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MISUNDERSTANDING #1 “The word ‘Trinity’ does not appear in the Bible; it is a belief made up by Christians in the 4th century.”
TRUTH: It is true that the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but the Trinity is nevertheless a Bible-based belief. The word “incarnation” does not appear in the Bible either, but we use it as a one-word summary of our belief that Jesus was God in the flesh.
The word “Trinity” was used to explain the eternal relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many Bible passages express the Trinity. False beliefs flourished during the early days of Christianity, and still do. Early Christians constantly defended their beliefs. The following early church leaders and/or writings all defended the doctrine of the Trinity long before AD 300
APPROXIMATE DATES:
AD 96 Clement, the third bishop of Rome
AD 90-100 The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles, the “Didache”
AD 90? Ignatius, bishop of Antioch
AD 155? Justin Martyr, great Christians writer
AD 168 Theophilus, the sixth bishop of Antioch
AD 177 Athenagoras, theologian
AD 180 Irenaeus, bishop of lyons
AD 197 Tertullian, early church leader
AD 264 Gregory Thaumaturgus, early church leaders.
MISUNDERSTANDING #2 “Cristians believe there are three Gods.”
Truth: Christians believe in only one God.
Some people might believe that Christians are polytheists (people who believe in many gods) because Christians refer to the Father as God, the Son as God, and the Holy Spirit as God. The Bible says there is only one God but it also calls three distinct Persons “God.” come up with simple explanations for the Trinity. There are limits to every illustration, but some are helpful.
For example, it has been said that
God is not 1 + 1 + 1 = 3
God is 1 x 1 x 1 = 1
The Trinity is a profound doctrine that must be accepted by faith. Accepting a doctrine by faith does not exclude reason, but it also means that we cannot always apply the same logic that we use in mathematics. Without the Trinity, the Christian doctrine of salvation cannot stand. Some religious groups that claim to believe in the God of the Bible, but reject the Trinity, have an understanding of salvation that is based on good works.
St. Patrick is believed to have used the shamrock as a way of illustrating the Trinity. He asked, “Is this one leaf or three? If one leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? if three leaves, why is there just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery as the shamrock, how can you hope to understand one so profound as the Holy Trinity? ” Even though this is an overly simple way to explain the Trinity, some teachers find it helpful.
Misunderstanding #3 “Jesus is not God.”
Truth. Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
- Jesus’ own claims
He forgave sin. We may forgive sins committed against us, but we cannot forgive sins committed against others. Jesus has the authority to forgive any sin (Mark 2:5-12)
He accepted worship as God and claimed to deserve the same honor as the Father. (Matt 14:33; 28:17-18; John 5:22-23; 9:38; 17:5)
He claimed to be the divine Son of God, a title the Jews rightly understood to be a claim to equality with God (John 5:17-18; 10:30-33; 19:7)
2. Jesus and God share traits (see below)
| TRAITS UNIQUE TO GOD | TRAITS OF JESUS |
| Creation is “the work of his hands”- alone (Gen 1:1; Ps 102:25; Isa 44:24) | Creation is “the work of his hands”-all things created in and through him (John 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2, 10) |
| “The first and the last” (Isa 44:6) | “The first and the last” (Rev 1:17; 22:13) |
| “Lord of lords” (Deut 10:17; Ps 136:3) | “Lords of lords” (1 Tim 6:15; Rev 1:17; 22:13) |
| Unchanging and eternal (Ps 90:2; 102:26-27; Mal 3:6) | Unchanging and eternal (John 8:58; Col 1:17; Heb 1:11-12; 13:8) |
| Judge of all people (Gen 18:25; Ps 94:2, 96:13; 98:9) | Judge of all people (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Tim 4:1) |
| Only Savior; no other God can save (Isa 43:11; 45:21-22; Hosea 13:4) | Savior of the world; no salvation apart from him (John 4:42; Acts 4:12; Titus 2:13; 1 John 4:14) |
| Redeems from their sins a people for his own possession (Ex 19:5; Ps 130:7-8; Ezek 37:23) | Redeem from their sins a people for his own possession (Titus 2:14) |
| Hears and answers prayers of those who call on him (Ps 86:5-8; Isa 55:6-7; Jer 33:3; Joel 2:32) | Hears and answers prayers of those who call on him (John 14:14; Rom 10:12-13; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 12:8-9) |
| Only God has divine glory (Isa 42:8; 48:11) | Jesus has divine glory (John 17:5) |
| Worshiped by angels (Ps 97:7) | Worshiped by angels (Heb 1:6) |
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