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The Trinity

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1857

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 9, No. 19.

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The Trinity.

By J. B. F.

The following articles are taken from the Discipline of the M. E. Church:
"Art. 1. There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness: the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead, there are three persons of one substance, power, and eternity;—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
Query. How many personal Gods of one substance does it take, including the person of Christ, to make one God without body or parts? Ans. Three.
"Art. 2. The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men."
Query. As the Godhead and manhood were joined together in one person before Christ was born, never to be divided, were they divided in the death of Christ on the cross?
"Art. 4. The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God."
Query. How can the Holy Ghost proceed from the Father and the Son, if it is both the Father and the Son of itself?
If it be said that the Spirit of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost is one Spirit, with this we all agree. But if it be said that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three persons in one person, making in all one God without body or parts, with an idea so inconsistent we cannot agree.
The oneness of Christ with the Father may be plainly seen by any one who will refer to John xvii, 22. "That they (that believe) may be one, even as we are one." Who could believe that Christ prayed that his disciples should be one disciple? Yet this would be no more inconsistent than the idea of some that Christ and his Father are one person.
In accordance with the doctrine that three very and eternal Gods are but one God, how may we reconcile Matt. iii, 16, 17. Jesus was baptized, Spirit of God descended like a dove, and the Father's voice heard from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, &c. The Father in heaven, the Son on earth, the Spirit of God descending from one to the other. Who could ever suppose for a moment that these three were one person without body or parts, unless it was by early training. See other texts which appear equally absurd, if such doctrine be true. Matt. xxviii, 18; Acts x, 38. "How God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost," &c. First person takes the third person and anoints the second person with a person being at the same time one with himself.
"That three are one, and one are three, Is an idea that puzzles me; By many a learned sage 'tis said That three are one in the Godhead. "The Father then may be the Son, For both together make but one; The Son may likewise be the Father, Without the smallest change of either. "Yea, and the blessed Spirit be The Father, Son and trinity; This is the creed of Christian folks, Who style themselves true orthodox, All which against plain common sense, We must believe or give offense." J. B. F.