Hi True North!
You said:
I've read complaints from Trinitarians that others tend not to truly understand what Trinitarians believe about the nature of the Trinity. I'd not be surprised if that's true in my case. After all, as I said in my original post, my knowledge of the Trinity is pretty much limited to what the WT writers had to say about the subject and I suspect that they weren't really going out of their way to give a fair and balanced presentation of the Trinitarian view.
Well, it is true that the Watchtower Society intentionally distorts what Trinitarians believe about the Trinity, therefore, all JWs are confused about what the Trinity actually is. Kenneson explained the Trinity correctly above. For much more detailed information and Scriptures about the Trinity, please go to:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/52140/755115/post.ashx#755115 Sometimes, the Watchtower Society will correctly state that the Trinity is "Three Persons as One God", but then, in the same area, they will use an argument like "If Jesus is God, then why did He pray to Himself?" (See the "Live Forever in Paradise on Earth" Book). That argument is completely bogus, because, as the Watchtower correctly pointed out, the Trinity is "Three Persons as One God", so Jesus was praying to His Father, a
DISTINCT Person, who is also God. The Watchtower Society will also at times distort the Trinity as being "Three Gods as One Person", which no Trinitarian believes. True North said:
Nonetheless, it does seem to me that the Holy Spirit as a person gets far less attention than either the Father or the Son.
That does seem to be true, and there are reasons for that, as explained in the following few Verses:
John 16:7-15: Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. That was Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the current work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify
Jesus (not Himself) bear witness about
Jesus (not Himself), and convict the world of sin because they do not believe in
Jesus. Ever since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit is in subjection to Jesus, just as Jesus is in subjection to The Father, and Jesus is the One who sends The Holy Spirit: Acts 2:32-33: This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God,
and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. Romans 8:9: But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed
the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 1st Peter 1:11: searching what, or what manner of time,
the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Galatians 4:6: And because you are sons, God has sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father." Philippians 1:19: For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ALL of the focus is on Jesus the Son of God! The Father and The Holy Spirit direct people toward
JESUS: Hebrews 1:6: But when He [The Father] again brings the firstborn into the world,
He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Philippians 2: 5-11: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to
the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. John 5:21-23:
For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. The Father glorifies The Son. The Son glorifies The Father. The Spirit glorifies The Father and The Son. True North said:
As I observed above, the heated arguments between Trinitarians and JWs seemed mostly focused on whether Jesus was God and not whether the Holy Spirit was God as if the Holy Spirit was of less concern.
That is because of the importance of Jesus and His Sacrifice and Resurrection and our salvation by Him. The Holy Spirit should not be of "less concern". He is God just as much as The Father or The Son. He simply has a different work He performs. The Father sent The Son to die for our sins. The Holy Spirit performed miracles through Jesus on earth. Jesus offered His Sacrifice TO The Father THROUGH The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin and leads them
to Jesus for salvation. When a person repents and puts their faith in Jesus, The Holy Spirit then indwells (actually lives inside) of that person's heart, and causes that person to be "Born Again" and saved. True North said:
Isn't the Holy Spirit as a person far less "real" to most Trinitarians than the other two persons of the Trinity? How often has the Holy Spirit been portrayed as a person in Christian religious art?
I don't know how often the Spirit has been portrayed in art, but actually, the Holy Spirit should never, ever be portrayed in Christian art because of the following Scriptures: Exodus 20: 3-4: " You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image--
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth Isaiah 40:18:
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? Now, The Holy Spirit is not any less real
to me than The Father and The Son. However, after being taught by the Society for all my life that The Spirit was NOT a Person, when I first believed in the Trinity, it was hard for me to accept that the Spirit was a Person, but when I read the Bible, it became very clear and obvious that The Holy Spirit is God Almighty. True North said:
BTW, do Trinitarians worship the Holy Spirit as they do the Father and Jesus? Is so, do they do so with the same fervor?
Trinitarians
should worship and honor The Father, The Son, and The Spirit equally. The Apostle Paul prayed to and honored the Holy Spirit as The Lord: 2nd Thessalonians 3:5: Now may
the Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God and into the patience
of Christ. 2nd Corinthians 3:17: Now
the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Also, just to show how important The Holy Spirit is, look what Jesus Christ said: Mark 3:28-29:
"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation"
