Other Concepts of the Trinity

The Biblical teaching of the Trinity consists of the three main points:
1. God is three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2. Each Person is complete God.
3. God is one.
All the unbiblical concepts deny, at least, one of these points. These concepts are considered to be heresies by the main part of Christians.

1. Modalism (modalist monarchism, Sabellianism)
Modalism teaches that there is only one Person that appears in three forms. In the Old Testament, this Person was the Father. In the Gospels, this Person was the Son. After the Day of Pentecost, this Person is the Holy Spirit.

Modalism contradicts some biblical verses, for example:

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17, New International Version)

Jesus (the Son) was baptized in the water. The Holy Spirit descended from the heavens. The Father was speaking from the heavens. All the three Persons were there at the same time.

2. Dynamic monarchism
Dynamic monarchism taught that Jesus was not God, but was a common man. Sometimes God came upon him, and he carried out God's work.

This teaching contradicts John, chapter 1:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,2,14, New International Version)

The Word is Christ. He was God in the beginning and became a man in time.

3. Arianism
Arianism denies the full divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. It teaches that the Son was created. This teaching contradicts the same verses from John, chapter 1.

4. Adoptianism
Adoptionism taught that Jesus lived as a common man, but then God adopted him and gave him supernatural power. This teaching also contradicts chapter 1 of John.

5. Subordinationism
Subordinationism teaches that the Son is eternal and divine, but still not equal to God and subordinate to the Father.

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8, New International Version)

Christ (the Son) is equal to the Father as God, but He humbled Himself, becoming a man.

6. Triteism
Triteism is the teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three different Gods. This teaching also contradicts the Bible:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4, New International Version)

More on the Trinity

As I wrote in a previous post, there is no biblical verse that clearly says about the Trinity. So, it is necessary to use more than one verse in order to prove this teaching biblically. However, there are two verses that are sometimes used for biblical foundation of the Trinity:

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. (1 John 5:7, New King James Version)

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

The problem with the first verse is that it can be found only in a limited number of manuscripts of 14th century and is absent in all the early manuscripts. So, Christian theologians believe that it was not in the original text. This verse is not included into the most modern translations of the New Testament.

The second verse is used because of the singular number "name", not "names". Since there is one name for the three - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it indicates that they are one.

The main points regarding the Trinity are:
1. There are three Persons in the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, there is only one God.
2. These Persons are distinct, but not separated.
3. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
4. Each Person is not one third of God, but the whole God.
5. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal. The Father did not become the Son, and the Son did not become the Holy Spirit.
6. None of the Persons is greater or less than the other. They all are equal to one another.

There are also three points that indicate the difference between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:
1. The Father is not begotten nor proceeding.
2. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father.
3. The Holy Spirit is eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. (Oriental Orthodox churches teach that the Holy Spirit is proceeding only from the Father.)

These points are called "opera ad intra" (the inward works of the Trinity). Each of the Persons of the Trinity has different and separated inward works.

The biblical foundation for the Son's eternal begetting is Psalm 2:7:

I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.'

In this verse, "today" is the day of the eternal decree, or the eternal purpose:

According to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:11)

The biblical foundation for the Holy Spirit's eternal proceeding is John 15:26:

But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

It is important to notice that the Son's eternal begetting is different from the human birth. It is eternal process without beginning and end. The Father is the Originator of the Son. The Holy Spirit's proceeding is also eternal, without beginning and end. The Son's eternal begetting is different from the Holy Spirit's eternal proceeding.

There is also difference between the Persons of the Trinity in the outward works of the Trinity (opera ad extra):
1. The Father chooses (1 Peter 1:2).
2. The Son redeems (1 Peter 1:18).
3. The Holy Spirit regenerates (Titus 3:5) and sanctifies (1 Peter 1:2).

However, in opera ad extra, all the Persons work together. Also, there is no subordination of the Persons of the Trinity in their essence, however, there is subordination in their outward works.

The Trinity

Christians believe in Trinity, Muslims reject this doctrine completely because they think that it is polytheism (shirk). However, polytheism is faith in more than one God while Christians are monotheists (believe that there is only one God). Actually, the doctrine of the Trinity does not contradict biblical monotheism.

Even though the doctrine of Trinity is biblical, there is no Bible verse that clearly teaches about Trinity. This doctrine is based on several verses and the logical conclusions from them.

In several Bible verses, it is said that God is one, for example:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4, New International Version)

The Bible also says that there are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit exist at the same time:

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)

Then, the Bible say that the Father is God:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. (John 6:27)

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Peter 1:1-2)

The Bible says that the Son (Christ) is God:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-2, 14)

Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! (Romans 9:5)

The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit is God:

3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3-4)

So, the Bible says that there is one God and also that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. It also says that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit exist at the same time. The doctrine of Trinity is the logical conclusion made from all these statements.

The Athanasian Creed contains a very detailed description of the Trinity:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith [the term "catholic" in its usage is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church, but is a reference to the universal (catholic) faith since that is how the term was originally used]. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.

For as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so we are also forbidden by the catholic religion to say that there are three gods or three lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

And in the Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must think thus of the Trinity.

Qur'an completely denies Trinity. However, Qur'anic concept of Trinity is different from the Christian concept:

73 They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.
116 And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. (5:73, 116, Yusufali's translation)

According to Qur'an, Trinity is Jesus, Mary, and Allah. It is true that the Roman Catholic Church and oriental Orthodox churches have some tendency to deify Mary. However, they do not consider her as goddess and do not include her into the Trinity. In principle, it is possible that some Christians who lived in Arabia at the time of Muhammad did that. However, this is not was the orthodox Christian doctrine of the Trinity is. According to the orthodox Christian teaching, the Trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and this is one God. Actually, Qur'anic version of the Trinity as three gods - Jesus, Mary, and Allah - is polytheism (shirk). According to the Bible, Mary is not a goddess. She is a human being.

Also, Qur'anic version of the Trinity does not include the Holy Spirit. It is because in Qur'an the holy spirit is one of the names of angel Jibril (Jabrail) - biblical Gabriel.