Nature of God; history of triad gods; monotheism; validity of long standing beliefs

by In 8 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  In

  I'd love to hear more from the scholars on the site here. I've done some reading, but can't really sort it out myself and don't have much time for research.

  The question is (after reading the proskenuo thread): If Jesus is part of a triad God, I'd like to know how far back triad God's go in terms of human history?

  Is there any evidence in the Old Testament for a triad God? What about other Jewish texts?

  If most early religions held a triad God belief, can anyone comment on where the Jews come up with this monotheistic system that evolves into Christianity?

  Also, what's the opinion on this statement: A belief or tradition that has been in existence for all of recorded history of man has a higher probability of being true.
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  jonathan dough

  First, if by triad God you mean that trinitarians believe in 3 gods, well, that's just not true. They don't believe in that. ANYONE, like the JWs, who teaches that the doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God Almighty is 3 gods is wrong. Worse than wrong, but a liar. And we know who is the father of the lie.

  Christian Trinitarians are monotheistic and do not worship three Gods as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim.

  The Jehovah's Witnesses continue to imply that Trinitarian Christians worship three Gods, not one; that they are tritheistic, not monotheistic. The Jehovah's Witnesses draw parallels between the Trinity doctrine and triadic pagan worship which they claim is the ultimate source of the Christian Trinity, influenced by Babylonian gods who were worshipped in threes, the Egyptian three-fold gods of Osiris, Isis and Horus, Italian triune godheads, the Trinitarian Hindu group of Brahama, Sira and Visnu, and on and on (Should You Believe, Chapter 5).

  But this is false and unfair. The Christian faith is completely monotheistic, and worship is directed to the only one true God Almighty who happens to have a threefold nature: “We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity,” (Catholic Catechism, 75). “[T]he Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.” Athanasian Creed; DS 75; ND16)” (ibid., 79).

  Tritheism, the worship of three Gods at the expense of the unity of God is yet another pitfall which the Trinity doctrine specifically seeks to avoid (Oxford, 1211). And simply because the Jehovah's Witnesses are unable to grasp the meaning of “hypostases” or “Persons” does not entitle them to ascribe to Christians beliefs they do not hold.

  Secondly, I'm not sure what you mean by Jesus being "part of" a triad god. The triune God is one, and before creation existed in three hypostases, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (immanent Trinity). Jesus is God-man, the hypostatic union, the Word (Second Person of the Trinity) incarnate, a divine person who assumed a human nature. The humanity of Christ, the creature, Jesus, is not God the Almighty. This is orthodox Christianity. If you believe that Christendom teaches that Jesus the human creature is God, then that is completely wrong also, another lie perpetuated by the Society.

  In most formularies the doctrine is stated by saying that God is one in His essential being, but that in this being there are three Persons, yet so as not to form separate and distinct individuals. They are three modes or forms in which the divine essence exists. ‘Person’ is, however, an imperfect expression of the truth in as much as the term denotes to us a separate rational and moral individual. But in the being of God there are not three individuals, but only three personal self-distinctions within the one divine essence. (New Bible Dictionary, 1299, 1300)

  “The humanity of Christ is a creature, it is not God” (Catholic Encyclopeda, 922). Jesus is a divine person who assumed a human nature. If you're truely interested you can get more information here: http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index.html

  Is there any evidence in the Old Testament for a triad God? What about other Jewish texts?

  The evidence is meager, but Trinitarian patterns are evident in the OT. Read more here: http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index-4.html#18
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  frankiespeakin

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity
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  Terry

  Just a simple observation....

  Isn't it funny that primitive, pagan, ignorant, false religions had it right all along?

  Or, did they?

  How did those knuckle draggers get the 3-God-1 mystery down cold?

  If they were devil worshippers you'd think the sacred secret would have remained so.

  Just a thought.
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  HappyGuy

  The concept of a triune godhead is as old as humankind. It appears in numerous pantheons which have permeated all ages of humanity.
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  frankiespeakin

  In,

  what's the opinion on this statement: A belief or tradition that has been in existence for

  all of recorded history of man has a higher probability of being true.

  It has no basis in fact. It makes about as much sense as believing ancient writings simply because they are very old. If any thing the age of many beliefs should make them less likely to be true. Examples being God created the universe in 6 days, woman was made from a rib, a worldwide flood covered the whole earth all the way up to 15 cubits higher than mount Everest, and so on.

  The miracles that the Bibles says Jesus preformed have no evidence in real life as being true, many have concluded that are true based simply on faith but no empirical evidence. Could it be that because this is an ancient book and believed by so many for over 1900 years that it must be true? Such reasoning is faulty logic and has absolutely no basis in fact what so ever, and has more to do with wishful thinking gullibility and indoctrinated beliefs by religious authority trying to perpetuate itself over the centuries.
• 

  In

  Well, thanks for those clarifications.

  If I haven't heard the whole truth, and things have been hidden or manipulated, then I'm going to have to ask some "dumb" questions.

  'Nother question: What purpose did it originally serve for the Society to oppose traditional Christian beliefs like the Trinity and hell? Sure, you can tell you lots of reasons now that its established, but why'd Russell ever start in the first place?
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  jonathan dough

  'Nother question: What purpose did it originally serve for the Society to oppose traditional Christian beliefs like the Trinity and hell? Sure, you can tell you lots of reasons now that its established, but why'd Russell ever start in the first place?

  It's the work of Satan. JWs deny the real Christ of the NT, are anti-christ in the extreme, deny their Great Crowd access to salvation and the Bible directly, and in general turn real Christianity on its head. They keep God's people from gaining access to heaven, and have devoted their lives to denying true Christian faith. They denigrate the Almighty and the Messiah when they claim that Jesus was nothing more than a man, which is exactly what Pontious Pilate said. These are spiritual issues. The Society has profited enormously beginning with the works of Russell, and dominated man to his injury. By taking over people's minds and compromising their spiritual integrity, they keep people from accessing and knowing the true God and truth in general. In general, they are wrong about everything, and are very, very dangerous. Although some can be very nice.

  Proof: http://www.144000.110mb.com/
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  jonathan dough

  bttt