Why should we believe in the Trinity?

Suggestion

If you want a really good explanation of the Trinity, see Karen Armstrong's book "A History of God."

Answer

Benjamin B. Warfield, in his book The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity, goes into great detail on the subject. He begins thus:

The term "Trinity" is not a Biblical term, and we are not using Biblical language when we define what is expressed by it as the doctrine that there is only one and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence. A doctrine so defined can be spoken of as a Biblical doctrine only on the principle that the sense of Scripture is Scripture. ... The doctrine of the Trinity lies in Scripture in solution; when it is crystallized from its solvent it does not cease to be Scriptural, but only comes into clearer view. Or, to speak without figure, the doctrine of the Trinity is given to us in Scripture, not in formulated definition, but in fragmentary allusions; when we assembled the disjecta membra into their organic unity, we are not passing from Scripture, but entering more thoroughly into the meaning of Scripture.

The concept of the Trinity, like the concept of the Rapture of the church, is not directly and plainly noted in the Bible, but the idea is intertwined throughout. In several places in the book of Genesis, God refers to Himself in the first person plural: "we," "our," "us," etc. On the other hand, when He answers Moses' question about whom he should say sent him, God responds with "I AM THAT I AM! Tell them 'I am' sent you."

The Old and New Testaments both speak of the "spirit of God" or the "Holy Spirit" (translated by some as the "Holy Ghost"). The Greek word for spirit here is the word from which we get the word "pneumatic" ... essentially it's the "breath" of God. The Genesis account of the creation of Adam refers to God giving Adam the "breath of life." John the Baptist, or baptizer, was granted the indwelling Holy Spirit from birth, a rare occurrence before Jesus' ascent to Heaven. The New Testament, more than the Old, personifies the Holy Spirit.

One question that relates to the idea of the Trinity is whether Jesus claimed to be God. Different cults, sects, and religions will say "of course not," as they begin with the assumption that Jesus could not be God and, therefore, there can be no Trinity. The notion of the Trinity, as Warfield later notes, is something for which we have no physical analogy. Many people have attempted to make numerous analogies, ranging from a multi-faceted diamond to the three states of water to the concepts of body, mind, and spirit or id, ego, and superego, to cherry pie of all things. While they show how we can perceive three things that can also be perceived as one, each analogy has its flaws. We just don't have a well-known physical equivalent.

In numerous places in the Gospels, Jesus claimed to be God incarnate, or "in the flesh." John 8:56-57 shows one example that relates back to God's name being known to the Jews as "I am;" in this setting Jesus uses the exact same phrasing, which turns out to be unique in both Hebrew and Greek, even though it seems like no big deal in English. Jesus also said, "I and the Father are one," which was understood to mean literally the same entity, not some philosophical or Eastern notion of "oneness" while being separate. The related question, "Is Jesus God?" deals with some of this, although the answer, as of this writing, currently reflects more Muslim ideology than Biblical.

Perhaps the most important reason Jesus had to be God in the flesh is because, otherwise, he would've been under the same curse of sin that started with Adam, and, thus, could not be the pure sacrifice needed to save the sins of the world. Without that one important factor, His sacrifice is nothing more than a justified death penalty, one that falls on each and every one of us. Only by being born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, could He bypass the legal and practical curse.

This brings up another tie-in point. Jesus was called "my Son" by God at His baptism. Again, many have tried to complicate what that means, again starting with the assumption that there can be no Trinity. A child, however, wouldn't have seen it that way; a child would take it at face value. Yet He was "fathered" not by Joseph the carpenter, but by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus was the son of both God and the Holy Spirit, does it not stand to reason that the two are one? Adding that to later passages indicating that Jesus was God incarnate, and you get the Scriptural backing of the idea of the Three-in-One God.

Answer

Is the doctrine of the Trinity taught in the New Testament?

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (I John v, 7).

This is the only passage in the New Testament which clearly teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, and this passage is admitted by all Christian scholars to be an interpolation.

First answer by Wvafan. Last edit by Itchie.c2. Contributor trust: 543 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 27 [recommend question]