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Weird how the apostles actually wrote about it, then. And Jesus claimed to be God.
Jesus never described His relationship with His Father and with the Holy Spirit the way the 4th and 5th century creeds did. I'd like to see just one verse in which the Apostles actually wrote about the Trinity. Good luck.
Is God capable of transforming himself into flesh and spirit? or not? We must first answer that question.
There is no question and no need for any magical thinking. Of course, God's Spirit (His consciousness) IS the unified field that manifests as our Reality in its myriad forms. There is nothing BUT God's Spirit manifesting as our Reality (flesh, spirit, stars, galaxies, planets, moons, life in all its variety). Our view of it from the inside as separate things is what confuses us.
There is no question and no need for any magical thinking. Of course, God's Spirit (His consciousness) IS the unified field that manifests as our Reality in its myriad forms. There is nothing BUT God's Spirit manifesting as our Reality (flesh, spirit, stars, galaxies, planets, moons, life in all its variety). Our view of it from the inside as separate things is what confuses us.
While it is not necessary to believe that God is a Triune Being in order to be saved, the Trinitarian doctrine did not arise in spite of what the Bible says, but because of what it says. The New Testament refers to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as God while making a distinction between each of them.
Because of the fact that the New Testament does present Jesus and the Holy Spirit as God, as is the Father, the early church fathers attempted to understand the relationship between God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. As a result, different ideas were put forth such as Modalism in which God presents Himself as the Father at times, as the Son at other times, and as the Holy Spirit at yet other times.
''Modalism is the theological doctrine that the Father, Son, and Spirit are not three distinct Persons, but rather three modes or forms of activity under which God manifests Himself.''
In contrast to Modalism, Tritheism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three different gods. Tritheism appears to have developed during the 3rd century AD.
Trinitarianism avoided the extremes of Modalism and Tritheism by teaching that while God is one, He exists as three persons. The Bible best supports the teaching of Trinitarianism by recognizing that God is One while also stating that in addition to the Father, both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also stated to be God.
Therefore, while certain sects deny the Trinitarian doctrine, it is the belief of mainstream Christianity.
Also, while a formal doctrine of the Trinity was hammered out at the Council of Nicea in AD 325 which was called in an attempt to end the dispute between the Arians and the Trinitarians, the idea of the Triune nature of God pre-existed the Council of Nicea. Tertullian (AD 155-240) had his Trinitarian views and was the first person to use the term trinitas (Latin) from which we get the word Trinity.
By the way, emperor Constantine didn't care which side of the argument won (the Arians or the Trinitarians), he simply wanted unity in the church because it aided unity in the empire which was important to Constantine.
That link was really good. I particularly liked the headings on "The Son Being Called the Father" and "Christ, the Son, Being the Spirit". If I'm not mistaken, I think the ideas expressed may have been taken from some of Watchman Nee or Witness Lee writings.
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