The Preconceived Notions Of The Trinity Doctrine In John Chapter 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1-2
Many will read John 1:1 in their Christian Bible with a preconceived notion that the 'Word' is a separate person as God. This notion does not hold true when this passage is examined more carefully and put into context. Not only does the text not teach this at all, but contradicts too many other verses in the Christian bible as well as the Hebrew bible.
Hebrew Bible Evidence
First, before we get into the finer details, we must set a precedent by reading the confirmations that are stated in Scripture over and over again.
To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES HIM. – Deuteronomy 4:35
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, THE LORD IS ONE. – Deuteronomy 6:4
“‘See now that I, even I, am he, and THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME – Deuteronomy 32:39
“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,“and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM HE. BEFORE ME NO GOD WAS FORMED, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY AFTER ME. I, I AM THE LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I AM GOD. – Isaiah 43:10-12
Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST; BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD. – Isaiah 44:6
I am the LORD, and THERE IS NO OTHER, BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD , and THERE IS NO OTHER, BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD – Isaiah 45:5
…for I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER; I am God, and THERE IS NONE LIKE ME – Isaiah 46:9
“You shall HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. – Exodus 20:3
Have we not all one Father? HAS NOT ONE GOD CREATED US? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? – Malachi 2:10
For you are great and do wondrous things; YOU ALONE are God. – Psalm 86:10
New Testament Evidence
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us THERE IS ONE GOD, THE FATHER, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. – 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
ONE GOD and Father of all, WHO IS OVER ALL and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:6
And this is eternal life, that they know you THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. – John 17:3
The Hebrew passages came long before the Gospel of John. The evidence is clear that there is only one person, the Father who alone is God and there is no Savior besides Him.
That they may know that you ALONE, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth. – Psalm 83:18
God 'alone' is revealed in the Psalms who is not a Trinity.
Seeing John 1 through a Different Lens
Now that we have established who God is by Biblical precedent, we can proceed to the context of John chapter 1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. – John 1:1-3
A graven trinity god
When reading these verses with an understanding that God alone is one person instead of a plurality of persons, the meaning changes. It would be a presumption that John 1:1-3 speaks of God being more than one person.
Additionally, the English translators capitalized 'the Word' in the text to make it appear that it is a person (proper noun), but in the original text it is not capitalized. This is a deception because nowhere in Scripture in context portrays God as a plurality of separate persons.
The verses speaks of one person, God the Father. In the beginning was His word and His word was with Him. There is no 'Word' as a separate entity with a personality. God was His word and His word was with Him. The word that is 'with God' and 'was God' does not prove that there is another person. The 'Word was with God' does not imply that the 'Word' is separate or a different person who is also God at the same time, but is God's divine word.
The verses in John 1 cannot be used as proof text in the light that Scripture repeatedly says over and over that, 'I alone am God.' To infer something that is not there changes who God is.
ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, and without him was not any thing made that was made. – John 1:3
If you believe that the 'Word' is a separate entity, but still God then it would be a a notion that God is more than one person and that this separate entity, the 'Word' made all things.
The truth is that God the Father created all things by His word (logos) which he spoke.
BY THE WORD OF THE LORD the heavens were made – Psalm 33:6
For HE SPOKE, AND IT CAME TO BE; he commanded, and it stood firm. – Psalm 33:9
The Father is God and the 'word' that proceeds from His mouth is His power and authority. His divine words don’t have their own separate entity or personality, but 'the word was God' is not a separate person of Him.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:4-5
The life and light that was created from the divine word of God according to the Christian Bible.
The subject of the text in John 1:1 makes it clear that it was 'in the beginning.' This would mean that the 'light' in verse 5 was created by God.
And GOD SAID, “LET THERE BE LIGHT,” and there was light. – Genesis 1:3
And GOD SAID, “LET THERE BE LIGHTS in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. – Genesis 1:14
Here we see that God speaks His word to create light. The Father created light. To say that Jesus is God because he is the 'light' would be a quandary because God is eternal and not created like light is. Christ said, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12) which follows that he must be a created being.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, TO BEAR WITNESS ABOUT THE LIGHT, THAT ALL MIGHT BELIEVE THROUGH HIM. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. – John 1:6-9
John the Baptist was sent from God to bear witness of Jesus, a man begotten who was born a human.
Light of the World
The problem becomes apparent when people make Jesus to be the eternal God and also the created 'light' at the same time. It's a contradiction. If Jesus said to his followers that they are lights of the world, then by the same logic that would make them God too. It should be common sense that all created beings are not eternal.
“YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. – Matthew 5:14
Let your LIGHT SHINE before others, so that they may see your GOOD WORKS and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:16
It would not make sense if being the 'light' and being a 'son of God' means being fully God in the flesh. That would mean that those who follow Jesus are fully God in the flesh also.
It is stated that Jesus was a man in whom the Spirit of the Father dwelt. However it also states that the Father also dwells within followers of Jesus. What this means is that all who have the Spirit of God within them and live and speak by the same Spirit are also 'the word made flesh.' Does this make the God also?
Fullness: The Spirit of God Dwelling in Christ
And THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14
The 'word became flesh' does not mean that God came to earth and became Jesus. God did not put a baby in Mary and become that baby in the flesh becoming all God and all man at the same time. The Father cannot be contained in one single body of any man as clearly confirmed in Scripture.
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? BEHOLD, HEAVEN AND THE HIGHEST HEAVEN CANNOT CONTAIN YOU; HOW MUCH LESS THIS HOUSE THAT I HAVE BUILT! – 1 Kings 8:27
Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD (YAHWEH). DO I NOT FILL HEAVEN AND EARTH? DECLARES THE LORD. – Jeremiah 23:24
But who is able to build him a house, since HEAVEN, EVEN HIGHEST HEAVEN, CANNOT CONTAIN HIM? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? – 2 Chronicles 2:6
GOD IS NOT MAN, that he should lie, OR A SON OF MAN, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? – Numbers 23:19
God cannot be contained, but many falsely believe that He dwelt fully in Jesus making him out to be 'God the Son' the second person of the Trinity.
Relevant Questions
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, NOR THE SON, BUT ONLY THE FATHER. – Mark 13:32
If God lived fully in flesh form on the earth, then why would an all knowing 'God the Son' not know the day or the hour of his second coming?
The Trinitarian will continue to say that 'Jesus is God' by pointing to this following verse.
For in him the whole FULLNESS OF DEITY DWELLS BODILY – Colossians 2:9
As already stated with Scriptural evidence, God cannot be contained. The context of this verse is about having the fullness of God's Spirit, but it also sates in the Christian bible that all believers in Jesus have the same fullness of spirit too.
AND YOU HAVE BEEN FILLED IN HIM, who is the head of all rule and authority. – Colossians 2:10
For FROM HIS FULLNESS WE HAVE ALL RECEIVED, grace upon grace. – John 1:16
If God left heaven and became fully man, then why does it state in Scripture that no man has seen Him?
NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. – John 1:18
If Jesus is the supposed 'Creator' come to earth in fleshly form, then why would he say to his followers that they would do even greater works than him?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me WILL ALSO DO THE WORKS THAT I DO; AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE will he do, because I am going to the Father. – John 12:14
If Christ is the 'Creator' in the flesh, then it would follow that Jesus' followers can do greater works than he who created everything. That makes no sense.
No one can do greater works than He who created everything including the 'works.' Jesus cannot be the Creator of all things.
Unfortunately, many are blinded by church indoctrination. When one is conditioned to believe a certain way they will twist things to conform to their own agendas.
Jesus was a mortal man, not God incarnate.
It is stated that Jesus is the 'image' of the Father and whoever sees him 'sees' God.
Does it not say also that all true believers are made in the image of God?
All humans are made in the image of God.
Making God a triune entity of three different persons makes the Holy Spirit a separate person from the Father and the Son. To make the Holy Spirit a separate person from the one Spirit of the Father and Son denies the Father and the Son for another spirit according to the New Testament.
The Father and Son will not dwell in anyone that denies that they are not one in Spirit.
Christ said,
'I and the Father are one. - John 10:30
Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. - John 17:20-21
Do you see the problem with making God a three person entity called a Trinity?
This makes the Holy Spirit not to be the one uniting Spirit of the Father and the Son, but a separate spirit.
The deception of the Trinity doctrine is that it makes the Spirit of God and the Son separate by making neither the Father nor the Son united in one Spirit.
There are only two alternatives with this false belief and that is confessing that you must have three separate spirits within you (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) or you must confess that you only have one spirit within you that is separate person from the Father and the Son. This is a contradiction since the separate Spirit cannot be of the Father or the Son.
The consequences of believing in a Romanized Catholic triune antichrist god with the twisted version of who God is will bring dire consequences.
The English translations and corruptions of Scripture may appear to be saying that 'Jesus is God' and that God is also three separate personalities, but when these supposed proof texts are put under closer scrutiny, it doesn't make sense.
Related Articles
- The Origins of the Trinity Doctrine
The Trinity doctrine is the pillar of all Christendom, but many do not know the origins of their beliefs. To get a clearer understanding, we must go back through history and follow its trail.
© 2014 PlanksandNails
Comments Appreciated
PlanksandNails (author) on November 24, 2014:
Celafoe,
I am glad your understanding was furthered. God Bless.
charlie from From Kingdom of God living on Planet earth in between the oceans on November 24, 2014:
Thank you brother -- I have never received the man made trinity belief because When I was born again God showed me it was false. BUT there has always been something that I never could quite grasp, that was missing in my understanding . This article has given me the clarity I have been trying to find.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.
