Concerning the Doctrine of the Trinity

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The Westminster Confession of Faith states in chapter 2 "Of God, and of the Holy Trinity" paragraph 3 the following:

"In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.(1) The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father;(2) the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.(3)"

(1) 1 John 5:7; Matthew 3:16,17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14
(2) John 1:14,18
(3) John 15:26; Galatians 4:6

Are the Biblical proofs given by the confession substantive or is this just special pleading?
Is the concept of the Trinity Biblical or a product of Neo-Platonism as the Unitarians have suggested?

 

[aspen]

The Westminster Confession of Faith states in chapter 2 "Of God, and of the Holy Trinity" paragraph 3 the following:
Are the Biblical proofs given by the confession substantive or is this just special pleading?
Is the concept of the Trinity Biblical or a product of Neo-Platonism as the Unitarians have suggested?

[font="Verdana] [/font][/size][/font][font="sans-serif"][font="Verdana][size="2"]God the Father declared Himself to be one God to Moses and the Hebrews:[/font]
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[font="Verdana][size="2"]Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one[/size][/font]
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[font="Verdana][size="3"]Jesus is Divine[/size][/font]
[font="Verdana][size="3"] [/size][/font][font="Verdana][b] [/b][/font]
[font="Verdana][b] [/b][/font][font="Verdana][b][size="2"]Jesus declared His divinity:[/size][/b][/font]
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[font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][font="Verdana][b][b][url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13:13&version=31"]John 13:13[/url][/font]
[font="Verdana][b]“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that [b]i[/b]s what [b]I[/b] [b]am[/b].[/b][/font][/font][/b][/color][/size][/font]
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[/b][size="2"]Jesus did not correct those who worshiped Him:[/size]

John 9:37-39

[sup]37[/sup] Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”[sup]38[/sup] Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
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[font="Verdana][b]Jesus ascended to the Father under His own power:[/b]
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[/font][font="Verdana][b][b][size="2"]John 20:17[/size][/b][/b]
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Goinstead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

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[font="Verdana][b][size="2"]The witness of the disciples declared Jesus as God:[/size][/b]

John 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [sup]2[/sup] He was with God in the beginning. [sup]3[/sup] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [sup]4[/sup] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. [sup]5[/sup] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[sup][a][/sup] it.[/font]
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[b] [/b][b][font="arial][size="2"][font="Verdana][b][b][url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20:28&version=31"]John 20:28[/url][/b][/b][/font]
[font="Verdana][b][b]Thomas[/b] said to him, “My Lord and my God!”[/b][/font][/color][/size][/font][/b]

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[/size]Jesus spoke of another personage that was to follow Him, who was to be sent by the Father
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[font="Verdana][color="#000080"]John 16:7
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

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Witness from the Early Church:

"Both from the confession of the evil spirits and from the daily witness of His works, it is manifest, then, and let none presume to doubt it, that the Savior has raised His own body, and that He is very Son of God, having His being from God as from a Father, Whose Word and Wisdom and Whose Power He is. He it is Who in these latter days assumed a body for the salvation of us all, and taught the world concerning the Father. He it is Who has destroyed death and freely graced us all with incorruption through the promise of the resurrection, having raised His own body as its first-fruits, and displayed it by the sign of the cross as the monument to His victory over death and its corruption". - The Incarnation of the Word, Chapter 5, The Resurrection (5:32) Athanasius of Alexandria

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[font="arial] [/font][/color][/b][/color][/size][/b][/size][/font][font="sans-serif"]If all these statements are true:[/font]
[font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"] [/font][/size][/font][font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"] [/font][/size][/size][/font]
[font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"]- God the Father is One God[/font]
[/size][/size][/font][font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"] [/font][/size][/size][/font][font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"]- Christ is also God[/font][/size][/size][/font]
[font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"] [/font][/size][/size][/font][font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"]- The Holy Spirit is also given to us by God, endowed with the power of God[/font]
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[font="Verdana][size="2"][font="arial][size="3"] [/font][/size][/size][/font]The doctrine of the Trinity must be orthodox because it testifies to the truth of all these seemingly paradoxical statements
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[Tkinnie]

Hey, we pretty much covered this in another topic http://www.christianityboard.com/topic/13970-gods%e2%80%99-holy-spirit-is-just-that-a-%e2%80%99spirit%e2%80%99-not-a-god/ There is only one GOD, but our GOD has 3 parts that he revealed to us... The father, the son, and the holy spirit. Check out that thread it may help you out.