Thursday, May 24, 2018

The Trinity: Monotheism or Polytheism?

The Adventists' second fundamental belief is as follows:

"There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 28:19; John 3:16 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.)"

So, right off the bat, Adventists affirm that there is but one God. They carefully chose the word, capitalized, "Persons," to describe Jesus, The Father, and The Holy Spirit. They did not choose to describe it as three deities.

To be more exact, it is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three coeternal Persons. It is not a God, then another God, then yet another God. They are all one God.

One reference puts it this way:
" This monotheistic emphasis does not contradict the Christian concept of the triune God or Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; rather, it affirms that there is no pantheon of various deities.
All three were at creation, thus "us" was used. But then talking about the unity of them being all one God, you only have to read The Bible to find this is reiterated.  " https://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/god/trinity/

The First Commandment of The Ten affirms this in Genesis 20.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.

The word "I" and "me" are chosen. Not us. Telling us that there is but one God.

 Malachi 2:10.
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers?

Ephesians 4

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

 1 Timothy 2:5



For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

If we say there are three deities, then we do not have a trinity.

The New Testament makes it clear of the unity of all three being one. Jesus says, I and my father are one. If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Nowhere does Jesus ever say that His Father and himself are different Gods.

Only God can forgive sins. The pharisees were calling Jesus a blasphemer because he claimed to be God...NOT a God.

All three Persons work together. They are working as one God, and only one God.

Not a great choice is the word persons, as it gives the idea of three separate and distinct "beings." It is what gets people in trouble when talking about The Trinity. You cannot say they are three separate and distinct deities....because then you have no trinity. People who do not believe in the Trinity will use these words against, and perhaps convince you that there is no triune.

Adventists and some of their churches are trying to void the 2nd belief.

Will you stand?
There are numerous problems with polytheism. Not the least of which is a belief in multiple gods. Worse, multiple "gods" that are equal. The whole Gospel of Jesus falls apart. It might not seem like it on the surface, but if Jesus is not God....then what? And there lies the problem.

Are we worshiping another god? Are we following another god? What happened to God of the Old Testament? If Jesus is not God, then we would have nothing more than another made up religion following another deity. Another buddha? Another cult or sect? Is Christianity based on the true God, or more Gods? Why stop at just three? Jesus never told anyone that he was starting a new religion. He came to complete and promote the old one.

If God never changes, and is forever, then how can we possibly say Jesus is another God? What happened to the first one?

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