I think you know my opinion on this doctrine - although it is fairly well laid out here and that is something a lot of people do not do in regards to this topic.
"We don’t worship three Gods, but one eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" (Shane)
One God in Three Persons - all co-equal and co-existent. Well, in all honesty, that's 3 distinct persons being called God. I don't dismiss the idea they are all 'one in intent/purpose' but all one as in the One God - that I doubt to the core of that doctrine.
(a) The Holy Spirit is from God and how that works is well beyond me. However, what I do know is the holy spirit is mentioned a lot in the Tanakh in various books (from Genesis to Isaiah) - and the Jewish theology for that being a seperate God is not a known doctrine. It's the spirit of God from God - usually doing dynamic things for the individual - but one musr remember - God is a Spirit. This doesn't make this a second person in the Trinity - but part of who God is and what God does.
(b) That would leave Jesus and God as dual people in the god-hood - each very distinct and seperate entities (one a human and one a Spirit). Jesus was anointed with God's Spirit - thus the term Messiah (anointed one). For me, it is clear Jesus came from God and was sent by Him for a purpose on earth - but was not God. That makes no sense in some regards - unless we have more than One actual God in substance.
(c) The teachings are very clear from a Torahnic perspective - there is only One God - One as in 1. Nowehere is the Tanakh is there ever a mention of the triune God - that's all supposition from Christians who want to prove a theory about God that never existed in Judaism - but under Greco-Roman thought (Gentile) mixed into Judaic thought.
(d) The Shema is not a good passage to use in defense of a One God in Christianity - since the Shema actually means what it says 'the Lord is our God, The Lord is One'. When they say One they mean One with no exceptions. That's is the Jewish belief about the Shema and from the the first commandment in Exodus 20 - no one will be 'beside' God.
(e) Christianity has blurred the line with a doctrine that has 3 people in the 1 God. I find in Christian circles this can allow for too much leaway on the person of God. God becomes pretty much anything now. Plus some people seem to take liberties with that idea - Mormons believe we can become Gods, Jehovah's have some strange idea also about it, etc. The door is open for that to happen in my opinion. We actually don't see this in Jewish circles - there is One God and always has been.
I have my concerns about the doctrine because it's problematic from the Tanakh scriptures - plus - no actual author in the scriptures actually lays out this idea in specific form (as we use it today) anywhere. If this idea was really legit - why is this not something Jesus taught in specifics? People wouldn't understand? Well, they still don't...at least that would of helped us determine it's actual validity.
All Comments
"We don’t worship three Gods, but one eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" (Shane)
One God in Three Persons - all co-equal and co-existent. Well, in all honesty, that's 3 distinct persons being called God. I don't dismiss the idea they are all 'one in intent/purpose' but all one as in the One God - that I doubt to the core of that doctrine.
(a) The Holy Spirit is from God and how that works is well beyond me. However, what I do know is the holy spirit is mentioned a lot in the Tanakh in various books (from Genesis to Isaiah) - and the Jewish theology for that being a seperate God is not a known doctrine. It's the spirit of God from God - usually doing dynamic things for the individual - but one musr remember - God is a Spirit. This doesn't make this a second person in the Trinity - but part of who God is and what God does.
(b) That would leave Jesus and God as dual people in the god-hood - each very distinct and seperate entities (one a human and one a Spirit). Jesus was anointed with God's Spirit - thus the term Messiah (anointed one). For me, it is clear Jesus came from God and was sent by Him for a purpose on earth - but was not God. That makes no sense in some regards - unless we have more than One actual God in substance.
(c) The teachings are very clear from a Torahnic perspective - there is only One God - One as in 1. Nowehere is the Tanakh is there ever a mention of the triune God - that's all supposition from Christians who want to prove a theory about God that never existed in Judaism - but under Greco-Roman thought (Gentile) mixed into Judaic thought.
(d) The Shema is not a good passage to use in defense of a One God in Christianity - since the Shema actually means what it says 'the Lord is our God, The Lord is One'. When they say One they mean One with no exceptions. That's is the Jewish belief about the Shema and from the the first commandment in Exodus 20 - no one will be 'beside' God.
(e) Christianity has blurred the line with a doctrine that has 3 people in the 1 God. I find in Christian circles this can allow for too much leaway on the person of God. God becomes pretty much anything now. Plus some people seem to take liberties with that idea - Mormons believe we can become Gods, Jehovah's have some strange idea also about it, etc. The door is open for that to happen in my opinion. We actually don't see this in Jewish circles - there is One God and always has been.
I have my concerns about the doctrine because it's problematic from the Tanakh scriptures - plus - no actual author in the scriptures actually lays out this idea in specific form (as we use it today) anywhere. If this idea was really legit - why is this not something Jesus taught in specifics? People wouldn't understand? Well, they still don't...at least that would of helped us determine it's actual validity.
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Blessings,
Lance
www.lancessoulsearching.com