Some of these mind-frying notions are simply due to the limit of our human comprehension: the idea that God has always been (never had a beginning) is a good example. I think one could actually see smoke coming from my ears when I spend too much time trying to understand that one! Other ideas are difficult because of a limited amount of evidence: a great example of this is how the Sadducees didn’t believe in Angels or miracles because they felt these could easily be explained away and the Bible (only the first five books of Moses for them) did not specifically prove their existence.
It has been suggested by some that the doctrine of the Trinity belongs in such a group of impossibilities. It seems confusing because our minds have a difficult time allowing for one God to actually be three separate Gods.
One major argument against the concept of a three-in-one God is that the word “trinity” is not in the Bible. This is true. It is a man-made word introduced about 100-200 years after the Apostles. Yet, although the specific word does not appear in scriptures, the concept does. The word was simply created in an attempt to better describe the concept they found.
I have heard others attempt at getting around this difficulty by teaching that God is one but has appeared in three forms. Thus, the God of the Old Testament is the Father, who becomes Jesus in the New Testament, who then becomes the Holy Spirit after the resurrection. I’m not sure their explanation is any easier to understand though. It begins to sound like a Superman/ Clark Kent problem: neither is in the same place at the same time—they must be the same person.
However, there are several passages in scripture that disproves such teachings. A careful, honest, study of scriptures reveals that the idea of the Trinity has plenty of evidence.
One of the greatest evidences is found at Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21, 22): the description reveals all three at the same place at the same time—the Son being baptized, the Father speaking from Heaven, and the Spirit landing of Jesus in the form of a dove. This scene wasn’t a private one either, many people saw it, and John the Baptist testified about it (John 1:32–34).
Another passage that supports the idea of the trinity is when Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 17). He mentions three distinct persons of the Godhead: He, Jesus, will ask the Father who will send the Holy Spirit. God cannot be the one person in three different forms for this statement to be true. Either there are three different beings in the Godhead or Jesus is lying.
There’s also Jesus’ Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19. Jesus instructs the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Once again, He specifies three distinct beings.
Of course, that’s the New Testament though, what about the Old Testament?
At the very beginning, during the creation story, we are already introduced to the trinity. When making mankind, God said a very powerful, and revealing, statement: “Let us make man in our image.” God spoke in the plural. He could not have been talking to the angels, for we were not made in an angel’s image, but in God’s image. To whom else could He have been speaking? Genesis 1:1 say that God was at creation (He created everything) and it also mentions that His Spirit moved over the waters. This places the Father and the Spirit at creation. Then in John 1:1–5, we are told that in the beginning the Word, or Jesus (vs 14), was with God and was God. It also says that everything that was made at creation was made through Him. It makes sense, then, why God would speak in the plural, because the Bible places all three—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—at creation.
Interestingly, throughout the Old Testament, God is always referred to in the plural. In English, we do not easily catch this though. The Hebrew word that is always translated as “God,” is Elohim. This word, however, is not singular, it is the plural form of the word. The singular form, El, is always translated with a lower-case “g” as in “god.” Thus, throughout the Old Testament, God was always known as, and referred to as, an entity containing more than one being.
But how can three be one?
Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” It may be easy to argue that this proves that He is one person. However, the word for “one” used here is the same as what is used in Genesis 2:24 when talking about Adam and Eve—“the two shall become one flesh.” No one would argue that Adam and Eve melted into one being. No, they remained two separate individuals, yet became unified. This word has the meaning of multiple equal things becoming one.
Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.” He did not say that they were the same person. He said they were one. It was said in the context of unity. Further evidence that Jesus’ statement was about unity is found a few chapters later in John 17:11 when Jesus is praying that his disciples “may be one, even as we are one.” They weren’t meant to become one great big glob of merged humanity. Jesus desired His followers to have unity—the same unity He had with the Father. They were unified in purpose: Jesus was about His Father’s business of salvation and the Holy Spirit would come and help the disciple’s finish the work Jesus started.
This is just a few passages that provide evidence of a Three-in-One Godhead. All three mentioned in the Godhead are united, much like a husband and wife are united in marriage (at least in a healthy marriage there will be unity and equality). Although they remain separate individuals—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—they are united in purpose: the salvation of mankind!