Denying the Trinity: An Age-old Heresy

Old heresies seem to never die, and one of the oldest is a denial of the doctrine of the trinity, which in essence is also a denial of the divinity of Christ. These days on social media there is something of an epidemic of people who call themselves Christians and yet deny the doctrine of the trinity.

Their argument is that if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God, then we have three gods. Logically then, by that reasoning, if the Son is God we have two gods, therefore they have to deny the divinity of Christ also. The doctrine of the trinity and the dozens of passage of Scripture which declare it, is discussed in depth in chapter 6 of my Practical Systematic Theology, so here I will simply give a short answer specifically on the divinity of Christ. But first a short statement.

No Christian theologian worth his salt teaches that there are three Gods, that is the heresy of tritheism, and neither do they teach that we have one God acting in either 2 or 3 different ways. That is the heresy of modalism. Neither of these heretical views can be supported in Scripture. What Scripture reveals is that God is one God in three persons, individual, and indivisible and this is the foundation of the doctrine of the trinity. In order to prove the doctrine of the trinity we simply need to prove that Jesus Christ is God the Son who became the Son of God.  

Frankly speaking, one can only begin to deny the divinity of Christ by refusing to believe the entire New Testament. Now a Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist may do that, but if a professing Christian refuses to believe the New Testament, then by what criteria can they be even remotely called Christian? 

Let’s begin this refutation with John’s gospel. Most people are aware of the first verse, but few are aware of the word order in the original Greek.

‘In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word’. Yes, the last phrase is emphatic. It does not say and the Word was God, but God was the Word. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, with their perverted New World Translation, translate the last phrase as ‘the Word was a God, inserting the indefinite article ‘a’ into what was obviously a translation from English. This interpretation is impossible. Firstly, there is no indefinite article in Greek, and secondly, the word order John uses is emphatic that ‘God was the Word’.

Word is Logos in Greek, and heretics try to give explanations that Logos is simply reason, or creative knowledge or some such thing. John refutes this idea completely.

Verse 2-3 states ‘He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made’.

Obviously, John is referring to creation as the word translated as ‘made’ (egeneto) means to bring into existence. Here we have the words God, beginning, and create, directing us to the first verse of the Bible in Genesis, ‘in beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’.  

Heretics claim the Logos is a what and not a who, not a person, but merely the rational and creative force of God. Again, John absolutely refutes this foolishness. Verse 4 begins to describe this person.

‘In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind’. 

John then speaks of the Baptist who came to testify of that light so that we might believe. The Baptist, he says, was not himself the light, he only came as a witness to the light (v8). 

Now we get to the heart of the matter (v9-10). 

‘The true light that gives light to the world was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him’. 

Who exactly is John referring to? If we are so dull that we still haven’t figured it out, then now the apostle spells it out precisely.

‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’.(John 1:14) 

The Word, or Logos, who is the subject of the first verse, became flesh and dwelt among us. John claims that he has seen His glory, He is the one and only Son who came from the Father. And if we still needed more explanation we are given it in verse 18.

‘No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God…has made Him known’. 

In the original text it states ‘the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has now made Him known’. 

How could John have made this profound mystery any clearer? We may not be able to understand how the creator of the world became a human being and walked among us, but we can never deny that this is exactly what the Scripture declares. And how does John’s testimony, given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, compare to other apostles?

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes these words.

‘The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together’. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Firstly, Paul writes that He is the 'image of the invisible God'. Our English word 'image' may suggest a copy, something less than perfect, but the Greek text means something closer to 'revelation'. Jesus Christ is the physical manifestation of God, the Father who is invisible to human eyes. As we previously read, John tells us that 'no one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him known' (John 1:18), and Jesus Himself stated 'anyone who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9). The writer to the Hebrews (1:3) puts it this way, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word”.

These words are very clear, but the fact which they state is impossible for us to comprehend. How can someone who created this incredible universe, with all of its complexity, its infinite detail and perfect design, then become small enough to be a part of it. Paul would answer such a question by referring to Christ as the 'mystery which has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints' (Colossians 1:26). 

Paul calls Him the ‘firstborn of all creation’ (prototokos pases ktiseos). This term ‘firstborn’ (protokos) has several meanings. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that this phrase proves that Jesus was the first created being. They are absolutely wrong. In Greek the phrase literally means   ‘begotten before all creation’. This word does not mean to be created; rather, it means to exist eternally in a physical form. This term is Paul’s explanation of the first words, the ‘image of the invisible God’. 

Notice also that the word firstborn is connected with being 'over all creation'. This is another meaning of firstborn, signifying dominion over all things as the firstborn member of the family was heir and lord of all, the one with supreme authority. Christ's authority is not something given to him by a higher authority, but rather it is absolute. Paul is never suggesting that Christ is the first of all created beings, but rather that He is unique, being distinguished from all creation, because, as he tells us in verse 16, He is the creator Himself.

From a human perspective, the doctrine of the trinity defies human logic. But consider this. From ancient times people have created gods and idols, gods of weather, fertility, fate, etc. People could understand these so-called gods and explain their functions. But what human being could create an idea of God which is impossible to explain logically, mathematically, or existentially?

When human beings refuse to accept a God they cannot intellectually explain or comprehend, they are bringing the Creator down to their pathetic level of intellect. Such is both arrogance and ignorance. 

There are obviously many difficult questions regarding how we understand the divinity and humanity of Christ. Philippians 2 states that Christ, being in very nature God, emptied Himself and took the form of a slave. How the Creator of the world did that is one of the greatest mysteries, however, why He did it is not. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons, individual and indivisible, each fulfilling their roles within the Godhead for our salvation. 

Understand this basic fact. If you deny the doctrine of the trinity you are denying the divinity of Christ, and in doing so, denying your own salvation.  

Steve Copland