Scripture,logic,common sense and the dictionary remain trinitarians problem.

 The scriptures do not merely assure us that there is one true God. It furnishes us with a description of this one God. Additionally if this one God is the great first cause and is worthy of our confidence in his ability to indefinitely sustain his creation certain things must be through of him that cannot true of any member of Christendom's trinity. 

In his book 'the forgotten Trinity' pastor White claims that the one God is 'three whos and one what'. But really it depends on who you ask I've spoken to quite a few trinitarians who insists that the trinity is himself a person. Wouldn't that make him a quadrinity then? The reply some give is that he is not a person in the same way that the constituents of him are because he is also a being. Bit of a fudge if you ask me. But here is the issue the God of the bible is superlative ,as defined by the dictionary. 

Psalm83:18ASV "18That they may know that thou alone, whose name is JEHOVAH, Art the Most High over all the earth.," 

Neither the non-being persons nor the personal being nor the impersonal being mentioned in these competing definitions matches this description. They each are matched by others in glory and power. Additionally the bible repeatedly Identifies the Father who by common consent is a single person as the one God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob who by common consent is a being. 

Acts3:13ASV"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified Servant Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. "  

John8:54ASV"54Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is your (Lit.the God of you)God;" 

Additionally the Father is the God of the Son 

John20:17ASV"17Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." 

Revelation3:12ASV"2He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name. " Thus the Father is a person ,a being and the God according to scripture,logic and common sense.  

Of course God is necessary ,apart from him none of us would be here and there would be no hope for a perpetual future. 

Acts17:28ASV"28for in HIM (Not It)we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also HIS(not its) offspring. " Again this can't be true of any of the members of the trinity or the impersonal/hyperpersonal substance in which they subsists. There are peers who/which are fully God and hence can duplicate/replicate their capabilities. A clear violation of the principle of Occam's razor. Christendom's apologists appeal to this principle as a polemic against polytheism. A polytheist would be justified in arguing that the trinity constitutes a far more egregious violation of this principle than the ancient (or modem) pantheons, these being complementarian and not needlessly redundant like Christendom's trinity. 

My rant against predestinationism.

 Genesis18:25ASV"That be far from thee to do after this manner,... shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 

Of all the despicable defamations being trafficked by the churches of Christendom against the Lord JEHOVAH, surely the lie that God has foredoomed the majority of his human creation to an eternity of subjection to sin and irrational cruelty ,and this from eternity past tops the list. 

Some wonder that there are so many atheists , given what is being pedaled as biblical orthodoxy I marvel that there are so few. 

What does JEHOVAH'S doing what is right entail?

2Peter3:9KJV"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" 

As I have repeatedly stated any doctrine that requires that we toss logic, common sense and scripture under the bus should raise a red flag. 

The only reason that those foredoomed from eternity would be thus foredoomed would be the desire of JEHOVAH i.e if he were the amoral beast being painted by Christendom's professors. Likewise if the eternal salvation of elect individuals were a done deal God's patience would be neither here nor there. 

1Peter1:20KJV"Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you," 

Firstly what the verse does not say i.e that our Lord's redemptive work was fore-determined from eternity, wickedness is NEVER part of JEHOVAH'S design.

James1:13NIV"When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each person is tempted when..." 

The world mentioned here i.e 1peter ch.1 is not a reference to the stars and planets but legitimate candidates for JEHOVAH'S salvation. 

John3:16NIV"For God so loved the WORLD( Grk. Cosmos)that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

Thus it was before the founding of this 'world' that our Lord's role in mankind's reconciliation with its creator was foreordained specifically here: 

Genesis3:15ASV"15and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." 

Indeed our Lord identified the Founding of this world with the birth of mother eve's firstborn. 

Luke11:51,52ASVhat the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. " 

The Greek word rendered founding/foundation here is 'katabole'  here is thayers commentary:  a throwing or laying down: τοῦ σπέρματος (namely, εἰς τήν μήτραν), the injection or depositing of the virile semen in the womb, Lucian, amor. 19; Galen, aphorism. iv. § 1; of the seed of animals and plants, 

 Thus before the first legitimate candidate for JEHOVAH'S mercy was birthed JEHOVAH foreordained that his Son would play the primary role in reconciling mankind to its creator. He also foreordained that he would lead an ecclesia the members of which would be mental and moral clones of Christ. Firstfruits to JEHOVAH and his high priest. Individuals blessed with this high calling take nothing for granted. 

Phillipians3:13NIV"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead," obviously our brother Paul did not consider his final judgment a done deal. It is JEHOVAH'S ecclesia that is elect from of old and not any man, with one obvious exception.

 

 

Predestination: a brief history.

 predestination 

By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 

predestination, in Christianity, the doctrine that God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save. In modern usage, predestination is distinct from both determinism and fatalism and is subject to the free decision of the human moral will, but the doctrine also teaches that salvation is entirely due to the eternal decree of God. In its fundamentals, the problem of predestination is as universal as religion itself, but the emphasis of the New Testament on the divine plan of salvation has made the issue especially prominent in Christian theology. Predestination has been especially associated with John Calvin and the Reformed tradition. 

Christian doctrines of predestination may be considered explanations of the words of the Apostle Paul, 

For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:29–30). 

Three types of predestination doctrine, with many variations, have developed. One notion (associated with semi-Pelagianism, some forms of nominalism, and Arminianism) makes foreknowledge the ground of predestination and teaches that God predestined to salvation those whose future faith and merits he foreknew. 

At the opposite extreme is the notion of double predestination, commonly identified with Calvinism and especially associated with the Synod of Dort (1618–19) and appearing also in some of the writings of St. Augustine and Martin Luther and in the thought of the Jansenists. According to this notion, God has determined from eternity whom he will save and whom he will damn, regardless of their faith, love, or merit or lack thereof.

A third notion was set forth inunmerited grace of God and thus to predestination, but it attributes divine reprobation to human sin and guilt. other writings of Augustine and Luther, in the decrees of the second Council of Orange (529), and in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. It ascribes the salvation of humans to the unmerited grace of God and thus to predestination, but it attributes divine reprobation to human sin and guilt.

Being with JEHOVAH forever.

Revelation ch.20:4NIV"4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They a had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." 

No one goes to heaven when they die ,heaven can only be accessed via a resurrection, this resurrection is termed the first resurrection. 

 Revelation ch.20:6NIV"6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."

I am constantly amazed at how many 'bible believing Christians' including many who ought to know better ,claiming as they do, to be pastors/teachers of God's people ,believe and teach that heaven can be accessed via a so called afterlife. Those who share in this first resurrection we are told rule with Christ over the earth, during the millennium and serve as priests. Thus it is not only those who go to heaven who are saved,indeed these would be pitiful excuses for priests if  their services resulted in no one being reconciled to JEHOVAH 

Revelation ch.20:12KJV"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the BOOK OF LIFE: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. " 

Here we get a glimpse of the millennium, obviously if there is a first resurrection there is going to be a following resurrection. To what end ,simply to rehash the resurrected's specific sins before consigning them to eternal conscious torment body and soul. Is that why these books are opened. JEHOVAH and his Son don't need to consult any books to recall anyone's sins, why ,they possess the power and wisdom to raise the dead. And why is the book of life opened is JEHOVAH unclear as to whom he promised to bless with the gift of eternal life. These books are not opened to aid the Lord JEHOVAH and his heavenly sons but those sharing in that earthly resurrection among whom would include faithful pre-Christian servants of JEHOVAH. 

Matthew ch.11:11KJV"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. " 

Also those who through no fault of their own went to their graves ignorant of the truth. 

Psalms147:19,20"19He showeth his word unto Jacob, His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.

20He hath not dealt so with any nation; And as for his ordinances, they have not known them. Praise ye JEHOVAH" 

Acts ch.14:15,16ASV"15and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: 16who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways. " 

Acts ch.17:30ASV"30The times of ignorance therefore God OVERLOOKED but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:" 

These will all benefit from a program of instruction in JEHOVAH'S word the Holy Bible and possibly new written revelation.

There is NO place in the Bible where it is stated that only those going to heaven are saved. This is simply more eisegesis from Christendom's 'teachers' . This is why those inheriting the heavenly resurrection are labeled first-fruits.

James ch.1:18ASV"f his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." 

Revelation ch.14:4ASV"These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb." 

Obviously then there remains general ingathering post the first-fruits. This is why the book of life is opened in the millennium to add(and if need be subtract) names .  

JEHOVAH guaranties his eternal fatherhood/companionship of all his Son's heavenly and earthly. 

Revelation ch.21:1ASV"And I saw a new heaven and A NEW EARTH: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more." 

Revelation ch.21:3,4ASV"And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: 4 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away." 

Matthew ch.6:9,10ASV"After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on EARTH."