Hello Lynne:
I personally have not researched the subject to exhaustion. Therefore, I may not be able to answer your questions. I would like to state my thoughts on the matter with the hope that others can address both of us and perhaps gives us input.
First, I think that what I've read in the Bible does not support the idea of a trinity, at least as the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations define it:
"The Blessed Trinity is God according to the doctrine of most branches of Christianity, and according to some non-Christian but Bible based religious groups. The doctrine says that though God is one God, He exists in three distinct persons, usually referred to as God the Father, God the Son (or Son of God), and the Holy Spirit. Historically, this Trinitarian view has been affirmed as an article of faith by the Nicene (325) and Athanasian Creeds (circa 500).
The word, Trinity, literally means "three-ness". This term does not appear in the Bible, and indeed, it did not exist until Tertullian coined it as the Latin trinitas and also probably the formula Three Persons, One Substance from the Latin tres Personae, una Substantia itself from the Greek treis Hypostases, Homoousios in the early third century. According to Marcellus of Ancyra, On the Holy Church, 9: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity
I don't see much evidence of the duality in the separate yet omnicient, omnipotent and ever-present beings in the Bible.
Secondly, It just doesn't make sense. I mean: three beings, they are all eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, distinct yet not different. That is not conducive to the kind of logical understanding that I expect from a Supreme Being. I'm not saying that there aren't things we don't know and probably will not know for a long time. However, I'd rather conclude that "I don't know" instead of pursuing some nebulous idea with dubious backing.
Thirdly, the trinity (the idea and not the word) is a very ancient concept that was held by many religions before Christianity came along. It's very likely that it was introduced into Christianity by the time Athanasius incorporated it in his Creed. Isis, Horus and Seb were considered a trinity by the Egyptians. The Babylonian trinity of Nimrod, Semiramis, and the god-incarnate son is in places accredited as the root of what later came to be the Christian trinity. I'm not sure if those ancient trinities had the same attributes that the Christina trinity does. However, it's possible that what we have today is an altered or redefined form of that old concept.
I have read comments by former JWs that now believe in the Holy Trinity and have presented "evidence" from the Bible to show that it indeed supports it. Off the cuff, I don't buy their arguments, although I haven't read all that they present. I found that they would revert to a long-establish dogma of "Christendom" somewhat surprising. Then again, I find it surprising that many ex-JWs have become "Born-Again" Christians (the ones that have felt the Holy Spirit talk to them, etc). That smacks to me as a reactionary backlash to the repression and guilt they felt as a Witness. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I don't think the Holy Spirit goes around zapping people into spiritual bliss these days.
So, what I hope to hear is not what could be or what's probable. I want to know what facts back or refute the issue. At this point, it's not a critical issue for my sense of spirituality, although it would be nice to know.
Etude.
