TRINITY ERRORS IN SCRIPTURE

Scripture is without question the inspired Word of God. However, it depends on the accuracy of the written form of it, as to whether we really have the Word of God. We know that the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets & Writings) was copied meticulously by Jewish scribes. But we cannot say the same for the Apostolic writings. It is evident from the comparison of manuscripts which we do have, that there have been many errors and additions. To add to this, we have no manuscripts which date back before Constantine’s era from the western Roman Empire which means that what we do have passed the editing (omissions or additions) of the doctrines of that era. The Peshitta text from the east is more reliable but it is evident that it also does not date back far enough to be a copy of the original manuscripts, although it has been faithfully copied since it was standardised sometime in the 3-4th century. So an examination and comparison of scriptures is necessary in some cases, to establish correct doctrine.

ERRONEOUS TRINITY SCRIPTURES The creeds say that He is three, yet one, but the scriptures used to support this are not valid. 1. 1 John 5:7 This is a known interpolation in the later Greek texts to support the Trinity doctrine. It is not in the ancient Greek texts, nor in the Aramaic Peshitta.

2. Matthew 28:19 This is a later addition after the Nicean Council. Three “Persons” are not being referred to here. The words, “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are not names, they are descriptive titles. The text should read to baptise them in the “NameS” (plural) of ...... if those were the names of “persons” in the “Trinity”.

The name (singular) in which God had invested authority on earth and in whom God dwelt by His Spirit, was Yeshua the Messiah - i.e. as translated into practice in Acts of the Apostles, “The Lord Jesus Christ” (KJV) This is how they were baptised (in Yeshua’s name), not by the formula of “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. This is a stand-alone instance of this formula. No doctrine can be founded on one scripture, it needs to have two or three witnesses to be valid.

The Hebrew version of Matthew omits the verse entirely. Eusebius, the church historian of Constantine’s era, omitted the Trinitarian formula found in Matthew 28:19 in every quote he made of the verse. Justin Martyr, another church father, also did not quote from Matthew 28:19 in his discussions on baptism. Both of these men were Trinitarians and yet they did not know of this formula.

3. Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image according to our likeness ..." Although there is plurality here there is no identification of three Persons. Both the Father and Son are said to have created all things in the scriptures. Creation was the Father’s will, executed by, or through the Son as subordinate to His purposes. It was the Father’s spirit or breath that spoke creation into existence , not a third person of a trinity. The spirit of God Himself was involved in the process in Genesis 1:2, just as it is known that His Spirit/life (energy/life-force) permeates all matter. Man was formed from the dust of the ground and the ruach (Hebrew for breath/spirit) was breathed into his physical ‘dust’ life-form by God, and he became a living soul.

So if Yahweh is one, to whom is He speaking in Gen.1:26-27, and also when He says that, “man has become like one of us” (Gen.3:22), and again in Gen. 11:7 when He said, “Let us go down and confuse their language”? The majority of Jewish interpreters say that Yahweh is speaking to his divine council of angelic beings that surround his throne ministering to Him and executing His will (Ps. 103:20-22; See also Daniel 4:17, 24).

He is YHWH Tzevaot, “LORD of hosts” (1 Kings 22:19; Psalm 89:6-7; Daniel 7:10) Angels are called “sons of God" - i.e. of His divine family. They are of the same spiritual order of beings as God Himself. Man, an earthly creature, is created after that image and likeness.

The Babylonian Talmud it says, Rab Judah said in Rab's name: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to create man, He [first] created a company of ministering angels and said to them: Is it your desire that we make a man in our image? (The Soncino Talmud, Davka Corporation/Judaica Press)

In the Palestinian Aramaic translation of the Targums for Genesis 1:26 it says: “The Lord said to the angels who ministered before Him, who had been created in the second day of the creation of the world, Let us make man in Our image.”

And in Genesis 11:7: The Lord said to the seventy angels which stand before Him, Come, we will descend . . .

In all the four places where the plural pronoun is used with reference to God speaking in an exhortation (1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8) it is in conference with His divine Council. This is the case in all other occasions this is used (1 Kings 22:19-22; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps. 29:1-3; 89:5-6; Isa. 6:8; 40:1-6; Dan. 10:12-13; Luke 2:8-14; 1 Kings 22:19-22; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps. 29:1-3; 89:5-6; Isa. 6:8; 40:1-6; Dan. 10:12-13; Luke 2:8-14; Rev. 4:4)

ERONEOUS ALLUSIONS TO YESHUA BEING GOD

Some scriptures seems to support the concept of Yeshua being God: 1. John 1:1-2 A literal translation from the Greek would be: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with THE God and God was the Word. This one was in the beginning with THE God” A more comprehensive translation of the last phrase “and the Word was God” might be “and the Word was divine”. The Greek grammatical construction is not designating the Word to be THE God but a ‘god-like’ being.

Origen’s commentary of these verses illustrated early church doctrine on this passage. “We next notice John’s use of the article in these sentences. He does not write without care in this respect, nor is he unfamiliar with the niceties of the Greek tongue. He uses the article, when the name of God refers to the uncreated cause of all things, and omits it when the Logos is named God. … we have to say that God on the one hand is Very God (Autotheos, God of Himself); and so the Saviour says in His prayer to the Father, “That they may know Thee the only true God;” but that all beyond the Very God is made God by participation in His divinity, and is not to be called simply God (with the article), but rather God (without article). … The true God, then, is “The God,” and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype. But the archetypal image, again, of all these images is the Word of God Commentary on John’s Gospel, Book 2, Chap. 2. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen-john2.html

2. Romans 9:5 The literal translation from the Greek says of the part in question: “and from whom the Christ according to flesh, He being over all. God blessed to the ages, Amen” In Greek, sentences were written without punctuation. This means that the text could just as well be translated like this, “God, who is over all is blessed forever” i.e. as a note of praise at the end of the statement.

3. Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” KJV The Peshitta text has the word “and” in this verse preceding the word savior/life-giver which means that this verse speaks first of God and secondly of the Messiah. This fits well with Paul’s other similar texts. The Aramaic text therefore does not say that Yeshua is God. It reads, “Looking for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of the great Elohim and our Life-Giver, Yeshua the Messiah" So this verse is speaking of the manifestation of God’s glory which will be in and through the manifestation of Yeshua our Messiah. It is not saying that Yeshua is the “great God”.

4. 1 John 5:20 “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Yeshua the Messiah. This is the true God, and eternal life” The Greek grammar indicates that the last phrase concerning he who is “the true God” is referring back to the earlier phrase “him who is true” whose son is Yeshua the Messiah, in other words it is the Father who is the true God and the eternal life (compare with John 17:3).

5. 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (KJV) Here is an additional example of the original text having been tampered with. The Textus Receptus, among other manuscripts, has the word “Theos” – God – while the other Greek texts say “hos” – who or which. The Aramaic texts do not have Eloah here, and it reads, “And truly great is the mystery of righteousness which was revealed in the flesh and righteous in the spirit, and seen by Messengers, and proclaimed among the gentiles, and believed on in the world, and received up in glory” - Aramaic Peshitta text

6. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 “that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ“ Every letter to the churches (written after Yeshua’s resurrection, therefore not conditioned by his humanity) refer to the Father as God and to the Son as Lord in their introductions. “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” NKJV So it would be inconsistent with the rest of Paul’s terminology to interpret Yeshua as God.

7. 2 Peter 1:1 “by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ" The Aramaic reads: “through the righteousness of our Master and Redeemer, Yeshua the Messiah” 8. Philippians 2:9-11 In and of the resurrection, the name Yeshua was exalted to the position of the Eternal himself. That is why we can see in the Apostolic Writings that the person who calls on the name of Yeshua is calling on God himself. Messiah has been given all power in heaven and on earth in his position as the ruler of the world (Matt.28:18). This is why many think that Yeshua is part of a twofold or triune God.

Having the “form" (morfe) of God means he has the position or rank of God and not that He actually is God*(Kenneth S. Wuest, The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, page 84) He has been given the honor of bearing the Yahweh’s Name, the Name that is above every other name. The Greek word that is translated ‘gave ‘is the word “charizomai” which means grace. Yeshua was therefore given the grace of bearing the Name that is above every other name. This is therefore a matter of representation, not of actually being that Person. A messenger often bears the name of the one who sent him. That is why the Messiah could be called both God and Yahweh.

9. John 1:18 Some versions translate this verse from Greek texts which say that the Son is God: Such as - “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father,” The Aramaic says: “Man has not ever seen Elohim. The only begotten of Elohim, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

10. John 20:27-29 Thomas is cited as saying, “My Lord and my God!” Both the Aramaic word “Mar” and the Hebrew word “elohim" (whichever language he spoke) would have been used here and are alternatively used for either God, angels, or humans. The Greek equivalent is “Kurios”. So it is not conclusive that he meant that Yeshua was actually God but that he recognised His divine origin as the representative and highest delegated authority of Yahweh.

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Note that it is the Father who is God and that Yeshua is not addressed as God, but as “Lord”. Note also the absence of the holy Spirit if “he” also is a co-equal “Person” of the godhead, as it is taught. And if there are three ‘persons’, why is there no place prepared on the left-hand side of the throne for “him”?

Some scriptures refer to the Son as a Father. Fatherhood is a role, just as Sonship is a role. The Son of Father God, also fathers spiritual children. Just as He also has a role as a creator.