The One God doctrine – some common Trinitarian objections answered.
By Br. Lars Oberink, Den Haag, July 2011
There exist some common objections against the notion that God is numerically one, and not a trinity or duality. This article will deal with those objections step by step, and show that the One God doctrine is consistent with scripture, contrary to the Trinitarian position that lacks Biblical support. The following questions are among the more frequently encountered ones[1]:
- Is Jesus His own Father?
2. If Jesus’ will and the Father’s will were identical, then why did Jesus express the desire to escape the cup but resigns Himself not to His own will, but the will of the Father? See my article on this.
3. Was Jesus praying to Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane?
4. If Jesus was praying to the divine side of Himself, then isn’t He still praying to Himself?
5. Why was Jesus not saying, “Not My will, but MY will be done?” if there is only one person and one will involved when He was praying in Luke 22:42 & Matt. 26:39.
6. If baptism is essential for salvation, then what happens to someone who repents of sin, accepts Jesus as Savior, walks across the street to get baptized but is killed by a car. Does he go to heaven or hell?
1. If he goes to heaven, then baptism isn’t a requirement is it?
2. If he goes to hell, then faith in Christ isn’t sufficient to save him is it?
7. Since the Bible teaches us that Jesus is in bodily form now (Col. 2:9), then how does the Oneness Pentecostal person maintain that God is in the form of the Holy Spirit? Also, when Jesus returns, will He return in His body? Will God’s form then revert to the form of the Son at a later date?
8. If God is only one person, why did Jesus say in John 14:23, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” If God is only one person, why does Jesus say, “we”?
9. Oneness theology teaches that God was in the mode of the Father in the Old Testament. God was seen in the OT (not as a vision or a dream or an angel in the following verses: Exo. 6:2-3; Gen. 19:24; Num. 12:6-8). But, Jesus said no one has seen the Father (John 6:46). If they were seeing God Almighty (Exo. 6:2-3) but it wasn’t the Father, then who was it?
In the next section, I will provide answers to these objections from a One God perspective. The numbers refer to the listed questions.
Question 1:
This question is misleading, because it is based on a presupposition that the Father and the Son are two distinct persons. It shows a bias towards a multiplicity in God. Compare this question : “How did God use evolution to create the world ?” This presupposes evolution to be true. An unbiased formulation of this question would be: Is Jesus besides the Son also the Father ? The answer from the Bible would be: Yes, He is! The Bible says the Son would be called Father (Is 9:6)[2]:
Isa9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Jesus clearly said that the Father is in Him, and that he who sees Jesus, is in fact looking at the Father (John 14:9-11, John 12:45). Te correct understanding is that God is the Father of His own flesh (John 1:14). The manifestation of God in His own flesh is called Jesus Christ. (1 Tim 3:16).
Question 2:
Again this question shows a Trinitarian bias. But more disconcertingly, it attributes something to Jesus that is unbiblical and false. Jesus never desired to escape death on the cross. My counter-question would be: if Jesus really desired to escape the cross, how can you explain verses like these:
John2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
John10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Mark10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
The fact is, Jesus Christ never had a “plan B”. He is God, His plan will be triumphant. He came to die on the cross, and He did this by one single will: the will of the Father, for the Father and the Son are one (John 10:30). Throughout the Bible God clearly shows He has only one will:
John5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Deut32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Question 3:
Before I answer this question, let us first assume that Jesus was indeed praying to a distinct first person God the Father. Now the official version doctrine of the Trinity states that God eternally exists as three co-equal and consubstantial persons[3]. If all the persons within the Godhead are completely equal and of the same essence, why would one person God the Son have to pray to another person God the Father? This in fact would be a meaningless kind of prayer, since both God the Son and God the Father are on an equal level. The Son would not need any help from the Father, since they are both equally powerful. Praying however implies that a weaker party is appealing to a higher authority for help.
The best way of interpreting the prayer of Jesus to the Father is by understanding that everything Jesus did on earth was for us, for humanity as a whole. He is the Mediator between man and God (1 Tim 2:5). Just as Jesus did not die on the cross for Himself, but for us, He also suffered humiliation for us, and He prayed for us. Jesus prayed on behalf of Adam as his Mediator. Not because he was weak and needed help. All power belongs to Jesus in heaven and on earth. He does not need any external assistance. Now as to the question whom Jesus was praying to, let us look at two verses and combine them:
2Cor5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Rom8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Just as God (the Father) was in Christ (John 14:10-11), and reconciling humanity to Himself, also the same Spirit (God) who lives in us will intercede to Himself. This is the mystery of godliness. God Himself was manifested in flesh as Jesus, not another God or person. The Trinitarian creed in fact makes the mistake of creating another God[4]:
[God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God
These words are profoundly unbiblical. Yet they form the basis of present-day orthodox Christianity. God however cannot be duplicated. There is only One God, indivisible (Is 43:10). When Jesus is praying to the Father, He is reconciling the world to Himself, not to another God or gods. That is why Jesus is called the alfa and omega, the beginning and the end, the root and the branch. Jesus is both Spirit and flesh. He and the Father are One. God is the source and the end of everything, so indeed Jesus is praying to God, and He is the only God. Jesus is praying to Himself, for God is one. We should not be confused by this, because God is certainly capable of praying to Himself to mediate for mankind. He is the ultimate standard for everything. His name expresses this: I AM (Yah-weh). God does not need any higher authority or external explanation, He simply is. That is why the Bible makes the following statement about God:
Col1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Question 4:
This question is flawed because it unjustly presupposes the so called dual nature doctrine of Jesus. This doctrine states that Jesus, although being a single person, is in fact in possession of two distinct natures: one divine, and one human. This doctrine rests on the doctrine of the trinity, and was finalized at the council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. The text declared orthodox during Chalcedon[5] is adopted from a letter written by pope Leo I (also called Leo’s Tome), and was intended to settle the Nestorian dispute . The idea that Jesus somehow has a dualistic nature is therefore a much later theological development, and not from the Bible nor any teaching of the apostles.
The consequence of the dual nature position is that the Son of God (God the Son) was made distinct from the (human) Son of Mary. Jesus Christ was declared a perfect union between these two natures, albeit in a single person. In addition, Mary was confirmed to be the “Mother of God”, an expression that is not found anywhere in the Bible. We can already see the inception of the May veneration rite that would become so typical for the Catholic church in later times.
Nowhere does scripture suggest that Jesus was partially human in any way. In fact any humanity in Jesus would prevent Him from being the Messiah (Num 23:19). The Bible states that only God can save man (Is 43:10). If Jesus is our Savior, He has to be 100% God, without human nature. The human nature is a sin nature (Rom 5:12), but Jesus is declared to be separate from sin (Heb 7:26). If Jesus was biologically related to human beings, it is difficult to see how He could be without sin. If as the Trinitarians say the sin was removed from His human nature, how can He still be regarded as fully man? This contradiction cannot be solved from scripture, and the Chalcedonian creed did not succeed in settling the dispute. In the end, dogma and church muscle were applied to force the bishops to accept the creed under threat of anathema. One can already sense the sad direction the Christian church is taking, as it is becoming more and more powerful. The Bible however is crystal clear about the fact that Jesus flesh and blood is from God and not from humanity:
Luke1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Matt1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
John6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
John1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. This means that He has the spiritual “DNA” of the Father. This essence is purely divine and not mixed with human DNA from Mary (2 Pe 1:4). Mary was herself in need of salvation, and her flesh cannot bring about our redemption (Luke 2:30). Furthermore, Jesus never recognized her as His earthly mother (John 2:4, Matt 12:48). Jesus further summarily dismissed any biological dependency on David (Matt 22:45), and He denied being a literal son of Abraham (John 8:58). These Messianic names (Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of Man) are titles that refer to the seed as the Word of God, the promise of God to Abraham and David. The seed of David and seed of Abraham is a spiritual seed, not a literal one (Rom 9:8, Gal 3:29).
The origin of the body of Jesus is thus from heaven, and not from the earth. Humans are from the earth, but Jesus is from heaven. The heavenly body of Jesus is the resurrection body of the saints (1 Cor 15:47-66). A dust body or dual nature body cannot be directly taken from the Word, and is not the incorruptible body that we put on in baptism in Jesus Name. The flesh of Christ is a truly heavenly flesh.
With that understanding we can conclude, in conjunction with the response to question 3, that Jesus was in fact praying for Adam in the role of the Mediator between God (The Father) and mankind. Since God was also in Christ (2 Cor 5:19, Col 2:9), when Jesus prays, He is praying as God to God. Jesus is therefore praying to Himself on our behalf. This should not surprise us. God is One. God has always interceded for humanity to draw them closer to Him. God sorrows for His creation from the beginning (Gen 6:6), which has fallen into sin. This is why God is the beginning and the end. All things ultimately come from Him (except sin), and have their end in Him as well.
Question 5:
To understand why Jesus is speaking about His own will as well as the will of the Father, we have to realize that God exercised a very special role in Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who was to be slain for sins He had not committed (1 Pe 3:18). In the role of the Son, God did not have any separate or distinct will. The doctrine of dyothelitism was forced upon the Christian world during the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 681 AD, where pope Agatho issued a long list of anathema’s against his opponents. This doctrine proclaiming that Jesus had two distinct wills, one human and one divine, stands on the shoulders of Chalcedon, and will fall if it falls. But does Jesus really have two wills? The answer from the Bible is a resounding no! The only reason Jesus is here speaking about my will versus the will of the Father is to underline that He really has no separate will at all. The following verses make this quite clear:
John6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
John5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
John14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Question 6:
Let me respond with a question first: what does it mean to “accept Jesus Christ as savior”? What is the Biblical basis for that statement? Where does the Bible say we have to accept Christ in this fashion to seal our salvation? In fact there is not even an agreed definition what it actually means to accept Christ. Does it involve repentance? If not, why is repentance listed as essential for salvation (Luke 13:3)? Does it involve a level of faith? How is that measured? Does it involve verbalizing this faith or calling the name of Jesus, as this is also considered salvific? (Rom 10:9).
Nowhere in the Bible do the apostles go around and urge people to “accept Christ as their personal savior”. What we see from the Bible (mainly in the book of Acts), is a model whereby they preach the Word of God, and subsequently baptize the people that have accepted the gospel. Faith precedes baptism. After being baptized, the apostles practiced laying on of hands for the people to receive the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues. After a teaching period of several months, the apostle(s) would anoint several elders to establish an initial structure for the local church. This is the Biblical model. Large evangelical campaigns culminating into a collective “sinners prayer” are not found in the Bible.
The truth is, that things like “accepting Jesus in your heart”, “accepting Christ as your personal savior” and the famous “sinners prayer” are all contraptions from the revival days of the 19th century. They represent theological innovations (inventions) by evangelists such as Charles Finney. Until that time the majority of protestants agreed that the new birth of water and Spirit (John 3:5) is an inseparable part of the salvation of any soul. Salvation is by grace through faith (Efe 2:8). But that faith is exactly what leads people into the waters of baptism. Water baptism separates the believers from the unbelievers (Acts 2:38). In the water, the body of Adam is rolled off (Col 2:10-12), and we are circumcised spiritually. Space does not permit a complete treatise of the role of baptism, but it is sufficient to say the apostles baptized every single convert in water in the Name of Jesus Christ (and not in the trinity!). Only in the last 150 years has the function of the new birth become so eroded. People decided that baptism is just a symbol, but God never changes. An honest reading of the Bible reveals that baptism is not symbolic but is essential obedience to God’s path of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus:
Mark16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Matt28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
John3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Rom6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Gal3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Acts2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts8:16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Acts10:48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Acts19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Col2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Regarding the hypothetical and quite extreme scenario of a man who is killed on his way to baptism, this can be listed under what the apostle Paul calls “foolish and unlearned questions” (2 Tim 2:23). One can make up and endless stream of such exceptions. What about a man who dies of a heart attack while he is “accepting Christ”? What about people who are physically or mentally impeded to pray or attend church services? God’s ways are always higher than our ways, and on such matters one is best to be silent, as words are wasted on issues that will be hidden for us, but known unto God.
Question 7:
God the Father is Spirit the Bible says (John 4:23-23). There is only one Spirit in God (Efe 4:4). The Father is therefore the Holy Spirit. That Spirit manifested in flesh as Jesus Christ (1 Tim 3:16). From the moment God manifested in His own heavenly flesh, God will forever be flesh and Spirit. We will only see God as Jesus Christ (John 1:18). Jesus will never change. He is the same, yesterday, today, forever (Heb 13:8). God manifests Himself to believers as the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God is available for believers through faith and water baptism (Acts 2:38, 19:1-6). Jesus will however return bodily the same as He went (Acts 1:11). However, this question seems to reveal confusion about the distinction between the Spirit of God and His flesh. This is only a distinction of manifestation and not of substance or person. Jesus is both Spirit (the Father) and flesh (the Son). He is called the person of the Father (Heb 1:3). Therefore the Spirit and the flesh cannot be separated. Both are One God (John 10:30).
Question 8:
Counter question: If God is multiple persons, then why does the Bible refer to Him as “He”?
Mark12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he
And if there is indeed a multiplicity within the Godhead, why dos God always refer to Himself as “I”, first person singular:
Isa43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Deut32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Neh9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
My point is that verses like John 14:23 or John 17:22 do not provide proof that God is three persons. And that is what Trinitarians should have to establish using scripture. These verses can be offset by an overwhelming amount of scripture that use first or second person singular. Moreover, the plural ones could be interpreted as majestic plural, or some form of personification of the titles of God as Father and Son. The Bible does use a lot of metaphorical or even poetic language at times. The fact that a few verses do use plural pronoun when referring to God, are not conclusive evidence for a triune God. If God is really three, the onus is on the Trinitarians to provide an explanation for the large body of evidence to a singular God.
Question 9:
They saw what is called a theophany in theology[6]. The father is a Spirit, and indeed no human can see Him without serious consequences (death, Ex 33:20). God is holy, and no flesh can see Him and live. Therefore, God manifests Himself in a form that commensurate with human sensory ability. But at the same time this way of appearing will inevitably remove some of the pure glory of God. When God appears to Moses, He mentions that he will only see “His back parts” (Ex 33:23). Prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah saw a vision of God where He appears in the likeness of a Man, or sitting upon a throne. Notice that they always see only one person:
Isa6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Ezek1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
It is however not the Father they are seeing, but a temporary manifestation specifically “designed” for the occasion. Jesus ultimately reveals the glory of the Father, by taking on flesh and blood (Acts 20:28). He is the fullness of God in the likeness of human flesh (Col 2:9, Phil 2:7). God mercy and love is revealed only in Jesus Christ. That is why the Lord said: if you see me, you will see the Father. Some people however, although they have been a long time with the Lord, still entertain the thought that Jesus is distinct from the Father! Let the words of Jesus spoken to the apostle Philip shed light in their hearts:
John14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Let me finish this article with a brief explanation of the identity of Jesus Christ from a One God perspective. This will hopefully help in gaining a clear understanding of the One God preached by the apostles, without distinction of persons.
God is a Spirit, and God is Word (Gen 1:1-3, Ps. 33:6). Those are aspects of the One God of Israel. What does that mean? Before the flesh of Jesus was begotten, He was Spirit and Word. The Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. The Sprit in Jesus is the Father. This helps to understand that Jesus is not distinct from the Father (who is Spirit), but that He is in Him.
God is One. That “one” is a numerical one, not a type of oneness, which is really a form of disguised multiplicity. Oneness is in fact a Trinitarian term, that is not found anywhere in the Bible. The Bible simply states that God is one. The word is Greek for one is “eis”, which is the translation of “echad”. Echad and eis simply refer to the ordinal number 1.
Trinitarians have tried to find evidence in the Bible for threeness in God, but they have to stretch the meaning of scriptures or rob the verses of their context to make their case. Well known examples are the supposed trinity in words like echad or a plural reference to God (Gen 1:26). All these examples have very convincing alternative explanations, such as majestic plurality or the plurality of Gods glory or titles. And even if they would denote a plurality, they are far from the very specific form of the trinity which consists of three co-equal and eternal persons. Another example is the supposed trinity visiting Abraham. The Bible text however reveals that two of the men are in fact angels. God is represented by a single theophany (Gen 19:22). On the other hand, the evidence for God being simply one without division is overwhelming. A few verses will clarify this:
Matt11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Phil2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
2Cor3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Mark12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Jesus is called Lord. The Father is called Lord. The Spirit is called Lord, and God is called Lord. How many Lords are there in God? Exactly, One Lord (Efe 4:4). This implies that Jesus, the Father and the Spirit are all the same Lord, without distinction of persons, without multiplicity of natures or wills.
Rev22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Isa44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Jesus is called the alfa and omega, and the Father is called alfa and omega. There are not two alfa and omega’s. There is only one Almighty: Jesus Christ, the Father manifested in flesh and blood.
Closing words:
After 700 AD, and as a result of 500 years of theological debates, the Christian world went on from believing in the simplicity of Christ into a state religion that forced people accept the doctrines developed in seven ecumenical councils. The Jesus of the gospels and letters of Paul is thus declared:
– To be the second person of a celestial trinity, God the Son.
– To have a dual nature, one human and one divine, both inseparable
– To have two distinct but inseparable wills, one human and one divine
In his book “The history of Chistian theology”, Roger E Olson (a staunch Trinitarian himself) is quite honest about the driving force behind the development of these doctrines: neo platonic philosophy. One quote about the work of Trinitarian father Gregory of Nyssa is quite revealing[7]:
“The one God-head subsists in three coequal, coeternal, coessential persons, and this truth is an incomprehensible mystery. There is communion of substance but distinction of personhood. This trinity is a perfect, inseparable, indivisible union, and the persons work together in all things. The unique distinguishing characteristics of the persons are as follows: the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten (generated), and the Holy Spirit is proceeding (spirated). The generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit are mysteries, however. While the persons are coequal and coeternal, the Father is in some sense the head and the origin”
One might wonder if these statements are still speaking of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who manifested in flesh as the Lord Jesus Christ. The trinity is always referred to as an incomprehensible mystery. The reason is that in the end, the trinity cannot be adequately explained nor understood. But the notion that God chose to remain hidden during OT times, and then to manifest Himself again in a mystery, is unbiblical:
Col1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
1Tim3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
The mystery of God is revealed in Jesus Christ, not in another mystery!
The history of the Trinity is quite well documented, and excellently described by theologians like Olson, who convincingly links the development of the trinity to neo-platonic philosophy. Church fathers like Justin Martyr, Origen, and later Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, made extensive use of platonic concepts like monad, hypostasis and (Greek) logos to forge what would be known as the trinity. In its initial conception at Nicaea, the Holy Ghost was not yet part of the fully fledged trinity, only to be added at the time of the council of Constantinople in 381 AD. From Justin Martyr to the Cappadocian Fathers it had taken the Trinitarian theologians more than 200 years to develop a doctrine that is in its core a mixture of Greek philosophy and New testament theology. The doctrine of the Trinity is not found in the Bible, is based on circumstantial textual evidence, seems logically flawed, confuses believers, and was never preached by any of the apostles. With the correct understanding of God being One, the trinity is in fact an unnecessary concept.
1Cor8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
John20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
I pray that whoever reads this will (by the grace of God ) understand that the Son of God Jesus Christ is both Lord and God our Father.
[1] These questions were taken from the following Trinitarian site: http://carm.org/religious-movements/oneness-pentecostal/questions-ask-oneness-pentecostal-believers
[2] All verses taken from the King James Translation
[3] Grudem, Wayne A. 1994. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press; Page 226
[4] Excerpt from the Nicene Creed, 325 AD. The bracketed words were taken out during the first council of Constantinopel in 381 AD
[5] http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/chalcedonian_definition.htm
[6] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590940/theophany
[7] From: Roger E Olson, The Story of Christian Theology Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform (1999)