by desib77 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Bradley:
They also view Christian doctrine as being an evolution from Arianism to some sort of divine Christ.
You're gonna have to quote sources for that. It's a completely new one on me...
Desib77:
I recently posted about how my understanding of this topic developed, here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/69282/1088872/post.ashx#1088872
I guess the question I have for non-trinitarian thinkers is this: Is it impossible for the trinity theory to be true? That being, that the one can exist in three forms simultaneously and still be "of" the one?
Nick
I agree with LittleToe. You're buying into the WTS "scholarship".
As quoted in "Should you believe in the Trinity",
Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed, "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it ."-Origin and Evolution of Religion.
But upon further examination of what Hopkins actually wrote,
The beginning of the doctrine of the Trinity appears already in John (c. 100). To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; at any rate, they say nothing about it. (Origin and Evolution of Religion, E. W. Hopkins, p. 336)
The early Church declared that Christ was the Logos and that the Logos was God. As such, though the earlier Gospels give no hint of this, Christ in John is represented as remembering his preexistence. Paul does not say that Christ is God, but he identifies Christ with the Holy Spirit and applies to him words of the Old Testament used of God: 'I am God and ... unto me every knee shall bow' (Isa 45:22-23; Phil 2:10 ). (Origin and Evolution of Religion, E. W. Hopkins, p. 336)
But the first Christian theology was given in the words 'I and my Father are one' and the plain faith of the early church members who were not doctrinaires was just this and nothing more. Jesus is God. So proclaimed the first hymns, sung by the early Church. (Origin and Evolution of Religion, E. W. Hopkins, p 338).
bebu,
I guess I understand the term one referring to unity. My biggest problem with the Trinity is the way people can use both God and Jesus in reference to the same thing. My husband and I are one but we cannot say that he wore a pretty dress the other day (thank goodness).
So, I guess I'm still confused.
Desi
| Definition: | \Trin"i*ty\, n. [OE. trinitee, F. trinit['e], L. trinitas, fr. trini three each. See {Trinal}.] 1. (Christian Theol.) The union of three persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) in one Godhead, so that allthe three are one God as to substance, but three personsas to individuality. |
Another way to look at it... A triangle is made up of three sides. Each side is a line part of the whole. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Because the parts are three lines and the whole is known as a triangle because of what it is.
The parts are The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. The whole is God Almighty.
Nick
The doctrine of the Trinity is the most obnoxious and God dishonoring doctrine of all to me personally -- it is a key reason why I became a witness in the first place - I never accepted the TRINITY and that is why I became a witness
The trinity is a concept not a doctrine. The sooner you can understand that the sooner you can start to understand that it is not changing the identity or personality of God but helping us to understand what is meant by many of the terms spoken about in the Bible where each of the identities are refered to as one God and still maintaining a monotheist belief system.
I have a question for you "stillajwexelder".
Do you think God is more than everything he created? Do you think he is more complex and more astonishing than all of his creation[s]?
If so, then kindly explain to me how we can have a living example of one thing being three different aspects of itself in the real world but God, the createor of the universe and everything as we know it, is not capable of being that and so much more?
Would you like to know what it is in our daily lives that can exist in three different forms simultaneously and still be the same thing?
LF
Let me add... I was referring to "the concept" and not to any "doctrine" that is pushed around with reference to the Trinity. I want to clarify this and not get bombed with statements of how Trinity is Doctrine.
Thanks
LF
This brings up a question I have asked before, but have not gotten an answer for:
If Jesus is NOT God, then how is it possible that He performed an act of love (dying for our sins) that is GREATER than any act that God the Father performed? Wouldn't this make Jesus GREATER than God? That makes no sense, unless Jesus IS God. Right? If God loved us so much, why would He have sent someone else to perform this act of salvation?
well put irishayes and I'm in total agreement with that statement - it is logical proof for the argument.
Nick
