What we believe
The Doctrine of the Trinity Challenged
The subject of the nature and unity of God is of fundamental importance to Christians. Knowledge of God is the basis of sonship of God. Without it, we cannot enter the family of God and be given the eternal life promised in the Bible. Jesus himself said,"And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (Joh 17:3)
Writing in the late 1800's a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts wrote, "Popular thoeology says that God is three eternal elements, all equally increate and self-sustaining, and all equally powerful, each equally personal and distinct from the other, and yet all forming a complete single personal unity. There is, say they, "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost," each "very God," each without a beginning, each omnipotent and separate from the other, and yet all ONE.
If we ask why one of these elments should be called the Father, not having preceded or given existence to the others; and why another should be called the Son, not having been brought into existence by the Father, but co-eternal with Him; and why the third should be called the Holy Ghost (or Spirit), since both "God the Father, " and "God the Son" are holy and spiritual, we are not met with an explanation. Popular theology contents itself with saying that the truth is so - that there are three in one and one in three: that as to how such a thing can be, it cannot say, as it is a great mystery.
Mystery indeed! There are mystereis enough in creation - things, that is, that are inscrutable to the human intellect, such as the ultimate nature of light and life; but Trinitarianism propounds - not a mystery, but a contradiction - a stultification - an impossiblity. It professes to convey an idea, and no sooner expresses it than it withdraws it, and contradicts it. It says there is one God, yet not one but htree, and that the three are not three but one. It is a mere juggle of words, a bewilderment and confusion to the mind, all the more dangerous, because the theory for which it is an apology, employs in some measure the language of the Bible, which talks to us of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Christendom Astray From The Bible (P.134)
Questions for Christians:
1. If Jesus lived prior to his birth, did he die in order to become a seed in the womb of Mary that had no knowledge, nor understanding, and had to learn how to live, think and do, all over again?
2. If he pre-existed as part of the immortal Deity, how could someone immortal become mortal and die?
3. If he was a son before he became a son, who was his mother before he became the son of Mary?
4. Why did Jesus, as part of the supposed divine immortal godhead, have to learn all over again what he supposedly knew before?
The Evidence of the changes in the teaching about God and the Lord Jesus witnessed by history leads even some Trinitarians to freely admit that the doctrine of the Trinity is not to be found plainly taught in the Bible. Dr W.R.Matthews, Dean of St. Paul's in his book God in Christian Thought and Experience (p.180), says: "It must be admitted by everyone who has the rudiments of an historical sense that the doctrine of the Trinity, as a doctrine, formed no part of the original message. St Paul knew it not, and would have been unable to understand the meaning of the terms used in the theological formula on which the Church ultimately agreed." In his preface to the book, "The Myth of God Incarnate", John Hicks, Professor of Theology, at Birmingham, 1977, says: "The writers of this book (it had seven authors) are convinced that another major theological development is called for in this last part of the 20th Century. The need arises from growing knowledge of Christian origins, and involves a recognition that Jesus was (as he is presented in Acts 2:21) 'a man approved by God' for a special role within the divine purpose, and that the later conception of him as God incarnate, the Second Person of a Holy Trinity living a human life, is a mythological or poetic way of expressing his significance for us. "This recognition is called for in the interests of truth..."
The true Bible teaching is that God is the supreme, self-extent Deity, the One Father, dwelling in light unapproachable, to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth; "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth". (John 4:23-24).
The words of Jesus Christ himself, in many places, demonstrated that he is subordinate to God; "But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father". (Mark 13:32)
The prophet David in the old testament prophecied of Jesus' dependance upon God, even for his life; "Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; and also My flesh shall rest in hope, because You will not leave My soul in hell, nor will You allow Your holy One to see corruption. You revealed to Me the ways of life. You will fill Me with joy with Your countenance."(Acts 2:26-28)
The words of the Apostle Paul reveal the role that God has appointed for His son; "For God is one, and there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim.2:5)The Bible portrays the role of Jesus Christ as God's appointed King, to rule the earth on God's behalf for a thousand years, until all people who resist and reject the truth of God are destroyed. ..."then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power. For it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet. The last enemy made to cease is death. For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him who has put all things under Him. But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all things in all". (1Corinthians 15:24-28)