To many who begin to study theology proper (i.e. the doctrine of God) the trinity is a difficult subject to tackle. Many Christians believe in the trinity but do not understand it. Religious cultists (such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses) openly deny the trinity. So what is the big deal? Why all the fuss? The nature of God is a core theological doctrine. God is the creator of all things, the revealer of scripture, the hope of all believers. But when we say “God” what do we mean? If God exists and has revealed himself as a triune being then to deny his nature and believe him to be something else is to, in fact, deny God altogether. When God has told us he is X and we say that he is not X, but Y or Z, then we do not believe God. We do not believe in God.

Systematic Theology

Theology proper is the study of God’s nature and attributes (his power, love, eternity, etc). Broadly speaking, theology is the study of many things: God, man, angels, demons, heaven, hell, salvation, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, end times, revelation, and more. The trinity is important because God’s nature effects other parts of theology. The trinity speaks to what and who God is. When God creates, speaks, saves, condemns, etc his nature will change the way we understand his actions and words. This will become clear as we examine some misunderstandings of God’s triune nature.

The Bible talks about many topics, each of which informs a different aspect of theology. Systematic theology is the result of organizing the raw, biblical data and synthesizing it into a more systematic presentation on well organized topics. Theologians who write books on the topic of systematic theology normally place the section on the nature of God at or near the beginning. If anything, the doctrine of God will only be second to the doctrine of revelation (or scripture/the Bible). This is because they recognize correctly that we must derive our theological beliefs from God’s revelation of himself in the Bible.

Caution Before Proceeding

It will be prudent to make a distinction at the outset that a person may be a true believer without having a perfect understanding of the trinity. Salvation is an act of the triune God, this is why Christians believe that God saves men. It may sound simple but do not miss this point: Men are saved by an act of God. God the Father sends God the Son to atone and redeem sinners, when he saves them he sends the Holy Spirit to apply the redemption which the Son purchased according to the Father’s plan. In a nutshell: God saves men. This means that the men (and women) whom God saves will come from all walks of life and have different academic and intellectual backgrounds. Some may have a good acquaintance with Christian theology, others will have very little theological knowledge. A saved person may have a deficient or even an incorrect understanding of God’s nature.

So why is it so important to correctly understand the trinity? Well, aside from the place of God’s nature in the scheme of systematic theology noted above, what a person believes about God will have dramatic implications for their personal lives: how they pray, where they go to church, how they relate to God, etc. When push comes to shove, the doctrine of the trinity will help a person discover if they truly believe in God and the Bible. Since the Bible teaches that God is a triune being, and that trusting him is a virtue, then it is logical to conclude that true belief in God can not include a belief in a non-trinitarian God. This does not preclude the possibility of misunderstandings as a result from lack of study. This does, however, mean that an outright rejection of belief in the trinity indicates a lack of belief in God and the Bible.

What the Trinity is NOT

This article takes for granted the biblical truth that God is a triune being. It is the purpose here to explain some of the false understandings (or misunderstandings) of the trinity. In other words, if you read below a description of God that you might have uncritically adopted then perhaps it is a topic to study in greater depth.

Tritheism

Tritheism is the belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not only three distinct persons, but that they are also three separate gods. Tritheists correctly make the distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with regard to their personality; that is, they recognize that each person speaks, thinks, feels, loves, and exhibits the other aspects of personality. Where tritheists go wrong is their leap to conclude that each distinct person is also a distinct (or separate) being. If asked how many gods exist a tritheist would answer “Three gods exists,” whereas a trinitarian would answer biblically, “Only one God exists.”

Modalism

Modalism (or Sabellianism) is an ancient heresy which goes back to the 3rd century A.D. Sabellius maintained that God was unipersonal, that he existed only as one person. In the Old Testament he was the Father, he became the Son during the time recorded in the 4 gospels, and with the inception of the church changed modes to be the Holy Spirit. Modalism is correct in the claim that there is only one God, but incorrect in the claim that there is only one divine person (or only one person at a time). Numerous references in the Bible could be adduced where two or three persons of the triune God are present simultaneously: the two Yahweh’s in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the baptism of Jesus where the Father speaks and the Holy Spirit descends, Jesus praying to the Father in the Gospels, and so on. Modalism can not account for this basic biblical fact.

Arianism

Arianism is another heresy from the early years of church history. An Arian would not consider himself a trinitarian per se, but this deviation from the biblical doctrine of God warrants a few words here. Arianism generally maintains that God is the Father, and that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not truly (or fully) divine. Arians are very careful to explain that they believe the Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father. The Son is, according to Arian doctrine, a created being like you and me. They attempt to harmonize this idea with Scripture by misinterpreting, ignoring difficult passages, and even by incorrectly translating Bible passages which explicitly call Jesus “God.” The Arian Jesus is a special human servant, and the Arian Holy Spirit is often described as an impersonal force or power.

Arian doctrine correctly holds to monotheism, but directly depart from explicit biblical statements on numerous occasions. In reality, each person of the triune God is fully and equally divine (Arians strip this away from the Son and the Holy Spirit). Each person possesses the qualities of personality, of what makes something personal rather than impersonal (Arians deny this to the Holy Spirit). The god of Arian doctrine is not the God of biblical revelation. The Arian god is incomplete.

Conclusion

Tritheism, Modalism, and Arianism are three common errors that are made when trying to understand and teach the doctrine of God’s triune nature. Each error overemphasizes one aspect of God to the detriment of the other aspects. Tritheism overemphasizes the personality of each person to the point where there are three separate divine beings, three gods. Modalism overemphasizes the oneness of God so much that the distinctions between each person are blurred or lost altogether. Arianism, like Modalism, emphasizes the oneness of God, but they do so by making only the Father divine. To add insult to injury, Arians not only strip divinity from the Holy Spirit, but they also rob him of the qualities of person-hood.

An honest and thorough study of the Bible will yield the conclusion that there is only one God who exists eternally in three persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Each person is fully and equally divine by nature. Their plan, mission and goals are so harmonious that the Father can send the Son to accomplish redemption without, as Arians falsely assert, making the son of a lower rank. When all of the biblical data regarding God’s nature is studied and put together, the result is what the Christian church has historically called the doctrine of the trinity.