Just the Bible
F a l s e t e a c h i n g s e x p o s e d
Quotes from various theologians about the doctrine of the Trinity
Karl-Heinz-Ohlig (prof. of catholic theology)
“It is certain that the doctrine of the Trinity, as it eventually became dogma in the East and even more so in the West, has no biblical basis whatsoever.”
A.T. Hanson (prof. of Theologie at the Universität of Hull)
“No responsible New Testament scholar would claim that the doctrine of the Trinity was taught by Jesus, preached by the early Christians, or consciously advocated by any New Testament author. In fact, it was slowly elaborated over the course of the first century in an attempt to formulate an understandable doctrine of GOD.”
Christopher B. Kaiser (prof. for historical und systematic theology at the Western Theological Seminary)
“The church's doctrine of the Trinity appears to be very distant from the authors of the New Testament, and today's reader may well wonder whether it is at all helpful to refer to such dogma in understanding the theology of the New Testament . When the Church speaks of the doctrine of the Trinity, it refers to the specific belief that GOD eternally exists in three distinct “persons,” equal in divinity and one in substance. In this form the teaching is nowhere to be found in the New Testament; it was not so clearly formulated until the late fourth century AD.”
Roger E. Olson and Christopher Hall
“What do we find in the writings of Christian leaders during the first sixty years of the second century? As might be expected, we do not find the developed Trinitarian language or theology that will flourish from the fourth century onwards... We will be disappointed if we expect to find developed Trinitarian reflection in the early post-apostolic writers. It’s just not there.”
Charles C. Ryrie (trinitarian Biblical scholar)
“We find no clear, explicit statement about the Trinity of GOD in the New Testament... The doctrine of the Trinity is not clearly contained in the Bible if we ask for proof texts. There is no proof text in the sense of a verse that clearly teaches that there is one GOD in three persons.”
Dr. W.R. Matthews (Dean St. Paul's in God in Christian Experience)
“Anyone with even the slightest sense of history must admit that Paul was ignorant of the doctrine of the Trinity and would not have been able to understand the meaning of the terms used in the theological formulas referred to the church finally came to an agreement.”
Sir Isaak Newton (english physicist, astronomer und mathematician)
“It does not require us to accept the creeds by virtue of a council decision, much less by a decision of a church assembly, but rather because they are taken from the Bible. Are we therefore authorized by the Church to compare them with the Bible and determine how and in what sense they can be derived from there? Unless we can determine that they are derivative, we should not rely on the authority of councils and synods.”
Graham Greene (catholic theologian)
“Our opponents sometimes claim that a belief should not be proclaimed as doctrine unless it is expressly stated in Scripture... but the Protestant Churches have accepted such dogmas as the Trinity, for which precisely there is no such evidence in Scripture .”
Harold Brown (U.S. American theologian)
“It is a simple and irrefutable historical fact that several major doctrines that now appear central to our faith - such as the doctrine of the Trinity and of the nature of Christ - were not present by no means in a complete, self-defined and generally accepted form until the end fourth or fifth century. If they are essential today - as all Orthodox creeds affirm - it must be because they are true. If they are true, then they must always have been true; they can't only become true in the 4th/5th. Century. But if they are both true and necessary, how come it took the early church centuries to formulate them?”
Thomas Jefferson (3rd American president)
“The Trinitarian idea has triumphed in the creeds of the churches, not by the power of reason, but by the words of Athanasius; it grew in the blood of thousands upon thousands of martyrs.”
Joel Hemphill (pastor of different pentecostal churches)
“There are 31,000 verses in the Holy Scriptures, and in not one of these verses is the number “two” or “three” directly related to the person of GOD.”
David Mozeley (catholic pastor)
“I ask in all humility where the idea of the Trinity is expressed with doctrinal meaning and power in the New Testament? Where is the triune GOD held up for worship, love and obedience? We read, “GOD is one” and “I and the Father are one,” but we never read that the three are one except in an interpolated text (1 John 5:7). For me the matter is extremely painful and confusing, and I would not even speak like this if I were standing on the threshold of the grave and about to appear before the throne of truth. Certainly we do not find in Scripture the expressions “GOD the Son” or “GOD the Holy Spirit.” When I simply say the word GOD, I mean GOD the Father, and I cannot help but mean that if I mean anything of any importance at all.”
Professor Millard Erickson (protestant theologian)
“The Trinity is not taught clearly or explicitly anywhere in Scripture, and yet it is widely viewed as a central doctrine. In this respect it contradicts what is practically an axiom of biblical teaching, namely that there is a direct connection between the biblical clarity of a teaching and its importance for the faith and life of the community (church). However, the question is this: it is claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity is a very important, crucial and even fundamental doctrine. If that is indeed the case, shouldn't it be somewhere clearer, more direct, and more explicit in the Bible? If this is the teaching that primarily constitutes Christianity's uniqueness from Unitarian monotheism on the one hand and polytheism on the other, how can it only be implied in biblical revelation? In response to the complaint that some parts of the Bible are ambiguous or unclear, we often hear that these are the peripheral areas that are unclear or about which there are seemingly contradictory statements. The core statements of the Bible are clear and unambiguous. However, this argument seems to fail when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity. Because this is a seemingly crucial issue on which the Holy Scripture does not speak loudly and clearly. It is unlikely that any text of Scripture teaches the doctrine of the Trinity clearly, directly, and unequivocally.”
New Encyclopedia Britannica (1981)
“The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and caused much controversy.”
Encyclopedia Americana
“The doctrine of the Trinity of the 4th century was by no means a reflection of the early Christian doctrine of the nature of GOD; she was a deviation from that.”
The Harper-Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism
“Today's scholars generally agree that there is no doctrine of the Trinity as such in either the Old Testament or the New Testament... It would go far beyond the intentions and thinking of the Old Testament to assume that a Christian Teaching of the late fourth century can be found. The New Testament also contains no teaching about the Trinity of GOD.”
New Catholic Encyclopedia
“The phrase “one GOD in three persons” only became established towards the end of the fourth century and had not yet been fully incorporated into Christian life and the Christian creed. Such an idea was completely alien to the apostolic fathers.”
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
“The New Testament does not contain a developed doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible does not explicitly declare that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of the same essence and are therefore GOD Himself in the same sense. And the other explicit declaration that GOD is GOD in this way and only in this way, namely as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is also missing. These two explicit declarations, which go beyond the testimony of the Bible, are the twofold content of the Church's doctrine of the Trinity."