Is “Trinity” in the Bible?

Recent Email

Hey man,

     I got a bible question for you:

Does God ever explain the trinity in the bible?  I mean does Jesus ever talk about it?  I still can't wrap my head around it, and it sounds like a man-made explanation to me...

My Response

The word "trinity" isn't in the Bible, but some translations (mainly older ones like King James) use "Godhead" in Col 2.9.  The word "trinity" is a man-made name (you're right there) to describe God "in 3 persons" as best we can. 

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (Col 2.9, NIV)
⁹For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Col 2.9, KJV)

I always try to explain it by saying, "My dad fills 3 roles as one man: he's my dad, my sons' grandpa, and his dad's son.  Still, he's one man.  It's the same with God.  He fills 3 roles, but he does so as one God." That's not a perfect explanation, but it gets the point across.  Or, H2O takes 3 forms: liquid, solid, or gas, but it never changes its core substance: it's always H2O.

We do see all 3 "Members" of the trinity showing up in the Bible though.  Here's 3 examples:

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  (2 Cor 13.14)

² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Peter 1.2)

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28.19)

And, at Jesus' baptism, we see all 3:

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

And, the Hebrew word for God used in Genesis is plural.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule… (Gen 1.26)

Why CS Lewis Matters Today

Though he wrote more than 50 years ago, CS Lewis speaks directly to the issues of our times.  He is arguably one of the most influential writers of the 20th Century.  As a former agnostic and critic of Christianity, Lewis addresses the very doubts so many of us carry but feel unable to voice.   Most importantly, he restores the Christian worldview to its rightful place as the sole bearer of Truth and shows how believing in anything less than Christianity and the Jesus of the Bible is to forfeit any chance we have at meaning or hope.

Asbury University produced a wonderful 5-part series of short videos capturing Why CS Lewis Matters Today.  If you’ve ever struggled with questions of faith, reason or significance, I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and sit down to have your heart rekindled.

Part 1 – Prologue

 

Part 2 – Reclaiming Christian Reason

 

Part 3 – Rediscovering Christian Imagination

 

Part 4 – Restoring a Christian Vision of Humanity

 

Part 5 – Epilogue

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

February 2011Newsletter

Have you ever read the Bible and thought, “I don’t know what means”? That’s a silly question; of course we all have! The purpose of DCC 201: Grow is to decrease the number of times you ask that question. We do this by giving you tools for your personal spiritual toolbox so that you can study and understand God’s Word as a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.

This month, I want to recommend to you the single best “how to” manual for reading the Bible. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart wrote a wonderful book, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (currently $11.55 on Amazon.com), that will forever change how you read the Bible. Hopefully, you’re already reading the Bible and asking, “So what? How can I apply this to my life?” Sometimes however, the quest to apply the Bible to our lives can have us quickly jumping to conclusions about the text without first making sure we’re applying it the way God’s Spirit intended us to apply it. As the authors put it, “To make this text mean something God did not intend is to abuse the text, not use it.” (p. 25)

The original recipients of the Bible never thought it was ambiguous nor had a difficult time understanding what the author meant. Our challenge today is to read a Book that was written in the “then and there” and apply it to our lives in the “here and now.” To do that, we rely on scholars and translators to grapple with the context and the content for us—producing accurate translations and reliable commentaries. However, with a little homework, we all can do some of this ourselves. That’s what this easy-to-read little book is about.

One of the most practical chapters in the book is the one on all of the different translations. Why are there so many and how do you pick one? They explain the two basic approaches to translating the Bible: [1] literal, word-for-word (think KJV, NASB), and [2] functional/dynamic, thought-for-thought (think the Message, TLB). They talk about the strengths and weakness of each approach and then recommend some “happy medium” versions.

The rest of the book discusses how to “use” the Bible, section by section. What are The Law and OT narratives good for today? What are they not good for? How should we use books like Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes today? Was the job of the prophets really the job we think it was? Why do we have four books about the life of Jesus? Did Luke want us to use the book of Acts as a normative, authoritative manual for how we should “do church” today? Did Paul intend for his letters to be circulated to other churches and then used by us, 2000 years later? Why are there so many disagreements over the book of Revelation?

God’s Word is perfect, priceless, and practical (2 Tim 3.16), but it only helps us if we understand it as He wants us to. I highly recommend this book as a great tool for increasing your ability to do just that.

“The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him…the body they may kill;
God’s truth abideth still: His kingdom is forever”
–Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress

At Your Side,

-bill

A Banner Year for 2010

 

DCC Family,

At the end of such a great year for DCC, I’d like to highlight our successes and give a big thank you to those of you who worked so hard to make our congregation such a great place to connect, grow, and glow in 2010. We were blessed with a 16% increase in our weekly attendance (a good 4 percentage points better than a “good year” by church growth standards). Several new believers, new families, and new babies are buzzing around this great place.

To avoid forgetting anybody, please allow me to simply extend a sincere pat on the back (or a holy hug, whichever you prefer) to everyone who set Christ’s mission of reaching the lost and serving the saved as your guiding compass this year. So many of our great volunteers put in long hours to improve every little aspect of how we “do church” around here. The fruit of your labor is the success of Jesus’ church. Celebrate successful Kingdom work!

After that celebration, we’ll need to get right back to the plow as we continue improving, building, and expanding what God has given us. Check out our goals for 2011 and prayerfully consider how you might support the work this year. People willing to humbly serve, work, lead, teach, and just simply sweat for Jesus will always be in high demand. We are truly experiencing Jesus' words:

Luke 10:2 (NLT)
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest;
ask him to send more workers into his fields…”

I look forward to another year of harvesting at your side,

-bill

Blog Questionnaire

Which Herod?

Get confused by all of the Herods in the Bible?  Me too.  But, the family of King Herod is actually an important cast of characters for the New Testament story.  Here’s an excerpt from my Luke Commentary that breaks down who’s who.  You can download the whole commentary here (a dynamic document as a current work in progress).

The following is taken from the notes on Luke 1.5.

 

 

 

 

“Herod was king”

·         Aka ‘Herod the Great’ (cf. Mt 2.1-23)

o    Ruled from c. 40/37BC to 4 BC

o    Asked the wise men to report the whereabouts of the newborn King of the Jews to him

§  Had all male children in Bethlehem under 2 killed

o    Died of an incurable disease at Jericho in 4BC; people then turned to Archelaus as their king

·         Other Herodian Family Members:

o    Herod Antipas: Ruler of Galilee (Lk 3.19)

§  Son of Herod the Great

§  Most-often-mentioned Herod in the NT b/c he ruled over the areas where Jesus and John concentrated their ministries

·         Mentioned 3x in relation to Christ: Mt 14.1-2; Lk 13.31-33; Lk 23.6-12

§  Tried Christ just before crucifixion

§  Married his brother Philip’s (Lk 3.1) wife, Herodias (cf. Lv 18.16; 20.21)

§  Had John the Baptist beheaded at the request of his niece (Mt 14.1-12)

o    Archelaus

§  Son of Herod the Great

§  (brutal) Ruler of Judah when Jesus’ family returned from Egypt (Mt 2.22)

o    Herodias

§  Left Philip (Mt 14.3; Lk 3.1; Mk 6.17) to marry his brother, Herod Antipas

o    Philip the Tetrarch

§  Brother of Herod Antipas; married to Herodias until she left him for Herod Antipas

§  Built Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16.13-20) and enlarged Bethsaida into Julias (Mk 8.22-26)

o    Herod Agrippa 1^st

§  Judean King who persecuted the church and executed James, son of Zebedee (Acts 12.1f)

o    Herod Agrippa 2^nd

§  Governor of Judah when Paul was imprisoned in Jerusalem (Acts 25.1-26.32)

§  Brother-in-law to Felix

o    Felix

§  Husband of Drusilla; son-in-law to Herod Agrippa 1^st

§  Govern in Caesarea who heard Paul’s case Acts 23.23f

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