The cornerstone of modern Christian faith is that Yeshua IS (and always was) God. They share the title with another being referred to as “Holy Spirit” (which the other two can be referred to as, also). Three entities, all of which are God in and of themselves and they are God when combined, also.
If this is true (and I believed it myself for many years – see further down), then we need to examine why the Word of God and logic counter this doctrine. I’m not asking you to believe me, I am asking you to look at the evidence and do the work for yourself. It is what Yahweh asks us to do:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Timothy 2:15
I am ‘convinced’ that Yeshua is the son of God, but he is not God. I do, however, struggle with the covenantal applications that make it appear the Yeshua must be ‘the same’ as the Father in order to marry the bride [Israel].
Will more study resolve this for me? Probably much more study.
Until then, I am asking you to consider these points:
1. “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Did Yeshua have his own will? Could he have defied the Father? If so, then he would have contradicted his God nature and the Word tells us ‘God cannot lie [contradict] Himself’ (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; and many more).
If he had his own will, then the decision to willingly go through four days of judgment and torture, leading to execution by crucifixion, is manifestly moving and astonishing.
If not, then the verse is a contrivance.
2. “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)
This appears rather straight forward and he appears to ‘reenforce’ it in verse 38 (“. . . the Father is in me, and I in him.”), however, the Jews attempted to stone him for claiming to be “God” (verse 33), but Yeshua counters their accusations by confessing he is ‘merely’ the son of God.
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John 10:36-38
When he tells them he is “one” with the Father, he is speaking of their principles and objectives. If this is not the case, then it gets ugly seven chapters later when he declares that the disciples and other believers are one with him and the Father.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
John 17:20-21
3. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” (Matthew 4:1; see, also, Luke 4)
Yahweh cannot be tempted.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
James 1:13
Either the Devil is stupid, or Yeshua is a man and capable of sin.
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:14-15
If Yeshua is God, then the ‘temptations’ he faced were nothing since God cannot sin. For him to have been “tempted like as we are”, there had to be the ability for him to cave to temptation, as we all are.
What would it have meant, if Yeshua, being God, had caved to temptation? That is not possible if he is God, so the fact that he remained sinless, as God, is not overly impressive.
As a man, however, the fact that he did not sin is incredibly impressive.
4. For Yeshua to be the Passover lamb, he had to be a man (“of the flock and the herd” – Deuteronomy 16:2).
5. Eve is told that her seed will (eventually) produce a man that will crush the head of the serpent.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:14-15
If one of the ‘three parts of God’ was going to crush the serpent’s head, the three parts were already present . . . no need to wait seven thousand years.
The devil tried several times to kill the human Christ before his appointed hour (Matthew 2:16; John 7:30 and John 8:20). Why bother if Christ was God – Satan cannot kill God.
6. “For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Hebrews 7:17)
Trinitarians claim Christ physically existed in the Old Testament and cite Melchisedec as an example.
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
Hebrews 7:1-4
The book of Hebrews tells us that Melchisedec was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life”, so he must have been God (or Yeshua) as only God has no beginning of days.
These verses emphasize that Melchisedec is not of the lineage of the Temple priests. The Torah states that priests are to come from the tribe of Levi, specifically from the lineage of Aaron. Melchisedec precedes Levi, but he is referred to as a “priest of the most high God.” (Genesis 14:18)
Yeshua did have a Father and a mother, but he came from the tribe of Judah and therefore cannot be a priest of the Earthly Temple (verse 14). He is, however, “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (verse 17), because he serves in Heaven, not on the Earth.
There were no conditions set for being a priest on Earth when Melchisedec was a priest and there were no conditions set for a priest in Heaven when Yeshua was made “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
Hebrews informs us that Melchisedec was “made like unto the Son of God” (verse 3) and Christ was ordained “after the similitude of Melchisedec” (verse 15) – if Melchisedec was the Son of God, he would not be referred to as “like” the Son of God. The same holds true for “similitude” – if Christ was Melchisedec (and vice versa) then he would not be referred to as ‘similar’ to Melchisedec. He would have been referred to as the same guy with a different location.
7. If the Trinity is the bedrock of Christianity, why is not mentioned?
The translators of the Bible recognized this dilemma, so they added language to ‘validate’ the church’s doctrine.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1John 5:7-8)
1John 5:7-8
Use of an Interlinear will show that the clause, “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth”, was added despite there being no Greek text to support it.
The text should literally read, “For there are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
Another example has Stephen crying out to ‘God, Jesus’, when he was being stoned.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts 7:59
The word “God”, in the verse, is italized – the translators italicized the words they added. Interlinears show that no Greek text includes the word “God” or any other deified title.
Believing that Yeshua was a man does not diminish him or his achievements. It actually enhances his accomplishments since, as man, he would have been susceptible to temptation and capable of committing sin. (How tempting must it have been for the Devil to promise him all the kingdoms of the world without having to go through the crucifixion?)
If we are to be like Christ (Phillipians 2:5; 1Peter 2:21), then isn’t that easier if he was a man? Relating to Yahweh is difficult . . . He is formless and has vast power. Yeshua the man is relatable: Nice guy, loved his mom, helpful to the poor and sick, screwed over by the government . . . .
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1John 2:6
Emulating the walk of a great man is a good thing.
As a youth, I was taught the doctrine of the trinity and had no problem believing it because God was capable of anything, right? Shouldn’t that be on the resumé of an Omnipotent God?
Yahweh has placed limits on himself, which is helpful when studying His Word.
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Titus 1:2
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Hebrews 6:18
[see, also: Leviticus 19:2; 1Samuel 15:29; Psalm 92:15; Malachi 3:6; Roman 3:4; James 17-18; 1Peter 1:16, and many more]
If Yahweh always tells the truth, then His Word is true and we can have confidence in what He tells us in it.
This is important, because if we are to have faith in something, or someone, there has to be a confidence in the thing or person.
We have faith in all kinds of things. When you walk into room, you have faith that the switch on the wall, by the door, will turn on a light, even though you cannot explain what electricity is and how it works. We have faith that gravity works, even though no one can tell us what it is (Neil deGrasse Tyson: What Is Gravity? ). No one lets go of a heavy object and expects it to float up into space. The only question in their mind is, “how bad is this going to hurt if it lands on my foot?”
We do not have faith in people because we have too much experience with the evil that men do, however, we can have faith in others that have shown us, repeatedly, that they “have our backs” (e.g., spouses, battle buddies, parents). Of course, your experience may exclude some or all of these examples.
We have confidence in what Yahweh tells us because we have seen His Creation (though corrupted, we have an idea of how wonderful it was and will be again in the future); we have witnessed His Miracles (most everyone has had something happen in their lives that they cannot explain); and we have the witness of His son (if the ministry and resurrection of Christ was a scam, there is no way all the apostles would have suffered torture and/or violent deaths rather than recant).
If you believe in a Heavenly Father, then you must believe that He not only committed His thoughts to paper (or scrolls, originally), but that He found a way to preserve His Word through the years. Nothing will shake the disbelief of the unbeliever, but if you are a believer and have been taught that the Bible is ‘full of errors’, or ‘written by men’ then there is a small book that can help you with your faith in the Word (The Bible – You Can Believe It! by John Schoenheit)
Returning to the topic of this blog, I was raised to believe in the concept of the Trinity and even went to a Catholic Seminary, so I was very committed to the doctrine. I was also committed to believing the Bible was the Word of God, and it got me expelled from the seminary (you can laugh all you want, but ask any Catholic – they will tell you the Church does not place an emphasis on the written Word . . . especially when it contradicts church doctrine and practices).
After about a dozen times of asking, ‘why does the church teach __________ when the Bible says that ____________ is true?’, I was asked to leave.
“You are too orthodox for us”, was their explanation.
So, having a trinitarian background, I am not ignorant of the reasons given for a ‘three-in-one’ God. So then, what could have caused me to question this foundation of the faith? One does not make huge leaps of doctrinal belief without some kind of irresistible, contrary evidence.
There are many more ‘evidences’ from the Word than what I listed (this is just to whet your appetite for knowledge). A comprehensive study of this topic is the subject of the rather large book, One God & One Lord.
It is becoming ever more evident, today, that the things we are being taught are incorrect on purpose to further an agenda. This did not suddenly happen in the last several years, this has been the case for thousands of years by people who use the schools and the children to further their agenda.
Please ensure that you are not subject to false teachings by malicious people bent on hiding the truth, or by sincere people who did not examine the motives of the people and books they learned from. Either is just as destructive and ruinous to our understanding of Truth.
You will not find the truth by following the masses – consensus is no guarantee of truth.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:13-15
You need to make the commitment even if it leads you down a narrow path that no one else seems to be on.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Timothy 2:15