Trinity

by Marisa 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  Marisa

  What do you believe about the Trinity?
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  drew sagan

  Here comes a 45 page thread!
  
  I know the trinity can be a very difficult doctrine for many to ever even begin to accept who have left JWs. That's how it was for me. One thing I can say that has changed my opinion is by just listening to some Christian apologetics who actually explain the doctrine, instead of just listening to people who tear it down.
  
  With that said, I think there are two things that make up what I feel about the Trinity. First of all, there is no defense of it in the Bible. That does not mean that the essence of it isn't in the Bible, it simply means that there is no open defense or argumentatin put forth in scripture to advance the doctrine. Most of what we understand 'Trinitarian teaching' to be consists of exposition drawing from a number of differant scriptures that lead us to a focus point.
  
  So the trinity seeks to explain something that scripture does not treat in a direct manner. And in this respect I feel that the Trinity is the best explanation we have at understanding the nature of God, Christ, and The Holy Spirit. There are other theories that deal with the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Unitarian and others), but to me most of these have proven to seem inferior to the Trinity doctrine. This is not to say that there are not good points in these argumentations, it's just that when it comes down to the final word the Trinity explanation allways seems to be superior and have the upper hand.
  
  Is the Trinity doctrine essential for salvation? I would reply that to believe Jesus is the Son of God is the essential path to slavation.
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  greendawn

  I could never understand why the trinitarians do not accept what is written in the NT at face value and they try to see deep symbolic meanings in them rather than literal ones. If things were as in the trinity formulation then they would have been clearly stated as such. Or is God playing hide and seek mind games with us? If that doctrine was genuine it would have been clearly expressed by Jesus and the apostles before anything else.
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  megsmomma

  Now...I know what the JW Bible says in John 1:1...That the word was "a" God...But other translations say:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (NIV) That said it all to me and reading the rest of the Bible in that light helped it to make sence to me....and it is each persons PERSONAL relationship with our creator that counts and HE reveals himself to those that are seeking in various ways...so I don't think we all have to believe the same thing (or have the same relationship). JMHO

  Lyndi
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  jaguarbass

  What do you believe about the Trinity? I believe the bible is a book of confusion. You can make it say so many different things. Some people are convinced there is a trinity and some people are convinced that there is not. Then the really intelligent people will tell you that jesus christ of Israel never even existed. If he never exixted how can there be a trinity? If you want to use the bible as your guide in life, google up bible contradictions.
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  drew sagan

  I could never understand why the trinitarians do not accept what is written in the NT at face value and they try to see deep symbolic meanings in them rather than literal ones.

  
  
  Like John 1:1 ???
  
  Actually most Trinitarians will agree that the doctrine is built upon theological discussion, theological discussion based on scripture that is.
  
  When one reads the Bible, we do not fully get the sense that Jesus is simply a man. He has divinity. He is worshiped, and any Bible student knows that only the one true God should be worshiped. He is said to have created all things in the Book of Colossians and of course this also is credited to the Allmighty God. There are just so many things in the NT that attach to Jesus the qualitites, power, and essence of God that it is hard to see how he could be a creation of the creator instead of the creator himself.
  
  Many of us ex-witnesses shrug off the Trinity doctrine because we think it is confusing. I would suggest reading some apologetics on the subject. It wasnt untill a few months ago that I realized I should actually take the time to read and listen to what a Trinitarian had to say and low and behold it made a lot more sense than I ever would have thought (actually much of the doctrine was allready floating around in my head and I was suprised at how much 'trinitarian' thinking I had allready believed).