₦airaland Forum

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that God is a Trinity and use this as indication that they alone worship truth. However, in order to support their Arian based doctrine, Watchtower inaccurately defines the Trinity, resorts to misquoting sources, and fail to acknowledge the large number of Christians that do not worship a Trinitarian God.
This section does not propose to solve a 2000-year debate on the nature of God, but rather show the inaccurate statements and misleading methods the Watchtower uses to support its teaching.

Watchtower claims they have the correct understanding of God, and Christendom holds a pagan view.

"Christendom's unchristian doctrine of a Trinity of "God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Ghost" will be rejected by all enlightened mankind as being a blasphemous pagan lie." Paradise restored to Mankind - By Theocracy p.388
This us-and-them attitude fails to recognise there are groups that share Watchtower's Arian concept of God. Furthermore, there are a number of different beliefs regarding the Nature of God, including:

Trinitarianism
Tritheism
Adoptionism
Binitarianism
Modalism
Unitarianism/Arianism

Assemblies of Yahweh and some Church of God branches follow Binitarian beliefs and many millions of people belonging to the Oneness Pentecostal movement are not Trinitarian, but Modalist. When claiming Christians believe in a Trinity, Watchtower fails to acknowledge the large number of Christians that are not Trinitarian.

A "straw man" argument defines a person's point of view inaccurately, and then attacks the misrepresentation. The Watchtower does this by defining the Trinity inaccurately and inadequately. When presenting the Trinity doctrine, the Watchtower melds Trinitarian and Modal concepts, creating an inconsistent and confusing teaching that does not define any formal position. Modal concepts are passed off as the Trinity, yet in the 56 years of Watchtower publications on the Watchtower CD 2006, there is not a single discussion on Modalism. By failing to recognise these different teachings and mixing doctrines, the Watchtower misrepresents the Trinity, making it impossible for one of Jehovah's Witnesses to form an informed opinion.

Inaccurate Trinity Statements

The Trinity doctrine defines one God in three persons; not three Gods, three Gods in one, or three Gods in one God. As described by the Athanasian Creed, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God."

The Watchtower makes a habit of inaccurately defining the Trinity as "three gods in one." This is a straw man technique, as that is not the doctrine of the Trinity.

“The Watch Tower of June 1882 stated:

“At this time, therefore, the doctrine of three Gods was invented …”” Proclaimers p.125

“The disgusting idolatry of the religions of Christendom and pagandom has been set aside by Jehovah's restored people. Their worship is not distributed to three gods in one, the so-called godhead of some mysterious Trinity, but they are united as the one people who worship the one God, Jehovah.” Watchtower 1984 Mar 1 p.23

“… a trinity of three gods in one, …” Awake! 1998 Dec 8 p.11

“… teach that God is a trinity of three gods in one, …” Awake! 1989 Jan 22 p.23

"If he is one Jehovah, then could he be three gods, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, as the Trinitarians teach?"
Watchtower 1970 apr 1 p.210

“Christendom has copied the heathen, pagan nations of Asia in teaching that God is a trinity, three Gods in one Person.” Watchtower 1962 Apr 15 p.235
(See also w88 4/1 p.19; w89 3/15 p.18; w75 11/1 p.651; w63 8/1 p.461; w63 8/15 p.488)

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Trinity

The Trinity doctrine maintains:

1. There is only one God - Jehovah or Yahweh
2. The Father is God
3. Jesus the Son is God
4. The Holy Spirit is God
5 .The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons

It is by proving each of the above 5 statements from the Bible that a Trinitarian comes to their understanding of the nature of God. This is the belief
taught by most Catholic and Protestant religions.

Modalism

More accurately termed Modalistic Monarchianism or Sabellian , this is the notion that there is one unique God that manifests Himself in three different modes or stages. God appeared initially as the Father in the Old Testament and the Son in the four Gospels. Whilst appearing as the Son he ceased to exist as the Father. At Pentecost God began to move as the Spirit, and is therefore no longer either the Father or the Son.

Binitarianism

Binitarianism accepts two personae, the Father and the Son, in one Godhead. The Holy Spirit is understood to be an aspect of both Father and Son. This view is held by various Church of God groups, and presented by L.W. Hurtado as the original Christian concept of God.

Unitarianism/Arianism

The Watchtower description of God is a Unitarianism description. It initially most closely aligned to Arianism, after Arius (c. AD 250-336) who famously promoted this view during the fourth century. This denies the eternality and the absolute Deity of Jesus. Jesus is described as a creation and as such temporal. Some Arianists, such as Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Jesus as an inferior deity. As such, the Watchtower originally taught that Jesus was to be prayed to and worshipped, but when it prevented these practices in 1954 it deviated from strict Arianism.
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This is not the Trinity; it is not taught that there are "three Gods in one". Trinitarians embrace the statement at Deuteronomy 6:4 that "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." There is one true God by nature, existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Watchtower then attempts to prove that Jesus is not equal to the Father, without explanation of what equal means. As early as the Apostolic Fathers, distinction was made between the positional and essential relationships of the Godhead - the Ontological and Economic deity of Christ. Jesus is second in manner of existence, in position, but not in nature. Ontologically the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same essential nature - economically they are not.

To illustrate, a king holds a higher economic position than his subjects do, however, this does not make his essential worth as a human greater, so ontologically a king and his subjects are the same. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912, Vol. 15, p 47-49 explains:

"In point of fact the doctrine of the Incarnation involves that, in regard of His Human Nature, the Son should be less than the Father."
Accurate discussion of the Trinity cannot occur without separation of the Ontological and Economic elements, yet the Watchtower never mentions these concepts.

Sources Misquoted

When quoting, the meaning of the original quote should be apparent, even when using ellipses (…). A classic source of misquotes is the Watchtower publication Should You Believe in the Trinity? (ti), using ellipses to hide words like "but", "however", "therefore" to present a completely different point from that being made by the source. Furthermore, provision of only partial references to the source of quotes make it difficult and time consuming to locate the original quote. Examples of misquotes follow.

SOURCE: Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethic, James Hastings, Trinity, p.461

TRINITY BROCHURE: "At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the N[ew] T[estament] and other early Christian writings."-Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. (ti pp. 6-7)

FULL QUOTE: "At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian in the strictly ontological reference."
__________________________________

SOURCE:
The Triune God, Edward Fortman

TRINITY BROCHURE:"Jesuit Fortman states: "The New Testament writers . . . give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. . . . Nowhere do we find any trinitarian doctrine of three distinct subjects of divine life and activity in the same Godhead."" (ti p.6)

FULL QUOTE: "They give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. But they do give us an elemental trinitarianism, the data from which such a formal doctrine of the Triune God may be formulated."
_________________________________

SOURCE: encyclopedia americana

TRINITY BROCHURE: "The Encyclopedia Americana notes that the doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be 'beyond the grasp of human reason." (ti p.4)

FULL QUOTE:"It is held that although the doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended (though it may not be comprehended) by the human mind".
__________________________________

SOURCE: The Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org /cathen/ 15047a.htm 21/12/2006)

TRINITY BROCHURE: "The Catholic Encyclopedia also comments: "In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word ?? [tri´as] (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. . . . Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian."" (ti p.5)

FULL QUOTE: "The word [tri'as] (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom" ("Ad. Autol.", 11, 15, P. G., VI, 1078). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time. Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian."

SOURCE: Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity

TRINITY BROCHURE: The Catholic work Trinitas-A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity, for example, notes that some of Tertullian's words were later used by others to describe the Trinity. Then it cautions: "But hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology." (ti pp.5-6)

FULL QUOTE: "The great African fashioned the Latin language of the Trinity, and many of his words and phrases remained permanently in use: the words Trinitas and persona, the formulas 'one substance in three persons,' 'God from God, light from Light.' He uses the word substantia 400 times, as he uses consubstantialis and consubstantivus, but hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology"
______________________________

SOURCE: New Catholic Encyclopedia - p.306

TRINITY BROCHURE:
"And the New Catholic Encyclopedia also says: "And the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the O[ld] T[estament]."" (ti p.6)

FULL QUOTE: "The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the OT. In many places of the OT however, expressions are used in which some of the Fathers of the Church saw references or foreshadowings of the Trinity."
_________________________________

SOURCE: Origin and Evolution of Religion

TRINITY BROCHURE: "Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed: "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it."-Origin and Evolution of Religion." (ti p.6)

FULL QUOTE: "The beginning of the doctrine of the Trinity appears already in John (c.100 AD." To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; at any rate they say nothing about it."

Source: http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/trinity.php

paulGrundy:
SOURCE: Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity

TRINITY BROCHURE: The Catholic work Trinitas-A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity, for example, notes that some of Tertullian's words were later used by others to describe the Trinity. Then it cautions: "But hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology." (ti pp.5-6)

FULL QUOTE: "The great African fashioned the Latin language of the Trinity, and many of his words and phrases remained permanently in use: the words Trinitas and persona, the formulas 'one substance in three persons,' 'God from God, light from Light.' He uses the word substantia 400 times, as he uses consubstantialis and consubstantivus, but hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology"
______________________________

SOURCE: New Catholic Encyclopedia - p.306

TRINITY BROCHURE:
"And the New Catholic Encyclopedia also says: "And the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the O[ld] T[estament]."" (ti p.6)

FULL QUOTE: "The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the OT. In many places of the OT however, expressions are used in which some of the Fathers of the Church saw references or foreshadowings of the Trinity."
_________________________________

SOURCE: Origin and Evolution of Religion

TRINITY BROCHURE: "Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed: "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it."-Origin and Evolution of Religion." (ti p.6)

FULL QUOTE: "The beginning of the doctrine of the Trinity appears already in John (c.100 AD." To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; at any rate they say nothing about it."

Religion of lies and deceits.

Emusan:
Religion of lies and deceits.

Continue WAILING with your GIBBERISH.

You Emusan LIAR g paulgrundy , your comprehension skills leaves much to be desired

Jankara school of illiteracy graduates.

Janosky:
Continue WAILING with your GIBBERISH.
You Emusan LIAR g paulgrundy , your comprehension skills leaves much to be desired
Jankara school of illiteracy graduates.

Ecc_7:6  For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool


lost fraud jw janosky

you people so confused:
1Co 14:33  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints

Janosky:
Continue WAILING with your GIBBERISH.

You Emusan LIAR g paulgrundy , your comprehension skills leaves much to be desired

Jankara school of illiteracy graduates.

Defender of fraudster, I salute you ooo

How else can devils quote the bible if they do not misquote it?