One of the fundamental doctrines in Christendom is the doctrine of the Trinity. It is taught and preached in churches, on radio and on television, by both: all Catholic and all Protestant denominations. This doctrine, which was formulated by the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, has the following words:

“There are three persons in the one God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: These three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”

This man-made doctrine is totally contrary to the Scriptures, the written Word of God. Judge for yourself on the basis of the following Scriptures. First, numerous declarations by and about Jesus, who, according to Christendom’s teachings and preachings, was even during his 3½ years as a human being: one of the three persons in one God, for which reason divinity is attributed to the man Jesus Christ. But this is what the Scriptures really say and declare about this subject:

John 14:28  “My Father is greater than I.”

Comment: If the Son says that his Father is greater than he is, who is man to say otherwise? Does Jesus contradict the doctrine of the Trinity? He surely does!

John 5:19  “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”

Comment: Do these words speak of: “equal in power”? Surely, with these words the Son expresses not an equality in power, but a oneness in purpose, a oneness in the way of establishing things, a oneness in seeing things alike and adjudicating things on the same basis. The Son, in fact, subordinates himself to the Father.

1 Cor. 15:28 (but, please, read verses 24–28)  “And when all things shall be subdued unto him [unto Christ, during the soon coming Kingdom of God, when Christ will rule as “King of kings and Lord of lords”], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [unto the Father, the only God] that put all things under him, that God [his Father] may be all in all.”

Comment: Surely, these words do not need any comment, or further elaboration.

Luke 22:42  [Jesus praying to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane] “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me [to be crucified]: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

Comment: Would the Son, as one person of the three persons in one God, who has equal power and equal glory, and is of the same substance: ever utter words like this? Never!

1 Cor. 8:6  “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.”

Comment: A clear distinction is given here; it is the very distinction which Jesus himself is referring to when he said: “The Father is greater than I.” What this Scripture does point out is this: The Father designs, plans, purposes, stipulates and determines “times and seasons”: “all things are of the Father”. The Son always: delights to do the Father’s will, as expressed in these words: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8), is executing all things, brings actually all things into being, and, therefore: “all things are by him.” This is also expressed in Gen. 1:26, where we read: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” — not a bodily, literal image, of course, but a likeness in character, in attributes on the earthly plane with regard to justice, wisdom, power and love, for which reason Gen. 1:26 continues: “and let them [Adam and his posterity] 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”. This is for the perfect man, the perfection Adam lost by his disobedience to his Creator, but which he and all his posterity shall receive again after “the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken [of] by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began [Adam's world]” (Acts 3:21).

Rev. 3:14  “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness [God’s Son], the beginning of the creation of God.”

Comment: God himself has no beginning, he is from everlasting to everlasting (Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:2; Is. 40:28; 63:16) but, of course, the Son has. That, in fact, is the logical and only way: the father-to-son relationship can be understood. Father means: Life-Giver. Son means: having come into existence — on the human plane by conception, and on and for the spirit plane by a Spirit begetting. The Son of God, the Scriptures declare, is: “God’s only begotten Son” (Ps. 2:7; Heb. 1:5; John 1:14). Who is man to make something different out of this?

Col. 1:15  “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”

Comment: As already pointed out, Christ is not an image in the literal sense, but in all the characteristics and attributes we have seen Christ display, portray and demonstrate during his earthly life, for which reason Jesus said to his Disciples: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).

John 3:35  “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”

Comment: This surely does not fit to the doctrine of the Trinity either, does it? The Father loves his Son, and has given all things into his hands to be executed according to the Father’s designs and plans. What a wonderful picture this is regarding the relationship between the Father and his Son!

Matth. 3:17  “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Comment: Would God the Father, as one of the three-in-one God, as the doctrine of the Trinity states, would he say to an other person of the three-in-one God: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, if all three persons in the one God: are equal in glory and equal in power? That would be absurd, wouldn’t it?

2 Pet. 1:17  “For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Comment: Again, if all three persons in the one God have equal glory and equal power, would the bestowing of honour and glory from the Father to the Son person in the one God: not be hypocritical, or a farce? On the other hand, since it is God’s dear Son — “the only begotten of God”, “the firstborn of every creature”, “the faithful and true witness [of God before man]”, “the beginning of the creation of God” — who has done all these things, even giving up his former glory to become a man for the purpose to redeem man by giving himself “a ransom for all” (to which the Apostle Paul adds that Jesus: “who for the joy that was set before him [by the Father’s promises] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” — Heb. 12:2) — since it is indeed God’s Son who did all these things, these words: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” are indeed (to use a human phrase) the words of a proud and loving father who finds pleasure to reward his son with great honour and glory. In fact, the Scriptures give us all those rewards:

Eph. 1:20–23  “And set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church [the true Church of Christ], which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

Phil. 2:9–11  “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth [all those in the graves, who shall “come forth” during “the times of restitution of all things”]; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

John 5:26  “For as the Father hath life in himself [has immortality, is immortal, cannot die]; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.”

Comment: If the Son received immortality, he did not have it before. Therefore: since he did not have it before, there could not be such a thing as THREE PERSONS IN ONE constituting ONE GOD, because since Christ did not have immortality before: the doctrine of the Trinity statement that all three persons in the one God: are of the same substance and are equal in glory and in power: is impossible!

It is absolutely flabbergasting with which boldness especially the so-called Evangelists — also known as Televangelists — emphatically point out to their listeners: that Jesus Christ — that “God – died for you”. First of all, they surely do know and understand that if Jesus was one of the three persons in the one God, viz, was of the same substance and equal in glory and power, that he had divinity, that he had immortality: he could not die! which makes all of them intentional liars, falsifiers!

With regard to his pre-human existence, Jesus reveals to those with “hearing ears” also the following in a prayer to God, his Father:

John 17:4–5  “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was [the Adamic world]”, before: as the Archangel Michael, as the Logos, as the highest of all the archangels.

But he did leave that glory to become — by the power of God — a human being by the very natural process of a human pregnancy, birth and childhood, but free of sin (Heb. 7:26); being “in the world”, but being not “of the world”, viz, not a human being of the Adamic kind with all its defilements and sinful attachments, but free of sin and thus being able to give himself “a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6) to redeem Adam, and, by extension: all of the Adamic race; to even suffer great shame and humiliation, culminating in the death of being crucified. All this: “for the joy that was set before him” (Heb. 12:2) at the time when he faithfully submitted to become: “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (in God’s plans and purposes — Rev. 13:8) and which the man Christ Jesus actually became at his consecration: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; and note: sin in singular, viz, the Adamic sin to which all the world is subject to: “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”, shall all receive life again. (1 Cor. 15:21–22; Rom. 5:12,18,21).

Again, this glorious pre-human being, who did become a human being for the purpose of becoming the Saviour of Adam and all his posterity: trusted in the promise of his heavenly Father explicitly to be raised again out of death, but only asked: to be given that glory “which I had with thee, before the world was”, before he went on the long journey for the redemption of man, faithfully to his Father’s designs (1 John 4:14).

No, the man Christ Jesus did not have divinity; if he did: he could not have been a “Ransom” giver, because God’s justice demanded a perfect human life for the perfect human life Adam had before he disobeyed his Creator and was sentenced and lost it. That is why the Scriptures refer to the sacrificial death of Christ as a “ransom”, which is translated from the Greek word “anti-lutron” and has the distinct meaning of: a corresponding price, an exact equivalent for that to be bought back.

Once this is properly understood, the true and full meaning of the words of Jesus hanging on the cross, can be understood also:

Matth. 27:46; Mark 15:34  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Luke 23:46  “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

Comment: To take the place of the sinner (Adam) totally, the man Christ Jesus had to also experience literally: to be left alone, to be without God, even for a moment — as Adam must have felt when put out of the garden of Eden. And even though this experience lasted only for a short time, for the perfect man Christ Jesus: it must have been a very agonizing time. Nevertheless, his trust in his Father’s promise of a resurrection from the dead, was so total, that he, with full confidence, said: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”, knowing also that: there is no other way, there is no one else who can or could restore him back to life again, and therefore: my hope of a future life by a resurrection is totally and entirely in “thy hands”, into which I commend my hope, based on my trust and confidence in you: My God and my Father! The Apostle Paul, in Heb. 5:7, takes reference to these last moments of Christ’s life in saying: “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death [into which he had to go], and was heard in that he feared”, viz, in that he all along had great and deep reverence and love for his Father, no matter what the circumstances or conditions.

There are two Scriptures which must be mentioned, because these two Scriptures are being used in Christendom by every teacher and preacher to prove the validity of the doctrine of the Trinity, even though none of them can explain this most absurd doctrine. It is a great mystery, they say. The words in 1 John 5:7–8 are, as they are given and as they are being used by every teacher and preacher of Christendom:

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in the earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

Well, to state it right from the beginning: half of all the words in these two verses are spurious, viz, they do not belong there, they have been added, they have been inserted. These spurious words seemingly give the doctrine of the Trinity a validity. These spurious words are also, in the context of verses 4 to 10, absolutely nonsensical. This is the original text, as recorded in the EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT translation, viz, Greek to English direct: “For there are three which testify; the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood; and the three are one” – viz, all three agree in one.

Three things need to be pointed out with regard to these spurious words:

1. Scholars long ago, including those who search documents and old writings and manuscripts, have found and declared that these included, added words: cannot be found in manuscripts before the seventh century.

2. If these three are one, how can they be at different places at the same time, and to whom do they need “to bear witness in heaven”?

3. The usage of “Holy Ghost” is also an incorrect one, the correct translation in every case is: “holy Spirit”, which designates: the active power of God as it is applied in accordance with God’s designs, plans and purposes, both toward physical or spiritual objects or subjects. This expression of “Holy Ghost” is not found in the Old Testament, and in the book of Revelation in the New Testament not either.

The expression “Holy Ghost” is, of course, very helpful with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity, and the translators of the New Testament have used this expression in accordance with the doctrine of the Trinity. While the earlier translators can be excused on the basis of ignorance, there is no excuse for using this expresson in today’s Editions anymore. Also, that the use of this totally wrong expression is still used today in churches, by teachers and preachers, and also by higher representatives of the Christian religions, is not only inexcusable, but also totally irresponsible; in fact, it amounts to an outright deception with regard to the masses of the ignorant “believers”.

With regard to the doctrine of the Trinity, here is an article which was written about 80 years ago by a respected and devout Christian, whose articles were printed all over the globe in over 1000 News-Papers (his name: Charles T. Russell).

JEHOVAH OUR GOD IS ONE

“To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things.” (1 Cor. 8:6)

Notwithstanding the wide-spread acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity, we have held closely to the Bible teaching that there is but one God. A father is a life-giver. A son is an offspring, one who receives life from a father. This distinction implies that the father existed first. And so Jesus says of himself: “I proceeded forth and came from God” (John 8:42).

In our writings we show the clear teachings of the Bible, that Jesus in his pre-human condition was the Logos, the Word, or message, from the Father; and that as such he was called a god, but not the God — the Father. On so important a question as the equality of the Father and the Son, we must not rely upon any man’s testimony except that of the inspired writers of the Scriptures. We should accept no dictum save that of the divine Word itself. Let us ask Jesus. He replies: “My Father is greater than I”; “I can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear I judge”; “My Father is greater than all”; “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”; “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 14:28; 5:30; 10:29; 17:3; 20:17).

In our writings we point out that Jesus was the first of God’s creatures, the only being directly created by Jehovah; and that Jehovah did all subsequent creating through the Son. Thus we read that Jesus was “the beginning of the creation of God”, “the first-born of every creature”, “the Alpha and the Omega”, the beginning and the end, the first and the last of the Father’s direct creation. (Rev. 3:14; 22:13; Col. 1:15). The Apostle John declares (John 1:1–3), “In the beginning [not Jehovah’s beginning, for he had no beginning; but the world’s beginning, or man’s beginning] was the Word [the Logos], and the Word was with God and the Word was a god. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” Could this subject be made plainer? Why confuse ourselves needlessly? Why fight against the plain statements of God’s Word to uphold a theory which is without Bible support and was formulated in the dark ages?

We teach, as does the Bible, that the Lord Jesus came from heaven to earth; was born of a virgin mother; that he, “the Logos was made flesh and dwelt among us”, and his disciples “beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth!” (John 1:14). Jesus had not two natures, but one nature, having changed the higher, the spiritual nature, for the human nature. As the Scriptures declare: “He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9). And as he grew to manhood he grew in favour with God and man. He was perfect — “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Luke 2:52; Heb. 7:26).

A Common, But Unscriptural View

The Lord Jesus is not the second person of a triune God. The word “triune” is unscriptural; so is the thought. St. Paul sets the matter straight in his words: “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things … and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by [or through] whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6); and, referring to Jehovah: “… God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3,17).

The word “trinity” is not found in the Bible. The only text in the Bible which seems in any way to suggest a trinity is acknowleged even by trinitarians themselves to be a forgery, incorporated into the text about the fifth century. This interpolation forms a part of 1 John 5:7,8. We quote the passage, with the interpolated words enclosed in brackets: “For there are three that bear record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness in earth,] the Spirit and the water and the blood: and these three agree in one.” See Revised Version, Emphatic Diaglott, American Standard Union translation, Young’s translation, etc. This passage is pronounced an interpolation by such eminent authorities as Sir Isaac Newton, Benson, Adam Clarke, Horne, Griesbach, Tischendorf and Alford.

We have explained in our writings that there was a time when our Lord Jesus did not exist, when Jehovah was alone. How else could the Bible declare that Jesus was the “beginning of the creation of God”? (Rev. 3:14). What is the value of language, anyway, if we do not give words their manifest meaning? Jesus undoubtedly had a beginning. This beginning was ages before he came to earth as a human being to die for Adam and his race.

Notice for a moment the great confusion from which we are saved by following the Bible’s own testimony respecting our Lord Jesus and by throwing out the ridiculous nonsense of the dark ages. We are saved from thinking of our God as three beings with only one body or one being with three bodies. Trinitarians do not know which of these creedal statements to take — some say one and some say the other. But both are wholy irrational; three are not one and one is not three. The oneness between the Father and the Son is explained by our Lord himself. He prayed that his disciples might become one in the same sense that he and the Father were one — surely not that his disciples might become one person, but that they might be one in spirit, in mind, in purpose, as were the Father and himself. See John 17:20–23. The followers of Jesus become one in mind and purpose by each giving up his own will to do God’s will. And Jesus and the Father are one because Jesus surrendered his will to the Father’s will, saying: “Not my will, but thine be done”; “I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me”; “Lo, I come; I delight to do thy will, O my God!” These are the words of the Lord Jesus to the Father.

Like some other doctrines received by Protestants from Papacy, this one — the doctrine of the Trinity — is fully accepted and fully endorsed, although its educated adherents are aware that not a text of Scripture can be adduced to its support. Yea, more; whoever will not affirm this unscriptural doctrine as his faith is declared by the articles of the Evangelical Alliance to be non-orthodox — a heretic. Heb. 1:8 has been used by Trinitarians as a proof text that Jesus is Jehovah, and the fact is cited that the word God here is “theos”, the same as verse 9 which refers to the Father. They seem not to have noticed that the word “god”, 2 Cor. 4:4, which refers to Satan, is also “theos” in the Greek. “Theos” is used of any “mighty one”, the same as “elohim” in the Hebrew.

Phil. 2:8,9 implies that our Lord’s present glory is greater than the glory which he possessed before he became a man; otherwise it would not have been an exaltation. Now having the divine, immortal nature he can not die. "Christ dieth no more." How straightforward and simple and reasonable is the Scriptural presentation compared with human traditions! In what a jumble of contradictions and confusion do they find themselves who say that Jesus and the Father are one God! This would involve the idea that our Lord Jesus acted the hypocrite when on earth and only pretended to address God in prayer, when he himself was the same God. Such would conclude, too, that since we read that God cannot be tempted of any, it was only a farce when Jesus was tempted of Satan. Again, the Father has always been immortal, hence could not die. How then, could Jesus have died? The Apostles are all false witnesses in declaring Jesus’ death and resurrection if he did not die. The Scriptures declare, however, that he did die — “He poured out his soul [his being] unto death”, not merely his body, as many assert — Is. 53:12.

If they admit that Jesus really died, they take the other horn of the dilemma; for believing that their three God’s are all one person as many do, when Jesus died they must all three have died. If they all die, who raised them to life? How foolish all this sounds! Yet if Jesus and the Father are the same person, the same being, then when Jesus dies the Father must have died. Shall we thus contradict the apostles and the prophets and Jesus himself, and ignore reason and common sense, in order to hold to a dogma handed to us from the dark, supersitious past, by a corrupt apostate church? Nay! “To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Testimony of Scriptures re the Holy Spirit

We next inquire, what say the Scriptures with regard to the holy Spirit? The nominal churches, Protestant and Catholic, affirm that the holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity. They claim that all this is a “great mystery”. Yes, truly it is a mystery, such as is chacteristic of the confusion of man-made creeds held by Christendom. But to those who turn to the Word of God and let it speak, all is clear and plain. We suggest that whatever definition of the term “holy Spirit” will meet all known conditions and harmonize all Scriptures bearing thereon may be understood to be the true meaning of the term. We will first give what we conceive to be such a definition, and then ask the reader to subject every Scripture where this term is used to this definition and see if it does not make harmony of all.

We understand the Bible to teach that the holy Spirit is the divine will, influence, power or disposition, exercised anywhere and for any purpose, at the divine pleasure. God exercises his Spirit or energy in a variety of ways, using various agencies, and accomplishing various results. Whatever God does through agencies is as truly his work as though he were the direct actor, since all his agencies are his creation — created by his own power; just as a contractor for building is said to build a house, though he may never have lifted a tool upon it. He does it with his material and through his agents. Thus, when we read that Jehovah God created the heavens and the earth, we are not to suppose that he personally handled them. He used his agent. “He spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.” His holy power was exercised through his Only Begotten. God’s Spirit was exercised in times past through the prophets. “They spake as they were moved by the holy Spirit” (power) of God. The masculine pronoun is often used in our common Version Bible in referring to the holy Spirit of God, because God, who is a Spirit, is represented as masculine, as indicative of strength. The pronoun translated he, when referring to the holy Spirit, can with equal consistency be translated it, and is often so rendered. See Diaglott rendering of John 14:17 as an example.