TRINITY:  THE ONE GOD ARGUMENT

The doctrine of the Trinity is based on a faulty syllogism
which goes something like this:

Major Premise:  There is only one God.

Minor Premise:  The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are
called God.

Conclusion:     The Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are
one God.

As you can see, the Trinity doctrine stands or falls on the
concept that there is only ONE God. In my opinion, that is
a forced view which Depends on taking short phrases out of
their context and using them as absolute theological
statements. The fact is that the Scriptures simply
do not say that "there is only one God", nor do they say
"there is one true God."   The argument for "one God" is
based upon verses such as:

ISA 45:5 "I am the LORD, and there is none else,
         there is no God beside me:"
      45:6  "... I am the LORD, there is none else."

Is the LORD making a theological statement about the
Trinity?  Or is He making a statement about whom Israel is
to worship?  Taken in context these verses refer to the one
God of Israel as opposed to the many Pagan gods
sometimes worshipped by the Israelites, for example:

ISA 45:20 "...they have no knowledge that set up the wood  
  of their graven image, and PRAY UNTO A GOD THAT  
  CANNOT SAVE."

ISA 42:17 "...they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in          
  graven images, that say to the molten images, YE ARE      
  OUR GODS.

JER 1:16 " And I will utter my judgments against them    
  touching all their wickedness, WHO HAVE  
  FORSAKEN ME, AND HAVE BURNED INCENSE  
  UNTO OTHER GODS, and worshipped the works of  
  their own hands."

The Lord was not making a theological statement, he was
saying that for the Israelites, there was to be no God other
than Yahweh (the LORD) for example:

ISA  45:3  "...That I, the LORD, which call thee by thy    
  name, am the God of Israel."

ISA  43:15  "I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of  
  Israel, your King."

Another verse commonly used by Trinitarians to prove that
there is one God is Deuteronomy 6:4:

 "Hear, O Israel: The  LORD  our God is one  LORD."
                       YWYH                  YWYH

If you look closely, that verse does not say there is one
God, it says that there is one YAHWEH who is the God
("Elohiym") of Israel. The margin of the RSV gives an
alternate reading:

 "Hear, O Israel,  the LORD is our God, the LORD alone."
                       YWYH                YWYH

That reading would fit perfectly with the verses in Isaiah
which declare that YAHWEH is the only Elohiym of Israel.
Neither Deuteronomy nor Isaiah is teaching the Trinity,
they are saying that Israel was to have only one God (the
LORD) as opposed to the other nations who had many
Gods.


JESUS WAS THE FIRST AND LAST GOD FORMED!

I have often wondered how Trinitarians can ignore the
implications of the following verse which they often quote
to prove there is only one God...

ISA 43:10 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my  
  servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and  
  believe me, and understand that I am he:  before me there  
  was no God formed,  neither shall there be after me."

In that verse YAHWEH (The LORD) said that he was the
first "formed" God and that there would be no God formed
after Him.  The word formed is from the Hebrew "yatsar"
3335. It is the same word used by Isaiah to describe the
creation of the earth. (Isa 45:18)

Think about it for a minute, if there was no God formed
"before" Jesus, then He is the first formed God. And if
there was to be no God formed after Him, Jesus was the last
God formed.  Jesus is the first and the last.

The YAHWEH of the Old Testament declares Himself to
be the only formed (created) God of Israel. ("the only
begotten Son" John 1:14, 3:16)  If we understand that, we
can understand the meaning of the following verse:

ISA 44:6 "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.

The term "first and last" (44:6) makes perfect sense if
applied to the first and last God formed. (43:10)   In the
book of Revelation Jesus is called the first and the last (Rev
1:17) The question is "first and last what?"  According to
His own testimony, He was the only God formed. He was
formed by His God, the Eternal Father in heaven, whom no
man has ever seen.  Being the offspring of God, He is of
like substance with the Father, therefore Jesus is Deity as
The Father is Deity.  But He is not the Father.

But what about the verses that say there is only "one true
God"?

There aren't any. However, there are three verses which use
the phrase true God". In each case that phrase refers to The
Father:

 "...that they might know thee the only true God,
                                                    ^          [THE FATHER]                                          

     AND JESUS CHRIST, whom thou hast sent.    [THE SON]
                                 (John 17:3)



 "...to serve the living and true God; [THE FATHER]
                                        ^
     AND TO WAIT FOR HIS SON from heaven."  [THE SON]
                               (1  Thess 1:9f)

 "...And we know that the SON OF GOD is come, and hath  
  given us an understanding, that we may know *him* that  
  is true       [THE FATHER]
                               
  IN *HIS* SON JESUS CHRIST.     [THE SON]
     
  This is the true God, and eternal life."
                             (1 John 5:20)

In each case, "the true God" refers to the Father who is
specifically contrasted with the Son.  If anything these
verses serve to distinguish between the Father and the Son
rather than prove they are one God.

Well friends, there are my reasons for not accepting the
syllogism upon which the doctrine of the Trinity is based.
You may choose to accept the "Trinity" but I hope you will
take a closer look at the premises upon which it is based.


Major Premise:  There is only one God.

 The Scriptures do not say this.

Minor Premise:
  The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are called God.

 The Holy Ghost is not specifically called God.
  In John 1:1 The Father is called "The" God while Jesus is  
  referred to simply as God.

Conclusion:  The Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are one God.

  FALSE!  If either the minor premise or the major premise  
  is false, the conclusion must be false.

The fact remains that neither Jesus nor the apostles ever
taught that The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God,
each co-equal and co-eternal.  That alone disqualifies belief
in the doctrine of the Trinity as a standard by which we
should judge our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Harold Kupp