December 20th, 2005
The subject of the trinity is a difficult one, even for those that endorse it. It is hard to wrap one’s head around any paradox, especially on that involves things that are Gods being one God, something that we have no empirical evidence for.
The paradox is this:
- There is one God1.
- The Father is God2.
- Jesus is God3.
- The Holy Spirit is God4.
- The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are distinct from each other5 6.
It would seem that there is no possible way for the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to be one and yet distinct from one another. Yet, Christianity maintains it is so. This is our paradox. Another way of putting it, in a more snide form, is to ask, “Did God talk to himself when Jesus prayed to the Father? Was He schizoid? (or for the sake of argument, have dissociative identity disorder?” While at first this might be offensive to Trinitarians, it is a problem that must be solved, even if the answer is yes.
It is because of this difficulty that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and Jews have a primie facie complaint against Christianity. To the Muslim and to the Jew, the idea that God can be compartmentalized is one of the greatest insults one can heave at Allah or Jehovah. Major tenets of each faith maintain that God is unified. This idea is referred to as Tawhīd in Islam.
Thus is the Christian problem of the Trinity; the Christian answer to this problem will be addressed in a later post.
References:
1. Deuteronomy 4:35 (English Standard Version)
2. John 17:1-3 (English Standard Version)
3. John 1:1-20 (English Standard Version)
4. Acts 5:1-5 (English Standard Version)
5. Matthew 28:19 (English Standard Version)
6. Luke 3:21-22 (English Standard Version)
Categories: Creeds, Trinity |
3 Comments
December 20th, 2005
Going off of Andy’s first post, I thought I would detail what I believe constitutes a Christian.
- Christians are those with eternal life
- To have Eternal life one must have faith in Jesus Christ as best as they know them
- :. A Christian is one who has faith in Jesus Christ as best one knows them.
I base this off of John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Anything beyond this, such as Andy’s list, might be correct theology, but is non-essential for salvation. Salvation is the chief thing I am looking at here when talking about the essentials. When it comes to non-essential items, such as many of the things Andy has on his list, they are things that are good to believe in, but will not go to hell if they are wrong about them. For instance, consider the person who is an honest believer, but thinks that the Bible is not infallible. They would still go to heaven, but would be wrong.
Categories: Creeds |
11 Comments
December 19th, 2005
I am going to start this out with a good topic. I believe that every Christian has a basic belief in nine doctrines. Here they are:
- There is only one God and he is a personal one. Is. 45:5 Deut 4:35-39
- God is triune he is three equal persons in one. Mt. 5:16-17, Luke. 3:21-22 2Cor 13:14
- Christ is the very nature of God incarnate. Col 2:9, Heb 1:1-3 John 1:1ff
- Mankind is in a fallen state and his total perception is defiled. Rom 3:1-18 Jer 17:9
- Man is saved by faith alone and not by his own efforts. Eph 2:8-9 Rom 4:23 Rom 3:22
- The Church is to do the ceremonies commanded by Jesus.
- Baptism: Mt 3:11, Mt 28:18.
- Communion: 1Cor 11:23-29, Luke 22:17-20
- The second coming of Jesus. Acts 1:11 1Thes 4:16-17 Zech 14:(4?)
- The Bible Is the inspired word of God. 2Tim 3:16-17 2Pet1:20-21
- Man will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. Wicked: Mt 25 2Thes 1:9 Luke 16:23 Saints: 2Cor 5:6 John 8:5
Categories: Creeds |
10 Comments
