I Believe in Trinity: A Study of Vertical Equality in the Godhead

By Jeffrey M S Vickers

Trinity is not a biblical word, but it is a biblical truth. It describes the essential nature of the Godhead and explains the idea that the fullness of God indwells Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, rather than limiting his discussion to the horizontal equality between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, which can lead to the erroneous conclusion that Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh and that the Holy Spirit is the risen Christ, the author focuses on the vertical equality demonstrated between Yahweh and God, Jesus and God, and the Holy Spirit and God. This approach will lead serious students of the Bible to the more accurate conclusion that the horizontal equality between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is not because each is a form of the other two but because the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9, KJV) dwells vertically and concurrently in each.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503508392

Jeffrey M S Vickers

Dr. Jeff Vickers began his ministry as a young musician-evangelist, singing and preaching at Christian youth and evangelistic outreach meetings. Dr. Jeff has, since then, served as a youth director for a Methodist mission, a stipendiary catechist (teacher) in the Anglican Church, a home missionary for the Presbyterian Church, a pastor in several Pentecostal churches, and the founder/director of an international church-planting and Bible-teaching ministry. Since 1999, Dr. Jeff has taught Christian doctrine in Bible colleges, ministry training schools, and Christian education centers in Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Pakistan, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Shanghai, South Korea, the Philippines, and the United States of America. Dr Jeff’s academic achievements include an associate diploma in Bible studies, diploma of ministry, bachelor of ministry, bachelor of arts in theology, master of theology, doctorate in theology, doctorate in ministry, and a PhD in Christian education.

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Copyright © 2015 by Jeffrey M S Vickers.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2015912797

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-0837-8

      Softcover      978-1-5035-0838-5

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Rev. date: 09/09/2015

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1:   Definitions and Analogies

Chapter 2:   Monotheism: There Is but One God

Chapter 3:   Divine Personhood

Chapter 4:   Distinction of Persons

Chapter 5:   The Nature of God

Chapter 6:   The Fullness of God in Yahweh

Chapter 7:   Foundations to Understanding Jesus the Messiah/Christ

Chapter 8:   The Fullness of God in Jesus the Christ

Chapter 9:   The Fullness of God in the Holy Spirit

Chapter 10:   The Bottom Line

Bibliography

AMP

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

ASV (Public Domain)

Scripture quotations marked (ASV) are taken from the American Standard Version, copyright © 1995. Used by permission of Logos Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved.

CEV

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are taken from the Contemporary English Version® Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission

Darby (Public Domain)

Scripture quotations marked (Darby) are taken from the 1890 Darby Bible, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Logos Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved.

ESV

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

KJV (Public Domain)

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Used by permission of Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

NAB

Scripture quotations marked (NAB) are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition© 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

NASB

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission."

(www.Lockman.org)

NCV

Scripture quotations marked (NCV) are taken from The Everyday Bible:

New Century Version® , Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson,

Inc. Used by permission

NIV

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NKJV

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version.

Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

NLT

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NRSV

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

RSV

Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971], Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

TNIV

Scripture quotations marked (TNIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version™ TNIV.® Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

VGCLEM (Public Domain)

Scripture quotations marked (VGCLEM) are taken from the

"Vulgatum Clementiam (2005).

Biblia Sacra juxta Vulgatam Clementinam. (Ed. electronica). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

YLT (Public Domain)

Scripture quotations marked (YLT) are taken from the Young’s Literal Translation, copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Logos

Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

I believe in one God in three distinct and equal divine persons who are each fully and concurrently God.

Jeffrey M. S. Vickers

Trinity is not a biblical word, but it is a biblical truth. The word trinity can be traced from the Anglo-French trinité and from the early Latin trinitas, both meaning threeness, and from the thirteenth-century Latin trinus, meaning threefold. The idea of trinity is important to Christian doctrine because it describes the essential nature of the Godhead, and it is important to personal theology because it gives expression to the idea that the fullness of God indwells Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, both individually and concurrently.

The Logic of Trinity

Many have argued that the concept of trinity is difficult to understand and even more difficult to explain. Some have even argued that the concept of trinity is illogical and that, therefore, it cannot be explained. However, none of these arguments should cause us to assign the doctrine of the trinity to a too-hard basket or prompt us to simply list it among those things about which we believe by faith without even seeking the evidence.

The doctrine of trinity is both logical and evidence-based. It is reasonable and can be established and defended by the evidence of Scripture. Logic itself is an attribute of the Godhead (John 1:1, Grk; Rom. 11:33–34). It is imparted by God (Job 38:36) to enable us to develop an informed relationship with him (Isa. 1:18). The fact that we are called to know God better (Jer. 9:23–24) and instructed to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks … [concerning] the hope … [we] have (1 Pet. 3:15, NIV) should motivate every Christian to study the Word of God concerning trinity, knowing that the Holy Spirit, who fully knows the mind of God (1 Cor. 2:10–11) and abides in every believer (Rom. 8:11, 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14), reveals to all who are willing to receive them, the deeper truths of God (John 16:13, 1 John 2:27).

Horizontal versus Vertical Equality

For many scholars, the study of trinity is conducted through a horizontal comparison of the biblical statements concerning Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The conclusion of such studies is always that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are coessential—that is, they are identical in their essential characteristics (e.g. each is personal, eternal, holy, loving, and unchangeable). The importance of this horizontal equality is that it proves that not one is above or below the others and that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are equal in nature, authority, and importance to Christian faith and life. However, if this is as far as the study of trinity goes, if trinity is limited only to the study of the horizontal equality between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, then there is a real danger that people might wrongly conclude that Yahweh became Jesus, that Jesus became the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of Yahweh and Jesus in spirit form. Such conclusions would be modalistic in form and erroneous in nature (see figure 1).

Fig%201.jpg

To avoid this modalism or tritheism trap, this book expands the traditional horizontal-equality approach to the doctrine of trinity by beginning with the generic identification of God in the Bible (ʾElōhîm in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and Theos in the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament), in spite of the fact that this would make trinity a discussion about four biblical terms, instead of the traditional three. It then discusses the vertical equality that exists between Yahweh and God, Jesus and God, and the Holy Spirit and God. This vertical-equality approach is important to the doctrine of trinity because it helps us better understand that the horizontal equality between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is not because each is a form of the other two but because the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9 KJV) dwells vertically and concurrently in each (see figure 2).

Fig%202.JPG

CHAPTER 1

Definitions and Analogies

That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

Rom. 1:19–20, KJV

Denominational Definitions

D efinitions of trinity abound. Most mainstream denominations have their own formal definitions. However, in spite of the fact that each statement was written at a unique time in history to articulate a specific set of denominational beliefs, there is still a number of concepts and terms that are common to all and which have since become integral to the Orthodox Christian Trinitarian posi tion.

Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church developed its teachings about the trinity over a number of years through a series of now-famous councils. Based on the declarations of those councils, the Roman Catholic Church today expresses its Trinitarian position as follows:

"Blessed Trinity, the: One and the same God in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There are three distinct persons who are one God. Each of these persons is divine because each one is God. They all have one and the same divine nature. The Father is God and the first person of the Blessed Trinity. The Son is God and the second person of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Ghost is God and the third person of the Blessed Trinity."¹

Lutheran Church

The early Lutheran Church also built its confessional statements about the trinity on a number of early church writings and councils, predominantly the Nicene Creed and the Augsburg Confession. From these writings and councils, the Lutheran Church produced a text that is now titled The Book of Concord (AD 1580). Within this text, the Lutheran eldership declared its understanding about the trinity through four carefully prepared statements:

[1] Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; [2] that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and [3] yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term ‘person’ [4] they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.¹

Anglican Church

Article 1 of the Anglican Church’s Thirty-Nine Articles, which was agreed upon by the Archbishops, Bishops and the whole clergy of the Provinces of Canterbury and York, London, [in] 1562 states:

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.²

Established as church law by an ecclesiastical convocation in 1563, adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles, including this statement concerning the trinity, became a legal requirement for all British citizens by act of Parliament in 1571. Although there is now no legal requirement for British citizens to hold any belief in the Trinitarian statements of the Thirty-Nine Articles, they remain essential belief statements for members of the Anglican Church community throughout the world, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and with some cultural adaptations in its wording, of most Protestant churches worldwide.

Presbyterian Church

Between 1643 and 1648, the British Parliament held a series of assembly meetings in Westminster Abbey, in London, for the sole purpose of establishing a standard Protestant confession of faith. This document became known as The Westminster Confession of Faith and was progressively adopted in both its original confessional presentation and its larger and shorter catechism forms by reformed churches throughout the world. Concerning the trinity, it states:

There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal, most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty…. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.³

Baptist Church

Formed in 1905–06, the United Baptist Convention, headquartered in Atlantic Canada (now known as the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches), established a doctrinal and church polity basis of union statement to which regular and free Baptists pledged allegiance. Today, this statement remains intact, with the exception of a few minor culturally contextualised word changes, and reflects the basis for Baptist belief throughout the world concerning the trinity. It declares:

There is one true and living God; He is an infinite Spirit; self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, good, wise, just and merciful. He is the creator, preserver, and sovereign of the universe; He is inexpressively glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honour, confidence and love. In the Godhead there are three persons in one: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in every divine perfection and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.⁴

Denominational Summary

While the above-mentioned churches established their denominational statements of faith at different times, in different places, and under different political circumstances, their faith statements do share a number of obvious commonalities. At the heart of these statements concerning trinity is the fivefold proposition that there is one God (ʾElōhîm in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and Theos in the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament) in three distinct and equal divine persons (Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), with each divine person being fully and concurrently God. In this, all Orthodox Churches agree that for our concept of trinity to truly reflect the biblical revelation concerning the nature of the Godhead, all five concepts must be held firm, and all must be considered non-negotiable.

Oneness: Trinity must always declare that there is only one God. To do otherwise would be to conform to the teachings of polytheism, the idea that there are many gods.

Distinctiveness: Trinity must always declare that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are distinct divine persons. In this, it stands against modalism, the idea that each is a form of the other two.

Equality: Trinity recognises two types of equality—horizontal and vertical. Horizontal equality identifies the equality that exists between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It reveals that all three are essentially equal and that none is above or below the others (the teaching of subordinationism). However, in the study of the Trinity, vertical equality must always be given precedence because it identifies the essential equality that exists between Yahweh and God, Jesus and God, and the Holy Spirit and God. When precedence is given to the vertical equality between Yahweh and God, Jesus and God, and the Holy Spirit and God, the horizontal equality that exists between Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is then able to be understood as being so, not because each is a form or mode of the other two but because each is fully and concurrently God.

Fullness: Trinity always declares that while Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are fully and individually God, they are neither three individual gods (this would be tritheism) nor individually a one-third portion of God (this would be partitionism).

Concurrency: Trinity always declares that Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are concurrently God. It never supports the teaching of modalism, the idea that God revealed himself as Yahweh in the Old Testament, as Jesus in the New Testament era, and as the Holy Spirit at special times and in special seasons in both the Old Testament and New Testament and today.

However we may word it, our statement of faith concerning the trinity must include all five propositions: oneness, distinctiveness, equality, fullness, and concurrency. For me, that statement is as follows: I believe in one God in three distinct and equal divine persons who are each fully and concurrently God.

Analogies Related to Trinity

Because the idea of trinity has been a truth most difficult to explain, many have tried to make the doctrine easier to understand by using different analogies. However, as useful as each may be in helping people to understand some aspects of trinity, none has fully met the fivefold test of oneness, distinctiveness, equality, fullness, and concurrency.

Man as Father, Son, and Husband

It is reasoned that because one man can be father, son, and husband at the same time, this parallels the idea of one God in three persons: Yahweh, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, this is incorrect. When measured against the fivefold propositions of trinity, this analogy is found to fail. While it is true that the father, son, and husband are one person and that each is fully the same person at the same time, thereby meeting the oneness, fullness, and concurrency obligations of trinity, the analogy fails because there is neither distinction between them nor equality in their personhood.

No Distinction

The father, son, and husband of this analogy are not distinct individuals but simply different modes of the same individual. In this analogy, the father cannot talk to the son, the son cannot speak about the husband as another person, and the husband cannot introduce people to the father because there is no distinction between them. This lack of distinction, if applied to the