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Monday 30 August 2021

On recurring themes in trinitarian apologetics.

  


In my discussions with trinitarians I've noticed certain frequently recurring themes in this post I would like to review four of the most popular ones:

1)"It's all an unfathomable mystery" Usually our protagonist would say something like:well of course you can't form a coherent concept of God if you could he wouldn't be God,he wouldn't be transcendent:This particular defense leaves me wondering why trinitarian apologists bother after all how could anyone possibly form any coherent argument in support of an incoherent idea.
If we can't evaluate your doctrine with the standard tools of scripture,logic and commonsense how can we separate truth from error to begin with.
  Given the scriptures' stern warning against Idolatry/false worship 1John5:21 it seems only fair that the creator should grant his intelligent creation the capacity to clearly identify him i.e the ability to form a coherent concept of his true self/nature.
 Jesus Christ suggested that the creator had in fact done so John4:22,8:54  Jesus Christ and his fellow 1st century Jews had both an accurate and coherent concept of the object of their devotion.

2)"Problem?What problem?" This time our protagonist would go in the other direction and insist that the trinity doctrine is not a morass of incoherence and self-contradiction and what's more he can prove it.Why should the worship of Christendom's trinity not be regarded as an exercise in polytheism when said trinity is said to be composed of three distinct persons each of whom is said to be "God"not to mention that the trinity itself is distinct from any of its constituents and is also called "God" by standard arithmetic that should add up to four Gods shouldn't it?Well you see,explain our trinitarian friends,When we say that each constituent of the trinity is "God" we are using that term as an adjective meaning something like  "divine""Godlike" not as a noun,which would be the case if we use the the word with regard to the trinity as a whole.This causes me to wonder about peter's statement at Matthew16:16"Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” "The living God" is clearly a reference to the supreme divinity not the Father according to the aforementioned logic the Father though divine/Godlike is not the supreme God according to trinitarians (At least if they wish to take their reasoning to its logical end) So Jesus must according to trinitarian logic be the Son of the Trinity which is said to include himself Does this make Jesus one third of his  heavenly Father or one of his heavenly Fathers.
 Commonsense demands that we abandon this particular instance of trinitarian logic as impractical and the Holy Scriptures concur At John8:54 Jesus clearly identifies his God and Father as the God Of Israel("God"is definitely a count noun in this passage of Scripture) So,as tends to be the case,the Holy Scriptures refuse to play along with trinitarians and their special pleading.

3)A unipersonal God cannot be love per John4:8
The Word "Love" in this passage is a rendering of the Greek word "agape" Our protagonists may say something like "Agape" cannot be felt in regard or expressed to oneself only others as "agape" means principled and unselfish kindness.So from this they deduce that God must be three persons.Now if,as trinitarians claim,The trinity is in fact a single being or life wouldn't that mean that the three constitute a single self and we haven't solved our conundrum.
If we accept trinitarian reasoning as fact then the only way out is for God to share love with (a) distinct God(s)/Goddess(es)from eternity.
Again the scriptures rain on trinitarians parade at mark12:31 Jesus lists the Command to 'Agape' one's neighbor as oneself as the second greatest command in the law.So according to the Lord not only can one validly possess 'agape' for oneself one should possess 'agape' for oneself   'agape' of self is to be the model for agape of other.

4)Jesus has some of Jehovah's titles he must be Jehovah.The problem with this logic is of course that it is Jesus specific trinitarians are not prepared to consistently employ this principle  throughout the scriptures.or they would be faced with an ever expanding Godhead.The Prophet Moses for instance is declared to be God by Jehovah himself Exodus7:1
to name one of several instances where Jehovah's exalted servants heavenly and earthly are shown speaking and acting as if they're Jehovah himself and in turn being honored as if they're Jehovah himself See also Judges13:21,22,Exodus3:2-6,Acts7:53.

One can refer to these as zombie themes they have been debunked so many times in so many different fora and yet they keep walking like the undead.


It just goes to show,as has been said,that reason and logic are not universal keys,indeed they're useless if those with whom we engage are not at the time prepared pursue the evidence and logic where ever they lead even/especially if their path traverses the carcasses of treasured falsehhoods.

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