By Christian
Is the New Testament a teaching book? In the sense that we know it from school, training or university? Do you want to learn or know something specific in one area? Then you expect a didactically clear and well-prepared presentation, don’t you? Is the New Testament structured like this? Let’s take a look at the example of one doctrine, namely the Trinity.
I would like to say one thing straight away: this is not an attempt to quickly clarify all questions about the doctrine of the Trinity. It is a contribution to the discussion. If there is a discussion at all, because it is often brushed aside because the doctrine is obvious or because church scholars have been convinced of it for two thousand years. Or the discussion consists of an alternating citation of supposed ‚proof texts‘.
There have been enough of these. Already in the first centuries after Christ, these discussions were held and others were finally ostracized as heretics or apostates because of deviating interpretations. But why were there discussions about the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit already in the first centuries? Wasn’t this all clear from the oral tradition and the emerging canon of the New Testament?
And I would like to say one more thing in advance: this is not about whether any form of the doctrine of the Trinity is ‚right‘ or ‚true‘. Or the rejection of it. That is a completely different question. After all, there are a lot of things that we all accept as ‚true‘ or ‚right‘, but which are not mentioned in the Bible at all or only in passing.
What I often miss in discussions on this topic is a solid overview of the basics, the textual witnesses, the canon of the New Testament. Which expressions are combined and how, and above all how often they are used, gives us a fundamental clue. For what is repeatedly written is part of the teaching and thinking in the first century. What we do not find clearly in the manuscripts of the New Testament was probably not there at the time they were written.
So let us get an overview of the use of the Trinity in the text of the canon of the New Testament. In doing so, we group the overview: where are all three parts of the Trinity mentioned together and where only a combination of both.
Father, Word and the Holy Spirit are one
How often is this statement about the Trinity found in the New Testament canon? We have already looked at that in part 5 of this series. Exactly once. It’s in 1 John 5:7-8. More specifically, it was added there. The Comma Johanneum.
If it is nowhere else to be found in the canon, which was essentially laid down at the councils in the 4th century, but appears at this time in a gloss of the Latin Bible, at a time when the Trinity was also made obligatory as a doctrine at the councils, then this already speaks for itself. If a doctrine is present in a text, then one does not need to add a gloss or even change the ‚holy text‘ afterwards.
That the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one is nowhere stated in the canon of the New Testament.
God, Jesus/Christ and the Holy Spirit
In these verses, God, Jesus (or Christ) and Spirit or the Holy Spirit occur:
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him
Matthew 3:16 NIV
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1 NIV
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
John 3:5 NIV
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7:55 NIV
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Acts 10:38 NIV
and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 1:4 NIV
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9 NIV
And if the Spirit of him [context: God] who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Romans 8:11 NEÜ
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:16 NIV
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
Romans 15:30 NIV
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV
Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3 NIV
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:13
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17 NIV
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
Philippians 2:1 NIV
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
Philippians 3:3 NIV
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:14 NIV
who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
1 Peter 1:2 NIV
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
1 Peter 4:14 NIV
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
1 John 4:2,3 NIV
These are all text in the canon of the New Testament, which I found by searching for the German words for „God* Jesus* Spirit*“ as well as „God* Christ* -Jesus Spirit“ on the ERF Bibleserver, and where Spirit did not refer to the spirit of a human being.
God, Son and the Holy Spirit
These are the additional results of the search for „God* Son* Spirit“ (in German).
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35 NIV
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood [Some translate: blod of his Son].
Acts 20:38 NIV
How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hebrew 10:29 NIV
Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
These are the additional results of the search for „Father* Jesus* Spirit*“ (in German)
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
Luke 10:21 NIV
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17 NIV
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
These are the additional results of the search for „Father* Son* Spirit*“ (in German)
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19 NIV
Here, only these three are referred to, but it is not said that they are one. But there are good reasons why also this text is possibly falsified. In an article in the forum (in German) I have described this in more detail. Here are just a few arguments from the 2001 translation:
These words are missing from the parallel accounts in Luke 24:47 and Acts 1:6. All other baptismal instructions in the Bible omit these words (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:15-16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5, Romans 6:3, Galatians 3:27). The ancient Christian writer Eusebius quoted this verse 18 times over a period of 36 years. The forged words did not appear in his quotations before the Council of Nicaea, but after. Ironically, this man may be the one who inserted these false words.
Summary of some arguments from the 2001 Translation not on Matthes 28:19
What are these texts conveying?
What impression do the texts give you when you read them with an open mind? We find God, the Father. We read about Jesus, the Son. And of the Spirit or Holy Spirit or God’s Spirit. But how often do we read about how these relate to each other?
God, or the Father, Jesus, or the Son, and the Holy Spirit are named together in many texts in the New Testament canon, but never all three are presented as equal or coequal.
A textbook-like explanation looks different.
But maybe the equality F == S == HS results transitive: F == S and S == HS with it also F == HS like in mathematics. So if Father and Son are equal, and Son and Holy Spirit, then also Father and Holy Spirit are equal.
Naming of God/Father, Jesus/Christ/Son, Holy Spirit in pairs
So many texts can be found by these searches:
| Used parts of the Trinity | Search | Number of found texts in the NEÜ translation |
| Father Son | Vater* Sohn* -Geist* | 43 |
| God Son | Gott* Sohn* -Geist* | 83 |
| God Jesus | Gott* Jesus* -Geist* | 254 |
| Father Jesus | Vater* Jesus* -Geist* | 77 |
| Father Christ | Vater* Christ* -Geist* | 37 |
| God Christ | Gott* Christ* -Geist* | 168 |
| Spirit Christ | Geist* Christ* -Gott* | 15 |
| Spirit Jesus | Geist* Jesu* -Gott* | 41 |
| Spirit Son | Geist* Sohn* -Gott* | 6 |
| Spirit Father | Geist* Vater* -Jesus* -Christ* -Sohn* | 12 |
| Spirit God | Geist* Gott* -Jesus* -Christ* -Sohn* | 93 |
| God and Father and Jesus and Lord | Gott* Vater Jesus Herr* -Geist | 26 |
In other translations the number varies partly clearly, because sometimes for example ‚God‘ is introduced for explanation. Therefore, in the overview of the texts, in which all three are mentioned, I had considered the Greek text in each case.
Of course, that’s way too many to look at in a video. But with this information everyone can do it himself. If one reads the New Testament completely by oneself, one can also be sure that one does not miss any passage. But one should compare several translations and for example compare the Greek text with an Interlinear Bible to see if it is written the same way there. As said, sometimes God is added by translation (e.g. God’s spirit), and with spirit ‚holy‘ or ‚holiness‘ is not consistently translated with or sometimes left out.
A large number of texts clearly distinguish between God, who is called Father, and Jesus Christ as Lord.
Jesus Christ is never referred to as the God.
The Holy Spirit is never called God.
I found it interesting how often a phrase „God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord“ is used: 30 times I counted. I had also noticed this many times when reading the New Testament. Here is an example:
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7 NIV
You don’t find this wording in the Gospels and Acts yet, but after that in Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1st Peter, 2nd John .
The phrase „God the Father“ and „Jesus Christ the Lord“ is used at least 30 times and in at least 14 letters.
It makes a clear distinction between „God the Father“ and „Jesus Christ the Lord“, and not „Jesus Christ the Son“. And the Holy Spirit is never mentioned. And it is only said of the Father that he is God, or of God that he is our Father. Jesus is not addressed as God but as Lord.
Were the authors back then perhaps much more concerned with the roles than with a concept like the Trinity? God is our Father, as it says in Jesus‘ model prayer. But Jesus is now our Lord. And since Pentecost at the latest, they had also had their experiences with the Holy Spirit – and nobody had the idea that the Father or Lord was now somehow in them, just as they described Father and Lord.
Let’s come back to the question from the beginning: Is the New Testament a textbook as we know it today? No. Or to put it with a lot of irony: What a sloppy job by Paul, Peter and John! Why do they confuse us with this wording? Or if you think the verbal inspiration is right: Why does God make us so confused here by using the different formulations so often instead of making the matter clear?
Did it take time, as with other topics, until they were understood? Perhaps the topic was not so important back then? Were the central messages of the Gospel not completely different? In view of this, perhaps it would be good to consider whether the doctrine of the Trinity is actually the central dogma – or not the Gospel after all?
Summary
The canon of the New Testament contains many texts with room for interpretation. But it also does not contain a definition of the Trinity as in many creeds. If you take the New Testament as a textbook, then no form of the Trinity – or contrary views – is explained particularly well in it. Would you like to disagree? Then take a look at any textbook on the subject. If it doesn’t contain a clear definition and its explanation and justification, would you buy such a textbook?
The New Testament is not structured like a modern textbook on any subject. Nor should it be.
Was the subject of the Trinity too complicated for the first century? Or was it simply secondary at best compared to the core message of the gospel?
History shows that it took a few centuries to establish the version of the Trinity that is widespread today. There is a great deal of literature on the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. If you want to read the facts from the perspective of a critical historian and can read English, this book is informative: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. It’s by Bart D. Ehrman, by the way, who has done a lot of work with Bruce Metzger on the canon and the manuscripts of the New Testament.
Why do I mention this? Because it is very instructive to read how the same historical facts, manuscripts etc. can also be interpreted differently. If you see the facts from both sides, you can categorise them better and form your own opinion.
Du muss angemeldet sein, um einen Kommentar zu veröffentlichen.