Hardly any biblical topic is as controversial as the so-called Trinity of God. The Roman Catholic Church takes a clear stance on this, as it once again believes it knows exactly what is going on. A very dangerous terrain.
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The argument against the Catholic Trinity is simple
DThe Trinity according to Roman Catholic teaching describes a “three-in-one” God, who consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So far so good. However, the Roman Church places this relationship in an idiosyncratic constellation. God and His “3 Personality”. Father is not Son, Son is not Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit is not Father, but all together as a common intersection would result in God. Father “generates” the Son and both together generate the Holy Spirit. The Bible points out in several places that this constellation cannot be correct.
One of the most extreme variants deviating from the gospel is that of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. For them, Jesus Christ is not only created, but simply an angel with particularly great power and privileges. In this case, they not only deny the sonship of Jesus, but actually let a representative of God die. In addition, Jesus Christ did not pay for sins with His blood, but through His high “value”. This version is a “thing” between Catholic works justice and the teachings of various “heavy occult circles”.
How does the Church of Rome itself define the Trinity?
The Roman Catholic Church has its own concept of the constellation Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The following statement comes from this church itself (Source):
- The Father actively and eternally generates the Son, constituting the person of God, the Father.
- The Son is passively generated of the Father, which constitutes the person of the Son.
- The Father and the Son actively spirate the Holy Spirit in the one relation within the inner life of God that does not constitute a person. It does not do so because the Father and Son are already constituted as persons in relation to each other in the first two relations. This is why CCC 240 teaches, “[The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity] is Son only in relation to his Father.”
- The Holy Spirit is passively spirated of the Father and the Son, constituting the person of the Holy Spirit.
With this idea there is already a problem at “procreation”. This depiction implies a created son according to human conceptions. But this is not the Son Jesus Christ, as the verses John 1:1-3 alone describe. Added to this is the usual pride of this church to be able to explain God. This church sees itself as God’s “representative on earth”.
The Bible provides information
Actually, 3 verses from the 1st letter to the Corinthians were already enough to understand the respective independence “father” and “son” with simple words.
1. Corinthians 8:4-6
“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.“
From this statement alone it is clear that God is not the common intersection of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but is completely independent and so is His Son Jesus Christ and yet all together are one God. Sound strange? Yes, it appears that way, but only to our limited minds. Can we understand that at all? No! Not here in our condition anyway.
The first verse and the fourteenth verse in the Gospel of John chapter 1 also show that Jesus Christ is an independent divinity that has not been created(!), but has existed for eternity.
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..”
John 1:14
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
The verses in the Gospel of John also rule out that the man Jesus Christ was a created being, let alone a simple prophet. God became man to save us all from our sins by sacrificing himself and his blood.
The prosecutor will not hold back with complaints
When once the “chief accuser” Satan pointed the finger at the sinner to denounce all the transgressions, the believing sinner can rightly reply that the Creator Jesus Christ took upon himself all the guilt of man and suffered the only intended consequence, death. He gave His blood for our sins. Jesus Christ, who remained completely sinless himself, became sin himself. He died and rose again in flesh and blood on the third day. The accused but believing sinner can therefore refer to our LORD Jesus Christ and Satan can refer his accusation to our Redeemer. “Therefore, do not accuse me, but accuse the Lord Jesus Christ.” At this point, the futility of the “righteousness by works” also taught by the Roman Catholic Church is emphasized. Even a single sin will result in death, and the rest of your life’s worth of good works won’t fix it.
Whole mountains of good works cannot unhinge the law of God. God’s righteousness is eternal righteousness and God’s law is Truth, so in Psalms 119:142. There is salvation only by grace because of faith. Good works, however, are a result of true faith, for faith without works is dead, as in James 2:47.
Anyone who now refers to the Roman Catholic Trinity as the “accused” is referring to a fiction that does not exist in this form. The reference to hundreds of good works alone is pointless anyway, and also presumptuous, since God “owes” nobody anything. Life is a gift from God and, in our situation, it is from undeserved grace.
Humans have limits
In fact, it is not possible for man to explain God. All that would be available to us for this is a part of our known world. So a creature of God. How should it be possible for us humans to explain the Creator or to compare it with anything? This also applies to the constellation Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What is certain is that all three have existed since eternity and that neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit were created. God has communicated to us with His Word what is sufficient for our understanding and horizon. It is important to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, because no one comes to the Father except through Him. Furthermore, the Lord Himself pointed out that there are “other things” that we cannot understand, as in Deuteronomy 29:29:
“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Other verses indicating the constellation
1 Corinthians 11:3
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
Galatians 4:4-6
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
1 Timothy 2:4-6
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
1 John 1:1-4
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”
Genesis 1:26-27
” And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Hebrews 1:7-9 (compare Psalm 45:8)
“And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
Bible verses from King James Version
