The Trinity. For most people who call themselves Christian, there may not be any more divisive and controversial teaching than the Trinity. Most people in the world that call themselves Christian believe in the Trinity, but there is also a growing segment that do not believe in the Trinity based on what they see in Gods holy Scriptures. Although I would be in the minority, I believe that there is no Trinity and that it comes to us from paganism. So, in order to know the truth - is there or isnt there a Trinity - Gods holy Scriptures must be consulted. This will be the first part of an ongoing series of related topics that will consider this teaching. . First, I would like to start this by quoting Jesus and Paul: . John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and the one whom You sent forth, Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. . To start with, these Scriptures are completely anti-Trinity. Jesus, while in prayer to his heavenly Father, says that He is the only true God and Paul shows that while there may be many gods, we have one God, the Father, which agrees with Jesus. We also must know and understand that no Bible writer would contradict himself or another Bible writer and we absolutely must take Jesus at his word. . So, why do Trinitarians believe in the Trinity? Through a variety of holy Scriptures which they use, rightly or wrongly, they create the impression that the Trinity is a Bible teaching. So, the proper thing to do is to discuss those Scriptures they use and to see if it actually supports the Trinity teachings. I will not cover all of these Scriptures in this one topic, but I will use multiple topics to more adequately cover all of these Scriptures. . The first Scripture that Trinitarians show in order to prove that Jesus is God, is John 1:1. In the King James Version, it says: . In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . First, lets analyze this. Jesus is the Word. Jesus was with God in what way? If I am with God, does that make me God or am I with someone else, a different person? Most people, if they hear that a person is with God, knows that there are two separate persons being spoken of. But, the controversy is the third part of the Scripture, and the Word was God. If this truly means that Jesus is God, then Jesus and Paul have misspoken. In other words, when Jesus shows that his Father is the only true God, he is lying. And, when Paul wrote that to us there is one God, the Father, he is also lying. These statements cannot be true if Jesus is actually Almighty God. But, the problem is actually that John 1:1, and specifically that third part, is a mistranslation of Johns words. Heres what we have: . Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος . You may not understand Greek, but this is simple enough. But, first a very small amount of education. In the Koine (common) Greek that John wrote in, there is no word a, as in He is a man. This is called the indefinite article. If he is a man, then he is one member of a group called man. But, the ancient Greek used the definite article the, as in, he is the man who walked past me. This points directly to a single person or thing. So, how does this apply to John 1:1? Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν In the beginning was ὁ Λόγος THE Logos (Logos = Word) καὶ ὁ Λόγος and THE Logos ἦν πρὸς was with τὸν Θεόν THE God καὶ Θεὸς and a god ἦν ὁ Λόγος was THE Logos. . Now, this is not too complicated for anyone. You can see that the definite article the is before God in the second part of the Scripture. The Word was with τὸν Θεόν, The God, which means Almighty God. Yet, Jesus is Θεὸς, without the word the preceding it, thus a god. . There are a number of Trinitarian Bible scholars who admit that the structure of this Scripture can be translated that Jesus was a god. But, they will then also state that other Scriptures give context to the meaning of this Scripture to make it that Jesus is Almighty God, The God. Yet, John did not write this. In this one place only, John omitted the word the. Why? Because he was showing a quality of Jesus. This is why there are many translations that do not say And the Word was God, but will either say that Jesus was a god or Jesus was divine. But, the most-read Bible translations are those that are used by the Roman Catholic Church, like the Douay-Rheims and the various Protestant religions that use the King James Version. So, most people see And the Word was God and never question it. . There are also various Bible scholars who note that in Johns Gospel, there are another three verses that are written in the exact same format as the third part of John 1:1 and all of the Trinitarian-produced translations use the indefinite article a in all of them. These three verses are: John 4:19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” John 18: 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. ... . In these Scriptures, Trinitarian translators are never confused about what John is saying, a prophet, a Samaritan, and a king (twice), all in the same format as the third part of John 1:1. So, how can they justify translating it as And the Word was God instead of a god? It is only because of their own personal beliefs in a Trinity that they translate John 1:1 this way. . These are just a few examples of Bible translations that do not say And the Word was God: . W. E. Vine - a god was the Word - p. 490, An Expository Dictionary of the New Testament. C. H. Dodd - The Word was a god - Technical Papers for the Bible Translator, Jan., 1977. Murray J. Harris - the Word was a god - p. 60, Jesus as God, Baker Book House, 1992. Robert Young - and a God (i.e. a Divine Being) was the Word - Youngs Concise Critical Bible Commentary. . There is one more point to make here regarding John 1:1. While there are some contemporary Bible translations that say that the Word was a god, the earliest known Bible translation is in the Egyptian language. Its called Sahidic Coptic. In that language, they had both the definite article the and the indefinite article a, so they could write that he was a man in their language. Here is a link to one website that shows and translates John 1:1-14 in this translation that came from the early second century: . depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/coptic/coptjohn.shtml ϨΝ ΤЄϨΟΥЄΙΤЄ ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ ΝϬΙΠϢΑϪЄ, ΑΥѠ ΠϢΑϪЄ ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ ΝΝΑϨΡΜ ΠΝΟΥΤЄ. ΑΥѠ ΝЄΥΝΟΥΤЄ ΠЄ ΠϢΑϪЄ In the beginning existed the Word, and the Word existed with God, and the Word was a God. . Being as close as they were to the time of Jesus and his Apostles, they would certainly have gotten this correct and they did. But, since it opposes what Trinitarians teach, they would rather not show or discuss this ancient translation. And, this is a problem for Trinitarians who are trying to prove something by mistranslating a verse. . Future topics will discuss more Scriptures which are used by Trinitarians and called proof texts.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 01:51:57 +0000
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