CHRISTIAN MONOTHEISM NOT TRITHEISM

[Lynx]

Which State do you preach in, if you do not mind?

West Tennessee.

I'm not a pastor though, just a minor minister. I don't preach much, just when the pastor asks me to fill in when he's gone. I mostly do other stuff around the church and town.

 

[Lynx]

Anytime I can speak the Truth of God's word is never a waste of time. My hope is for an honest look into what is being said and discuss from a true biblical perspective so we all can come to the knowledge of the Truth.

Apparently I am the one wasting my time here.

Well, have fun.

 

[TheLearner]

I'm trying to engage you're are not. You're not pointing out where I am in error scripturally and backing it up. It is only unfruitful when you think a brother is in the wrong and you don't correct him, which a true christian should do. Because souls could be lost as a result.

What exactly are your positions please

 

[TheLearner]

The development of the doctrine of the Trinity in early Christian theology was indeed influenced by the intellectual environment of the time, which included Greek philosophical thought among other factors. It's important to recognize that the formulation of Christian doctrines, including the Trinity, occurred in a context where various philosophical traditions provided the language and conceptual frameworks that theologians used to articulate their understanding of Christian revelation.

Terminology and Concepts: Early Christian theologians employed terms and concepts from Greek (PAGAN) philosophy to articulate the nature of God and the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For example, terms like "ousia" (essence or substance) and "hypostasis" (person) were used to describe the unity and distinction within the Godhead. These terms helped theologians to communicate complex theological ideas in a precise and nuanced way.
Platonism and Neoplatonism: These philosophical traditions influenced early Christian thought in significant ways. The emphasis on the transcendence of the highest good and the hierarchical ordering of reality in Platonism and Neoplatonism provided a framework for early Christians to understand the relationship between the divine and the material world. Concepts of emanation and participation in Neoplatonism, for example, helped some theologians think about how the Son could be understood as emanating from the Father without division or separation.
Logos Theology: The concept of the Logos (Word) in John's Gospel was interpreted by early Christians in light of the Stoic and Platonic notion of the Logos as a rational principle organizing the cosmos. This helped Christians articulate how the Son (the Logos) relates to the Father and the world. Theologians like Justin Martyr and Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, made significant contributions to Logos theology by integrating these philosophical notions with biblical texts.

Jesus spoke Aramaic, the common language of Judea in his time. The New Testament was written primarily in Greek, but the focus was on conveying Jewish religious ideas, not Greek philosophy. The New Testament authors aimed to fulfill and reinterpret the Hebrew Bible for a Jewish audience, not introduce foreign philosophical ideas. Jesus and the original writers of the New Testament did not explicitly use Greek philosophy in their teachings in the way we might think of a philosopher engaging directly with philosophical concepts or systems. Their primary context was the religious and cultural milieu of 1st-century Judaism, and their teachings are deeply rooted in the Jewish Scriptures and apocalyptic expectations of the time.

The New Testament writings, including the teachings of Jesus, emphasize the close relationship between the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Passages such as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, where Jesus instructs His disciples to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and the farewell discourse in the Gospel of John (chapters 14–16), where Jesus speaks extensively about the role of the Father and the Holy Spirit, highlight the early Christian understanding of a complex interrelationship between Father, Son, and Spirit. However, these writings do not articulate the doctrine of the Trinity in the explicit, formalized manner seen in later creedal formulations.

Hellenism was common among all Jewish people back then. Get a copy of Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament from a library.
https://www.amazon.com/Hellenistic-Commentary-Testament-Eugene-Boring/dp/0687009162
https://archive.org/details/hellenisticcomme0000unse/page/n7/mode/1up

 

[TheLearner]

The development of the doctrine of the Trinity in early Christian theology was indeed influenced by the intellectual environment of the time, which included Greek philosophical thought among other factors. It's important to recognize that the formulation of Christian doctrines, including the Trinity, occurred in a context where various philosophical traditions provided the language and conceptual frameworks that theologians used to articulate their understanding of Christian revelation.

Terminology and Concepts: Early Christian theologians employed terms and concepts from Greek (PAGAN) philosophy to articulate the nature of God and the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For example, terms like "ousia" (essence or substance) and "hypostasis" (person) were used to describe the unity and distinction within the Godhead. These terms helped theologians to communicate complex theological ideas in a precise and nuanced way.
Platonism and Neoplatonism: These philosophical traditions influenced early Christian thought in significant ways. The emphasis on the transcendence of the highest good and the hierarchical ordering of reality in Platonism and Neoplatonism provided a framework for early Christians to understand the relationship between the divine and the material world. Concepts of emanation and participation in Neoplatonism, for example, helped some theologians think about how the Son could be understood as emanating from the Father without division or separation.
Logos Theology: The concept of the Logos (Word) in John's Gospel was interpreted by early Christians in light of the Stoic and Platonic notion of the Logos as a rational principle organizing the cosmos. This helped Christians articulate how the Son (the Logos) relates to the Father and the world. Theologians like Justin Martyr and Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, made significant contributions to Logos theology by integrating these philosophical notions with biblical texts.

Jesus spoke Aramaic, the common language of Judea in his time. The New Testament was written primarily in Greek, but the focus was on conveying Jewish religious ideas, not Greek philosophy. The New Testament authors aimed to fulfill and reinterpret the Hebrew Bible for a Jewish audience, not introduce foreign philosophical ideas. Jesus and the original writers of the New Testament did not explicitly use Greek philosophy in their teachings in the way we might think of a philosopher engaging directly with philosophical concepts or systems. Their primary context was the religious and cultural milieu of 1st-century Judaism, and their teachings are deeply rooted in the Jewish Scriptures and apocalyptic expectations of the time.

The New Testament writings, including the teachings of Jesus, emphasize the close relationship between the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Passages such as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, where Jesus instructs His disciples to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and the farewell discourse in the Gospel of John (chapters 14–16), where Jesus speaks extensively about the role of the Father and the Holy Spirit, highlight the early Christian understanding of a complex interrelationship between Father, Son, and Spirit. However, these writings do not articulate the doctrine of the Trinity in the explicit, formalized manner seen in later creedal formulations.

https://craigacarter.substack.com/p/christian-platonism-neoplatonism
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10742b.htm
https://www.quora.com/How-can-the-influence-of-Plato-be-seen-on-the-New-Testament
https://www.lutterworth.com/wp-cont...urning-to-reality-christian-platonism-ch4.pdf
https://pursuingveritas.com/2015/05/22/platonism-and-paul/comment-page-1/
https://www.scribd.com/document/260717979/Platonic-Neoplatonic-Roots-of-Christianity
https://mymission.lamission.edu/userdata\schustm\docs\Platonism_and_EarlyChristEschatology.pdf
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/trinity-history.html

best: https://www.calvarychapelboston.com/Biblical Basis Trinity Bowman.pdf

 

[TheLearner]

O.K. But If Jesus meant plurality of persons, He had the perfect opportunity to use the word "names" when giving the command to baptize but He used the singular to keep in line with God being inseparably ONE. Jewish community as a whole wouldn't except His claim to Full deity because that would violate ONE strict monotheistic God who is Inseparable according to their teachings.

Speaking of God as a person does not do justice to Him. The word person connotes a human being with a human personality—an individual with body, soul, and spirit. Thus, we limit our conception of God if we describe Him as a person. For this reason, I never said there is one person in the Godhead or God is one person. The most I have said is that Jesus Christ is one person, because Jesus was God manifested in flesh as a human person.

Speaking of God as a plurality of persons further violates the biblical concept of God. Regardless of what persons meant in ancient church history, today the word definitely connotes a plurality of individuals, personalities, minds, wills and bodies. Even in ancient church history, we have shown that the vast majority of believers saw it as a departure from biblical monotheism.

The use of the number three in relation to God is also dangerous. If used to designate eternal distinctions in God, it leads to tritheism, which is a form of polytheism. If used to designate the only manifestations or roles God has, it limits God’s activity in a way not done in Scripture. God has manifested Himself in numerous ways, and we cannot even limit them to three. (See chapter 6.) The use of three goes against the clear emphasis both testaments place on associating the number one with God.

The Greek word for names would be inproper grammar in the great comminsion. The correct grammar is name.

 

[TheLearner]

Trinitarians universally describe their doctrine as a mystery. As discussed in chapter 4, however, the only mystery relative to the Godhead is the manifestation of God in flesh, and even that has been revealed to those who believe. A mystery in Scripture is a divine truth previously unknown but now revealed.

Certainly our finite minds cannot understand all there is to know about God, but we can understand the simple truth that there is one God. God may transcend human logic, but He never contradicts true logic, nor is He illogical. He emphasizes His oneness so strongly in the Bible that He has dispelled any possible confusion or mystery on this issue.

The Bible never says that the Godhead is an unrevealed mystery or that the question of plurality in the Godhead is a mystery. Instead, it affirms in the strongest terms that God is one. Why resort to an explanation that the Godhead is an incomprehensible mystery in order to protect a man-made doctrine with nonbiblical terminology, when the Scriptures plainly give us a simple, unambiguous message that God is absolutely one? It is wrong to state that the Godhead is a mystery when the Bible clearly states that God has revealed the mystery to us.

1^3 = 1

 

[TheLearner]

If you are truly seeking only truth, forget everything else but the word,get alone before God, humble yourself, and ask for wisdom. Then be alert. He will reveal Himself. Since there are none who seek for God on a spiritual level apart from a work of God in the heart, you will surely find Him. If your search is merely an intellectual one to satisfy the conscience, then you will not, because the world through wisdom knows not God.

see the link bowman's biblical outline of the Trinity

 

[TheLearner]

List of names I have known/met from the UPC
Henson
Munson
Cottrill
Cox
Hodges
MacLeod
Faulkner
Baird
Hoffman


Just to name a few

should that read Just to names some ?

 

[7thMoon]

1^3 = 1

Yep 1 to the 3rd power is still one power not even duplicated.

 

[TheLearner]

If you are truly seeking only truth, forget everything else but the word,get alone before God, humble yourself, and ask for wisdom. Then be alert. He will reveal Himself. Since there are none who seek for God on a spiritual level apart from a work of God in the heart, you will surely find Him. If your search is merely an intellectual one to satisfy the conscience, then you will not, because the world through wisdom knows not God.

I'm an intellectual with a strong spiritual side. IQ is off the charts.

 

[Cameron143]

I'm an intellectual with a strong spiritual side. IQ is off the charts.

That's because you subject your intellect to a greater intellect.
You are blessed...not many noble are called. Usually when God calls a man of great intellect, He gives him mighty and deep things to say. I hope your ministry flourishes.

 

[TheLearner]

That's because you subject your intellect to a greater intellect.
You are blessed...not many noble are called. Usually when God calls a man of great intellect, He gives him mighty and deep things to say. I hope your ministry flourishes.

Last I checked the winter - spring those who have given their lives to our Lord and Savior in the 30,000 range.

 

[Cameron143]

Last I checked the winter - spring those who have given their lives to our Lord and Savior in the 30,000 range.

I'll be praying for you. Successful ministry generally carries with it much trial and tribulation.

 

[TheLearner]

I'll be praying for you. Successful ministry generally carries with it much trial and tribulation.

Romans 8 ask both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to pray with you. That is a Major part of our success.

 

[Cameron143]

Romans 8 ask both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to pray with you. That is a Major part of our success.

Good Ole Romans.