Nontrinitarianism is a form of christianity that rejects the mainstream christian doctrine of the trinitythe teaching that god is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence from the greek ousia. Anyone who speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven him. Related to the divine being, his nature and mode of being. Do you have to believe in the trinity to be a christian. For years christians have struggled to give a clear explanation of the trinity. A pagebypage response to the watchtower societys 1986 brochure. Examining the watchtower publication should you believe. As you examine the story of creation, you can see the trinity in operation. The mystery of the most holy trinity is the central mystery of the christian faith and of christian life. Because of the trinitarian statements in the new testament. The purpose of the following dialogue is not to formulate an exhaustive study of the watchtowers main antitrinity booklet. I would like to refer to it in some upcoming phone calls to a dub relative, and would appreciate if someone could hook me up. According to the new catholic encyclopedia, the creed attributed to the council of nicaea set out the first official definition of. Because, as the apostles affirmed, the bible is gods revelation of himself to mankind.
If you do not believe thisthat is, if you have come to a settled conclusion that the doctrine of the trinity is not trueyou are not a christian at all. One of the main reasons i believe in the trinity is the existence of several clear statements in the bible. It was published in 1989 by the jehovahs witnesses and was read by many millions of people. By the trinity is meant the unity of three persons in one godhead. The claims of this document are evidentially and historically incorrect. If the trinity were true, it should be clearly and consistently presented in the bible. This isnt the first time ive heard the claim that the trinity is a contradictory concept.
The objection is sometimes stated in a more complex form. Chapter 4 will the real polytheists please stand up. And since we need to know god to worship him acceptably, the bible. Examining should you believe in the trinity a jw booklet. Angel arellano author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. In should you believe in the trinity, the watchtower cites numerous contemporary sources to support the contention that the idea of a triune godhead was unknown to the early church. Why we should believe in the trinity evidence and answers. While the purpose of this site is not to promote watchtower doctrine, bowmans book reveals how trinitarian apologists go about misleading their. A quiz on the doctrine of the trinity in delighting in the trinity, michael reeves rightly calls the trinity the governing center of all christian belief and the cockpit of all christian thinking. In other words, each is fully divine in nature, but each is not the totality of the other persons of the trinity. Refutation of why you should believe in the trinity. Trinity history of trinitarian doctrines stanford encyclopedia of.
And yet we must believe it if the rest of our faith is to make sense. The doctrine of the trinity has been challenged by everyone from jehovahs witnesses to muslims as contradictory. These christians believe the doctrine solely on the authority of later doctrinal pronouncements of the true christian church typically one of. Should you beleive in the trinity brochure, published by. And the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters. Why you should believe in the trinity by robert bowman. God a single entity and not a trinity the gospel truth. In the old testament there are various verses that distinguish between god the father and god the son.
I believe in the trinity for four good reasons bible reasons. The trinitythe trinity t he complex doctrine of the trinity is so sim ply wonderful and wonderfully simple as to demand a divine origin. Against the watchtower is it clearly a bible teaching. In one sense you do not have to believe in the trinity to be a christian, but in another sense you do. Should you believe in the trinity angel arellano, jr. Recent work by analytic philosophers on the trinity takes a mysterious 5thcentury. We shall start with some references from the beginning of the bible to see what the early believers in god wrote.
Teachings that led to the development of the trinity began to be officially formulated in 325 c. An answer to jehovahs witnesses was written by robert m. The word trinity is a term used to denote the christian doctrine that god exists as a unity of three distinct persons. All christians believe the doctrine of the trinity. The theory that god is superpersonal is, of course, an absurdity. Why you should believe in the trinity download ebook pdf. More important, is this teaching in harmony with the bible. This type of understanding is only revealed by gd to all of the peters of this world. It was very popular, was studied by all jehovahs witnesses, was shared with people out in field service, and was considered the ultimate proof against the trinity. Explaining the trinity to the jehovahs witnesses by jay hess1 the jehovahs witnesses2 hereafter abbreviated as jws hold to an arianlike theology insisting that the father alone is the one true god with the son being michael the archangel who is above all other angels. This is perhaps one of the most popular objections to the doctrine, even though it does not address the positive evidence for the trinity in scripture. Brochure see also watch tower publications appreciation for. We believe in one god, the father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible. The doctrine of the trinity is the christian belief that.
To a large number of christians, however, it is a doctrine fundamental to christianity since it deals with a correct knowledge of god. The christian doctrine of the trinity holds that god is one god, but three coeternal. Most belong to churches that teach the trinity the doctrine that the father, the son, and the holy spirit together form one god. On the other hand, true christians will end up believing in the trinity because it is the proper teaching concerning gods nature that has. A formal response to the watchtower publication part i jan 21 by apologeistica todays posting will be in regard to the commonly passed out should you believe in the trinity publication that most of you have been introduced to if you have ever had a jehovahs witness come to your door. This page shows how the watchtower has distorted the truth about the trinity. A collection of ideas for teaching about the distinctive christian. In my recent series on the essential beliefs of christianity, i received a comment from a reader who claimed that i hadnt offered a cogent argument for the trinity. A balanced view of god to get a balanced and consistent view of who and what god is we must surely, have to take the whole of the biblical record into account. If you have the right jesus christ, you are right for all eternity. In view of this, you would think that there could be no question about it. The doctrine of the trinity means that there is one god who eternally exists as. The watchtower says that the trinity, the deity of christ, and the physical resurrection of christ are all false doctrines.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Intellectual giant, humanist, and martyr lanham, md. Baptizing them unto the father, son, and holy ghost, by a solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn devotion to the service of the sacred trinity. This book includes over 100 pages of photocopied documentation of the publications misquoted and misrepresented in the watchtowers should you believe in the trinity. Im convinced from studying the bible since childhood that you cant understand god. Anyway, i have been looking online for a pdf of that notorious booklet from the early 90s i believe should you believe in the trinity. I plan to give this apostasy back to him after one reading. Our comments the way jehovahs witnesses misuse and misrepresent kittels work is clearly dishonest. The doctrine of the trinity is foundational to the christian faith. Why you should believe in the trinity an answer to jehovahs witnesses by robert m.
If belief in the trinity is essential for salvation, why is the doctrine not clearly or. Yet, the watchtower says that if you read the bible by itself you will end up believing these doctrines. We wont bother chronicling them because it would be just as easy to find contemporary sources that say exactly the opposite. Also their definition of the trinity is nothing less than a strawman argument. More than two billion people profess to be christian, but most belong to churches that teach the trinity doctrine. Source of deception, confusion the apostle john described the devil as having deceived the whole world rev. However, this video does that, while at the same time refutes the idea that god could be a unitarian being. More than two billion people profess to be christian. Click download or read online button to get why you should believe in the trinity book now.
The bible does not explicitly teach the doctrine of the holy trinity. I recently received a copy of this document, should you believe in the trinity, from a coworker after we had eaten lunch. Examining a publication of the watchtower society should you believe in the trinity is jesus christ the almighty god. Those words may sound harsh, but they represent the judgment of. It is not an irrelevant or secondary doctrine, but one that is of primary importance. Expose a very small, but powerful, fraction of watchtower dishonesty that runs throughout the booklet, and 2. Hagensick the rabbi s deep voice echoes through the dusk, hear, o israel. The mission of the orthodox church in america, the local autocephalous orthodox christian church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of christ to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy spirit.
Many claim the jehovahs witnesses booklet should you believe in the trinity. One of the main reasons i believe in the trinity is the existence of several clear statements in the bible that seem to put the father, jesus, and the holy spirit together on the same level. It provides a scholarly answer to watchtower arguments concerning the origin and history of the trinity. Some claim, however, that even these more accurate renderings imply that 1 jesus al ready had equality but did not want to hold on to it or that 2 he did not need to grasp at equality because he already had it. In 1989, jehovahs witnesses received a publication designed to destroy the christian belief in the trinity, the belief that the one, true, almighty god of the bible has revealed himself in three persons, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. You will find protrinitarian statements blatantly changed to turn them into an antitrinitarian stance. Metaphysics and logic of the trinity oxford handbooks. Doctrine of the trinity biblical research institute. The bible does not tell us that we must believe in the trinity in order to become saved. The fundamental truth of the orthodox church is the faith revealed in the true god.
For example, the bible forbids us to worship any being other than god. It highlights their bias and ignorance on this subject. Each of the persons is distinct from the other yet identical in essence. But there is, and lately even some of its supporters have added fuel to the controversy. If you do not have this understanding even if one rose from the dead to tell you, you will not believe it. Understanding the biblical doctrine of the trinity godhead. After all, it has been the central doctrine of the church es for centuries.
The fact god did not inspire the writers of scripture to use the modern word trinity does imply that it is. I believe that you do have to believe in the trinity to be saved. The should you believe in the trinity magazine is perhaps the most deceptive magazine ever published by the watchtower. We believe in one lord, jesus christ, the only son of god. Price new from used from paperback, january 1, 1990 please retry. Our sincerest effort to grasp the incomprehensible mystery of the trinity must remain forever futile, and only by deepest reverence can it be saved from actual presumption. We believe in the trinity1 to meditate on the three persons of the godhead is to walk in thought through the garden eastward in eden and to tread on holy ground. In seven books, by michael servetus, spaniard from aragonia, also known as reves.
423 383 1222 202 183 1150 1536 905 779 70 386 79 143 561 1052 325 1303 815 1256 1498 32 272 596 1003 975 970 591 1056 3 482 256 1151 332 1009 226 221 1048 1405 1036 53 100 904