I will first present the following "syllogism" and then explain the syllogism as it realtes to the Trinity. What is a "syllogism?" A syllogism in logic is a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn from two given premises, one major presmise and one minor premise.
IF the Bible teaches that there is one God
and
IF in the Bible The Father is identified as God
and
IF in the Bible His Son is identified as God
and
IF in the Bible their Spirit is identified as God
THEN the doctrine of the Trinit is valid
OR
The Bible is wrong.
Now, the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be understood, argued or refuted by appealing to any single passage in the Bible. That is because it is a systematic theology in the proper sens of the term "theology"--the "study" or "knowledge of God, and is drawn from the WHOLE Bible, as any valid systematic theology should be. It does not rely on any single verse in the Bible for its representation and similarly, it cannot be refuted by any single verse in the Bible.
It is a doctrine that explains the nature OF THE ONE TRUE GOD described in the Bible, and is necessarily drawn from a HARMONIZATION of ALL of Scripture and therefore can only be understood from a view that accounts for ALL the Bible. Explaining the nature of the one God is the whole point of the doctrine of the Trinity. If you will examine the Bible thoroughly you should be able to quickly discover that there are threeand ONLY three "persons" who are identified as God by the following COMBINATION of literary means listed below.
The Bible identifies God by
1) His names
2) His titles
3) His unique attributes
4) His unique actions
50 His worship
Let me say I am not aware of any other literary, contextual means by which the Bible clearly identifies God. I could be wrong, but I think this list is comprehensive. So, let's go to #1 His names.
CALLED by the NAMES of God (YHWH and its variants) either directly or indirectly, usually both. How about "El Shaddai" as "God Almighty." Or "Elohim." "El Roi" the God Who sees.
2) His titles. Who's identified as (Lord, king, savior, redeemer etc.)
3) Attributed with the UNIQUE characteristis of God, (omnipresence, omnipotence, omnicient, eternality, etc.)
4) His unique actions. CREDITED with (creation, orgin of God's word, salvation of men etc.)
5) WORSHIPED and/or given the honor, reverence and position due to GOD ALONE.
I am NOT saying that the Father, Son and Holy Sirit are all consistently, equally and in every mention identified as God in very place they are represented in the Bible by any combination of these 5. NOR am I saying that each person of the Trinity is represented equally by ALL FIVE of these means of identifying God.
I am sayin that each person of the Trinity receives some COMBINATION of the 5 means of identifying and distinguishing God as listed above. Now, there is one last thing I want to say regarding the doctrine of the Trinity. I DO NOT believe Trinitariansim is a "REQUIREMENT" for salvation. It is th "RESULT" of salvation, for you cannot know Jesus Christ and somehow miss the FACT that He is God. You cannot have experienced the presense of the Holy Spirit of God and someho miss that He is God.
Here is what Romans 8:9-11 states, "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. vs10, And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. vs11, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you."
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto