at His words.  Hearing Jesus talk was like listening to God Himself! Even unbelievers said “Never a man spoke like this man!” (John 7:46) Jesus said a lot of things that sound like how only God could talk. This shouldn’t really surprise us since Christ said that the words He spoke were not His own. The Father had plainly declared “I will put my words in his mouth!” (Deuteronomy 18:18) Jesus confirmed this by saying “The words that I speak are not mine but my Father’s.” (John 14:24) Jesus came in His Father’s name, spoke His Father’s words and did His Father’s works, but that didn’t make Him God.

Jesus’ enemies accused Him of claiming to be God but is that really true? His enemies said a lot of things about Him that weren’t true. The chief priests even paid people to tell lies about Him! Jesus never claimed to be God but He did claim to be the Christ. He said He was the Son of God and that was more than enough to stir the hatred of His enemies.

Jesus’ identity has been an issue from the very beginning. One day Jesus asked his disciples “Who do men say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-20) They replied “Some say you are John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets.” Jesus asked again and said “But who do you say that I am?” Peter had the right answer.  “You are the Christ! The son of the living God!” Jesus replied “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah! This wasn’t revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my Father in heaven! And upon this rock I will build my church… and I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.”  If anyone ever asks you about Jesus just recite the words of Peter. “Jesus is the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God.” That’s enough! This is the key to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is not the Father incarnate, Michael the Archangel, an ancient alien or a hypothetical second “person” in the trinity…. He is the Christ, the Anointed One.

We believe and declare “For us (Christians) there is one God, the Father, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5) “For us there is one God the Father, and no other besides Him.” (I Corinthians 8:4-6) Hang on to this truth and never let it go. Believe it. Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten and unique Son of the God we call our Father. Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Anointed One. He was crucified and then rose from the dead. He was one of us and He was truly a man. Indeed Christ came in the flesh! This is straightforward, biblical and understandable and we think that’s a good combination.

“If Jesus isn’t God…. are you saying He is just a man?” The Trinitarian view of God insists that Jesus is a divine “person” who has existed from all eternity. We think this idea rules out any chance of Him being truly human like the rest of us. (I haven’t existed from eternity and none of my friends have either.) We are saying that “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5-6) Our mortal lives begin at birth and end at death. If Jesus was truly one of us He should have followed the same pattern… and He did! His mortal life began with His birth in Bethlehem and ended when He was crucified on Calvary. Jesus then revealed a gloriously new pattern of life and death when He rose from the dead and now He invites us to share in His immortality!

Skeptics dismiss Christian belief by saying, “The Bible is just a book filled with myths and stories that aren’t really true.”  Most Christians on the other hand believe that although the Bible is indeed a book it is much more than “just a  book”. Calling the Bible “just a book” implies that the Bible is simply one book among many and no different than all the rest. We affirm that the Bible is indeed a book, but not just a book! It is a unique book and distinct in its anointing from all others… and we can say the very same thing about our Savior. Jesus Christ is unique among men. He is sinless, perfect and distinct in his anointing from all others… but he is still thoroughly and completely a man. He was most definitely one of us but He is not “just a man”.

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. The Father called Him “My Beloved Son”, not “my co-equal and co-eternal partner”. Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Light of the World.  He raised the dead, walked on water and stilled a tempest with His words! He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We know Him as the Good Shepherd, our High Priest and the Great Physician. Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Kinsman Redeemer, and He is our brother and Master. Jesus is the Christ of God, the Anointed One. Today He is exalted and sits at the right hand of God and yes… He was a man, but fortunately for us He was not “just a man”.  

Jesus is no less than the very Christ of God! This is who He claimed to be and this is what God revealed to the Apostle Peter. Jesus declared He would build His church on the rock of this simple truth. He never claimed to be more than Christ and most definitely never claimed to be God Himself. Jesus said very plainly, “My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) Please don’t be offended by this! If Jesus was content to declare Himself to be the Christ we should be content to believe Him.

We pray that God will bless our feeble efforts and that these writings will help reveal Him to you. We confess though, that giving you an actual revelation of God and Christ is beyond our ability. It requires nothing less than a sovereign act of God. “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (John 3:35) In another place Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) And again, “No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him.” (John 6:44) Our hope is that you will discover for yourself what Christ has shown us and now wants to reveal to you. Our prayer is that the Father will draw you to His son Jesus and that Jesus will reveal the Father to you.

Does a revelation of the Father and the Son really matter? Well… Jesus gave the very keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter just for declaring simply and plainly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!  (Matthew 16:13-20) This simple truth is so important that Jesus later went on to say, “This is eternal life, that they may know thee (the Father) the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) The Apostle John even wrote that this was the very purpose of his Gospel! “Jesus did many things in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31)

It is certain that Jesus claimed to be a man. “I am a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God, but now you want to kill me.” (John 8:40) He told the truth when He said He was a man and He told the truth when He declared that His accusers wanted to kill Him.  Jesus was born into the world like all men, but God is eternal and was never born. Christ was tempted like all men, but God cannot be tempted.  Finally, Jesus died like all men but God cannot die. It’s clear in the scripture that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God, but He never claimed to be God Himself. The question we ask is this: Was Jesus God or was He a man?

The Apostle Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and called Jesus “a man approved of God among you.” (Acts 2:22) The Apostle Paul declared “For us there is one God, the Father, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5) In another place the Bible declares “By one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) It isn’t controversial to say that Jesus was a man, it is simply Biblical. What is truly controversial and unbiblical is the claim that Jesus was God! The overwhelming testimony of scripture is that Jesus was a man. He was one of us.

The fact that Christ spoke and acted as only God could speak and act is easily explained by understanding Biblical Agency. We look for insights and principles to guide us whenever we can and a principle of Bible study that I have recently begun to appreciate more fully is the notion of Biblical Agency. Here are a few excerpts from an interesting article about this by a fellow believer and student of scripture named Carlos Xavier. This may not answer all your questions about God and Christ but it is certainly a step in that direction.

“So completely is the ideal Davidic king identified with the purposes of God that he can be dignified with the titles of God himself [e.g., Ps 45:6]. This practice of treating the agent as though he were the principal is of the greatest importance for New Testament Christology. In the New Testament, so completely is Jesus identified with His God and Father that the writers can use a so-called YHVH text from the OT and apply it to the Son without confusion. There are many of these well-known usages of language that are not referring to some mysterious plurality of persons within the one God of Israel”. This quote is from one of the top biblical scholars of the 20th century, G.B. Caird from his book The Language and Imagery of the Bible.

“Jesus is thus a faithful shaliach, or agent. Jewish law taught that the man’s agent was as a man himself (backed by his full authority), to the extent that the agent faithfully represented him. Moses and the Old Testament prophets were viewed as God’s agents and often spoke for Him in the first person.”               The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament.

“Much of the equivalence between Father and Son [in John] is phrased in language that stems from the Jewish concept that the one who is sent (shaliach) is completely the representative of the one who sends him. Because Jesus is an agent who is God’s own Son, John deepens the legal relationship of agent and sender to a relationship of likeness…’  That’s according to the noted Catholic scholar Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John.

Lastly, Peder Borgen another scholar who Brown quotes as an expert on this topic adds: The saying in John 12:44 “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me” is a very close parallel to saying that dealing with the agent is the same as dealing with the sender himself. This idea is found in all four gospels. [See Matt. 10:40; Matt. 18 : 5; Mark 9 : 37; Luke 9 : 48 and John 13:20] The essential message is that, “he who receives any one whom I send receives me; he who receives me receives Him who sent me.” In harmony with this idea Jesus said,  “In as much as you have done this to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Many students of scripture understand this principle on an intuitive level. Carlos Xavier’s essay helps us see it more clearly on an intellectual level. To read his full essay on Biblical Agency please visit wonderfultheology.com

“No man has seen God at any time” (I John 4:12).  “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels…” (Hebrews 2:9) In Jesus we see “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) Adam was also made in God’s image but no one claims that made him God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God but He is not God, He is the Son of God and men have seen Him. Wise men saw Him in Bethlehem’s manger. Doctors of the Law saw Him in Jerusalem’s temple and the people of Israel saw Him on Calvary’s cross. The Apostle John saw Jesus seated upon a throne at the right hand of God. Someday everyone will see Him and “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11)

We confess that Jesus is the visibly human son of the invisible God. He was crucified, resurrected and glorified and now sits at the right hand of God. He is exalted above all creation and has a name above every name… yet for all that Jesus is a man and He is not God. This dear friend is the message of the Bible. Our prayer is that you might see this clearly and that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. (Ephesians 1:17)

Let’s be careful not to add anything, or take anything away from the biblical revelation of the Father and Son. If God had wanted to endorse Trinitarian creeds and make them binding on believers He certainly would have told us. We proclaim a message that is indeed “foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews.” The message of God and His Son Jesus Christ lacks the heady intellectualism of Greek philosophy and history reveals that the proclamation of Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah has (at least so far) been a stumbling block to Israel.

We realize that some are delighted to hear these things while others are offended. Some have ears to hear but don’t hear… while others hear clearly. Some have eyes to see but don’t see  while others see clearly and rejoice. The revelation of God and Christ is indeed a “pearl of great price” and a “treasure hid in a field” and we hope you find it. Quickly now! Sell everything you have to lay hold on this truth… and never let it go!

May God bless you with “all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ.” (Colossians 2:2)

                                             

 Commentary on the Trinity

“Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament.”  Encyclopedia Britannica 15^th edition

“The doctrine of the trinity lies in the New Testament rather in the form of allusions than in express teaching.”                                                         Dr. Benjamin Warfield

“The doctrine of the trinity is that which is necessary to make sense of the New Testament, rather than that which is openly taught and advocated in the New Testament. In the earliest times of the Church there is little explicit or precise statement, and even less definition of the doctrine of the Trinity.”                               God in Three Persons by  E. Calvin Beisner

“When we are talking about the Trinity we need to realize that we are talking about one What and three Who’s.”                                   Hans Hannegraaf, President – Christian Research Institute

“Christian theology does not believe God to be a person”.                                                C.S. Lewis

“We really do not know in what way God is one and in what different way He is three.”                                                                                                                   “God in Three Persons” by Millard J. Erickson

“We seem rather confused… most Christians take a firm stand on the Trinity. We hang a person’s very salvation upon acceptance of the doctrine, yet if we are honest with ourselves, we really aren’t sure exactly why. No one dares question the Trinity for fear of being branded a heretic.”                                                                         “The Forgotten Trinity” by James R. White

“It might tend to moderation and in the end agreement, if we were to represent our own doctrine (the Trinity) as wholly unintelligible.”                           Dr. John Hey

“The trinity is unintelligible, it was not understood at the Council of Nicea… nor ever since. The debates at Nicea had more to do with Plato and Aristotle than with Jesus.”        Isaac Newton

 

Copyright 2025 by Bob Shutes