Continuing the Systematic Theology series, Pastor Terrie Beede begins a multi-session exploration of the Trinity, drawing from Article 1 of the Calvary Chapel of Milwaukee's Statement of Faith: "We believe that there is one living and true God eternally existing in three persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory. And that this triune God created all, upholds all and governs all things". He reviews the previous session on the existence of God, particularly the moral argument as providing initial clues to God's character.
Pastor Beede identifies common intellectual challenges in grasping the Trinity, noting that human minds often default to practical forms of polytheism, modalism, or subordinationism. He clarifies that in Christian theology, all attributes of God apply equally to each person of the Godhead, directly countering polytheistic notions of divided divine characteristics. He emphasizes the critical responsibility of every believer to study doctrine, arguing that Christianity without deep understanding ("form without content") appears superficial and can harden hearts against the Gospel.
The session then delineates the core biblical teaching of the Trinity in three simple statements: "God is three persons. Each person is fully God. And there is one God". Pastor Beede acknowledges the paradox inherent in this doctrine, stating, "Try to understand it and you will lose your mind. Try to deny it and you may lose your soul". He demonstrates how common analogies (e.g., three-leaf clover, water as steam/liquid/ice, human roles) inevitably break down, failing to simultaneously represent all three truths.
Exploring the Trinity in the Old Testament, Pastor Beede explains the lack of explicit Trinitarian teaching as a deliberate act of progressive revelation, given Israel's constant struggle with polytheism (e.g., Exodus 20:2-3, Deuteronomy 6:4). God's initial emphasis to Israel was on His unity and oneness. However, Pastor Beede highlights several implicit clues:
1. Plurality of terms for God: God refers to Himself in the plural (e.g., "Let us make man in our image" - Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 6:8 "Who will go for us?"). The name "Elohim" is frequently plural.
2. Multiple persons referred to as God: Passages like Psalm 45:6-7 and Psalm 110:1 (where "The Lord said to my Lord") imply distinct divine persons. Isaiah 48:16 presents a unique reference to "the Lord God and his spirit hath sent me," indicating multiple divine agents.
3. The "Angel of the Lord": This mysterious Old Testament figure (capital 'A'), unlike other angels, acts with his own authority, claims to be God, and accepts worship (e.g., Genesis 16:13, Exodus 3:2-6). Scholars often interpret this as a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.
Transitioning to the New Testament, Pastor Beede notes that while the word "Trinity" is still absent, the doctrine is deeply embedded and used as a teaching tool by apostolic writers. Key examples include:
• The simultaneous appearance of all three persons at Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:16-17: Son in the water, Spirit descending, Father's voice from heaven).
• Jesus' baptismal formula commanding disciples to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).
• Numerous apostolic references (e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; Ephesians 4:4-6) that implicitly acknowledge the distinct yet unified Spirit, Lord, and God.
The session concludes by introducing historical errors concerning the Trinity, particularly Monarchianism, which arose in the second and third centuries as challenges to Christ's deity or humanity intensified. Pastor Beede describes its variations:
• Dynamic Monarchianism (Theodotus, ~190 AD): Viewed Jesus as merely a man indwelt by the Spirit, denying His inherent deity.
• Nominal Trinitarianism (Paul of Samosata, ~260 AD): Posited Christ as divine wisdom (Logos) that united with a man, but the Logos was a created being with a beginning, not fully God. This was influenced by Greek philosophy (Plato, Neo-Platonism, Philo).
• Modalistic Monarchianism (Praxeas, Noetus, Beryl, ~200-250 AD): Argued that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are merely different names or manifestations of one singular person at different times.
Each of these errors, Pastor Beede explains, ultimately denies one of the three core statements of the Trinitarian doctrine, thereby undermining the full nature of God, the Son, or man.