Re: Did Jesus and his disciples teach the doctrine of the Trinity?

Posted by qOLOp on 1117493061

" (If the Holy Spirit were a person and were God, this text would flatly contradict the Trinity doctrine, because it would mean that in some way the Holy Spirit was greater than the Son. Instead, what Jesus said shows that the Father, to whom the "Spirit" belonged, is greater than Jesus, the Son of man.)

The general opinion in Christendom is that the holy spirit is a person, "the third person of the Trinity," coequal and coeternal with God. Does the Bible show the holy spirit to be a person? If not, then what is it?

the holy spirit appeared as a dove at the time Jesus was baptized and in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost,

indistinctness in the teachings of Justin Martyr and others of the early church fathers concerning the spirit," as to being a person.

To understand a Scriptural subject it is always well to begin by going to the original tongue. Thus in the Christian Greek Scriptures the word "spirit" with two exceptions translates the Greek word pneuma, from which we get the words pneumatic and pneumonia. Pneuma, however, is translated not only "spirit" 288 times, but also "ghost" 91 times, "wind" once, "life" once, "spiritually" once and "spiritual gift" once. (King James Version) That "ghost" is a mistranslation is generally recognized.

The Greek word pneuma literally means "wind" and it will help us to understand our subject when we note that in all the various ways in which it is used it is like the wind in that it is invisible and powerful, showing itself in visible effects. Thus it is used to refer to invisible persons: "God is a Spirit." Christ Jesus "the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" at his resurrection. Angels are "all spirits for public service."-John 4:24; 1 Cor. 15:45;

: "Every kind of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. For example, whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in the present system of things nor in that to come." Jesus' words here defy explanation if the holy spirit is the third person of a coequal trinity, but they do make sense when we consider it as God's active force. By means of this active force Jesus had cast out demons, and his opposers, in attributing this manifestation of God's holy spirit or active force to the Devil, were blaspheming the holy spirit. Sins against God and Christ can be forgiven because such could be due to ignorance, but sins against a manifestation of God's holy spirit are willful, deliberate and malicious, and so for such there is no forgiveness.


The Holy Scriptures tell us the personal name of the Father-Jehovah. They inform us that the Son is Jesus Christ. But nowhere in the Scriptures is a personal name applied to the holy spirit.


Acts 7:55, 56 reports that Stephen was given a vision of heaven in which he saw "Jesus standing at God's right hand." But he made no mention of seeing the holy spirit

God is a spirit,angels are spirits and are holy are they not?



The Bible provides a specific example of one who blasphemed God and Christ but did not become guilty of unforgivable sin. This one was Saul, or the apostle Paul, prior to his conversion. Paul wrote to Timothy: "Formerly I was a blasphemer [abusive speaker] and a persecutor and an insolent man."-1 Tim. 1:13; compare An American Translation; The New English Bible.

Before his conversion, Paul regarded disciples of Jesus Christ as apostates deserving of death. He felt that the Mosaic law approved of his course, for that law stated regarding an apostate: "You must not accede to his wish or listen to him, nor should your eye feel sorry for him, nor must you feel compassion, nor cover him protectively; but you should kill him without fail." (Deut. 13:8, 9) Convinced that he was right, Paul continued to act against Christ's disciples in a high-handed, arrogant manner and so revealed himself to be an "insolent man." As a persecutor of Christians, he was one like those of whom Jesus said to his disciples: "Everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God." (John 16:2) Paul was guilty of blaspheming or speaking abusively of the Son of God. His hatred for Christ's disciples demonstrated that he viewed Jesus as an impostor and thus he reproached the Christ. By speaking abusively of the Son, Paul was also guilty of blaspheming the Father whom Jesus represented

Persons who with full knowledge deliberately oppose God and Christ, hide the truth and propagate falsehoods make themselves guilty of sinning against God's spirit-a sin that cannot be forgiven. This is what certain Pharisees did in the days of Jesus' earthly ministry. They were eyewitnesses of the miracles and powerful works of God's spirit operating through Jesus Christ. But they refused to glorify Jehovah God. For selfish reasons, they attributed to Satan the work of God through Christ. In this way they sinned against God's spirit.