Sunday, June 28, 2015

CHAPTER TWO: The Godhead

This will be the explanation of our point of belief that is different from the majority of Christianity; that being that we are non-Trinitarian. 

This will also be the explanation of our difference from the whole of the Christian world, in what we *do* teach regarding the Son, the Father, and their Holy Spirit.

Now, let me start off by saying, if you are feeling sudden offense or anger that we would question the Trinity doctrine before even looking into this document, you are getting a glimpse of the doctrine's root and source. According to the Handbook for Todays Catholic, page 16, "The mystery of the trinity is the central doctrine of Catholic faith. Upon it are based all the other teachings of the church."

What I intend to do here is to show you how, first, every scripture used to support a Trinitarian concept of Yah is completely unable to stand the test of investigation by the Word. I then intend to show you what scripture does teach regarding the Father, Son, and Spirit. To clear up now, I will state what we believe, in essential summary, regarding the Godhead: There is the Father, the creator of all things - the Almighty, YHWH. There is also the Son, of like power and divinity, who was brought forth from (Not created by) the Father, His "only begotton." They are one in character and in purpose, but they are not the same being. Further, that shared character, that mindset, that all-consuming loving nature is their shared Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not a third being unto itself, it is not a conciousness, nor does it have a personality of its own - Rather, it is the personality of the Father and Son, much like the spirit of Elijah, which was later shared by Elisha after his ascension.

For a more thorough investigation of the personhood of the Spirit specifically, please read Where two or three are gathered by David Aguilar.

Section I - Loosening the Lock


 There are many 'proof verses' at the ready disposal of those who would seek to prove a trinity, and so I will merely begin at one of the most commonly (mis)used in Scripture.
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (1 John 5:7)

And, here is the next verse:
"And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." (1 John 5:8)

How does this explain it, you may ask. Well, a concordance may prove a valuable tool for this study. The word "agree" was added by translators who believed they were helping to clear up the 'true' meaning of the verse. However in doing so they corrupted what would have otherwise kept the verse before it from ever presenting a qualm regarding the nature of the Godhead. According to scripture, there are not only three in heaven that are one, but there are three in earth that are one.
Now, obviously blood, water, and spirit are not the same substance. It says that they "bear witness in earth." Some of you may have noticed already what these three things are - They are baptisms. We are born of the Spirit, we are baptized in water, and we are cleansed with the blood of Christ. Now these three are not one and the same any more than the Father, Son, and Spirit are: They are however, one in purpose.

Each form of cleansing, of baptism, is of the same purpose, the same goal - The cleansing of self and the bringing into harmony of one into the body of Christ. So we then see how this same principle would apply to the Father, Son, and Spirit - They are not one being either, nor do any of them need be a being - as the water, for example, is not a being - but are one in mind, purpose, and in perfect harmonious character.

The second verse that comes to mind is, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26)

Of course the entire case of this verse rests upon the word "he" being used to denote the Spirit. By the way, on that note, "Holy Ghost" is a gross slaughter of what the term originally meant - It should be translated Holy Spirit (hagion pneuma) in every instance. That being said.

Once more on the subject of mistranslations, the word "he" is subject to a lesser one of these. I say lesser because, well, I had best just explain. The word in Greek for "he" here, is "Ekeinos." This word can in fact, be used to denote a person, or be correctly translated "he." However 3/4 of the time, it's use is "that, that other, it." It is used 75% of the time to denote an object, or an unliving thing. Does this prove the Holy Spirit is not a being? No. Does it prove it is? Not by a longshot. :)

This next verse I will simply post before moving on, because it rests on the exact same hinge, and is explained in the exact same way as the previous. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:"

We will now move on to the only place in scripture "he" (autos) appears to be used to denote the Spirit.

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:16-17)
If it were not for the very next verse after these two, I would credit this as probably the single best pro-Spiritarian (My own terming) verse in the entire New Testament. However before moving to that verse which disqualifies this pair for that title, I had better explain what these two mean, I would think.

The problem with reading this verse is most people assume the Comforter, the Spirit, is a being - As such they automatically assume the transition from the Father to the Spirit as being the subject changing. However if the Spirit is not a being, the Father would remain the subject, and the "He" would apply to Him alone. Here, then, is how the verse would read properly, if the Spirit is not a being:

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he[Father] may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him[Father] not, neither knoweth him[Father]: but ye know him[Father]; for he[Father] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.[By His Spirit]" (John 14:16-17)

To further support this, the Spirit was not received in full by the apostles until the day of Pentecost; how then could Christ say that the Spirit dwelleth in them currently? This obviously makes no sense, and one searching for consistancy in the scripture need not even look to the next verse before seeing such. However, as this is intended to be thorough, I will post the next verse (admittedly one that belongs in the next section, regarding proving our side of things) as well.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 16:18)

So... Let us summarize. We have the verses that say he, inexplainable as the Spirit because of Pentecost not arriving yet. We further show this, by the very next words out of Christ's mouth after speaking of the Spirit being "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." There is one more nail to this particular coffin, but I will save that for the next section, since if I post it now, it will just run with the flow of the article.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

This is, by my own admission, probably the only really credible pro-Trinity verse in all of scripture. However it too, has its explanation, and a rather simple one. Please note the CSDA church seal on the Contact page - The top name in Hebrew is that of the Father, the bottom is that of the Son (Keep in mind Hebrew reads from right to left.) The name of the Father is in the name of the Son, and this would be the fulfillment of this prophecy - Nothing along the lines of a mystical, inconceivable trinity or even duality that cannot be fathomed.

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:" (Matthew 3:16)

You know, I may be missing something, but I never did see where the Trinitarian view comes from on this. It does not say the Spirit became a dove and flew down of 'his' own will to the Son. It says simply, the Spirit descended in a shape like a dove. I see no personhood alluded to here whatsoever - If you would care to please explain this to me, as it has been a source of constant bewilderment when people put this verse forth, I would ask you to please contact me immediately.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19)

This verse has like questioning attached to it as the one above. I believe I should clarify, that we do most obviously believe there is a Holy Spirit. We do not however believe it is a being or person unto itself - It is the presence of Christ and the Father, their "representative" so to speak, their character, their mind, their... Well, I've gone into this before. So, if one knows this, I really see no use for the above scripture - Once more it does not allude to personhood. Actually, even more interesting, we have record of the Apostles baptizing in soley the name of Christ. (Acts 19:5) So either they disobeyed Christ, or they knew a little more than we do about principle/character, and the Godhead. Interestingly as well, the Apostles could not baptize in the name of the Holy Spirit - As will be covered in the next section, the Spirit has no such name to speak of.

"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:11, 21)

These verses really do well to shoot the combatant in the foot, so to speak - One would have to ignore one half of the verses to embrace the other, for, His prayer is that His apostles may be one in eachother and one with the Father and Son. Do we become God when we are converted? Is this what His prayer is? No, of course not. Do two apostles become a uni-creature with two heads, or three? No, obviously not. The prayer then is very bluntly clear in its meaning - They are to be one in mind and purpose, just like the Father and Son are. In fact, that whole chapter does very well to refute the concept of them being the same, unless Christ was merely putting on a show for His disciples with His prayer."Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26)

Its a little interesting that even the KJV translates this verse as "itself," but, bypassing that. This does not, far as I can see anyway, allude to the Spirit as a being any more than the others thus far. We have a perfect example in the Old Testament, that very much aids to clearing up just why this does not make the Spirit a person:

"O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." (1 Chr. 20:12-13)

Now we have here, the king of Judah "knowing not what to pray." We find that Yah's Spirit did intercede here, and at the same time, He spoke through His Spirit, through a man of the Levite tribe, Jahaziel:

"Then upon Jahaziel the son Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." (1 Chr. 20:14-15)

This also explains for those who would cite the Spirit speaking: Yah speaks through His Spirit, through us, very clearly in scripture, this case being but one of many examples.
This does, far as I can tell, address every common argument put forth by Trinitarians for their doctrine - A rather amazing thing, considering how it is all but universally accepted, since the Rimini council under Constantinus. If there is another verse I have failed to address or an argument I have not explained, please let me know. For now, I believe I have well enough shown the lack of weight in the evidence for the Trinity.

Section II - Opening the Gate


 Now we will go into the second portion of this document - I have shown why we do not believe what we do not, now I will explain why we *do* believe what we do.

In regards to the Son being the same as the Father, I believe the chapter of Proverbs 8 explains this beyond a doubt, that He was brought forth, in perfect accordance with the scriptures stating He is the only begotton of Yah. To state beforehand, yes I am aware that the topic of that chapter is, literally, wisdom. I am also aware that the word "Word" in John 1:1 is from "logos," which means "word" or "speech" as well as "wisdom" or "intelligence." A spoken wisdom and intelligence that is, intelligent communication - different from "sophia."

Further, the scripture declares, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Cor 1:30)

And as such, the chapter of Proverbs 8 states of Christ, in part, "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth." (Proverbs 8:23-25)

This very much fills in the "gap" between John 1:1 and John 3:16, which seem to state at once that He was begotten yet has been from the beginning; in contrast with the Father which has always been.
On that same matter, the entire chapter of John 17 alone, I believe, is sufficent to refute the Trinity. Did Christ merely put on a show for His disciples, praying to Himself?

What then of Gethsemane, where He uttered the words, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt?" (Matt. 26:39)

What, again, of Christ when He said "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me?" (John 8:17-18)

I believe it is clear from this and this alone, that the Father and the Son are not the same being. Now, what of the Spirit?
I will now go back to address what I chose not to earlier, in regards to John 16. The word "Comforter" used to describe the Spirit, is the exact same word (Parakletos) that is used of Christ as our Advocate, in 1 John 2:1. So then in coupling with the summary before:

We have the verses that say "he", inexplainable as the Spirit because of Pentecost not arriving yet. We further show this, by the very next words out of Christ's mouth after speaking of the Spirit being "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you", showing Christ equating Himself with, and even denoting Himself *as* that very Spirit and comforter which was to be sent. We *then* have the word "Comforter" applied to the Spirit, as the exact same word used of Christ as our Advocate, even further showing the Master meant what He said and knew what He was speaking of when he made the above equation of self = Spirit.

I believe that this makes it fairly clear. Further, we have the scripture saying that it is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Son in the same verse (Romans 8:9), we have it calling it the Spirit of his Son (Gal. 4:6), we have it saying in fact, plainly and clearly, that the Lord IS the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17)
Continuing, the Spirit is not prayed to, it is prayed for. (Ps. 51:11-12) 

The Spirit does not have a name such as YHWH or Yahshua, it is simply the Spirit of God. The Spirit is listed in Genesis as the Spirit of Elohim, the Spirit of the already plural term for God moving over the waters. (Genesis 1:3)
We have in fact, the following list of verses that refer to the Holy Spirit as none other than the Spirit of God, the Father, and of Christ, aside from what has been presented thusfar:


I hope then that I have shown very clearly, and beyond contention, the truth of scripture regarding the nature of the Father, the Son, and their Spirit, of which we partake when we come to Him. You see the Spirit is not a third outter being; it is Christ, His personal presence abiding in us, living in us, and being a part of ourselves. It is by the Spirit that we partake of the divinity of Christ, and that He lives in us. It is His greatest gift to humanity, for it is the fulness of His life - And it is no wonder why Satan would seek to corrupt this truth in the minds of the world, by introducing, in the basest sense, a Pagan concept of God into Christianity.

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)
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