The doctrine of the Trinity is misunderstood by many non-Christians, and even many Christians. There are misconceptions about where the concept of the Trinity came from, what the Trinity means, and what the Bible says about it. This section will address misconceptions, why Christians believe in the Trinity, and what Christians mean when they talk about the Trinity.  

Misconception #1
The Trinity is an unbiblical concept, because the term trinity doesn’t appear in the Bible. While it is true that it never appears in the Bible, that doesn’t mean that it is invalid. The word trinity is a descriptive term that describes how the Bible reveals God to exist. For example, the word Bible is not actually in the Bible, but we use the term Bible to describe the collection of writings of the apostles and prophets. Does this mean that that term should be deemed invalid? The same can be applied to the usage of the word trinity. Although the word may not exist in the Bible, it can still be used to describe the doctrine of God that is in the Bible.

Misconception #2
The concept of the Trinity is the product of a man made doctrine established during the council of Nicea around 325 AD. Many LDS like to point to the Nicene Creed as the culmination of apostate corruption. The question that still needs to be asked is “were they wrong?” Is the concept of the Trinity unbiblical? Or can the Trinity be validated through proper exegesis of scripture. I argue for the latter.

Misconception #3
The concept of the Trinity is impossible to understand, therefore it is best to stick with the “easier” Mormon concept of God (i.e., that there are three separate exalted corporeal beings, viz., the Father, Son and Holy Ghost). Actually, the Trinity isn’t impossible to understand. It may be difficult to fully comprehend, but not impossible to understand. Psalm 145 says that God’s greatness is unsearchable. You can search and search, but never fully comprehend God. Making up your own God because the God of the Bible is too hard to comprehend is denigrating and cheapening the greatness of God.

Why Christians Believe in the Trinity

Christians believe in the Trinity because it is a true explanation of how God exists. Granted, the God of Christianity may seem to be a strange God; and cannot be compared to the rest of nature, but this does not implicate the Trinity as an invalid concept. The only correct view of God is explained through a Monotheistic Trinitarian one. The Bible doesn’t allow for another true explanation of God. It doesn’t allow for a polytheistic view; there is only one God: Isaiah 43:10; 44:6-8; 44:24; 1 Tim. 2:5. It doesn’t allow for a modolistic view (i.e., God is one person who changes personalities when He wants), because the Bible is quite clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct persons simultaneously (e.g., the Baptism of Christ in Luke 3:21-22). Yet, each person of the Trinity claims to be God. Each person of the Trinity uses the first person pronoun “I”, and the third person pronoun “He” when referring to other members of the Trinity.

 An explanation of the Trinity

The Trinitarian view of God teaches that God is a spirit (John 4:24, 1 Kings 8:27, Jer. 23:24). He is one being with three distinct persons. They are one in nature, being, and purpose. Each of these persons is God by nature, that is, each person has always been God, and never had to become God. There is a difference between a person, a being, and a nature.  

Being
All persons are beings, but not all beings are persons. For example, a plant is a certain type of living being, but it certainly is not a person. All beings contain a particular nature.  

Person
A person is a special type of being that generally has one center of consciousness and has the potential to reason and exercise free agency. I am a being that happens to be a person.

Nature
A nature is a type, sort, or a kind. Every being (living or non-living) has a specific nature. A cat has the nature of cat-ness, an acorn has the nature of oak-ness, etc. A nature is the most basic thing you can say about a thing, and without a thing’s nature, that thing cannot exist. If the nature of a thing allows for the being to change, the nature of that particular thing will stay with it the entire time. For example, an apple seed and an apple tree are in different stages within the nature of “apple-ness.” Every human has (and shares) one nature, viz., a human nature. Christ is unique because He has two natures; divine, and as of two thousand years ago, human. Not all humans share the same being. For example, Robert is not the same being as George W. Bush because Robert is a separate being. Thus, when we say that God exists as three persons in one being, we are essentially saying that God is a particular kind of being with a specific nature. God has a completely different nature than man (Hosea 11:9; cf. John 4:24, 1 Kings 8:27, Jeremiah 23:24), and thus not human (mere or exalted). In other words, God is a different kind of being than man, just like humans are a completely different kind of being than apples. God happens to be a particular type of being that is made up of three persons.

The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in nature and one in being. Remember back to when I said that Robert and George are separate beings. The reason why Robert and George are separate beings is because their human nature only allows for one person to reside within that type of being. God’s nature is completely different than man’s which allows three persons to reside within the being of God.

The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not separate beings (e.g., like Robert and George Bush), but are different and distinct persons that reside together in one being. It’s like triangularity. Within one triangle there are three distinct sides. The being of God contains the person of the Father, the person of the Son, and the person of the Holy Spirit. Each of these persons are equall to each other in their deity, and have always existed as divine. This is what orthodox Christianity believes about the Trinity.  

Possible Objections

Objection #1
LDS argue that the God of the Bible can be defined differently than what orthodox Christianity has taught. LDS define “God” like a basketball team that is made up separate players, but is considered to be one team. This definition does not sufficiently solve the “problem” of the Bible’s claim that the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Ghost is God; and there is only one God. The reason why it doesn’t solve the problem is because God speaks in the first person pronoun “I” and “me” in reference to not knowing any other Gods. For example, God says in Isaiah 44:6-8 “Besides Me there is no God… I know not one.” Also, Isaiah 45:5 says, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” If God exists in a Godhead made up of multiple Gods (viz., the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) then why are the first person pronouns “I” and “Me” used to say that? Have you ever heard of a team use the first person pronoun in reference to itself? There are no actual examples. It’s impossible. The only way would be to use “we.” Furthermore, how is it that God doesn’t know of any other Gods when using the first person pronoun “I”?    

Also, according to the LDS Bible Dictionary, Elohim is the name for God the Father, and Jehova is the name for Jesus. Elohim is translated God in the old testament, and Jehova is translated LORD. The use of the terms in this fashion creates a problem for the view that the term God represents a team. For instance, Isaiah 44:6 says, “Thus says [Jehova/Jesus], the King of Isreal… I am the first and the last; besides Me there is no [Elohim/Father]… Is there a [Elohim/Father] besides Me… I know not one.” Here you have the Son claiming that He doesn’t know of another person in the team of God’s (viz., the Father). The truth of the matter is that the usage of the term God does not represent a single God-team made of multiple Gods.
 

Objection#2
The objection can be made that Jesus may be a separate personage than the Father because Jesus was a man that visibly walked on earth, often prayed to the Father, and claimed that the Father was greater than Him (cf. John 14:28). These are expected difficulties to encounter when dealing with a Trinitarian view of God. How does one reconcile such “obvious” contradictions in the trinity concept of God (viz., that the son is a separate personage than the Father and Holy Ghost)? It is necessary to understand that Jesus is unique in His being (i.e., He has two natures). Beings usually have only one nature, but Christ is a unique man in that He has a divine nature, and a human nature. John 1:1-14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.” This section of scripture mentions three things: Jesus was God, He created all things, and Jesus took on a body of flesh. 1 Timothy 3:16 also says, “…God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” This verse also mentions that Jesus was God who took on flesh. In Philippians 2:6-9, it is clearly demonstrated that Jesus was equal to the Father, and that He took on the form of man.

What I am trying to demonstrate is that the second member of the Trinity has eternally been God, and 2000 years ago He took on a human nature. Since God is all-powerful, He can hook any other nature to himself that He wants. In light of this, it is possible for the man Jesus Christ to say that the Father is greater than him (John 14:28), and that He doesn’t know all things (John…), yet be equal with the Father (John 5:18; 8:58, Phil. 2:6-9). The aphorism “Jesus as Man is not God, but Jesus as God is not Man” describes the two natures of Christ (Robert M. Sivulka). Jesus as man doesn’t know all things (and isn’t equal to the Father), but Jesus as God does know all things, and is equal to the Father.