Can One Be Christian and Not Believe In The Trinity?

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Grailhunter

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I want to make a few things clear. The Trinity is defined in different ways. The term Trinity came out as tri-unity not triune. The term was coined early in Christian history but did not have the three in one aspect until the Catholic Church forced the three in one definition onto Christianity in the 4th century under penalty of death. And then most of the Protestants adopted the belief during the reformation.

But still that does not define the whole topic. I defend what the scriptures say and what the early Church believed and the progressing Christian history. There is good chance that very few people even thought about the three in one concept until the Catholic Church demanded it.

The history of it included people that wanted the scripures to validate the three in one belief so much that they used the translation process to change what the scriptures said. It is called The Johannine Comma Addition and involves 1st John 5:7-8. You can look it up yourselves, it is historical.

Then there is the other side of the coin….The scriptures give us a lot information but they cannot define exactly what it is to be a God or how they relate. The Law of Physics of Heaven so to speak. There are three real Gods, Yahweh, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit. Do they and can they sit on thrones? Perfect minds….would think exactly a like. Yeshua prayed to Yahweh in the Garden and said that Yahweh was His God. But do they normally communicate with telepathy? Or do they speak to each other in Heaven? And are they connected some how? Can we comprehend that connection?

My defense of the scriptures and Christian history is not saying that there cannot be a connection, it just not defined in the scriptures. In fact the three in one beliefs does not fit with the scriptures….And Christ’s explanation of it includes us as part of the one. But as it is the three in one formula skews the meaning of over a hundred scriptures, like the My Father scriptures and the My Father in Heaven scriptures…. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….This is my Son of whom I am well pleased….the Father is greater than I ….Yeshua ascends to the Father….. Yeshua saying Yahweh is His God….Yeshua does not do His will but the will of Yahweh….Yeshua did not know when the end of time was but Yahweh did…. Yeshua did not have the authority to grant John and James mother’s request that her sons sit on each side of Him. So the three in one belief twists the meaning of these scripture….as if Yeshua is His own Father and He is praying and referring to Himself and pleased with Himself.

So I am not saying there is not a connection between the three but not to the point that they are not individuals. A lot of people like the three in one belief because is seems like a miracle.....but it just is not true. The three Gods are a miracle enough.
The term Godhead is a much more accurate term.
 
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GodsGrace

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The God meter.......The God meter says that Yeshua is a full God.
Right.
But God number 2.

There is only 1 God.

The question here is this:

Are there already established rules for being known as Christian?
Can a person make up their own meaning for Christianity or is it already established?

How will the Christian religion end up if we keep adding to it or changing it from its original meaning?
 

GodsGrace

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Greetings again GodsGrace, Grailhunter and mailmandan,

I believe that Jesus came into existence by means of his conception and birth Matthew 1:20-21, Luke 1:34-35.
We very conveniently choose the verses that we like and ignore the rest.
This is done for every single Christian doctrine.

I don't really care to discuss the Divinity of Jesus since there is nothing to discuss...
but I'll reply to your verses.

Matthew 1:20-21

I like to post context, so it'll be 20 to 23

20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD * AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."



1. The child is conceived by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is also God...so what is conceived will be God.
From Genesis: each created object "conceived" itself.
Genesis 1:21

2. The child will save the people from their sins.
Who, in the OT, stated that He, Himself will save His people?
God.

Ezekiel 34:11-12
11 For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
12 "As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.


God will care for His people.
HE is the shepherd.
Jesus said HE was the good shepherd.
John 10:11


3. His name will be called Immanuel....a title.

JESUS ----GOD SAVES
IMMANUEL----GOD WITH US

Jesus fulfilled both.


Luke 1:34-35 is the same.
Maybe you at least believe Jesus was born of a virgin.
But who can be sure when persons make up their own theology?


I disagree with your assessment and perspective. It misses the target as to the teaching and purpose of the OT.

No. They believe that Jesus was Michael the Archangel before and after his ministry. I believe Jesus was and is a human.

This is one aspect. Yes, he is the Son of God, not God the Son.

Kind regards
Trevor
The above is not for me, but....
Are the JWs still teaching Jesus is Michael?
My 2 JW friends tell me He is the son of God.
Created.

BTW,,,yes,,, JESUS was born 2,000 years ago,,,
but He always existed as the 2nd Person of the Trinity.
 
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GodsGrace

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And those who follow Jesus, trust Jesus to save them, love Jesus, and obey Jesus's teachings, but cannot accept the dogma of the Trinity for whatever reasons - Do you believe them to be lost?
No Lambano.
Doctrine does not save us...but it does identify us to a belief system.

This thread is not about soteriology,,,
but about the definition of the word Christian.

When a person tells someone that they're Christian...
what exactly does that mean?

It means nothing these days...
we'd have to ask them what they believe about a myriad of topics.

THIS is my point.
Christianity is losing its definition.

We don't have to understand the Trinity...(but a Christian does have to accept it)
but we also cannot rail against it as I see on these Forums.
 
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GodsGrace

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This is a great question, one I’ve been asked many times within my own community. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on it. Personally, I see the Trinity as a form of idolatry: a man-made doctrine that fashions a god according to human ideas rather than the revelation of Scripture. While I warn of its dangers, I prefer God to be the judge of us all!
Except that the Trinity is not man-made.

And yes,,,GOD will be the judge of us all.

And WHO will be doing the judging?
THE SON/JESUS/THE CHRIST/THE SON OF MAN

John 5:22
22For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,


2 Timothy 4:1
1I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,


Matthew 25:31-32
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.


Matthew 16:27
27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
 

GodsGrace

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Please note that I said it would make them less of a good Christian "steward." In other words, they will be passing their confusion on to others. Indeed, anybody in virtually any religion can be a "good person." What religion they were raised up in or converted to is not always something they can control or correct without help. They may in their heart of hearts be "good people."

Of course, Christianity saves people not just because they are "good," but more, because they embrace Christ, who is the ultimate Good. Salvation is a matter of choosing one who mitigates our sins, and does not simply over look them.

To mitigate sin we must embrace one who endows us with his goodness as well as deals with our sins. And when we accept Christ we accept his means of disposing of our sins, along with their guilt.

I'm happy whenever I see good people. I'm happier when they accept Christ because not only will it make them better, but it will also cause them to repent of the wrongs they do.

There are Christians who reject the Trinity. And they may simply have been propagandized, and defend the only thing they've been taught to believe in.

When they pass on something less helpful to others it doesn't mean they're not good. It just means they won't be as good a steward as they would be if they present the truth without confusion.

It helps people better when they are brought to a truth that makes sense, giving them security in their faith. And when their faith is more secure they become more associated with the goodness of Christ and become more determined to repent when they sin.
Thanks RK...
I agree with everything you've stated.

I do also believe that when we have correct theology everything does make more sense and every single passage in the NT is easy to explain without having to twist and bend and go on a tyraid as to what it "really" means... IOW,,,all scripture has to be reconciled in order for it to make any sense.

But you said there are CHRISTIANS who reject the Trinity...
so what defines them as Christian?

Is it merely the fact that they follow Jesus?
If that is the only criteria, then we each can create our very own "religion".

I'm saying that if we want to DESCRIBE ourselves as Christian we must adhere to
Christian tenets.

Is this wrong?

If I'm an auto mechanic...
don't I have specific rules to follow?
or can I fix a car however I see fit to even if it causes harm to the auto?

If I want to make lasagne (more my style!)
don't I have a specific recipe to follow?
Or can I make them any way I wish to and still call them lasagne?


(and yes, it is lasagne and not lasagna).
 

Lambano

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No Lambano.
Doctrine does not save us...but it does identify us to a belief system.

This thread is not about soteriology,,,
but about the definition of the word Christian.
Okay; what you are looking for is to establish what the sociologists call “boundary markers” to delineate who is “us” and who is “them”, correct?
 

Christian Soldier

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Think again grasshopper.....
LOL I take it that you cannot count either. Note the “and” in the verses. 1+1+1=1 LOL
The McKenzie Bible Dictionary explains it this way.... “The Trinity of God is defined by the Church as the belief that in God there are three persons who subsist in one nature. The belief as so defined was reached only in the 4th and 5th centuries AD and hence is not explicitly or formally a biblical belief.”

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. 1st Corinthians 8:6

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 1st Timothy 2:5

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2nd Corinthians 13:14

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 count the ands

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. John 5:20

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1st Peter 1:3

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2nd Corinthians 1:3-4

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. 2nd Corinthians 13:14

Snickering in your general direction.
How can you blatantly deny what God has said, while claiming to be a Christian, a true Christian believes everything that God has said.

You claim that "there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist", But Gods Word never makes any such claim, so you just made that silly thing up. Gods Word reveals that the father never created anything, and it was in fact the LORD Jesus who created all things for Himself.

The Bible declares that people like you are "cursed", here's what it reveals about you. >>>>

Galatians 1:6 marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed.

The Lord Jesus said He is Yahweh, Jehovah, almighty God, the Creator of everything that exists. You're either a very confused individual, or you're deliberately spreading demonic doctrine.
 

Lambano

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THIS is my point.
Christianity is losing its definition.

Okay; what you are looking for is to establish what the sociologists call “boundary markers” to delineate who is “us” and who is “them”, correct?

I ran across this concept in one of NT Wright’s books on Paul. The discussion was what Paul meant by “Works of the Law”. Citing some sociologist’s analysis, the “Works” Paul cites in Galatians and Romans are the sociological “boundary markers” that delineate being a Jew in a Gentile world - circumcision, sabbath observance, the kosher laws, and Jewish holidays. Good works of Torah, such as giving to the poor, are encouraged, and bad works defined by Torah like idolatry, adultery, and male homosexuality are still prohibited.

Christianity was going through a crisis period as it expanded from being a Jewish sect into the gentile world, and what you see in Paul’s letters and in Acts is the friction between the original Jewish followers of Jesus and Paul’s gentile converts.

We’re going through a similar crisis now as traditional Christianity is in decline worldwide. We’re in the process of redefining who we are, and it’s going to be painful. All social groups experience this. Some survive, some die off, and some are changed in ways that would make them unrecognizable to the old guard. Which is what happened to Christianity in the first century onward.
 
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GodsGrace

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Okay; what you are looking for is to establish what the sociologists call “boundary markers” to delineate who is “us” and who is “them”, correct?
I think this would be a fair way of stating it although I never thought of it this way.

Do you not like the term Christian tenets?

I'm not certain it's the same and so hesitate to make a confirmation.

US...yes,,,there should be definite belief systems for those that consider themselves to be Christian.
THEM...OK...I do believe, for instance, that JWs should not define themselves as Christian since they do not believe in one of the main tenets of what defines Christianity...The Trinity.

Do you believe boundary markers is the same as what I'm stating?
Seems like it.

We know what Jews believe.
We know what Muslims believe.
Does everyone understand what a Christian believes??

The first qualification that should come to mind is that Jesus is God.
 

GodsGrace

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Greetings again GodsGrace,

I am not interested in discussing an attempted Trinitarian explanation of Matthew 1:20-21 and Luke 1:34-35.

Kind regards
Trevor
Of course you don't care to have a Trinitarian explain what is obvious in scripture.

You eisegete instead of exegeting.
Rather convenient, isn't it?

The reason I don't care to discuss the Divinity of Jesus is because it shouldn't be NECESSARY.

You call yourself a Christian...
why would we be having this discussion??
 

Grailhunter

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Right.
But God number 2.

There is only 1 God.

The question here is this:

Are there already established rules for being known as Christian?
Can a person make up their own meaning for Christianity or is it already established?

How will the Christian religion end up if we keep adding to it or changing it from its original meaning?

In several places in the scriptures it says there is only one God.....Yahweh the Father. I have given you those scriptures. But that is because He was the only one in the Old Testament and is unique as Supreme. But Yeshua and the Holy Spirit are God too. What is a Christian? One who believes in Christ as Lord and Savior and believe He is the Son of Yahweh.
 

GodsGrace

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I ran across this concept in one of NT Wright’s books on Paul. The discussion was what Paul meant by “Works of the Law”. Citing some sociologist’s analysis, the “Works” Paul cites in Galatians and Romans are the sociological “boundary markers” that delineate being a Jew in a Gentile world - circumcision, sabbath observance, the kosher laws, and Jewish holidays. Good works of Torah, such as giving to the poor, are encouraged, and bad works defined by Torah like idolatry, adultery, and male homosexuality are still prohibited.

Christianity was going through a crisis period as it expanded from being a Jewish sect into the gentile world, and what you see in Paul’s letters and in Acts is the friction between the original Jewish followers of Jesus and Paul’s gentile converts.

We’re going through a similar crisis now as traditional Christianity is in decline worldwide. We’re in the process of redefining who we are, and it’s going to be painful. All social groups experience this. Some survive, some die off, and some are changed in ways that would make them unrecognizable to the old guard. Which is what happened to Christianity in the first century onward.
I agree wholeheartedly.
(the Moral Law is for everyone - not just the Jew)

Except that I'd say that the disintergration did not start in the first century.
The tenets were maintained in the first few centuries and even confirmed in the Councils.
If we lose those...I fear we will lose the very meaning of what it means to be Christian.


I see the change happening just a couple of hundred years ago.
It's arianism rearing its ugly head again but this time the church is also involved as some denominations actually teach this. (that Jesus was a man, prophet, whatever).

If we become unrecognizable to the old guard...
it means we have not maintained what the early church believed.
It means we're acknowledging that it might have been wrong all along and that it needs to be redefined.
It means God is not the same today as He was yesterday.

And I don't see the churches that adhere to early teachings speaking out against this.

Same reason for some of our social problems...
the "church" seems to sit back and do nothing.
 

GodsGrace

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In several places in the scriptures it says there is only one God.....Yahweh the Father. I have given you those scriptures. But that is because He was the only one in the Old Testament and is unique as Supreme. But Yeshua and the Holy Spirit are God too. What is a Christian? One who believes in Christ as Lord and Savior and believe He is the Son of Yahweh.
There can only be one God.
Or God is not supreme or sovereign.
 

Grailhunter

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How can you blatantly deny what God has said, while claiming to be a Christian, a true Christian believes everything that God has said.

You claim that "there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist", But Gods Word never makes any such claim, so you just made that silly thing up. Gods Word reveals that the father never created anything, and it was in fact the LORD Jesus who created all things for Himself.

The Bible declares that people like you are "cursed", here's what it reveals about you. >>>>

Galatians 1:6 marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed.

The Lord Jesus said He is Yahweh, Jehovah, almighty God, the Creator of everything that exists. You're either a very confused individual, or you're deliberately spreading demonic doctrine.

How many ways can you be wrong.
I have already provided the scriptures go through the posts.
 

JohnDB

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If “no one has ever seen God”...how many people saw Jesus? If Jesus is God, then thousands saw God. It doesn’t say “no one has ever seen the Father”....so is this a contradiction?
Jesus often called the Jews "Blind" for a REASON. And this would be the reason. They only saw a man. They did not see their God.
 

Lambano

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I agree wholeheartedly.
(the Moral Law is for everyone - not just the Jew)
I’m sure St. Paul appreciates your endorsement. However, my understanding from reading Jewish literature, Jews regard what Protestants call the “ceremonial law” as a holiness code that sets apart God’s people from all other peoples. Read Galatians 2 with that in mind. To James and then Peter, disregarding God’s holiness code would be completely unacceptable. These new “disciples” were not maintaining what God’s people had always believed and practiced, what Jesus himself practiced, and what God's people had fought to the death to defend against the the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes just a couple of centuries before. (See 1 and 2 Maccabees.) So, they disfellowshipped the Gentile Christians in Antioch only a decade after the Resurrection.

Another obvious historical turning point was the Protestant Reformation. Also obvious is that there are some doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants. One of the Catholics on this board said explicitly he cannot consider me a brother in Christ. And some of my fellow Protestants are downright ugly in their condemnation of Catholics. That split occurred 500 years ago. Doctrine keeps evolving.

So, if Peter or James or Paul visited a Mass or a worship service today, would they recognize the teachings and the practices?
 
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