7/29/2019 The TrinityWhose Teaching

1/2

The TrinityWhose Teaching?

Posted on January 21, 2013byideacreamanuela

There is one God and Father, one Lord Jesus Christ, and one

Holy Spirit, three persons . . . who are the same or one in

essence . . . ; three persons equally God, possessing the same

natural properties, yet really distinct, known by their personal

characteristics.* The Living Pulpitmagazine

The FatherSuperior to the Son

Psalm 83:18says: You, whose name is Jehovah, you alone

are the Most High over all the earth. Jesus taught his disciples to

pray: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Our

heavenly Father, whose name is Jehovah, is described in the Bible

as being superior to his Son. For example, Jehovah is from

everlasting to everlasting. But the Bible says that Jesus is the

firstborn of every creature. That Jehovah is greater than Jesus,

Jesus himself taught when he said: My Father is greater than I.

(Matthew 6:9; Psalm 90:1, 2; Colossians 1:15; John

14:28, King James Version) Yet, the Trinity doctrine holds that

the Father and the Son are equally God. (Photo:Depiction of Trinityfrom Saint Denis Basilicain

Paris.)

The Fathers superiority over the Son, as well as the fact that the Father is a separate person, is

highlighted also in the prayers of Jesus, such as the one before his execution: Father, if you wish,

remove this cup [that is, an ignominious death] from me. Nevertheless, let, not my will, but yours

take place.(Luke 22:42) If God and Jesus are one in essence, as the Trinity doctrine says, how

could Jesus will, or wish, seem different from that of his Father?Hebrews 5:7, 8; 9:24.

Furthermore, if Jehovah and Jesus were the same, how could one of them be aware of things of

which the other was not? Jesus, for instance, said regarding the time of the worlds judgment:

Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,but the

Father.Mark 13:32.

The Christian Century,in its May 20-27, 1998, issue, quotes a pastor who acknowledges that the

Trinity is a teaching of the church rather than a teaching of Jesus.

The Trinity and the Church

The Trinity is not a teaching of Jesus or of the early Christians. As noted previously, it is a

http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/http://biblematter.wordpress.com/author/ideacreamanuela/http://biblematter.wordpress.com/author/ideacreamanuela/http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/fn/r1/lp-e/102005282/2http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/15/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/15/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/15/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/2http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/2http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/3http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France_Paris_St-Denis_Trinity-CROPPED.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France_Paris_St-Denis_Trinity-CROPPED.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Denis_Basilicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Denis_Basilicahttp://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/17/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/19/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000967?http://biblematter.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/trinity-wiki-rebecca-kennison.jpghttp://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/15/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/2http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/3http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/16/3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France_Paris_St-Denis_Trinity-CROPPED.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Denis_Basilicahttp://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/17/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/18/1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/102005282/19/0http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000967?http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/http://biblematter.wordpress.com/author/ideacreamanuela/http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/fn/r1/lp-e/102005282/2http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/

7/29/2019 The TrinityWhose Teaching

2/2

teaching of the church. In its 1999 issue on the Trinity, The Living Pulpitobserved: Sometimes, it

seems that everyone assumes that the doctrine of the trinity is standard Christian theological fare,

but it added that it is not a biblical idea.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia(1967) discusses the Trinity at length and admits: The

Trinitarian dogma is in the last analysis a late 4th-century invention. . . . The formulation one God in

three Persons was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and itsprofession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century.

The Trinitys Early Origins

The worship of pagan gods grouped in threes, or triads, was also common before Jesus was

born. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, observed historian Will Durant. In

the Encyclopdia of Religion and Ethics,James Hastings wrote: In Indian religion, e.g.,we meet

with the trinitarian group of Brahm , Siva, and Vi u; and in Egyptian religion with the trinitarian

group of Osiris, Isis, and Horus.

AWAKE!, 4/22 2005

See also: The Truth About the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, available by download

atwww.jw.org

Photo Credit:wiki

Share this:Press This

Twitter1

Digg

Reddit

Print

Pinterest

Email

StumbleUpon

LinkedIn2

Google +1

Facebook

Tumblr

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102005282http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102005153http://www.jw.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinityhttp://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=press-this&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=twitter&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=twitter&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=digg&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=reddit&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/#printhttp://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=pinterest&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=email&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=stumbleupon&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=linkedin&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=linkedin&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=google-plus-1&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=facebook&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=tumblr&nb=1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102005153http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinityhttp://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=press-this&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=twitter&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=digg&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=reddit&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/#printhttp://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=pinterest&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=email&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=stumbleupon&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=linkedin&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=google-plus-1&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=facebook&nb=1http://biblematter.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/the-trinity-whose-teaching/?share=tumblr&nb=1http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102005282http://www.jw.org/