The Trinity

by The Quiet One 163 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  leavingwt

  As an outsider, I enjoy the topic.

  More than 80% of the world's Christians belong to denominations that accept the Trinity. This equals at least tens of millions of people.

  This means, should Jesus be an actual person, alive in Heaven, he's cool with 80% of the people professing belief in Him having the doctrine. If he's not OK with it, then he is admittedly a horrible communicator. It's certainly within his power to clear things up, especially IF the doctrine is important. Surely the hundreds of millions of Catholics would jettison the doctrine, if they knew he didnt' like it?

  The possibilities are endless, including the Fundamentalist view that correct belief is of the utmost importance and those with the wrong view of the Diety of Christ are headed for Hell (however conceived). It's possible that as the JWs teach, only a select few people alive today (just as in the days of Noah) will be saved, because they alone have proper worship. Or, perhaps Jesus couldn't care less if people think he's God the Son, so long as they're good to their neighbors.

  Complicating the matter even further, I've discovered, many JWs only know what the WT told them about the doctrine. This means that cannot refute the actual doctrine, even if they don't believe it. They can refute the WT strawman, but they probably have no idea what a Presbyterian actually believes.

  To those of us on the outside, the argument is as pointless as the arguments between Shia and Sunni Muslims over the minutia of theology.
• 

  No Room For George

  There have been dozens of threads on this topic. Still, this thread deserves to be at least 20 pages long.

  You can do it, JWN!

  LOL, I was planning on doing another Trinity thread and only slightly rewording the other two I did just to see if it would go 20 pages deep!!
• 

  leavingwt

  LOL, I was planning on doing another Trinity thread and only slightly rewording the other two I did just to see if it would go 20 pages deep!!

  Well, we've already got a Trinity thread for this week. Abortion, Guns and Creation are up for grabs.
• 

  Isidore

  Quiet One, how to properly read scripture is determined by how the early living faith community understood the teachings as handed down to them by the Apostles. It really doesn't matter how you or I understand what we think scripture means, it's the living faith community that produced it. And that was the Catholic Church. She determined what was the canon of the bible, so she is the one who knows the proper understanding of scripture. You may not like hearing that, but the early Christians all understood the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Since many of them were taught and ordained by the Apostles themselves, it's a much safer bet to listen to how they understood what the Gospel was than our own understanding.

  Matthew 28

  16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  how to properly read scripture

  That's kind of an annoying phrase.
• 

  glenster

  What I have on it is on pp.6b-10 of "Glenster's Guide to GTJ Brooklyn,"
  now with updated Wikipedia links and AI, full explanation of cheats, and more
  stunts, funny peds, and mods.
  http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklyn6b.htm
  http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklyn7.htm
  http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklyn8.htm
  http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklyn9.htm
  http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklyn10.htm
• 

  garyneal

  Well, we've already got a Trinity thread for this week. Abortion, Guns and Creation are up for grabs.

  How about a 607 B.C.E. vs. 587 B.C.E. thread.

  This time, I want Scholar in the thread, not that Egg Nog character.
• 

  ProdigalSon

  Isidore:the early Christians all understood the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit

  You were there eh? Thanks for clearing that up for us
• 

  visitor 525

  leavingwt

  This means, should Jesus be an actual person, alive in Heaven, he's cool with 80% of the people professing belief in Him having the doctrine. If he's not OK with it, then he is admittedly a horrible communicator.

  how do you expect Jesus to communicate with people? what methods do you think he would use to tell people that he's not OK with 80%
• 

  Isidore

  Mad Sweeney wrote:

  "That's kind of an annoying phrase."

  How should I phrase it then? The bible is an heirloom of the Catholic Church. She decided what was canon and was not. If the Holy Spirit guided her in deciding what was authentic writings and what was not, then it would logically follow she would be the correct interpreter of Sacred Scripture. The bible is not self interpreting, or else we wouldn't have 40,000 denominations all claiming to have truth, or individuals who claim that they are spiritual, just not religious, and pick and choose what they see in scripture that suits them and then discard the rest. The bible was compiled for liturgical purposes in the Mass, not be read in a vacuum outside the living faith community.

  ProdigalSon, thank you for your input. I didn't have to be there. I just have to read from those that were, but I appreciate your attempt. Faith is a personal thing. For those that believe, no proof is necessasry. For those that don't, no proof is possible. I wish you peace in your journey.