The Trinity: A False Doctrine

Unfortunately, by trying to demonstrate that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate "beings" (which, once again, means there are three separate Gods. They can't be three and one at the same time) you contradict your own doctrine, which states that they are ONE being comprised of three persons. Three persons equates to three personalities, which equates to multiple personality disorder. Therefore, the Trinitarian god is either three gods, or one schizophrenic God. As to Matthew 28:9, I have already demonstrated that Jesus was NOT referring to three separate persons by virtue of the fact that every one of the disciples baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Father," "Son," and "Holy Ghost" are not names, but titles. Jesus told them to baptize in THE NAME, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the Lords Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus Christs. All of your points leave out the fact that Jesus was both a man, and God. Jesus the man was God's Son, but God Himself dwelt in him. This is another central Christian doctrine which I don't think you'll dispute. Therefore, in John 5:31, God is testifying that the man, Jesus (who called HIMSELF the Son of Man,) is, indeed, the Messiah. The same goes for John 8:16-18. The two parties in question are not "God the Son" and "God the Father" but the man, Jesus, and the God who dwelt in him. This is in no way inconsistent with my view. The same applies to John 11:41-42. No duality of gods is needed to explain these verses, only the recognition that Jesus, in addition to being God in human flesh, he was also "the Son of Man." "I believe that All three persons are completely united as one God. The Father cannot cease to exist without the other two ceasing to exist as well. I believe also that they exist in three distinct persons, each possessing every attribute of God, and each being individual in their function." Do you realize that if three beings are completely united as one, then they are one being, not three beings? It's impossible to be completely distinct and completely united at the same time. Not because I say so, but because of the DEFINITIONS of the words "completely united" and "completely separate." Once again, the Trinity shows itself to be a circus of words, not a coherent understanding of the nature of God. "JESUS IS NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT" The pillar of cloud is not the pillar of fire, but are they, too, separate persons within the godhead? Of course Jesus is not the same as the Holy Spirit because Jesus is God in human flesh, and the Holy Spirit is God indwelling us. Nevertheless, they are manifestations of the One True God. Once again, Jesus is not referring to himself, Jesus the man is referring to God. In Matthew 9:38 he says "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." If Jesus was "God the Son" and each person of the godhead possesses all of the attributes of God, then Jesus was the Lord of the Harvest. Why, if Jesus WAS the Lord of the Harvest, would he tell his disciples to pray to the Lord of the Harvest? Take a look at John 15:26 again, because it poses significant problems for the Trinity. Jesus says, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father." According to the Trinity, the Son, Father, and Holy Ghost are co-equal. However, this verse seems to indicate that the Holy Spirit is subservient to the Son. How exactly do you reconcile that to your doctrine? "He is saying that He must go in order for the Spirit to come." Exactly. If Jesus and the Holy Spirit are separate persons in the godhead, why would that be the case? "They are, however, defined as two separate beings." Really? Exactly where in scripture can I find a verse that, first of all, asserts that there are separate persons within the godhead, let alone three, and furthermore that "God the Son" and "God the Holy Ghost" are two of them? That question leads naturally to another. The phrase "God the Father" is throughout the new testament. However, the phrases "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit" do not. If, as you say, these three are quite separate, but each fully God, why does the first phrase appear in scripture, but not last two? Based on this fact, it would make more sense to assert that God the Father is God, but that the Son and Holy Spirit are inferior, subservient persons within the godhead. "According to the will of God. God does things according to the will of God? Thats redundant." I'm afraid you have the same problem, since, according to you, the Holy Spirit IS God. If the Holy Spirit is God, then God does things according to the will of God. No, God in us does things according to His will. It is the same person. Language, or rather, our lack of understanding of it, is getting in the way. "I do take it at face value, because I too believe there is but one God." I'm afraid not. If the Son is not the Father, and the Father is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit isn't the son, but they're all fully God, then you believe there are three separate Gods. The royal "we" is just one of several explanations of the verse in question. Another explanation can be found on the website I posted earlier, http://www.jewsforjudaism.com.... As I think I said earlier, many misconceptions are simply the result of a "lost in translation" situation. As you obviously know, the Bible was written in Hebrew, not English. This is just such a situation. By the way, this is not the only time God refers to Himself in this way. See Genesis 11:27. "In reference to John 1, the word is obviously a person. The word is given a gender." If grammatical attribution of gender makes something a person, then wisdom, too, is a person, because in Proverbs 1:20 it says "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets," and in Proverbs 9:1 it says "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." Obviously wisdom is a person, because wisdom is given a gender. "This is like asking 'why do I need my appendix?'." No it's not. The appendix is part of a whole. According to you, though, each person in the godhead is fully and completely God, not just a constituent part of God. If each one of them is completely God, then why do we need the other two? "Gabriel didn't say God the Son because he didn't have to. There is only one God." Then why do you continue to refer to "God the Father" "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit" if it is not necessary to differentiate? If the three persons are separate, then it WOULD have been necessary to clarify which one, exactly, was coming down in the form of Jesus. Since it was obviously not necessary, then it is reasonable to conclude that there is no separation. If the three persons are not separate, then they are one and the same. I believe I have proved conclusively that the Trinity is a false doctrine, based both on scripture and on reasoning. The trinity did not become accepted doctrine until the council of Nicea, which was essentially a politically motivated meeting, protested by a large number of Christian bishops and presided over by a Roman emperor, who, although he had final say, knew nothing about scripture and cared nothing for truth. Ever since then trinitarians have couched their illogical belief in obscure definitions, especially with regard to the words "person" and "being." Only when you reduce these arguments to their logical basis does this become clear. The Bible makes no distinction between a "person" and a "being," and furthermore does not identify God as either. How then can you form a doctrine about the VERY NATURE OF GOD around such an ambiguous, non-Biblical concept? I don't blame you for holding this belief, as it's probably been forced on you sine you were a child. But now that you know the truth, turn away from the lie.