The Trinity

On this page I will discuss the concept of the Trinity and have somewhat to say over the ambiguity caused by the use of the word God as a proper noun to refer to God the Father.

I may or may not subscribe to the Trinity doctrine. It just depends how you understand the word Trinity beyond the superficial meaning of three entities grouped together on the basis of a/some common attribute/s.

The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. The closest we come to the concept is found in
Matthew 28:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, RSV

We know there are other heavenly beings - the angels Gabriel and Michael are named and it is mentioned that there are countless other heavenly beings, but Jesus put these three heavenly beings in a category apart. That is a good reason to see them in the same light. I don't think many will oppose the idea that this group is elevated above the rest of the heavenly host. We pray to God the Father and Jesus is our Master who paid the price for his followers' sins. The word Lord/lord indicated someone of a higher standing with authority over his subjects/workers. However, lord has fallen into relative disuse and many now only have a vague notion of what it means. Hence, for clarity's sake it is better to replace it with a word more widely understood. Us mortals on planet Earth do not nearly pay as much attention to the other heavenly beings as we do to Jesus and God the Father - that is of course those of us that pay them any attention. It is therefore safe to say that most of us will have no problem with accepting that the personages constituting the Trinity represent the highest authority.

Our next question is most likely how they relate to each other. We have words in the Bible attributed to God the Father and to Jesus. I do not know of any words directly attributed to the Holy Spirit. Of the three, Jesus is the one who said most about the other two personages in clear, unambiguous terms. I am also quite sure that most of you who read this will regard the words of Jesus as authorative. Let us see what Jesus had to say regarding the three personages constituting this collection.

The Father

Matthew 5:48 (Revised Standard Version)
You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus regarded the Father as perfect.
Matthew 11:27 (Revised Standard Version)
All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
A close bond exists between Jesus and God the Father.
Matthew 12:49 (Revised Standard Version)
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
Doing the will of the Father was very important to Jesus.
Matthew 24:36 (Revised Standard Version)
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Jesus clearly said there were things He (Jesus) did not know that the Father knew. This means that the Father does not share everything with Jesus. Most of us will presume that the things the Father did not share with Jesus were few. Maybe things changed after the resurrection. We just don't know as the Bible is quiet on that one.
Matthew 26:39 (Revised Standard Version)
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Jesus prayed to the Father. Clearly, Jesus and the Father are two separate entities. Jesus did not pray to himself. Also very clearly, Jesus regarded the Father as higher than himself.
Matthew 26:42 (Revised Standard Version)
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done."
Much the same applies here as to the previous quote. On a human level, Jesus was an emotionally and psychologically healthy human who did not relish the idea of an agonizing death on the cross, or any death at all. He returned to Gallilee after the resurrection and I got the idea that he liked that area - a very human emotion.
Luke 2:49 (Revised Standard Version)
And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
Doing the Father's work was of paramount importance to Jesus. It should by now be becoming clear to everyone that Jesus regarded the Father as more important than himself.
Luke 11:2 (Revised Standard Version)
And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Here Jesus clearly tells us to pray to the Father. If Jesus wanted us to pray to Him (Jesus) He would surely have told us so somewhere in the Bible. There is absolutely no justification to assume that the "Father" Jesus referred to here is Jesus.
John 3:35 (Revised Standard Version)
the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
Not Jesus talking here, but a good quote showing the high regard the Father has for Jesus. An obedient Son who never displeased his Father even in the smallest degree.
John 5:17 (Revised Standard Version)
This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.
Again, not Jesus talking here. Note that the Jews thought that by claiming to be the son of God the Father Jesus made himself equal to God. I do not know if a fully grown son over the age of thirty (the minimum age for a high priest) was regarded as equal to his father in Jewish society at that time. That may explain why the Jews said Jesus made himself the equal of God the Father. By today's standards there is no place in the Bible where Jesus makes himself equal to God, unless one applies creative interpretation. In fact...
John 5:18 (Revised Standard Version)
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.
This is Jesus talking. Again, this quote is in keeping with many previous quotes. The same thing has now been said over and over in different words.
John 14:28 (Revised Standard Version)
You heard me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.
Clear and unambiguous; the Father is greater than Jesus. It is Jesus himself talking here. This quote clinches it.
John 14:31 (Revised Standard Version)
but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence.
Again, Jesus placing himself at the Father's command.
John 17:11 (Revised Standard Version)
And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
There is no getting past the fact; Jesus and the Father are very close.
John 17:24 (Revised Standard Version)
Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world.
Jesus existed before the world existed and had a close relationship with God the Father even then.
John 20:17 (Revised Standard Version)
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
This is significant; Jesus here places the Father in the same relationship to Him as to us. The Father is our (Jesus and us) God. More about God later.

There are a few more quotes that can be used where Jesus speaks of the Father, but they say the same as the quotes used above.

Here is what Paul Said regarding how God the Father and Jesus relate to each other:
1 Corinthians 15:28 (Bible in Worldwide English)
One day the Son will be over all things. And God will be over the Son. So in the end God will be over all things.
It cannot be any clearer than that.

Now for the few references to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

Matthew 1:18 (Revised Standard Version)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;I
Obviously the Holy Spirit is a doer. This fits in with Jesus saying the Holy Spirit will be sent to be with us and help us and guide us.
Matthew 3:11 (Revised Standard Version)
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
I am not totally clear on this one. Possibly the Holy Spirit will empower anyone baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:32 (Revised Standard Version)
And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This is clear. Jesus took the Holy Spirit very seriously and the Father jealously guards the Holy Spirit. It would therefore be wise for us to take the Holy Spirit very seriously, too.
Mark 12:36 (Revised Standard Version)
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared, `The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet.'
The Holy Spirit is behind God given prophesy and what we regard as certain signs of God. At least in some cases.
Mark 13:11 (Revised Standard Version)
And when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Again, the Holy Spirit is behind action performed to the glory of God.
Luke 1:15 (Revised Standard Version)
for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
The person spoken of here is John the Baptist. Clearly, he was a driven, energetic focused man. The Holy Spirit was the reason.
Luke 1:41 (Revised Standard Version)
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
If you read the verses following on the above quote you will see that Elizabeth knew things that she could not know of herself. The Holy Spirit enlightened her. A pattern emerges; action, energy, clarity, knowledge of the future, all to the glory of the Father.
Luke 1:67 (Revised Standard Version)
And his father Zechari'ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
Again, the same as above. The pattern is getting established.
Luke 2:26 (Revised Standard Version)
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
On occasion God's messenger. Obviously, on other occasions angels did this work. Mary, the mother of Jesus , was informed by the angel Gabriel, according to Luke, that she would get pregnant and have a son. There is obviously no strict demarcation of duties.
Luke 4:1 (Revised Standard Version)
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit
Even Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit. I think of the Holy Spirit as the ultimate action hero sent by the Father to empower, enlighten and guide us.
Luke 11:13 (Revised Standard Version)
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
The Father can give the Holy Spirit to whoever He wishes. It is clear that the Father is at the head of the Trinity. No democracy or equality here. In fact, anyone who claims that the members of the Trinity are equal must please e-mail me with the Biblical quotes on which he bases his claim.
John 15:26 (Revised Standard Version)
But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me;
This is most likely a mention of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word Parakletos is used here. It may apparently be translated as Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, and Comfortor. Note that I know not a word of Greek. This comes from the World English Bible. I found this Greek word used in only a few other instances, all by John. I do know how to do computer searches. In all instances it is translated as Holy Spirit except in 1 John 2:1 where it refers to Jesus. Worthy of note is that in this case it refers to Jesus doing intercessary work for us before the Father. So it appears as if both Jesus and the Holy Spirit may at times be involved in the same work. Note that the preceding sentence does not imply that they do the same work simultaneously or not simultaneously. It does however imply an agreement and oneness of purpose between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Worthy of note also is the fact that Jesus will send the Counselor. The Councilor will then bear witness to Jesus. "He will testify about me" - The World English Bible. One cannot imagine Jesus sending the Father to perform any work. The fact that the Father is senior to Jesus is explicitly stated in John 14:28, quoted above. This quote may imply that the Holy Spirit is in a subservient role to Jesus.

Jesus

It should not be necessary for me to put up anything about Jesus. Every Christian should know all that is in the Bible about Jesus. Strangely, that is not the case. Jesus is often represented as a simpering pacificist who had only kind words for everyone. Oh yeah?

John 2:15 (Revised Standard Version)
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
So much for "gentle Jesus meek and mild." Apparently Jesus had no qualms about laying in the whip when it was called for. It is hardly likely that he would have supported any present-day anti corporal punishment lobby. Take note also of the turning over the tables bit. Obviously, Jesus didn't only talk the talk, He walked the walk as well when people would not listen. The final "walk" however was very different. And that walk was what made the difference for us.
Matthew 23 (Revised Stanard Version)
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
15 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
16 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
17 And you say, `If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.'
18 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Read the whole of Matthew 23. Here Jesus really lays into the Pharisees, calling a spade a spade. I have been called rude for referring to people in much milder terms than children of hell. If you read Matthew 22 you will see that Matthew 23 seems to directly follow on the previous chapter without any intervening time or change of venue. That means there were Pharisees in the crowd. Jesus was calling him all these things to their faces! Only what I would expect from Jesus. I would not expect him to denigrate people behind their backs - the English way.

What about a Jesus getting impatient with his disciples?
Matthew 17:17 (Revised Standard Version)
And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me."
Now if that is not impatient, I don't know. And I know about impatient.
John 14:9 (Revised Standard Version)
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'?
I suppose we can label that "exasperated" rather than "impatient".

Now the following is based on the absence of Biblical evidence. So there is nothing I can quote.

There are those who think the essence of Christianity is the support of civil liberties movements, like the civil liberties movement in the south of the USA in the fifies, sixties etc. and the opposition to apartheid in South Africa when it existed. Foremost in my mind is Philip Yancey of Amazing Grace fame.

Jesus was born into, lived all his life in and died in a foreign occupied country.
Roman presence in the Palestine of Jesus' day was very obvious, day by day.
The Romans brooked no nonsense and responded with a heavy hand to any challenge to their authority.
There were groups opposed to the occupation of Palestine. Simon the zealot belonged to such a group.
The Jews were regarded as trouble makers by the Romans.
Many Jews saw Jesus as the one to liberate them from the Roman yoke. This is in the Bible.
There is no evidence of Jesus ever joining the "freedom fighters" or other anti Roman groups, despite most likely numerous opportunities to do so. Some Muslims would have Jesus as the leader of a group of "dagger men" - terrorists who concealed small daggers in their clothes and used them in crowded places.
Jesus did not even on one occasion speak out against the foreign occupation of Palestine.
Slavery was part of every day reality in Jesus' lifetime.
Jesus is not recorded as ever speaking out against slavery.

Conclusion

It is highly unlikely, from the evidence presented in the Bible, that Jesus would ever have crusaded for the civil liberties movement in the American South or campaigned against apartheid in South Africa, had he the opportunity to do so. Jesus seems not to be the caricature he is popularly made out to be.

My reading of the Gospels is that Jesus made a huge distinction between the temporal (here and now) and the eternal (Kingdom of God). While certain conditions in the temporal may be a nuisance, they pale into insignificance when put next to the eternal.

Matthew 10:28 (Revised Standard Version)
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

What we have so far is a Jesus quite different from the way he is popularly perceived. We have someone very focused, very dedicated who is not distracted by the inconsequential.
Luke 9 (Revised Standard Version)
51 When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him;
53 but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"
55 But he turned and rebuked them.
56 And they went on to another village.
It was just not important in the big scheme of things that these Samaritans were petty.

So now we have a bit of a better idea what Jesus was like. Not the simpering, maybe even gay, humanist he is often protrayed as. Note the elevated status occupied by Jesus.

Where did Jesus come from

Colossians 1 (Revised Standard Version)
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.
The hyphenated word "first-born" here possibly indicates rank. The first-born son was the most important child. However, verse 15 does suggest that Jesus was created. You will have noticed many texts saying Jesus was with the Father from the beginning. Time is also a created entity. Click here to read more about time. "Always" only has meaning in a context in which time exists. Therefore it is totally accurate to say that Jesus has always been with the Father if he came into existence with time. However, our salvation does not depend on where Jesus came from. This is just academic, but not important. More important is the fact that Jesus exists.
John 8:58 (Revised Standard Version)
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
Jesus here used a verb to indicate the reality of his existence. In verse 57 the Jews dispute the fact that Jesus existed at the time of Abraham. Verse 58 is the answer to that. It here is a question of existence, not so much status.

What status does Jesus have in the big set-up

This has already been partially answered in some of the quotes.

Philippians 2 (Revised Standard Version)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
The answer is in verse 9. The others are there just to show who this quote is about. Interestring to note, Satan did count equality with God the Father as something to be grasped. Look at verse 6. If you want to read more about that, click here.

That is then all for now. What do we have so far?

A few points

The three personages in the Trinity are three separate entities
They are one in purpose and agreement
God the Father is at the head of the Trinity

Now, obviously, this is where I will be challenged by those who make no distinction between Jesus and God the Father. First of all, Jesus on many occasions prayed to God the Father. Some of those occasions are quoted above. There is absolutely no justification in claiming Jesus prayed to himself. Such a claim is quite ridiculous, isn't it?

Secondly, both Jesus and God the Father are on the scene in several passages in Revelation:
Revelation of John 7:10 (Revised Standard Version)
and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Revelation of John 14:1 (Revised Standard Version)
Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
Revelation of John 21:23 (Revised Standard Version)
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation of John 5:1 (Revised Standard Version)
I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. ...
6: I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
7: Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
Here we have Jesus actually taking a book out of the right hand of God the Father. Anyone claiming Jesus and God the Father are a single entertwined entity does not have a leg to stand on.

Now of course, the old fall-back for those who like unclear passages that can be interpreted in many ways:
John 1 (Revised Standard Version)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God;
Of lesser (in the sense of not challenging one's mental powers to the same degree) passages by Paul, Peter said:
II Peter 3:16 (Revised Standard Version)
speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
It is possible that John was written after Peter's time. I am not sure what Peter would have made of John 1: 1&2. Let's look at it a bit. First of all, by not using proper nouns, but generic nouns to refer to persons or objects, one uses a handle, or a variable, to refer to the object or person concerned. This handle or variable can at different times refer to different persons or objects. Do not make too much of the capitalisation in the text. The Greek alphabet seems to have had upper and lower case letters, but our Roman alphabet did not - everything was upper case with no letter U (V did double duty). Lower case came in later. Even today in German all nouns are capitalised, whether in the beginning of a sentence or the middle, whether a proper or generic noun like "table". So, if you build much on the capitalisation in these two verses you are on unstable ground.

In mathematics it is legal to use one letter to represent two variables in the same expression. It is very confusing, but legal. I don't think it is often done. If one takes it that the first occurence of "God" refers to God the Father and the second occurence to the generic term god, things make more sense. In any case, quoting this unclear passage and building dogma on it, especially dogma that contradicts many other very clear passages, is not something I would want to do. This passage is only clear to people with a very limited understanding of mathematics - about the level of a not too bright six year old. Replace the words "Word" with any single proper noun or number and similarly replace the words "God" with any single proper noun or number and see what happens. This is one unclear passage.

Note however that this unclear passage is very clear about the time; "In the beginning" I have already dealt with that.

The use of the word "God" to indicate God the Father

We all know that the word god refers to a group of entities sharing some common attribute values. The one that springs to mind is the "amount of power" attribute. These gods (Thor, Loki, Set, Osiris, Vishna) are supposed to have so much power that one should be careful of them. Therefore the primitives always tried to curry favour with the gods. Over the centuries people have been very imaginative in inventing gods for themselves. There is a possibility that some of these gods are in the service of Satan. Some perennial favourites were the sun, moon and the stars. Obviously they were visible to all, appeared and disappeared, were important in things like crops and navigation and clearly infuenced important things in life. Other people told stories made up by men about gods. Think about the Norse, Greek, Babylonian and countless other gods. Some people even made objects to represent these imaginary gods and then bowed down and prayed to these objects. On occasion even human sacrifices were brought to curry favour or placate these imaginary or evil gods.

1 Corinthians 8:(Revised Standard Version)
4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"--
6 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.
In the above quote Paul said much the same as I said above - these gods are not really gods at all.

Now we go a bit further. We know some of the ancient rulers, notably the Roman Caesars (named after a man, Caius Julius Caesar, like Saudi Arabia is named after Saud and the Zulu nation took their name from Shaka Zulu), who liked to be venerated as gods. Obviously they had some power and could make life difficult or enjoyful for one, but they too got sick and died. So, does the Bible have anything to say on this topic of calling human rulers gods?

Psalm 82: (Revised Standard Version)
1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
3 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? [Selah]
4 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
5 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
6 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
7 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 8 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince." [ (Psalms 82:9) Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations! ]
This is the whole of Psalm 82. It is quite clear, here rulers are called gods. Think of it, crooked, corrupt politicians. Very obviously, both Jesus and the Holy Spirit will qualify to be called gods, not because they are crooked, corrupt or politicians, but because of the power they wield in the name of God the Father. They far exceed the qualifying criteria. Obviously we should not take the word god too seriously.

Should we rely on the case of one letter to distinguish between the Creator of the universe and a generic term that may include carved idols? Or should we look at the context in which the word is used? What does the Bible say?

Psalm 83: World English Bible
16 Fill their faces with confusion, That they may seek your name, Yahweh.
17 Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
18 That they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, Are the Most High over all the earth.
Actually the name Yahweh appears 6826 times in the Hebrew old Testament and 5796 times in the World English Bible. We know that the ancient Jews were sticklers for minutiae, as is evidenced by the following quote:
Matthew 23:23 (Revised Standard Version)
You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
This was Jesus telling the Pharisees what they did not want to hear. As using the sacred name was taboo, the Jews often did not pronounce it when reading the scriptures out loud. From there it is only one small step to substituting the name with a non-sacred word. And as we know there is really, when the chips are down, only one god ...

Now for something interesting. Searching the old Testament, case sensitive, for Father comes up with 6 hits in the World English Bible and 7 hits in the Revised Standard Version. Look at this quote from the World English Bible, a tranlation that kept the holy name "Yahweh":
Isaiah 63:16 (World English Bible)
For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn't know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: you, Yahweh, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
This makes it very obvious to who Father refers to.

Let us word search the New Testament for Father, case sensitive. Remember, the New Testament is just more than a quarter of the number of pages of the Old Testament.

World English Bible Revised Standard Version

New Testament 242 234

Gospels 166 161

Note that the Gospels figures are included in the New Testament figures. By far the majority of these occurences of Father refer to God the Father, the same one referred to in the Old Testament as Yahweh.

Conclusion

The Trinity is a mathematical set containing the highest heavenly beings. A set: a collection of non-duplicate entities with some (a) certain attribute/s not only in common, but having the same values for at least one of these attributes.
God the Father (Yahweh) is the head of the Trinity.
We should pray to God the Father as our creator.
Removing the proper name for God the Father from many translations of the Bible was a backward step as far as clarity is concerned.
Genesis 2: World English Bible
7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Jesus paid the price for our sins and made our salvation possible. He is exalted above any created being.
The Holy Spirit is engaged in doing God the Father's will in us. We are to make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit.

Note that I took the scripture at face value, not relying on my or anybody else's interpretation. All my conclusions are based on multiple texts read in context. I have based nothing on any unclear texts. I have avoided the King James Version as it is so unclear that many texts have to be interpreted - and interpreted it has been, in many different ways.

If one accepts the Trinity in the vague way it is accepted by many (all are one and one is all) you cannot claim to have a monotheistic religion. You worship three gods in one, or one in three - take your pick.

If you have questions, I may have some answers. If you disagree and have facts that go beyond vague personal feelings, I'm all ears. Click the link below and e-mail me.

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