Trinity

Stephanie Twist

Do JW believe in the Trinity? If yes, why and if no, why

They do not, primarily because there is no scriptural evidence. The concept of the trinity was conceived well after the new testament was written. In my mind the trinity was invented essentially to resolve many of the confusing mismatches between the gospels, the christian writings and the old testament. JWs tend to resolve these conflicts in other ways, usually by deferring to the old testament or by rationalizing the behavior of the vindictive god of the OT and trying to cast it in a light that makes it consistent with the god of the NT.

jhine

OneEyedJoe , there is actually evidence at least of Jesus' divinity and that the Holy Spirit is not a thing .

Early church fathers did refer to the Trinity long before the council of Nicea which is when the WT says that the doctrine of Trinity was thought up . That is simply not true .

I was looking for another thread about Jesus and His status ( possibly started by Stephanie , what is your interest ? I noticed that you have started other threads with similar themes ) when I found this one .

One classic reference used by Trinitarians is the whole of the first chapter of Hebrews

" For to which of the angels did God ever say ,

" You are my Son ;

today I have become your

Father ? ". Verse 5

" And again , when God brings His firstborn into the world , he says

" Let all God's angels worship him " ". Verse 6

Jesus is not created as the WT claim

" He is the image of the invisible God , the firstborn over all creation . For by him ALL things were created : .....................all things were created by him and for him . " Colossians 1:15-16.

Of course here the WT add the word other in front of all things to put Jesus in with things created . The writer is clearly meaning to show that Jesus was not created .

As to the idea that the doctrine of the Trinity was only brought into being at the council of Nicea here is what Dionysius of Alexandra wrote in circa 260 AD

" For the Divine Word must of necessity be united to the God of the Universe , and the Holy Spirit must have his habitation and abode in God ; thus it is absolutely necessary that the Divine Triad be summed up and gathered into a unity brought as it were to an apex , and by they unity I mean all the Sovereign God of the Universe "

The council of Nicea was in 325 AD , much later .

Sorry to be so heavy with this and somewhat preachy , but I think that it is important for lurkers to understand the reasoning of other other faith groups as opposed to only knowing what the WT teaches . On the plus side there are lots of other verse and quotes I didn't use !

Jan

TTWSYF

There is an abundant amount of scriptural evidence implying that God is a trinity without the word 'trinity'.

These scriptural passages [and plenty more] are not promoted by the WTS.

Off the top of my head

ACTS 5 :3-4 is a proof text. Peter calls the Holy Spirit God. You have lied to the Holy Spirit. You have lied to God he says.

ISAIAH 9 :6 states that Jesus is God. A child is born, a son is given, he is to be called, wonderful councilor, mighty God, eternal father.

Similar to the hell texts. Jesus spoke more of hell then he did of heaven, yet those are scriptural passages the the WTS will play down and in some cases simply deny.

just saying

Saintbertholdt

Do JW believe in the Trinity? If yes, why and if no, why

No they do not. The reason goes back to the Bible Student founder Charles Taze Russell and his core tenet of the ransom sacrifice: A perfect human Jesus in exchange for a perfect Adam.

This allows for humans to be resurrected from the dead to a paradise earth because the scales of universal justice have supposedly been balanced.

However Russell still left a problem unresolved: If Jesus was just a human how could his redemptive power be used to raise some humans from the dead to heaven? A human ransom alone would not cover it.

The only solution would be if Jesus was both human and God at the same time.

However this is all just fantasy. Its like debating who would win in a fight: Spiderman or Silver Surfer

Richard C B

Hi stephanie, ive seen a few posts you have started about the JW beliefs. Why dont you go to there officail site you will get a straight answer on there. All their basic beliefs will be listed and clear for you to understand. Its like asking about a certain brand of car maker e.g if you want to know about vw cars you would go to there website you wouldnt go to fords website would you?