Hi Tom, You don't have to change my mind about my belief in the "trinity" but you haven't explained what the "church" believes about the trinity other than its a mystery. It may be a mystery to the RCC, but it certainly isn't a mystery to the saints (at least not anymore.) There's nothing heretical about the notion that the fullness of God is found in Jesus Christ, the Bible says so. There's nothing heretical about the notion that the fullness of God is found in eternity, the Bible says so. There's nothing heretical about the notion that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of prophecy, the comforter, the teacher, being the fullness of God interacting with His creation, the Bible doesn't say this directly, but teaches it from chapter 1 of Genesis and forward (sort of like the doctrine of the trinity, but much more in depth.)
Ask a theologian that you trust, there are plenty out there, including some on the radio, that are happy to field questions about God (its what they do.) But, let me understand for sure here what it is you're saying. It sounds like you believe that anyone who understands that the trinity is only One God is a heretic. If you went to a priest and declared that there are 3 gods in One, the priest would probably call you a heretic or sit down and gently try to explain your misunderstanding and perhaps leave you with "the how" as "a mystery" but there's really nothing all that mysterious about it, except the fact that the devil tries to imitate it, e.g. Satan, beast (anti-Christ), false prophet, the unholy trinity. So is it God's will that we remain as stupid and uneducated as those who lived in the dark ages?
Again, with regard to our friend David, I wouldn't be so quick to make judgments about him because the word of God says that there will be 12,000 Jews from each tribe of Israel that will be evangelizing the world during the dark days of the tribulation, that is 12 times 12,000 total Jewish saints proclaiming Christ's 2nd coming. Perhaps David is one of those, but a little immature as would be expected from his age and his comments, or maybe not. I don't know, do you? I don't know what the RCC believes about those passages in the book of the Revelation and in the book of Zechariah which tell us about this end-times Jewish revival, but as the RCC persecuted Jews for nearly 2 millennia, I wouldn't expect a clear and honest interpretation anyway. Having browsed at least a few old books written by Priests and Monks about their own dreams and visions, I'm not inclined to accept very much from the RCC as being doctrinally correct.
9. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.''
10. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
16. For "Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?'' But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16
Have you ever heard this passage preached or taught in a Roman Catholic Church? Not likely. If you have His Spirit, then you should be able to read and understand this last passage without any difficulty and without the need of going to some "authority" to explain it. Its very plain and easy to understand, but again, we speak of spiritual things, things not understood through the spirit of this age. Where's your faith, Tom? Is it in what men teach you through religion, or is it through what God teaches you through His word? I haven't met many active members in the RCC that don't believe that Jesus is God and that He rose again from the dead, and this belief comes from His Spirit, not from a catechism. If you have the teacher, do you Trust Him, or would you say that this or that can't be correct because some priest says so? Remember, even the Pope is just another priest who was popular with the college of cardinals; elections commonly are just popularity contests and the cardinals aren't above such things. But, if you fear being labeled a heretic or being excommunicated, I can understand that. The RCC rules by fear, not by love, that was one of the reasons that I left it behind about 47 years ago. I remember the old Latin masses and I remember the reason that all the children were so quick to genuflect at the sound of the clicker in the hands of one of the nuns, and it wasn't zeal for the Lord (I never met a kid in catechism classes that could read or speak Latin). Things may have changed in the last 47 years, but erasing the abuses doesn't erase the errors. The Lord hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but the Spirit of adoption that cries out to God, "daddy" (abba). Would your daddy throw you out the door for misunderstanding him? Or, as in the dark days of the past, would your daddy torture you with red hot rods, the rack, finger vises, etc. to bring you to recant some statement and "save your soul from eternal damnation" before your execution?
I apologize for going there, as I don't like to participate in RCC bashing. My maternal grandfather was a Roman Catholic, and though he loved his liquor and his beer, he was one of the most godly men I've ever known when it comes to what scripture calls the fruit of the Spirit. I have cousins who have remained practicing Roman Catholics, who are also loving and gentle individuals demonstrating more fruit than some of those "born-again" professors of the faith that I would say are doctrinally sound, but carnal in action. The lessons of life are always more effective in bringing forth spiritual fruit than intellectual gymnastics with the scriptures, but these relatives of mine typically don't understand why their lives feel unfulfilled or incomplete in the midst of the vain pursuits of life, and I believe that this is because they were never taught the magnitude of God's grace in forgiving all their sin at the cross. I've met Roman Catholics who do believe that they have been saved by faith in Christ's atonement, but who struggle with understanding scripture, because they are unable to reconcile what scripture says to what they have been taught. Imagine for a moment that you were born a beautiful bird and with the ability to fly to great heights over the earth, but that someone, wanting to possess you, clipped your feathers so that you couldn't ever fly. Perhaps it would never bother you to not fly as you were never able to do it, but if you knew that you were created for this purpose would you feel cheated or fulfilled?