The Trinity?! By Scott Nelson




At one time I called myself a Christian, and I believed in the concept of the trinity for over thirty years. I taught the doctrine to others and would have called anyone who didn't believe in the trinity a blasphemous heretic. But after much study, I have found no legitimate support in _script_ure for the traditional Christian concept. Consequently I have changed my mind (repented) and no longer endorse the doctrine. I continue to believe in the existence of the Father, and the Son Yahshua the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit, but not the three eternal co-equal individuals in one as Christian doctrine demands. In short, I now believe that the Holy Spirit has no individual personality apart from the Father because He is the Father... and extension of Himself. The labels of Father, and Holy Spirit are of one and the same person. Judaism has understood this correctly for thousands of years. Yahshua on the other is the most misunderstood being in both Christian and Jewish worlds. Yahshua is not the Father, nor is he equal to Him, nor has he existed forever, though I do believe he existed before this creation. For more on what I believe, see my statement of faith.

The evidence?

My change of mind is _base_d far more on the massive _script_ural evidence that contradicts the idea of a trinity than it is on the lack of support for it. But the shear lack of evidence speaks volumes in itself. Dealing with this lack of evidence is the subject of this article. There are only two passages in the New Testament that appear to support the concept of the trinity. One is found in 1John 5:7,8. It reads:

For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth; the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree as one.

Aside from the fact that I would be hard pressed to call any of 1John "infallible" any longer, the fact is that none of the early manu_script_s of 1John contain the words I have highlighted in red. Only a few of the later manu_script_s contain these words. Many bibles make mention of this fact in the margin. No scholars continue to use this passage as proof of the trinity anymore. It was no doubt added later because of doctrine arising from the only other passage in the bible that appears to call for a picture of a triune God.

According to our modern versions of Matthew 28:18-20a, Yahshua supposedly commanded his disciples to baptize the nations in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. It reads:

Then Yahshua came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…"

This is also the only place in the bible where there is any mention of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" together in this fashion. It is also the only other passage in the bible which appears to support the Christian concept of a trinity. It should first be noted that the word "name" is in the singular and not the plural form. And secondly, the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are not names at all, but _title_s. We might be able to use names for the Father and Son... they would be YHWH and Yahshua respectively, but what would be the name of the Holy Spirit? It should be evident to even the casual reader that there is probably something wrong with this passage. I thoroughly believe that this passage has been either mistranslated or intentionally altered from Yahshua’s original words in light of the following passage from Exodus 3:15 which I do hold as infallible.

Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "YHWH God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. THIS is MY NAME FOREVER, and THIS is My memorial to ALL GENERATIONS.’

God said His name (singular) would forever be tied to three persons!! They are Abraham, his son Isaac, and Jacob… who is also known as Israel. One must be compelled to ask the question: Why would Yahshua suddenly come up with a new "name" for God when God told Moses this one would last "forever, to all generations"? In light of this, there is little doubt in my mind that Yahshua’s actual words were something more like "…baptizing them in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

I have a couple of theories as to what happened. The one that makes the most sense to me is that there could very well have been at the time Yahshua spoke these words an abbreviated/shorthand Hebrew or Aramaic version of this three-person name as found in Exodus 3:15. Consider the following. The name Abraham in Hebrew means "Father of nations". The first two letters of his name are short for Abba, which is "Father" in Hebrew. Isaac is Abraham’s son. And Jacob, who is also "Israel", is also known as a "holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Question: What if the person who was writing down Yahshua’s word’s quickly scribbled down what at that time was a familiar colloquialism on the order of….Ab-son-holy referring to the God of Abraham, his son Isaac and the holy nation of Israel? Then imagine someone who didn’t understand the colloquialism reading it and attempting to translate it. From such a colloquialism a translator could very easily come up with what we have today… "Father, Son, and Holy……. Spirit"! Research needs to be done on ancient Hebrew and Aramaic writings to see if there can be found an abbreviated version of God’s name as found in Exodus 3:15 which would lead a translator to the error we have today. One might begin with a search of the Dead Sea scrolls.*

* If there are any readers with helpful information along these lines, please contact me.

The other possibility is that the original tran_script_ of Yahshua’s words was complete and correct, but Pauline Christianity later intentionally modified this passage to conform to trinitarian doctrine. I personally tend to favor the former theory. Either way, I have no doubt that this is the true origin of the concept of the trinity. Three separate individuals found in one name. (Three-in-one)

It is also interesting to note that in this same passage Yahshua goes on to say, "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." This must of necessity include his command to observe Moses. (Matthew 23:2,3) Yahshua's commission was a command to bring Gentiles by baptism into the family of Israel… as adopted members of the family who’s father’s were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!! The command was to convert Gentiles to Judaism, which by the way, is exactly what Paul accused Peter of doing! (Gal. 2:14) Peter was there when Yahshua spoke these words. Paul was not!