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This is a non-WLC article. When using resources from outside authors, we only publish the content that is 100% in harmony with the Bible and WLC current biblical beliefs. So such articles can be treated as if coming directly from WLC. We have been greatly blessed by the ministry of many servants of Yahuwah. But we do not advise our members to explore other works by these authors. Such works, we have excluded from publications because they contain errors. Sadly, we have yet to find a ministry that is error-free. If you are shocked by some non-WLC published content [articles/episodes], keep in mind Proverbs 4:18. Our understanding of His truth is evolving, as more light is shed on our pathway. We cherish truth more than life, and seek it wherever it may be found. |
Yahuwah
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The purpose of this discourse is twofold. First, to those who believe in the "oneness" of GOD, hopefully, this will reaffirm their faith. Second, to those who believe in the Trinity, some questions of logic. Some questions I will try to answer, others I will leave for you to think about. There is more than sufficient evidence available concerning the origin of many so-called "Christian" doctrines in historical works such as Alexander Hislop's "Two Babylons" and Will Durant's "The Story of Civilization" to make one think about how they view Yahuwah and his holy word, the Bible. "For Yahuwah is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints" (I Corinthians 14:33). Yahuwah has never asked man to believe anything incomprehensible blindly. And the dogma of the Trinity is incomprehensible.
Notice that I used the word dogma associated with the trinity instead of the word doctrine. Doctrine should be something the church teaches that can be proven in the pages of scripture. Dogma is when a man sets up a group of beliefs as doctrine, whether they can be proven. If something cannot be found in the Bible, it should not be held as doctrine. To go beyond that and force people to believe something as dogma without substantiation is totally against GOD's will. Yet this is precisely what has happened concerning the Trinity.
Neither the word trinity nor the concept of it is in the Bible. The "oneness" of GOD is what is emphasized throughout the scriptures. "Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4). "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Yahushua" (I Timothy 2:5). "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble"(James 2:19). Who is in charge of devils and demons? Satan. What did Yahushua have to say about Satan's characteristics? "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). What was Satan's first lie? "Ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). And to sugar-coat it, he added in verse 5, "Ye shall be as gods." Satan introduced the idea of a plurality or multiplicity of gods, of which the Trinity is most common. Satan gave man the idea that he could elevate himself into an alternative to the one, true, living GOD YAHUWAH. When everyone thinks like that, you end up with many gods (plural). "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21).
"Ye shall be as gods" (KN) or "You will be like God" (ESV). As = like. A replacement or substitution for the real thing. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (lsaiah 14:14). Satan has deceived man, and man has become a slave to his vain imagination. "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever" (Romans 1:25). Any variation of ancestor, animal, or nature worship is an example of what Paul was talking about. No wonder man's imagination has created multiple gods in his rebellion against Yahuwah GOD. "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?"(Jeremiah 16:19b-20).
Through Satan's influence, man started making false gods and setting up religious systems to support them. The first system was in ancient Babel! Babylon. In Strong's Concordance, two phrases are used to describe Babylon: confusion [Heb.894] & a type of tyranny [Gr.897]. Nimrod founded Babylon. "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel"(Genesis 10:9-10a). Again from Strong's Concordance: mighty [Heb.1368] = tyrant and before [Heb.6440] = against. Nimrod, the tyrant hunter against the LORD. Notice that tyrant! tyranny is descriptive of both Babylon and Nimrod. Tyrant means an oppressive ruler. They usually gain power unjustly and illegally. They are a usurper and retain power through coercion. "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). Mystery = cannot be explained. Babylon = confusion. Mother = the origin, beginning, or source. Harlots and Abominations = all those who have rejected GOD and the false pagan religions they have substituted instead.
Babylon was the beginning of organized pagan religious systems. Over the years, these systems have been predominately polytheistic. They have major and minor gods. And the major gods get narrowed down to a trinity at the top. A trinity is involved in a national religion (Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome) or a cultural religion (Hindu, Norse, Platonic Christianity). Whether it is worded as three persons = one person, or three persons are co-equal, it is still a trinity. Does a trinity sound like the words of Isaiah? "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me, there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any" (Isaiah 44:8). Isaiah, like many other Bible writers, emphasized the "oneness" of Yahuwah.
If Yahuwah is triune, why is there no mention of it in the scriptures? Why is there instead a continual reiteration of Yahuwah's "oneness"? Because it doesn't matter what kind of convoluted math you use; you cannot make three = one or one = three! Remember, we said earlier that Yahuwah was not the author of confusion. He does not want or expect us to believe something that contradicts his "oneness." He does not want or expect us to believe something incomprehensible. Yahuwah wants and expects us to believe him and obey him as the sole creator and sustainer of the world. A significant point of emphasis in the Bible is the one, true, living Yahuwah differentiating himself from all the man-made false gods of the world. So does it make any comprehensible sense for Yahuwah to be portrayed in like manner as dozens of pagan deities? That is all the Trinity accomplishes. It is man changing Yahuwah into what man wants instead of changing himself into what Yahuwah wants.
Even those who promote the Trinity recognize that it is not Biblical.
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
"The word Trinity is not found in the Bible .. .It did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century."
The Encyclopedia of Religion:
"Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity."
The New Catholic Encyclopedia:
"The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the Old Testament."
The Triune God by Jesuit Edmund Fortman:
"There is no evidence that any sacred writer even suspected the existence of a Trinity within the Godhead ... Even to see in the Old Testament suggestions or foreshadowings or 'veiled signs' of the trinity of persons, is to go beyond the words and intent of the sacred writers."
The New Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament."
The Paganism in Our Christianity by Arthur Weigall:
"Yahushua Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word 'Trinity' appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord."
The Encyclopedia Americana:
Fourth Century Trinitarianism did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching."
The New Catholic Encyclopedia:
"From the middle of the 4th century onward, however, Christian thought was strongly influenced by Neo-platonic philosophy and mysticism."
History of Christianity by Edward Gibbons:
"If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism of the first Christians ... was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the Trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief."
Compare the above statements to the Apostle Paul's warning: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Colossians 2:8). The trinity is the embodiment of philosophy, tradition, and deceit.
One more bit of history. You have probably heard the Code of Justinian. It was an update of earlier Roman law that has influenced international law to the present time. Justinian was much like Constantine and Nimrod: force a particular set of religious beliefs on the people at large.
An excerpt from the Code of Justinian: Book 1-- Title 1.
CONCERNING THE MOST EXALTED TRINITY AND THE CATHOLIC FAITH AND PROVIDING THAT NO ONE SHALL DARE TO OPPOSE THEM PUBLICLY.
"... we should believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit constitute a single Deity, endowed with equal majesty, and united in the Holy Trinity.
(1) We order all those who follow this law to assume the name of Catholic Christians and consider others as demented and insane, We order that they shall bear the infamy of heresy ... "
The Roman Empire © History Skills1
This is part of the very first law in the Code; which shows that the trinity was the cornerstone of the Roman religious system. Forced to believe in the Trinity, or you were a criminal in the eyes of the Roman Empire! Does this sound like worshipping Yahuwah willfully, lovingly, and correctly?
No! It is coercion and control in the tradition of Babylon, home of the original Trinitarian religion. This part of the Code was finished in 529 AD. Is it coincidence or not that within a dozen years of this coercive law going into effect the first significant outbreak of bubonic plague wreaked havoc on Europe and the Dark Ages began? Interestingly, the plague was brought to Europe on grain ships from Egypt; home of one of the best-known ancient Trinitarian religious systems. Today, volumes of books have been written trying to explain the Trinity. Yet, for all the convoluted, philosophical, and legalistic-sounding explanations offered, the only one that most Trinitarians agree with is that it is a "mystery of faith." Mystery = unknown, cannot be explained. "That all the people of the earth may know that Yahuwah is God and that there is none else" (1 Kings 8:60). How can you genuinely know Yahuwah if you cannot explain him? Still, most "Christians" regard the Trinity as the "central dogma of faith." Of all the things brought into question during the Protestant Reformation, the Trinity was not one of them. Protestants were just as fervent as Catholics in their hatred of Michael Servetus. Why? Because he did not believe in the Trinity and argued publicly against it. Servetus was burned at the stake due to two charges brought against him; he did not believe in the Trinity and was against infant baptism. Only Yahuwah knows the number of people killed over time for refusing to believe in the Trinity. And like Michael Servetus, many have been killed not by heathens but by "supposed" Christians.
The Trinity is not
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So, if the Trinity is the "central dogma of faith" for Christianity, why is it NOT mentioned in the Bible? If it is so important, shouldn't it be mentioned; frequently and in some detail? No, it is NOT the Trinity mentioned in the Bible; it is the "oneness" of Yahuwah! Frequently and in detail. In the Old Testament, this "oneness" differentiated the actual, living Yahuwah from all the false gods of mankind's imagination. This same theme was held in the New Testament when the gospel was spread to the Gentiles. Think of Paul's encounters at Athens and Ephesus. There was always a clear distinction between Yahuwah and all the man-made impostors of the world.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works (II Corinthians 11: 13-15). "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (I John 2:19). "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Yahushua is the Christ? He is an antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son" (1 John 2:22). Satan has attacked Bible-based Christianity from within, slowly incorporating pagan religious ideas originating in Babylon (such as the trinity) into a philosophically-based Christianity. It was this religious "hot potato" that Constantine dealt with at Nicaea in 325 AD. But Constantine was more concerned about political unity in the Roman Empire than keeping the doctrines of Christianity pure. The resulting Nicene Creed looked like a document put out by the legal firm of Wee, Cheatim, and Howe. And ever since, countless professing Christians have been cheated by the Nicene Creed and its denominational variations. They have followed the traditions of man instead of the Bible. Incidentally, the real Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) was there, and he was a Trinitarian. Nicaea formally made Catholicism the "official church" of Christianity. What Constantine started at Nicaea, Justinian finished with his Code of civil law. Believe the Trinity, or be considered a heretic and a criminal, subject to any punishment up to and including death.
When someone
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Again, the Trinity is not in the Bible; but the "oneness" of Yahuwah is in the Bible. Yahuwah is never spoken of as a triune being, but there are many warnings concerning false prophets and their deceitful message. "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24: 11 ). "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24). "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Yahushua Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ" (2 John 1:7). When someone says that Yahushua is God, they deny Yahushua as a separate and unique individual capable of making his own decisions. They deny Yahushua as the mediator between Yahuwah and men. This has been accomplished through the subversion of pure Christianity by Platonic philosophy passed down from Babylon and Egypt. And the crowning feature of this paganizing of Christianity has been the trinity: Satan's ultimate deception! He started in the Garden of Eden by telling man, "ye shall be as gods"; then his followers made Yahushua GOD. Satan is a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer because he misleads man into not obeying GOD's commandments. "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). The final admonition in the Bible warns against adding to (example: the Trinity) and taking away (example:"oneness" of Yahuwah). "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19).
This is a non-WLC article by John Fyfe.
1 - Image from https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/ancient-history/roman-empire-size/
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
