009 - 16 - Lesson 16: What the Trinity Is Not
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In the previous lesson we saw that the Bible teaches that the LORD God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. There is a oneness (God) and a threeness (Father, Son, Spirit) to this. The classical definition of the Trinity is that there is one God in three persons.
However, we should bear in mind that language used of God doesn’t mean exactly the same thing as it does for us. This is true of the word “person.”
“Yet, when the question is asked, What three? human language labors altogether under great poverty of speech. The answer, however, is given, three persons, not that it might be [completely] spoken, but that it might not be left [wholly] unspoken” (Augustine, On the Trinity, Book 5 Chapter 9).
A good way to approach what this means is by looking at what it doesn’t mean. Here are some ancient and common errors:
1. Three persons in three gods.
This is polytheism, and it is also the view of the Latter Day Saints. It denies that there is one God (Deut. 6:4).
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
2. One god in one person.
This is called Arianism after the 4th century bishop who taught it (Arius), and it is also the view of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It denies that Jesus is God (John 1:1) and that the Holy Spirit is God (2 Cor. 3:17).
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
3. One god in one person but three roles or modes.
This is called modalism, and it is the view of Oneness Pentecostals. It denies that God is simultaneously the Father, Son, and Spirit (Matt. 3:16-17).
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
4. One god in three parts.
This is called partialism, and no one officially takes this view, but many people mistakenly hold it. It denies that the Son (John 1:1) and the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17) are fully God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
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