God Is Neither Trinitarian Nor Binitarian
Jehovah God himself never once claimed to be a "Trinity" or "3 persons with 1 substance." He never claimed that he would become a man. He never called Jesus "God" and he never claimed to be the same as his Son. What did God say? "Jehovah your God is One Jehovah!" I see only one God mentioned there, named "Jehovah" and he is reinforcing it by saying that there is only "One Jehovah", as opposed to a pantheon or Trinity. It does not take a special person to "see the Trinity" in what he says, but it takes someone reading more into the Scripture than what is there to do so.When God spoke of himself in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), he spoke of himself with the singular pronouns "I" and "me", never "us" and "we" when speaking of himself alone. For example, he said, "I am Jehovah — there is no other." (Joe 2:27 [pa|in]) If God were a Trinity, that would not make sense at all.
Jesus Is Neither Trinitarian Nor Binitarian
Jesus did not say that we have to believe in a Trinity to get salvation. He did not say that God is 3 persons in 1 substance. He certainly did not coin the term "Trinity", and then there is this one glaring point that Trinitarians cannot get around: Jesus never once claimed to be God. Nor did he claim to be a third part of God nor equal to the Father. Jesus himself worshipped God. He said, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God." (Joh 20:17 [pa|in]) He even provided worship to the Father, not holy spirit, saying, "I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." (Mt 11:25 [pa|in])In fact, he directed all godly worship to the Father, never to himself. He said, "Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father [Not the Son,] with spirit and truth, for indeed, the Father [Not the Son,] is looking for ones like these to worship him. God is a Spirit, and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth." (Joh 4;23, 24 [pa|in]) When he provided the model prayer, what did he say? "You must pray, then, this way: ’Our Father
Since the apostles were adopted sons, Jesus is here making clear that he is no more God than his disciples and God is no less their Father than he is Jesus’ Father. Or are we to believe that they became part of a ’Panity" (All holy ones becoming God)? In fact, Jesus said, "This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ." (Joh 17:3 [pa|in]) He did not say "we are the only true God", or "You and me" or "me, myself and I" or simply "me" or "you the only true God, who is the Father and Son." No, but he said, "you," (meaning not himself,) "the only true God".
Jesus’ Disciples Were Neither Trinitarians Nor Binitarians
John the Baptist said, "And I have seen it, and I have given witness that this one is the Son of God." (Not God himself; Joh 1:34 [pa|in]) Andrew said, "We have found the Messiah." (Not "God"; Joh 1:41 [pa|in]) Simon Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mt 16:16 [pa|in]) Philip said, "We have found the one of whom Moses, in the Law, and the Prophets wrote: Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth." (Joh 1:45 [pa|in]; see Ge 3:15 [pa|in], 22:18 [pa|in] and De 18:15 [pa|in]) Nathanael Bartholomew said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel." (Joh 1:49 [pa|in]) Martha said, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." (Joh 11:27 [pa|in]) Peter and John together taught that Jesus was "a prophet", God’s "Servant". (Ac 3:26 [pa|in]; compare Isa 42:1 [pa|in]) Barnabas, Paul and the first century Governing body wrote: "men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ac 12:26 [pa|in]) Stephen, the martyr, said, "Look! I see the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at God’s right hand." (Ac 7:56 [pa|in]) John Mark said, "The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mr 1:1 [pa|in]) Paul wrote: "there is actually to us one God, the Father," (1Co 8:6 [pa|in]) Jesus’ own brother, James, said, "a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Jas 1:1 [pa|in]) Near the end of his life, John wrote: "No one has seen God at any time." Meaning "ever". He continued: "If they believed that God was a plurality, they would have referred to him with plural pronouns such as "they", "theirs" and the plural form of "you" ("you all"). Instead, they refer to God only with singular pronouns, such as when Paul again said, "one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Eph 4:6 [pa|in])
Pre-Christian Servants of God Were Neither Trinitarians Nor Binitarians
To the Jews, Jehovah was a personal God, not an abstraction like the Trinity, allowing them to have a personal relationship with the One Creator. They were not burdened by a philosophical abstraction to which it is difficult to have a personal relationship. Many people in the Bible had a very deep personal relationship with only one being that they knew as "Jehovah". King David wrote, "May people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth." (Ps 83:18 [pa|in])If they believed that God was a plurality, they would have referred to him with plural pronouns such as "they", "theirs" and the plural form of "you" ("you all"). Instead, they refer to God only with singular pronouns, such as "But you, O Jehovah, are a shield around me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head." (Ps 3:3 [pa|in])
Return to the beginning of the Salvation vs. the Trinity/Binity series
Go back to: Part 4: How the Trinity/Binity Affects the Salvation Message
Go to Part 6: Non-modalist Non-tritheism or Tri-modalism?
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