[TruthTalk] The Trinity

[Charles Locke]

Greetings to the TruthTalk group.

DaveH wrote:
> Even after discussing it [the Trinity] with other TTers for 3 years
> now, I don't think I understand it enough to really
> explain it to another person.

I would like to take a stab at helping DAVEH, and others who may read this, understand a little more about the Trinity. My goal here is not to convince, convert, or coerce any specific belief, but only to explain the traditional Christian view of the Trinity, and contrast it to the LDS view.

Since I am "on the road", I do not have the Bible references with me. But, if anyone would like to see them I will look them up when I get home and post them. This discussion will focus on the principle of the Trinity rather than the scriptural support for it.

The first argument a "non-trinitarian" will use against the Trinity is that the word "Trinity" never occurs in the Bible. Well, if we used THAT as the only criterion for determining if the Trinity is real, then a good percentage of most religions would go out the window! So, this argument is specious, and frequently used as the first line of defense by those who want to refute the Trinity rather than understand it. I am confident that no one in this group is shallow enough to use this lame argument.

The name "Trinity" and the Trinitarian doctrine are used to resolve an apparent paradox that appears in the Bible, but is not specifically identified as doctrine anywhere in the Biblical texts. This paradox is REAL, and it is in the text, and can be seen by anyone who cares to read it.

The RCC and the Protestants (which I will call "traditional Christianity") resolve this paradox by assigning three "persons" (which in itself is confusing already, because most of us think of "persons" as separate beings) to a single being.

The LDS resolve this same paradox, but they do so by making the Father and the Son separate individual beings.

At this point let me interject that a difference I have noticed between LDS' and traditional Christians' theology is that traditional Christians admit that not every concept in the Bible can be clearly understood by men, since "my ways are not your ways", as Jesus put it. However, the LDS seem to have to have a logical, humanly understandable explanation for everything. Their respective concepts of the Trinity reveal this.

The paradox is thus:

1. Throughout the Bible is is made VERY clear that there is only one God. There are many passages that support this, and it generally is not a point of contention.

2. In contrast to that, the hebrew names and words used to reveal God's name and character are often are expressed in plural form, but in singular usage.

3. There are certain acts toward GOD that are to be expressed directly and exclusively to God, such as praying and worship.

4. There are certain actions which only God can perform, such as forgiving sins, and performing miracles.

and now the paradox...

5. All three of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit exhibit the exclusive attributes of God, and are given the exclusive acts of worship and reverence that only should be expressed to God!

So, there are only two reasonable resolutions to this:

1. Either the Father and the Son are separate beings, which leads to polytheism, as in the LDS church. (I have heard some very interesting rationalizations for why this is NOT polytheism). The Holy Spirit is not a problem in this paradigm, since the LDS Gods have a human form and once were human, and each has a spirit of his own.

2. There are three co-existant, but separate and distinct "persons" combined in a single God, which are called out in the Bible as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Traditional Christianity adopts this resolution, which avoids polytheism, but introduces a cognitive dissonance due to our lack of ability to fully understand this "mystery".

So, in conclusion, the word "Trinity" is used by traditional Christians to express a paradoxical concept that is in the Scriptures, and the Trinitarian doctrine was developed to provide a resolution to this paradox, although it does include a "mystery".

On the other hand, the LDS concept of multiple Gods removes the "mystery", but introduces polytheism, which must be dealt with.

I certainly hope this helps understand the Trinitarian concept. And, not being LDS, I hope I have represented the LDS position fairly.

Perry


_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

----------
"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org

If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.