[button linking=”new_window” align=”left” size=”big” type=”standard” icon=”microphone” title=”Christian Doctrine of The Trinity” text_color=”white” bg_color=”blue”]Click here to listen to Rabbi Singers Audio On The Christian Doctrine of The Trinity[/button]
[space]
[/space]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Matthew 3:17
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
What is the value of God indicating his pleasure in Jesus, if Jesus was himself? And what did Jesus supposedly achieve here, if he was God and it was impossible for him to sin, or do wrong? Was God taking pleasure in himself?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Matthew 20:20-23
The mother of the sons of Zebedee… said to him 21[Jesus][/Jesus], “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered and said…, 23“You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
If Jesus was fully God, why could only the Father, and not Jesus, grant that the two sons of Zebedee sit at the right and left of Jesus?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, he [Jesus][/Jesus] fell on his face to the ground and prayed, saying, “O my Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
If the Father and Jesus were of the same substance, such a prayer would have been meaningless. Jesus would have been praying to himself, and his will, out of necessity, would have been that of the Father’s.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Matthew 26:53
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
If Jesus was God, why would he need to request from God legions of angels? Is there anything God lacks that He must request from another?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Mark 10:17-20
If, as Trinitarians insist, Jesus was God, why did Jesus rebuke the man for addressing him as “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life”? 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” 19“You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder…’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
If, as Trinitarians insist, Jesus was God, why did Jesus rebuke the man for addressing him as “Good Teacher”? (Jesus believed th at the title “good” was appropriate for God alone, who he considered the only standard of goodness).
Interestingly, once the man was corrected, thereafter he only referred to Jesus as “Teacher.”
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Mark 13:32
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
If Jesus was coequal with the Father, how could the Father have information that Jesus lacked? Moreover, if, as some Trinitarians suggest, the son was limited by his human nature, why didn’t the Holy Spirit know?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 5:37
“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Yet Jesus said, “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” (John 13:16) Jesus said on numerous occasions that, “the Father… hath sent me.” (John 5:37,6:37) The Holy Ghost was also sent by the Father (John 14:26) and Jesus (John 16:7), thus making Jesus subordinate to the Father and the Holy Ghost inferior to both the Father and Jesus.
Moreover, God is by nature invisible and never seen, Jesus was of course seen. John 1:18, I John 4:12, I Tim. 6:16
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 8:17-18
“In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
In John 8:17-18, Jesus quotes from the Law the necessity that evidence, to be valid, must be agreed upon by two witnesses. Jesus states that the two witnesses are himself and God. Two, not one. If Jesus was God, there was only one witness, and if Jesus says there are two, then he and God are not one.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[two_fifth valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 10:30
“I, and my Father are one.” 31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 32″We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God. ” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods?'” (see Psalm 82:6)
[/two_fifth]
[three_fifth_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Trinitarians maintain that Jesus’ statement, “l and my Father are one,” demonstrates that Jesus was declaring himself to be God. The Greek word ἕν (one), however, does not imply being a part of the same substance. This is clearly illustrated in John 17:11 and 17:21-22, where in these passages Jesus prays to God that the disciples may be one (ἕν) as Jesus and God are.
Jesus is obviously requesting that the disciples be of one unified purpose, not of the same substance or part of the Trinity.
Moreover, John 10:30-34 is particularly revealing. The fourth Gospel claims that when the Jews heard Jesus proclaim, “I and my Father are one,” they immediately wanted to stone him to death. When Jesus asked why they wanted to kill him, the Jews responded because “you claim to be God.” Upon hearing this Jesus asked, “ls it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?”
This response gives us Insight into the mind of the author of the Book of John, and should be instructive to Trlnltarians.
The verse quoted by Jesus is found in Psalm 82:6 where the Bible refers to judges who teach God’s divine Law as gods.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.'” (Psalm 82:6)
Moreover, the Torah identities Judges as gods (אֱלֹהִים) as well,
Then his master shall bring him to the judges הָאֱלֹהִים… for any kind of lost thing which 8 another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges (אֱלֹהִים); and whoever the judges (אֱלֹהִים) condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. (Exodus 21 :6, 22:8)
This title was bestowed on Jewish judges because they are agents of the Almighty’s divine law, not because they were actually God in any way. The Jewish Scriptures frequently refers to agents of God as a god.
For example, in Exodus 7:1 Moses is called a “god” because he was God’s representative to Pharaoh.
The New Testament never claims that Jesus is God, the Creator of the universe, but rather His subordinate representative.
[/box]
[/three_fifth_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 12:49
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
If God and Jesus are “one in essence,” as the Trinity doctrine says, how could Jesus’ accord, or will, be different from that of his Father? How can Jesus’ privilege not be the same as God? Moreover, if Jesus was the same as God, why would God have to send or command God to do anything?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 14:28
“…I [Jesus][/Jesus] go unto the Father, for my father is greater than I.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
This verse speaks for itself.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom thou hast sent.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Here Jesus insists that the Father is the “only true God.” The Greek word used here for “only” is monos, which is meant to exclude all others. Clearly, the Father cannot be “the only true God” if there are two others who are God to the same degree as he is.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her [Mary][/Mary], “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
If Jesus was God, why would he tell Mary that he considered her Father as his Father, and her God as his God? In Revelations 3:12, after the crucifixion, we continue to see Jesus calling the Father “my God.” But never in the Christian Bible is the Father reported to refer to Jesus as “my God,” nor does either the Father or Jesus refer to the Holy Spirit as “my God.”
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
Did Paul Believe In Doctrine of the Trinity?
[space]
[/space]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
I Corinthians 8:4
…and that is none other God but one. 5For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there may be many gods, and many lords,) 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.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Paul insists that only the Father is declared to be the one and only God. In Ephesians 1:17 Paul is still unaware of the Trinity when he says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
I Corinthians 11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
This verse does not depict Jesus as coequal with God. On the contrary, God is of superior rank to Jesus. Moreover, this statement reveals that the New Testament did not consider Jesus to be equal with God even after the ascension. Paul wrote these words around 55 C.E. — long after the crucifixion.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
I Corinthians 15:28
When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Here Paul unambiguously insists that Jesus was subordinate to God as His “subject.” Throughout the New Testament it is claimed that God bestowed authority upon Jesus – never the other way around.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
I Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
As mentioned above, this concept is restated many times throughout the New Testament: the Father is Jesus’ God — never the other way around (see also Matt. 4:7, 27:46; Rom. 15:6, II Cor. 1:3, I Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:6, 3:12 (four times).
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Colossians 1:15
He [Jesus][/Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
If the earliest Christians believed in the Trinity, why doesn’t the New Testament ever refer to the Father or the Holy Spirit as the “firstborn of all creation?” Understandably, the New Testament would never refer to the Father as “firstborn” because early Christianity considered the Father alone eternal.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
I Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
The fact that Paul clearly distinguishes between God and Jesus places considerable strain on Trinitarianism.
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”comment-alt” style=”solid”]
Consider how the temptation of Jesus is portrayed throughout the Gospels. The New Testament emphatically states “Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” But the Church’s claim that Jesus is God creates insurmountable contradictions: Temptation without the possibility of falling to sin is meaningless. If Jesus is God, it was impossible for him to sin, and it makes no sense to say he was tempted.
Moreover, James 1:13 states that God cannot be tempted!
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
Hebrews 5:7
[Jesus][/Jesus] offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[box icon=”question” style=”solid”]
Why would God need to beg and cry to God to save him from death? Moreover, if the author of Hebrews considered Jesus God, why does Hebrews 5:8 insist that Jesus learned obedience from suffering? Is there anything God does not know and must learn through experience?
[/box]
[/one_half_last]
[divider style=”simple”]
[/divider]
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Tovia Singer