Introduction
The article
from 4/14/2023 mentions the wrong path that I'd taken during my
hike the day before. Papaw Ferrell would have laughed! That article
with an embedded podcast explains my “hiking theology” about
taking the right path up.
A day later, I didn't know that I would
take an online sidetrack. Well, I did. On Saturday, I came across
Medium, a platform
to read and publish articles. I decided to experiment. So, I created
M. Fearghail on Medium.
I republished
my 4/14/2023 article there that day. Depending on various
factors, I may delete that account or continue to republish articles
there. I am already republishing some articles on my
Substack platform. Mainly, I am looking for other authors who
write on topics of interest to me.
That wasn't really the online
sidetrack. My sidetrack, while searching for other authors who
write on religious topics, happened to find an anonymous writer,
whose 3/24/2023 article raised my righteous and indignant Irish
dander!
This thirty-eighth article
in the Logic—Theology—Deep
Stuff topic section will debunk the doctrine of Binitarianism
and prove that the doctrine of the Trinity is true. I hope that
you, dear reader, find this little sidetrack both interesting and
helpful in your spiritual hike up on the right path.
The Binitarian
Doctrine—Debunked
The 3/24/2023 article, which raised my
indignant dander, was "Debunking
the TRINITY doctrine," Forbidden Doctrines, by an anonymous
author, 3/24/2023. This is his second article. The “About”
section of his website does not introduce the author by name. The
website's stated purpose is “to expose the many lies and false
teachings of the Church.” The
stated goal for his readers is “to search their Bibles to
see what is true.” The website
is titled correctly, since it promotes forbidden and unscriptural
doctrines, as the correct study of the Bible indicates. (See 2
Timothy 2:15.)
As a brief aside, I
will not become the eighth person to “follow” this anonymous
author who has published only four articles as of this entry. By a
quick glance, his first article (10/10/2022) seems to be biblical.
However, his third article (4/6/2023) denies free will, which is
obviously unbiblical. His most recent article (4/14/2023) affirms the
unbiblical notion that Adam and Eve were created as sinners by a
perfect and sinless God, before they sinned. The illogic of that
notion is laughable.
This
article focuses only on the anonymous author's second article, in
which the false doctrine of Binitarianism is alleged. Interestingly,
the article was written in critique of an article, published over
seventeen years ago, which is "What
Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?" Desiring God, by guest
contributor Matt Perman, 1/23/2006. Amazingly, the author
concludes his remarks by stating that the 1/23/2006 article “...
accurately explains the TRINITY doctrine.”
The author's Binitarian doctrine
falsely affirms two, God the Father and God the Son, not three divine
beings who compose the one divine nature (or Godhead). The author
thinks that the Holy Spirit is an “it”—the spirit of
both the Father and the Son—not a separate or third divine person
(as in the Trinity). The author states, “... the Word of God
teaches ... that the Holy Spirit IS the Spirit of both Jesus Christ
AND His Father.”
Binitarianism falsely rejects the full
deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit. I will cite the author's
three Binitarian arguments and then debunk each one.
First Binitarian
Argument Debunked
Argument: First, by misusing
Matthew 1:20, the author claims that, if the doctrine of the Trinity
is correct, then the Holy Spirit is the Father of Jesus. The verse,
which the author mishandles, is the angel of the Lord's statement to
Joseph regarding Mary's conception, which states in part “...
what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:20,
NIV). The author's erroneous conclusion is as follows: “... if
the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit is his
father. That would be the logical conclusion if the TRINITY were
true.”
Debunked: The author is guilty
of eisegesis (reading his ideas into the verse) and of taking the
verse out of context. His leap of logic is a non sequitur (from
Latin, “it doesn’t follow”). Please read and consider the full
context in Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-7; and John
1:1-3,14,18. The correct exegesis (understanding) of the complete
context is as follows.
God (the Father) sent the angel Gabriel
to the virgin Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph. Gabriel said to
Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to
be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35, NKJV). The
verse confirms the Trinity—the Holy Spirit (or “power
of the Highest”), the Holy One (or the Son of God), and, by
necessary inference, God the Father.
The apostle John's inspired eloquence
states:
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.
(John 1:1-3, NKJV)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. (John 1:14, NKJV)
Obviously, God, the eternal Word, who
“became flesh,” is “the only begotten of the Father”—not
the only begotten of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the
means by which God the eternal Word became flesh as the Son of
God—born of the
virgin Mary, by immaculate conception. The full context confirms the
Trinity.
Second Binitarian
Argument Debunked
Argument: Building on his first
and debunked claim, the author's faulty reasoning continues to 2 John
1:3 (not to 1 John 1:3, which is an apparent typographical error in
his article). The author cites the World English Bible translation:
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father, and
from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
(2 John 1:3, WEB)
The author attempts to build his second
argument upon his first and concludes, “The Holy Spirit
conceived Jesus, but Jesus is the Son of God the Father. The only
logical explanation is the Holy Spirit is not some third distinct
person.”
Debunked: The author's first
claim has already been debunked; therefore, his second argument,
built on that debunked argument, is also debunked. Obviously,
scripture teaches that God, the eternal Word, became the incarnate
Son of God by the
immaculate conception of Mary. Again, the immaculate conception was
by means of God the Holy
Spirit.
Third Binitarian
Argument Debunked
Argument: Finally, as well as I
can understand the faulty logic of the author, he reasons somehow
that John 14:26 and 1 John 2:1 prove that the “Counselor” (Greek,
παράκλητος, translated Counselor, Helper, or Advocate) is
Jesus or the spirit of Christ, not the Holy Spirit.
Debunked: The writer is correct
only in that παράκλητος is found five times in the Greek
New Testament, each in the apostle John's inspired writings. See the
Gospel of John (14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7) and the First Epistle of John
(1 John 2:1).
The full context in the Gospel of John
is the last supper before Jesus' arrest (John chapters 13-17). The
four times that παράκλητος is used in that context clearly
indicate the Holy Spirit. The context also affirms the Trinity. In
John 14:16,26, Jesus comforts his disciples by telling them that he
will ask the Father to give them another Advocate, the Spirit of
truth, or the Holy Spirit. In John 15:26 and 16:7, Jesus continues to
assure his disciples that he will send to them the Advocate, or the
Spirit of truth, from the Father, after he has returned to the
Father.
In his First Epistle, John wrote, “...
we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One” (1 John 2:1, NIV). Here, John uses παράκλητος to
indicate Jesus.
As has been said often, “a text
taken out of context is a pretext.” The inspired apostle John
uses παράκλητος to identify the Holy Spirit (in his Gospel)
and also Christ (in his Epistle)—as separate divine persons—not
as the same divine person. Otherwise, Jesus returned to the Father to
be sent back as the Holy Spirit.
The Johannine use of παράκλητος
is a title attributed to God the Holy Spirit (in his Gospel) and to
the Son of God (in his Epistle). A title in this sense describes the
function of two divine persons and does not imply only one divine
being. For example, my wife and I have a niece who is an advocate (or
lawyer). We, however, know other advocates. If we call our niece “the
advocate,” we do not imply that she is the only advocate.
In his same First Epistle, John also
states:
And this is his [God's]
command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love
one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands
lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives
in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us.
(1 John 3:23-24, NIV)
This is how we know that we live in him [God]
and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and
testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the
world. (1 John 4:13-14, NIV)
As in his Gospel, the apostle John also
affirms the Trinity in his First Epistle. God (the Father) commands
us to believe in his Son, Jesus. By keeping God's commands, we live
in God, and God lives in us. We know this by the Spirit of God that
God has given us. (This is “the gift of the Holy Spirit,”
which the apostle Peter mentions in Acts 2:38.)
The author has “taken texts out of
context and made a pretext.”
This article intends no malice toward the anonymous author. My
purpose is to enlighten him in his error and to guide him toward the
correct path.
For
further study on the error of Binitarianism, I suggest
“Binitarianism:
Is It Biblical? How erasing the Holy Spirit also denies the true
nature of the Father and the Son,” Answers in Genesis, by Simon
Turpin, 10/29/2022.
God in Three Persons:
The Trinity
The previous section, which debunked
the Binitarian doctrine, has also affirmed the Trinity. On Saturday,
4/15/2023, I commented on the anonymous author's 3/24/2023 article.
He replied. I replied to his response. He then left his reply.
The draft of the still unpublished
seventh article in this website's Christian
Evidences series includes a section, “Important Note on the
Trinity.” On Saturday, in my first comment to the author's article,
I included that section on the Trinity. It is as follows:
At this juncture, an
important note on the Trinity is necessary. The Trinity is God
the Father, God the Word (who became God the Son), and God the Holy
Spirit. Three distinct and divine beings, united perfectly, are one
divine nature—God. This
is also called the Godhead.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV) states,
“In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
In Hebrew, “God” is
plural (Elohim, אֱלֹהִ֑ים),
but “created” (bā·rā,
רָ֣א)
is singular. The next verse (NIV) states that “the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Verse 26 (NIV) states, “Then
God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness ....'”
The plural forms are used.
John 1:1-3 (NIV) states, “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
Then verse 14 (NIV) states, “The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In Genesis 1:1,2,26 and John 1:1-3,14, the Bible states that God the
Father created through God the Word (who became God the Son) by means
of God the Holy Spirit. The triune action of the Godhead created all
that exists. God the Word became God the Son to redeem us by his
grace and truth.
The Trinity was present at Jesus' immersion, when God the Father
spoke and God the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. See
Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:31-34.
After his resurrection and before his ascension, Jesus gave the Great
Commission.
All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matthew 28:18-20, NIV)
Christians continue to answer the call of the Great Commission by
immersing penitent believers in the name of God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The concept of the Trinity—three distinct and divine beings, united
perfectly, in one divine nature, God—is profound but not a mystery.
Consider that millions of distinct human beings are one human nature.
We are united in one human nature. We, however and unfortunately, are
not united perfectly in character, will, or purpose—as God is.
That excerpt from my still unpublished
article proves the Trinity. The following other scriptures also
verify the Trinity. For example, in the context of the sin of Ananias
and Sapphira, the apostle Peter affirms that the Holy Spirit is God.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled
your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for
yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it
belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the
money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?
You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” (Acts
5:3-4, NIV)
They lied to the Holy Spirit, whom the
inspired Peter calls God. Even though the word “Trinity” is not
found in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity is biblical. Consider
also the following texts.
Jesus'
Great Commission states in part:
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 .... (Matt. 28:19, NIV)
I am aware that some claim that the
verse is an uninspired addition to the Gospel of Matthew. I also know
that the art and science of textual criticism has confirmed that the
text is the original words of the inspired Matthew. The fact can be
unpacked and verified in a future article as needed.
The apostle Paul concludes his second
letter to the Corinthians as follows:
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,
NIV)
The apostle Paul's encouragement to the
Christians at Ephesus to live worthy and united in their calling
states in part:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one
hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God
and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to
each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
(Eph. 4:4-7, NIV)
One God, in three persons—one God and
Father, one Lord (Christ), and one Spirit—is the apostle Paul's
inspired truth.
The apostle Peter greets the Christians
of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia by stating that
they:
... 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 ... (1 Peter 1:2, NIV)
Clearly, each divine person in the
Trinity is present in salvation by the foreknowledge of God the
Father, the sanctifying of the Spirit, and obedience to Jesus Christ.
See also, among other texts, 1
Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, and Jude 1:20-21.
For further study on the Trinity, I
suggest “The
Biblical Doctrine of the Godhead,” Christian Courier, by Wayne
Jackson, undated.
Conclusion
At least this sidetrack was not like
the one that I took during my hike on Papaw Ferrell's birthday! The
anonymous author of the 3/24/2023 article, which this article has
debunked, is welcome to continue our discussion by his comments on
this article. After publishing this article, I plan in the Lord to
reference this article as my final comment to his article.
Binitarianism is clearly a false
doctrine. The author's error is not correctly handling (dividing or
understanding) the true words of the Bible. (See the apostle Paul's
guidance to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15.) Instead, his eisegesis
(reading his ideas into certain texts, which he takes out of context)
twists and distorts the Bible. (See the apostle Peter's warning in 2
Peter 3:16.)
I hope that this article guides the
author back to the right trail up. Further, I hope this article helps
keep you, dear reader, from going down the wrong Binitarian trail.
Dear God, in Christ's name, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I
pray that this article will guide every reader along the right path
up.
