The Trinity is Not a Bible Teaching

That the holy spirit is personified in the Bible does not mean it is a person. Death is said to rule as a king in Romans 5:17, 21 and sin is said to seduce, kill, and work out covetousness in Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:35, and Romans 5:17, 21 correspondingly. Does this mean death and sin are persons as well? Baptism in the name of the holy spirit does not prove it is a person. In the Bible, "name" can sometimes stand for power or authority (Deuteronomy 18:5, 19-22; Esther 8:10). It is similar to the expression, "in the name of the law," which does not mean the law is a person. A person baptized in the name of the holy spirit recognizes the power and role of the holy spirit in accomplishing Jehovah's will (Galatians 5:22, 23; 2 Peter 1:21). The Bible does not call the holy spirit God. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us that the books of the Bible were, “at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit.” What David was saying is that he spoke from Jehovah, the God of Israel, as he was moved by holy spirit. The holy spirit does not have a mind. In Romans 8:26, 27, Paul is saying that when praying, God's people may not always know exactly what to pray for as they need to. But, God knows it is their desire for His will to be done, and also knows what it is they need. In the past, God has caused inspired prayers to be recorded in the Bible, expressing his will, or mind, for them. God accepts these prayers inspired by holy spirit found in his word as being what his servants should like to ask and pray for and, accordingly, he fulfills them. God knows the righthearted people as well as the meaning of the things that he caused his spirit to speak through the Bible writers. So, He knows what the “meaning (or mind) of the spirit is” when the spirit thus “pleads,” or intercedes, for them. People are not said to be filled with the Son in the Bible. Ephesians 4:10 says that Jesus ascended to heaven so that “he might fill all things” which can also be translated as “that he might give fulness to all things” or “that he might bring all things to fulfillment.” Jesus was sent for a purpose, and he ascended so that “he might bring all things to fulfillment” by becoming king of the heavenly kingdom that we ask for in prayer and will soon be established on Earth (Daniel 2:44), fulfilling God's will of making the Earth a paradise where the righteous will live on forever (Psalms 37:29; Matthew 5:5). Neither Ephesians 4:10 nor any other Bible verse says that people are filled with the Son as they are said to be filled with holy spirit. If the holy spirit is a person… Why does the Bible say people are “filled” with holy spirit? Is it reasonable that a person would be “filled” with another person (Luke 1:41)? Why does the Bible say people are “baptized” with holy spirit? John the Baptizer could hardly have been referring to the holy spirit as a person when he spoke of baptizing people with it (Matthew 3:11). Why does the Bible say people are “anointed” with holy spirit and that it is “poured” out upon people? Again, here we see language that is inconsistent with the idea of the holy spirit being a person. Why doesn't the Bible say people are anointed with the Father or the Son? Why doesn't the Bible say the Father and Son are poured upon people as well (Acts 10:38, 44, 45)? What the Bible teaches about the holy spirit is clear. The Bible refers to the holy spirit as God's “hands” or “fingers” (Psalm 8:3; 19:1; Luke 11:20). God has used his spirit, as a craftsman uses his hands and fingers in his work, to produce results like the following: The universe (Psalm 33:6; Isaiah 66:1, 2). The Bible (2 Peter 1:20, 21). The miracles and zealous preaching of his ancient servants (Luke 4:18; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The good qualities shown by people who obey him. (Galatians 5:22, 23). Can a craftsman's hands and fingers function independent of his mind and body? Similarly, the holy spirit only functions as God directs it. It is not a person. The Bible further shows the holy spirit's impersonal nature by comparing it to water and associating it with things like faith and knowledge (Isaiah 44:3; Acts 6:5; 2 Corinthians 6:6). Neither the Bible nor history say that Jesus' apostles and other early disciples believed that the holy spirit was a person. Here is a quote from The Encyclopaedia Brittanica: "The definition that the Holy Spirit was a distinct divine Person [...] came at the Council of Constantinople in ad 381." That's more than 250 years after the last apostle died. The burden of proof is on Con. Con said: How could an energy be blasphemed? The burden of proof is on Pro. Response of Pro: The Jewish religious leaders of the first century saw God's holy spirit at work in Jesus as he performed miracles that honored Jehovah. They, however, attributed this power to Satan the Devil, thus, sinfully blaspheming against the spirit. The holy spirit has God as its source. Those speaking against the holy spirit are, therefore, speaking against Jehovah. Those who oppose the operation of God's holy spirit have no forgiveness (Mark 3:20-29). Con said: “Pro should not take texts that says the holy Spirit is 'distributed to people', 'anointed to people' and 'baptized with people' in the literal sense. That would be a flawed hermeneutics and hence, an eisegesis. Response of Pro: Although the Bible sometimes compares God and Jesus to impersonal things, it does not give these impersonal qualities as it does with the holy spirit. Con said: Jesus Christ is "from everlasting" (eternal) based on Micah 5:2. Response of Pro: It is noteworthy that instead of “from everlasting,” other renderings include: “ancient days” and “days of old.” Viewed in the light of Colossians 1:15 and Revelation 3:14, Micah 5:2 does not prove Jesus is eternal. Con said: Jesus is not part of "every creature" because he is the first begotten in, by and for whom all things came into existence. Response of Pro: Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God because he is unique, different from all others of God's sons being the only direct creation of his Father through whom all other things were created. This does not exclude Jesus from being part of the creation. Con said: God refers to David (the last-born son of Jesse) as "firstborn" king in Psalm 89:27, "the highest of the kings of the earth", so also is Jesus the "firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15) in that Jesus has preeminence and first place in everything that exists. Response of Pro: If what Colossians 1:15 means is that Jesus has preeminence and first place in everything that exists, why aren't the Father and the “Holy Spirit” also said to be the first-born? This expression is only applied to the Son in the Bible. According to the customary meaning, it indicates that Jesus is the oldest in Jehovah's family of sons. Con said: According to the Bible, the Holy Spirit is functionally subordinate to the Son. Response of Pro: If the “Holy Spirit” is subordinate to the Son, why is blasphemy against the spirit forgiven, but not blasphemy against the Son (Matthew 12:31, 32)? Does this not flatly contradict the trinity doctrine? If the “Holy Spirit” were a person and God, in some way, it would be greater than the Son. What Jesus said clearly shows that the Father, to whom the holy spirit belongs, is greater than Jesus. Con said: The Father and the Son have the same authority over all creation. They are both worshiped by all creation (Revelation 5:13, 14:4, 22:3). Response of Pro:If you read verse 6 of Revelation 22, you see that the slaves mentioned in verse 3 are the slaves of Jehovah, not of the lamb. Thus, they render sacred service to Jehovah, not Jesus. The Bible clearly shows that these two are different persons. Consider, for example, when Jesus said "Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service." (Matthew 4:10). Here we learn at least two things. First, Satan was trying to get Jesus to worship someone other than Jehovah, something that would have been ridiculous if he was part of the same God. Secondly, Jesus made it clear there was only one person who should be worshiped when he said "him alone" rather than "us," which he would have said if he was part of a trinity. Consider also Psalms 110:1 “The utterance of Jehovah to my [David’s] Lord is: ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.’” Jesus explained that he himself was David’s “Lord,” referred to in this psalm in Matthew 22:41-45. So, Jesus, rather than being Jehovah, is to whom Jehovah's words were directed. Con said: John 1:1 and John 1:14 said that “the Word was God” and “the Word became flesh.” Response of Pro: The NWT translates John 1:1, 2 as: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was in the beginning with God.” This is the rendering that harmonizes with the context. As you have said, John 1:14 says the Word became flesh. And after, verse 18 says “No one has ever seen God.” Furthermore, in John 17:3 Jesus said in prayer: “Father, [...] this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Conclusion The holy spirit is clearly not a person. Unlike the Father and the Son, the Bible gives impersonal qualities to the holy spirit. The Son is not God either. How can he be almighty, and at the same time be subordinate to God? Con still does not explain why, in his heavenly vision, Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus on God's right hand. If the glory of God in Acts 7:55 refers to the Father and the “Holy Spirit”, why is Jesus said to be on the right of God as if he was not part of the trinity? And if Acts 7:55 refers to the glory of the Father, why didn't Stephen mention seeing the “Holy Spirit,” the third person of the trinity? “God is only one.” Galatians 3:20. I once again await Con's response.