D
Dasein
Guest
Over the past month, through prayer, attending Church, discussions with Christian friends, reading the Bible, and this forum, I have discovered God and He has returned to my life.
I still have many intellectual confusions, but spiritually, in prayer and when reading the Bible, I feel that I have returned to God, and that mostly these confusions will work themselves out. However, though I have found God through Christianity, I would not consider myself a Christian, because of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Quite simply, I am both spiritually and intellectually perplexed by the notion of the Trinity.
Firstly, I do not understand how the notion of three distinct persons, one God/one substance works, or what that even really means.
Secondly, I don't understand more specifically how Jesus can be fully God, one and the same.
I can understand some of the reasons for supposing the Trinity, from a Scriptural point of view, but I don't think it's necessarily implied by Scripture; it seems to me that it's there if you look for it, but without key early Christian reformation (such as the Council of Nicea) and suppression of competing views, I think that some form of nontrinitarianism such as Arianism could have easily been as popular as Trinitarianism is now.
I'm not just looking for Scriptural quotations here (I obviously will appreciate some though, in tandem with other sources), as personally I think that the Scripture seems to provide plenty of support for the distinctness of the Three, but less for the oneness of the Three.
What would be more useful would be to help me understand it.
I feel like some form of Christianity is the right path to take for several reasons, but I can't progress any further without understanding this. I've been primarily using the Old Testament for prayer reading, and this issue is now affecting my ability to pray, as it is lurking at the back of my mind.
I don't think I can move on spiritually without getting past this, but I don't think I can get past this without help.
(Apologies for my multiple threads in this section of the forum at the moment, but bear with me; they're all proving to be helpful so far... I have a lot of questions!)
EDIT: I also realise that for most, rejecting the Trinity is a heresy (and that most nonTrinitarian positions in history have been branded as heretical), but forgive me if this offends; I'm still learning!
I still have many intellectual confusions, but spiritually, in prayer and when reading the Bible, I feel that I have returned to God, and that mostly these confusions will work themselves out. However, though I have found God through Christianity, I would not consider myself a Christian, because of the doctrine of the Trinity.
Quite simply, I am both spiritually and intellectually perplexed by the notion of the Trinity.
Firstly, I do not understand how the notion of three distinct persons, one God/one substance works, or what that even really means.
Secondly, I don't understand more specifically how Jesus can be fully God, one and the same.
I can understand some of the reasons for supposing the Trinity, from a Scriptural point of view, but I don't think it's necessarily implied by Scripture; it seems to me that it's there if you look for it, but without key early Christian reformation (such as the Council of Nicea) and suppression of competing views, I think that some form of nontrinitarianism such as Arianism could have easily been as popular as Trinitarianism is now.
I'm not just looking for Scriptural quotations here (I obviously will appreciate some though, in tandem with other sources), as personally I think that the Scripture seems to provide plenty of support for the distinctness of the Three, but less for the oneness of the Three.
What would be more useful would be to help me understand it.
I feel like some form of Christianity is the right path to take for several reasons, but I can't progress any further without understanding this. I've been primarily using the Old Testament for prayer reading, and this issue is now affecting my ability to pray, as it is lurking at the back of my mind.
I don't think I can move on spiritually without getting past this, but I don't think I can get past this without help.
(Apologies for my multiple threads in this section of the forum at the moment, but bear with me; they're all proving to be helpful so far... I have a lot of questions!)
EDIT: I also realise that for most, rejecting the Trinity is a heresy (and that most nonTrinitarian positions in history have been branded as heretical), but forgive me if this offends; I'm still learning!
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