Trinity

Synopsis

The Trinity is the Christian doctrine describing the triune nature of God. The doctrine asserts the following: there is one and only one God; the Father is God, Jesus the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; the one God eternally exists in three distinct persons.}}

Contents

See also Easton's Bible Dictionary entry on Trinity

Related topics

• God the Father | Jesus | Holy Spirit

Comments, Personal Articles, Studies and Sermons

Trinity (discussion) (For short comments and opinions)

• Trinity (carm)

For related quotations see Trinity (quotes)

Main article

The Trinity is the Christian doctrine describing the triune nature of God. The doctrine asserts the following

• There is one and only one God
• The one God eternally exists in three distinct persons
• The Father is God, Jesus, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit are God

The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. It was first used in writing by Theophilus of Antioch around 180 A.D. as a way of expressing the triune nature of the one God revealed in Scripture. The Bible does use the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit though.

Scriptural References To The Trinity

Many scriptures refer directly to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• Mathew 28:19: "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"

• 2 Corinthians 13:13: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."

• 1 John 5:7: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." (This scripture is controversial becasue many claim it was not in the before the 16th century)

• Luke 1:35: "The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."

God The Son

Still more bible verses support Jesus being God.

• John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." together with John 1:14 "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 1:18: "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."

• John 5:21: "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives them life to whom he is pleased to give it."

• John 8:23-24: "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."

• John 8:58: "'I tell you the truth', Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am" (Jesus is speaking in reference to when God told Moses to tell the Hebrews "I am" has sent you" Exodus 3:14)

• John 10:30: "I and the Father are one."

• John 10:38: "But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

• John 12:41: "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him." (in refernce to Isaiah 6:1

• 1 John 5:20: "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."

• Titus 2:13: while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ."

• Colossians 2:9: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form"

• Phillipians 2:5-6: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,"

• Revelation 1:17-18: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." This is seen as significant when viewed with Isaiah 44:6: "This is what the LORD says - Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."

Links

• trinities A blog by a Christian philosophy professor devoted to recent and past theories about the Trinity
• Early Church Fathers on the Holy Trinity
• One God in Three Persons, by Dr. Bill Weinrich
• A Brief Definition of the Trinity, by James White
• Who Is God?
• Understanding The Trinity, by Matt Perman
• The Doctrine of the Trinity
• Articles On The Trinity
• An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity, by Jonathan Edwards
• The Splendor of the Three-in-One God: The Necessity and Mystery of the Trinity, by R.S. Clark
• The Bible's Teaching About The Trinity, by James Montgomery Boice
• God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity, by Michael Horton
• The Being of God, The Character of God, The Trinity, by Paul D. Adams
• Trinitarian Analogies, by John Frame
• Revived to Trinitarianism: The Need for Evangelicals to Believe In and Live On God (PDF), by Jim Hamilton
• The Trinity Doctrine Heaven Net

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