 According to traditional
Christian doctrines "The Trinity" is a "Mystery" - A concept that we as
flesh and blood human beings just cannot understand.
My own study of
the Bible has led me to conclude that it must be a mystery to God also,
because he does not mention it anywhere in His Holy Word.
Even the "New Catholic
Encyclopedia On Line", admits that:
"In scripture there is
as yet no single term by which the three Divine Persons are denoted together"
  However,
in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we are told about TWO BEINGS
that co-existed before the material universe was created:
"In the beginning was the
Word ['Logos'- Greek, meaning Spokesman] and the Word was with God ['Theos'-
The God] and the word was [a] god ['divine'- God like]. He was in
the beginning with [The] God; all things were made through him and without
him was not anything made that was made." Jn:1-3
As this scripture continues,
we are told that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, as Jesus Christ
our Savior.
So 'God' (Elohim
in Hebrew - a UNIPLURAL WORD that means MORE THAN ONE) - is a word that
describes a family of two God beings:
The Logos - God's
spokesman (one divine personage of the God family)
And Theos - "The
God" - (the head of the God family).
These two beings,
who have no beginning of time nor end of days, comprise The God Family.
It is made obvious
by omission, that there was not a 3rd personage that existed with these
beings in the beginning or John would have undoubtedly mentioned him.
Yet, though not
mentioned in the context of a personage, it is clear that this spirit existed
then, since the Logos created the universe by IT.
The Word speaks
- and God's power (the Holy Spirit) emanates from Him to accomplish God's
will.
I suggest that a
quick browsing of the salutations in the New Testament epistles will reveal
no greeting to this supposed 3rd personage of the Godhead. The reason
for this is quite simple; the Holy Spirit is not a personage; it is, as
scripture reveals -
The operative Power
of God.
Luke 6:19 and 8:46
literally states this: 
"And all the crowd sought
to touch him, for power came forth from
him and healed them all". Lk 6:19
"But Jesus said, 'Some one touched
me; for I perceive that power has gone forth from me.'" Luke 8:46
What came forth from
him?
POWER!
By what means does
God do all things, whether it's HEALING, CASTING OUT DEMONS, RAISING THE
DEAD, PROPHESYING, etc?
By the HOLY SPIRIT!
The HOLY SPIRIT
is the POWER OF GOD.
Could it be any
clearer than that?
Now notice what
Jesus says in Luke 11:13 about where this power to do miracles comes from:
"...how much more will
the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." Luke
11:13
We know that all things
are accomplished through the Holy Spirit, yet Jesus says that his Father
gives Him the ability (or power) to do it, not some non-existent Ghost:
"...the Son can do nothing
of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever
He does the Son also does the same..." Jn 5:19
It does not state anywhere
in scripture that there is a trinity of co-equal beings, or that the Holy
Spirit is a personage of the Godhead as traditional churches teach.
In fact, upon unbiased
investigation scripture only disproves this erroneous belief, not supports
it.
Jesus himself makes
it known that he does not consider himself as a co-equal to His Father:
"THE FATHER IS GREATER
THAN I ... I do as the Father has commanded me..." John 14:28
 He
also makes it clear that THE FATHER IS GREATEST OF ALL, even greater than
the Holy Spirit, if IT were a being.
"MY FATHER, who has given
them to me, is GREATER THAN ALL, and no one is able to snatch them out
of the Father's hand. I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE." John 10:29
Notice -
Jesus also says
here that, "I and the FATHER are ONE".
If there is a trinity,
why didn't He say I, the Father and the Holy Spirit are One - or are Three,
for that matter?
Look also at Mt
19:17 - Jesus says:
"Why callest thou me good?
There is none good but ONE, that is, GOD."
Here, Jesus excludes
himself (the second being of the Godhead) as being worthy of comparison
to His Father, saying that only ONE (not, two other beings) is good.
Again He fails to
so much as mention, let alone describe as "good", the supposed 3rd God
being.
So we have determined
scripturally that Christ's own words establish that the FATHER is the GREATEST
of the GODHEAD, which contradicts the traditionalist's contention that
the Godhead is comprised of three co-equal beings.
We also know that
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit -
"Joseph, son of David,
do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Spirit..." Mt 1:20
Yet, throughout the
New Testament Jesus refers to God as His Father. If the Holy Spirit
were a person - especially the being that actually conceived him, why didn't
Jesus refer to him as His Father.
Again, the explanation
is simple.
Jesus does not refer
to the Holy Spirit as "His Father" -
For the same reason
He didn't include IT in His declaration that "He and His Father are one"
Or that "only one
is good" -
Because IT is not
a being, IT is, as scripture has proven, the POWER OF GOD -
The Holy Spirit
is also described as something that must be renewed (2Cor 4:16), can be
quenched (1Thes 5:19) and is poured out (Acts 2:17).
These are not characteristics
of a person.
There are several
scriptures that many who are deceived or grossly misinformed, use to justify
this erroneous teaching -
1John 5:7 and part
of line eight for example were added in the Latin Vulgate centuries after
the original epistle was written:
["For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one.] and there are the three that bear witness [in earth], the
Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one" 1John
5:7-8
The words in brackets
were added by the Roman church to give validity to their belief in a Trinity
that even the Catholic encyclopedia admits there is no scriptural evidence
of.
Matthew 28:19, which
also seems to lend credibility to the trinity doctrine, is merely a mistranslation:
"Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them [in the name of] the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost..." Mt 28:19
Within this century,
Greek manuscripts were discovered dating back to Apostolic times, that
have shed new light on how this scripture should be correctly translated.
According to J.
Moulton and G. Milligan in their book, "The Vocabulary of The Greek Testament",
the words, "in the name of" should actually read, "into the possession
of". It was found that this phrase was actually an accounting term that
was commonly used during this time period and always connotes possession.
It does not in any
way personify the Holy Spirit.
Put simply, we are
baptized into the possession of the Family and power of God.
Even John 14, which
many use as proof of this non-existent 3rd personage, is not proof at all
- look at John 14:16-17:
"...and he will give you
another Counselor to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it neither sees [him] nor knows [him];
you know [him], for [he] dwells with you, and will be in you."
 Here,
talking about the Paraclete (Counselor/Comforter) or Holy Spirit that GOD
will send to DWELL WITHIN US, the words in brackets once again make clear
that he is not referring to a personage.
These verses appear
in the original Greek text as such:
"...and he will give you
another Counselor to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because IT neither sees IT nor knows IT; you
know IT for IT DWELLS WITH YOU, and will be in you."
So the Holy Spirit that
God SENDS TO DWELL IN US, John refers to as an IT, not a HE.
Later in Jn 14:26,
he refers to the Spirit as that one WHICH, (not who) the Father will send
in my name.
Here the Holy Spirit
is referred to as "that one" -
In several other
places the Paraclete or Comforter is referred to as He.
However these usages
are metaphorical personifications as exists in all forms of literary expression.
But if the Holy
Spirit were a person, the word "IT", WOULD NEVER EVER be used to describe
a being of the GODHEAD, as in fact, we have just seen in Jn 14:16-17.
Could you imagine
ever referring to the Father or Christ - as "IT"?!
In Mt 12:22 - Jesus
was seen casting out demons. Matthew 12:28 tells us by what power
He did this -
"But if it is by the Spirit
of God that I cast out demons..."
As this quote again
confirms, he did this by the Holy Spirit.
But notice, He still
credits Himself, and not a third being of the Godhead, for doing this.
"... I cast out demons"
-
Not - HE (a 3rd God
being) cast out demons -
But Jesus, by God's
authority, using His Holy Power, did.
Finally, if God
gave one of his prophets a vision of the Great Throne of God in Heaven,
wouldn't you expect to find the 3rd personage sharing his throne as we
know Christ does?
Well in the book
of Revelation John in fact describes just such a vision.
Who did he describe
as being in Heaven?
First of all:
"one seated on the throne"
Rev 4:2
Then:
"And between the throne
and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb, as though
it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the
seven spirits of God [angels - Zech 1:10, Zech 4:10, Heb 1:14] sent out
into all the earth..." Rev 5:6
So we see:
One (the Father)
on the throne.
Four living creatures.
Elders.
And Jesus (the Lamb
that was slain).
BUT AGAIN THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS NOT MENTIONED.
Why?
Because as scripture
has proven this supposed 3rd personage of the Godhead does not exist.
The most fundamental
of all traditional Christian doctrines -
The holy trinity
-
Is just one of many
paganistic beliefs and practices that have unfortunately become part of
today's accepted mainstream Christian teachings. |
