How should we describe the Godhead or Trinity?
Are they one God in three persons?
Are they one God in three person?
Or, is there another way to describe the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
I am interested.
God Bless, Alex.
I read this in this forum;
"What I have said here will be very hard to comprehend by many here but, can we really comprehend the Godhead?? Only one God three distinct person not persons.
Also, I never knew the SDA church promotes three Gods."
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Hi alex,
i had a thread on this, is Jesus God the Father, and i didn't have much response on this, mainly because our members may find this topic slightly beyond their capacity to comprehend. i hope you have a better success on this thread than i did.
blessing alex
sir james
The-Trinity | |
by Doug Batchelor Copyright © 2003 |
The names of God reveal attributes of His nature. God has a long-established habit of using various names to describe a person’s character. Jacob earned his name that means “swindler” when he practiced deception to steal his father’s blessing away from his brother Esau (Genesis 27:35, 36). At his conversion, Jacob wrestled with the angel and insisted on the blessing of God. Then his name was changed to “Israel,” which means “a prince with God” (Genesis 32:26–28).
Most of the confusion regarding the number of beings composing the Godhead springs from a simple misunderstanding of the word “one.” Simply put, “one” in the Bible does not always mean numerical quantity. Depending on the Scripture, “one” can often mean unity.
Though there is nothing in this world that adequately illustrates God, Paul declares the “invisible things of him from the creation of the world” can help us understand “his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). The truth that God is a “tri-unity” of two invisible persons (Father and Spirit) and one visible person (Jesus) is evident even in creation.
Almost all of the Scriptures used by those who reject the trinity to portray Jesus as a “lesser god” spring from a basic failure to understand the incarnation. Jesus, God the Son, laid aside or veiled the full dimension of His divinity when He came to earth. How else could He live as God among men?
Let us now venture a little deeper onto sacred ground. As we consider the mysteries of the Godhead, we notice that there seems to be an order of authority concerning the three persons in the trinity. Keep in mind that while all three are the same in properties and attributes, and equal in power and glory, it appears that the Father is recognized as the ultimate authority. “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:23). “But I would have you know, that … the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). The Son constantly receives His glory, power, throne, and prerogatives as Judge from the Father (John 3:35; John 5:22). Indeed, it was God the Father that “gave” the Son. In fact, while it might not be wrong, we are never told to pray to Jesus or the Spirit - but instead to the Father in the name of the Son. Yet just because the Father seems to have supreme authority, it does not in any way diminish from the divinity of Jesus and the Spirit. That would be like saying that a corporal is less of a soldier than a sergeant.
It would be a mistake to leave this sublime subject without addressing an additional distortion to the teaching of the trinity. Another class of sincere Christians believes that while the Father and Son are truly distinct persons, they only see the Holy Spirit as a cosmic force or essence—an impersonal power conduit or vehicle to do the bidding of the Father and Son.
The truth of the triune God can also be found in the gospel itself. In essence, when we consider John, we read that God the Father so loved the world that He sent God the Son that we might be born of God the Spirit (John 3:8, 13, 16, 17).
Another point to consider is that sin causes separation from the Creator (Isaiah 59:2). The iniquities of the human race were placed upon the Son of God (Isaiah 53:6). When Jesus hung on the cross, suffering for our sins, every fiber of His being was torn as the eternal relationship with His Father and Spirit was ripped apart. In agony He cried out, “My God [for the Father], my God [for the Spirit], why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). If there had been only one person in the Godhead, there would not have been this excruciating pain of separation to wring the life out of the heart of Jesus.
Augustine, that great man of God, was once walking on the shore of an ocean while greatly perplexed about the doctrine of the trinity. As he meditated, he observed a little boy with a seashell running back and forth from the waters edge, filling his shell, and then pouring it into a crab hole in the sand. “What are you doing, my little man?” asked Augustine.
We Humans have mental limitations to grasp the complication of the Godhead. We only think in humans terms.
1 John 5:7-87 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. NKJV
Vincent
That is a valid point. In fact, that is getting "smart" in a good way.
Ray
He prayed to God the Father,yet He is in the Father and the Father in Him and what of "God's Spirit"? The Holy ghost is also intertwined. They are all part of the Father and can't be separated,for what exists without the Father?
THis is why Christians refer to the "Godhead" as the "trinity". They are three but of one essence.
To say that there are three separate beings/gods with one purpose would be tritheism and the Bible states that there is but One True God.
Vincent
That is the mystery of the Godhead.
Alexander
What you are saying is that there are three Gods. and no where in the bible teaches that is either you believe in one God or you believe in three it is as simple as that.
Alex
That was a thought I was also contemplating. Along with that point, these additional points also came to mind.
The Bible names three seperate beings that are all called "God." The first reference for this is in Genesis 1:1.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
The word here for "God" is in the plural, i.e. "In the beginning, Gods created the heavens and the earth."
Actually, there has been some "misquoting" going on, which has confused the question. Here is the Hebrew slogan that is being referred to.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:" Deut. 6:4 (KJV)
Here is a better translation.
"Hear, O Israel; Jehovah our God is a multiplicity of gods; but one Jehovah/Lord/Ruler."
The Hebrew word for "God" is "'elohiym, Hebrew 430, Strong’s."
Elohiym is the plural for "El." The Hebrew word for God. The word translated as: "Lord," is Jehovah.
The Bible has made it as clear as we need to have it made. It is just up to us to accept it and not fight over something that there is no room for discussion about.
The manufactured problem about multiple gods is just a tactic that Satan has used to confuse. Let's not let that happen here.
Maranatha :)
Ray
Berek
Exactly that is why they should stick to the Godhead and not trinity because trinity means three.
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