Why We Cannot Not Believe in the Triune God by Chris White

Rotary phones did have their consolations!

I had an interesting phone call the other afternoon.  The gentleman on the line told my secretary that he had a Bible question and wanted to talk with a pastor.  After the typical greetings my caller asked me a question:  How can I teach people that the Bible says there is only one God and yet also teach God exists in three persons (shorthand for that is the Trinity)?  And specifically why would I teach something which is nowhere directly said in the Bible?  After several attempts at a reply, I was corrected, ridiculed, but most of all endlessly interrupted by my caller and by his statements.   Soon I realized this was not actually a question but a sermon from a zealous Jehovah's Witness evangelist.  While I didn't appreciate his rudeness and scornful attitude, I did like his idea: "the evangelistic crank phone call".  I might even try this myself in the future but that is a different story altogether.

Since this is my official forum, I would like to explain why I believe all true Christians must believe in the Triune God even though there is no explicit statement commanding us to do so.  Simply put, it is the only way we can make sense of Jesus Christ.  The Bible is  clear there is only one God (Deut. 6:4; Ex. 20:3) and there are no other gods and we are to worship no other.  But what are we to make of John 20:28 when "doubting Thomas" saw the risen Christ and looked at his wounds?  "My Lord and my God!", he declares.  Does  Jesus correct him on this?  Absolutely not.  Rather, Jesus actually pronounces a blessing on all people who have not seen Him and yet come to the same conclusion as Thomas did.  To receive the worship of people if you are not God is breaking the first commandment in the worst possible way.  Not only that but to make yourself out to be God (if you are not) is actually the activity of the antichrist according to St. Paul (2 Thess. 2:4).  Jesus is guilty of making Himself out to be God many times in the New Testament.  The many "I am" statements made by Jesus all point to Him being the God of Israel, but in John 10 and 17 it's fairly straightforward: "I and the Father are one" and "I am in the Father and the Father is in me".  This is utter blasphemy if not true, but if true, then Jesus is God.  If Jesus is God and He says there is the Father and Holy Spirit, then what else can be made of this but that there is one God (clearly stated) who exists in triunity (or three persons).

There is an important philosophical underpinning to this argument as well.  Ontologically speaking (and yes, do look up this word under metaphysics), God is by necessity the greatest conceivable Being.  As such, God is immutable or unchanging in His perfections.  As the "GCB" (greatest conceivable Being), it would be impossible for God to become greater than He already is or to degenerate and become less than He is.    If God is not immutable, then He is not God.  Maybe a benevolent Spirit, but a lesser being than the Almighty.  Now this directly relates to Jesus as the Son of God.  If the only-begotten Son of God means a later development in the life of the Father  then this would constitute a change for it would mean that God was not always the Father of the Son but became so at some later point in time which would constitute a change in His status which is not possible for God.  To carry this to a conclusion it would imply that if Jesus is the true Son of God (as He and the writers of the New Testament unequivocally affirm) then He is ontologically connected to God and shares in His immutability.  This connection necessitates a plurality within the Godhead.  This is not to say there are three Gods (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but one God who exists in a dimension outside of our experience as humans.

The only way around this, ontologically speaking, is to make Jesus of Nazareth a lesser being than God, such as an angel or demi-god as the Jehovah's Witnesses and other cults do, or to make him simply a man who was so in touch with God and so virtuous that God adopted him as his Son as some ancient heretical groups have proposed, or make him a crackpot who just thought he was God and managed to find others to join him in his delusion.   While each of these views has had adherents in the course of history, there is a reason why it has always been a super minority:  it is simply unwarranted by the text of scripture, the broad testimony and understanding of the faithful, and the historic worship of the Christian church.

So no, the Trinity is not explicitly stated in any one verse of the Bible, nor is belief in the Trinity ever commanded as a condition of salvation.  But to borrow from many others much smarter than myself, it is the inescapable implication of the scriptural data we are given in the totality of the Bible.  For the true Christian, the Bible describes and defines God's reality, and if a person is unwilling to believe biblical reality, then what he or she does believe is wishful thinking or magic or just plain crazy, but it certainly isn't the truth.

Now, where did I put that phone number for Kingdom Hall?