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Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: separate and unequal Proponents
of the Trinitarian doctrine or the belief that the one true God is
composed of three persons run into many problems explaining their
belief. Whenever they are faced with any blatant contradiction, their
only defense is to say that the Trinity is a mystery: “The
Trinity is a wonderful mystery. No one understands it. The most learned
theologian, the holiest Pope, the greatest saint, all are as mystified
by it as the child of seven.” (God
and Myself, p.118) One
of the many reasons why the Trinitarian doctrine is allegedly so
mysterious is that to equal one God, the three distinct persons have to
be co-equal and coeternal. Cardinal Gibbons stated this belief
succinctly, thus: “The
Catholic Church teaches that there is but one God, who is infinite in
knowledge, in power, in goodness, and in every other perfection; who
created all things by His omnipotence, and governs them by His
Providence. “In
this one God there are three distinct Persons, --the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, who are perfectly equal to each other.” (The
Faith of our Fathers, p.1) Not
found in the Bible Perhaps
many Trinitarians today assume that the Trinity doctrine was handed down
as it is form the time of Christ, only to be surprised that the word
“Trinity” itself cannot even be found in the Bible: “The
term ‘Trinity’ is not found in Scripture.” (Systematic
Theology, p.304) “The
Bible does not use the word purgatory any more than it uses the word
Trinity.” (Radio
Replies, vol. 3, p.224)
“Before
the Council of Nicea (AD325) all theologians viewed the Son is
subordinate to the Father.” (Eerdman’s
Handbook to the History of Christianity, pp. 112-113) Origen,
another “Church Father,” affirmed that as the Son is subordinate to
the Father, the Holy Spirit is subordinate event to the Son: “Origen,
went even farther in this direction by teaching explicitly that the Son
is subordinate to the Father in respect to essence, and that the Holy
Spirit is subordinate even to the Son.” (Systematic
Theology, p.82) Clearly,
the doctrine of the Trinity underwent changes. Today’s concept is
vastly different from that of the past when the persons of the Trinity
were not coequal. The Son is subordinate to the Father While
the early Catholic “Church Fathers” were wrong in believing that the
Son and the Holy Spirit were God, they were correct in teaching that the
Son, Jesus Christ, is subordinate to the Father. “You
heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you’, If you
loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the
Father is greater than I.” (Jn.
14:28, New International Version) The
Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared that the Father is greater than He.
In other words, Jesus is subordinate to the Father. In his letter to the
Corinthians, Apostle Paul also testified that the Lord Jesus Christ is
subordinate to the Father, he said: “For
the scripture says, ‘God put all things under his feet’. It is
clear, or course, that the words ‘all things’ do not include God
himself, who puts all things under Christ. But when all things have been
placed under Christ’s rule, then he himself, the Son, will place
himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule
completely overall.” (I
Cor. 15:27-28, Today’s English Version) On
the day of Judgment, the Lord Jesus Christ will place or subject himself
to God. Therefore, the Father is greater than the Son; they are not
equal. The one sent is not greater than the sender How
about the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit subordinate to the Father and
to the Son? Christ taught that there is a great difference between the
sender and the one sent: “Truly,
truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he
who is sent greater than he who sent him.” (Jn.
13:16, Revised Standard Version) According
to Christ’s teaching, the one sent is not greater than the one who
sends. In the other words, the sender is greater than the one sent. The
Father sends the Holy Spirit: “But
the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring
to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (Jn.
14:26, Ibid.) Therefore,
the Father and the Holy Spirit are not coequal. Aside from the Fahter,
who else sends the Holy Spirit? Christ said: “But
when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness
to me.” (Jn.
15:26, Ibid.) Christ
also send the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not
coequal. Who sent Christ? “After
Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father,…Now
this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’.” (Jn.
17:1,3, NIV) The
Father, whom Christ called the only true God, was the One who sent Jesus
Christ. Nowhere in the whole Bible is it stated that Christ ever sent
the Father, nor are there any verses that state that the Holy Spirit
sent the Father or even Christ. The Father is sovereign over all The
doctrine of the Trinity is not taught in the Bible. In fact, this
doctrine blatantly contradicts biblical teaching. The true Christians
recognize only one God as supreme. That one God is the Father alone: “One
God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [sovereign over all],
pervading all and [living] in [us] all.” (Eph.
4:6, Amplified Bible) He
is the same God who stated that He cannot be compared to anyone: “To
whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me
that we may be compared?” (Is.
46:5, NIV) The
true God declared that He can neither be counted as anyone’s equal nor
be compared with anyone. In making comparisons, you need more than
one—there has to be two. By saying that the Father is coequal with the
Son, they are comparing God with another so-called god. This would make
two gods, an unbiblical teaching. Not everyone knows this truth One
of the distinguishing marks of true Christians is their belief in God
whom they worship. True Christians do not worship false gods but are
staunchly monotheistic. However, as it was in the days of the apostles,
the truth that the Father alone is the true God is not known by
everyone: “Even
if there are so-called ‘gods’, whether in heaven or on earth, and
even though there are many of these ‘gods’ and ‘lords’, yet
there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all
things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things were created and through whom we live. “but
not everyone knows this truth.” (I
Cor. 8-5-7, TEV) Those
who accept the truth that the Father alone is God are one step closer to
eternal life (Jn. 17:3,1). We invite all our readers to take that step.
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