TRINITY
know that orthodox Christians generally believe and classify the holy spirit as a part
of the godhead, being identical and equal to God the Father, though having a distinct
and different personality. The orthodox preachers and theological writers teach that
it is a fact that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are one, coequal and coexisting,
and this fact is the great mystery of God. Men have been told that they should not endeavor
to fathom this mystery because the sacred things of God are his own, and the churches teach
that it is unlawful for men to enter into these secrets.
Well, this declaration and admonition is very wise as the wisdom of
men goes, and saves the expounders of these doctrines of mystery from having to attempt
to explain what they cannot explain, because it is impossible for them to unravel that
which, as a fact, has no existence. All through the ages, men have sought to understand
this ‘great mystery’, as they call it, and have been unsuccessful. The early church fathers
met with the same defeat in their endeavors to understand this mystery and then, because
of such defeat, declared the explanation of this doctrine to be a secret of God and not
to be inquired into by man, for it belonged to God alone. Thus, from the beginning of the
established church after my death and the death of my apostles, it was declared that this
doctrine of the trinity - one in three and three in one - was the vital foundation stone
of their visible church's existence.
I never claimed to be part of the godhead, for nowhere in the Bible
is there any saying of mine that God is tripartite, consisting of the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost. And, as a matter of fact, never when I was on Earth did I teach such a doctrine,
but only this; that the Father is God and the only God, and that I, Jesus, am his Son, the
first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23), and that the Holy Ghost is God's
messenger for conveying God's love and, as such, brings the Comforter (John 14:26)
|