(This work is in progress; we will, God willing, be working on this a little at a time until it is finished. -- Ronald R. Day, Sr.)
We will be here addressing the claim of one who has presented a list of scriptures that are alleged to prove the trinity doctrine. We started this several years ago, and evidently never completed it. Evidently, the presentation to which we are responding is no longer on the internet, so we are responding solely to the notes we took. We will mostly be addressing the scriptures pertaining to God's Son. In many cases, we may only provide links to where the scriptures are discussed.
While God's Holy Spirit is never presented in the Bible as being a person of God, His Holy Spirit is likened to God's figurative finger and His figurative mouth. What is done by a person's finger is what is done by the person. What is said by one's mouth is what is said by the person to whom that mouth belongs. Likewise, with God and His Holy Spirit. While this does not necessarily prove that God's Holy Spirit is NOT a person, on the other hand, it does prove that the usage of such language regarding the Holy Spirit does not prove that God's Holy Spirit is a person, or that God's Holy Spirit is wholly and fully God as an alleged third person of God. Nevertheless, what is done to a person's finger is done to the person to whom that finger belongs. What is spoken back to the words of one's mouth is what is spoken back to the person to whom that mouth belongs to.
Point #1: Creation of the Universe
This is presented as being one of the "strongest" proofs of the trinity. The idea apparently is to allegedly prove that God's Spirit, God and God's Son all created the universe, and, thus, because of this, we should imagine, assume, add to and read into the scriptures that God is more than one person, and that he is three persons, etc.
Evidently, the following scriptures are supposed to prove that God's Holy Spirit created the universe: Psalm 104:29,30; Job 33:4. It is evidently imagined and assumed that this means the God's Holy Spirit is a person of God, and thus the imagined and assumed third person of the alleged triune God. Nothing in these scriptures, however, mentions the creation of the "universe".
Psalm 104:29,30
We do find the word "spirit" (Strong's 7307) mentioned in Psalm 104:29,30 in connection with the taking away of human life, and the returning of human life. The Hebrew word for spirit is used with various applications; it is not always referring to God's Holy Spirit.
While we are sure that God does make use of his Holy Spirit is the giving and the taking away of life, we do not find God's Holy Spirit mentioned in Psalm 104:29,30. In the Bible, the Hebrew word for "spirit", is used with different applications, and simply because we see a form of the Hebrew word often transliterated as "rûach" being used, it does not necessarily mean that God's Holy Spirit is being referred to.
There is nothing in Psalm 104:29,30 about the creation of the universe; it is actually speaking of man's death and his being restored to life.
See our studies:
Neshamah
The Spirit that Returns to God
Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Here, the Hebrew word often transliterated as "ruach" is evidently being used to designate God's Holy Spirit.
God surely made use of his Holy Spirit in creation; that does not mean that we need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scriptures that God is more than one person, and further imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scriptures that God's Holy Spirit is a separate and distinct person from Himself, etc.
What we do not find in any of the scriptures listed is any thought that God is more than one person, or that God's Holy Spirit is a separate and distinct person of Himself. All such has to be imagined beyond what is written, and then added to and read into what is written.
Acts 3:15
And the Prince of the life ye did kill, whom God did raise out of the dead, of which we are witnesses. -- Young's Literal.
This is one of the scriptures that is supposed to show that Jesus is the "Creator of the universe". Again, we find nothing about the creation of the universe in this verse, but we do find that many translations present Jesus as being "the prince of life", "the author of life," etc. Evidently, what is being imagined and assumed is that such an expression designates Jesus as being the ultimate source of life, and thus that Jesus is the ultimate source of the creation of the universe, etc.
The one who presented this, however, claims that the JWs' New World Translation supports that Jesus is the creator of the universe. While we are not with the JWs, we looked up how the New World Translation renders this:
Whereas you killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses.
The word rendered "prince" above in most translations is a compound word that roughly means chief or first leader. It can refer to chief source. It is used again in Acts 5:31 regarding how the one person who is God exalted Jesus. It is used again in Hebrews 2:10, designating Jesus as the first or chief over salvation. It is also used in Hebrews 12:2 in reference to Jesus as being the chief leader and perfecter of the faith of those who belong to Christ. In none of these instance, however, does the usage of this word of Jesus designate Jesus as being his God, Jehovah, or as being a person of his God, Jehovah.
Since Jesus proved his faithfulness and has been highly exalted by his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; Philippians 2:8,9), and since God has given to Jesus the authority and power to give life to others, then Jesus becomes the instrument of God as to give life to believers in this age as well as to all of redeemed mankind. -- Matthew 28:19; John 5:19-21,25; 11:25; 12:47,48; 14:6; 17:2; 20:31; Romans 5:12-19,21; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22,45; 1 John 2:2; 4:9.
Jesus' being God's instrument in salvation, of course, does not remove Jesus' God (Micah 5:4: Ephesians 1:3) from being the ultimate source of all life. (1 Timothy 6:13; 1 John 5:11) It was Jesus' God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4), the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Acts 3:13), who raised Jesus from the dead, as reported not only in Acts 3:15, but also in Acts 2:24,32,26; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30,33,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 1 Peter 1:21; 3:18. Jehovah is, therefore, the source of Jesus' life, power and authority. **** needs editing
John 1:1-3
Two things are usually read into these verses so as to make them appear to be speaking of two persons of a tribune God. 1) It is claimed that the usage of the Greek word often transliterated as THEOS as applied to the Logos proves that Jesus is God Almighty, and it is claimed that verse 3 presents Jesus as being the Creator. Actually, since Jesus is not the "one God" from whom are all (1 Corinthians 8:6), the default reasoning should be, not to imagine and assume that THEOS as applied "the Word" means God Almighty, but rather that is a Hebraism referring to Jesus in more general sense of might, power, strength. Likewise, the Greek text does not designate Jesus as being the source of the creation of the world of mankind, but as the instrument used in the creation of the world of mankind. Since we have discussed this in detail in other studies, we will not repeat such here, but we invite to see our Links to studies related to John 1:1-3.
Colossians 1:15,16
Acts 3:15
In Acts 3:15, as well as throughout Acts 3, only one person is identified as being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Jesus is distinguished from being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob throughout. Jesus is the first or chief leader (archegos, Strong's #747) in life, being the first and the last firstborn from the dead. It is because of his faithfulness til death that the one person who his God exalted Jesus to the highest position in the universe, excluding the position of being the Most High himself
- God (Gen 1:1-3; Isa 45:18; Acts 17:24-26)
2) Raised Jesus from the dead
- Christ (Jn 2:18-19; Jn 10:18)
- Spirit (Rom 8:11)
- God (1 Cor 6:14; Act 13:33-37)
3) Are Baptized into
- Trinity (Matt 28:19)
- Christ (Gal 3:27; Act 2:38; Rom 6:3)
- Spirit (Matt 3:11; Act 1:5, 8:16-17, 1 Cor 12:12-13)
4)Are the image from which man was created
- God’s Spirit (2 Cor 3:16-17)
- Jesus (Rom 8:29)
- God (Gen 1:27)
5)Is the Spirit that dwells in believers
- Rom 8:9-11
6)The “alpha and omega,” the “first and the last”
- Jesus (Rev 1:17-18, 2:8, Rev 22:12-13,16)
- God (Isa 44:6; Rev 1:8)
7)Above the angels
- God and Jesus (Heb 5-12 // Psalms 104:4, 45:6-7, and 102:25-27)
8)Birthed Jesus into the world
- Spirit (Matt 1:18)
- Jesus (Phil 2:7)
- God (Gal 4:4)
No comments:
Post a Comment