Pentecostal Q&A!

[gabbygirl17]

They are three different names for the same person. One example is this: your dad is called Dad to you. For others, it could be Uncle, Cousin, or even Honey. Those are all different names for the same person. That's how it is with God: different names for the same person.

yes that makes sense like calling him Jehovah or Alpha and Omega their not all different Gods

[Renae]

They are three different names for the same person. One example is this: your dad is called Dad to you. For others, it could be Uncle, Cousin, or even Honey. Those are all different names for the same person. That's how it is with God: different names for the same person.

yes that makes sense like calling him Jehovah or Alpha and Omega their not all different Gods

so your saying that He's a different God to different people? With your example Smile Awhile, everyone has a different relationship with the said "Dad", that's why they have different names for him, are you implying that people have different types of relationships with God, to some he is God the Father, to some God the Son, and to some The Holy Spirit? I don't know but to me that’s not Biblical at ALL.

and Gabby... I understand the Trinity in this way. Take a book. It has the covers, the pages, and the words. Each is a different entity, but together they form : THE BOOK. This is how I see it.

[Tea Ess]

I was trying to come up with an example besides the egg one.

Imagine three different versions of Coral of the Bells. They are all separate versions of same song. Each version is complete and unique by itself, but they are all the same song.

Does that analogy work at all?

[Renae]

wow! good one!

[Striped Leopard]

They are three different names for the same person. One example is this: your dad is called Dad to you. For others, it could be Uncle, Cousin, or even Honey. Those are all different names for the same person. That's how it is with God: different names for the same person.

yes that makes sense like calling him Jehovah or Alpha and Omega their not all different Gods

So, would your dad talk to himself and call on himself when he needs something. Does he have a conversation that goes like, "Hey, Uncle, I love you (me) and you are (I am) high and powerful. Please give me (yourself) help and strength right now." Or does he say, "Hey guys, I know you like having me around, but after a while, I'm going to have to leave. After I'm gone, I'm going to send Honey (myself) to you to help you and teach you about me (him)."

That just doesn't make sense. Jesus talked to God as if He was a separate person, but then still said that they were one. The only explanation for that is that there is still one God, as the Bible tells us everywhere, but that He eternally exists in three separate but equal persons. Jesus didn't talk to Himself, He didn't send Himself as the Holy Spirit after He ascended to heaven. And when He said He'd be standing at the right hand of God, did He mean at the right hand of Himself?

Am I the only one who sees the absurdity of this idea that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all just different names for the same person?

[Doll]

Am I the only one who sees the absurdity of this idea that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all just different names for the same person?

No, absolutely not. I completely agree with you. I was just at a loss as to how to explain it. I meant to talk to my AWANA teacher about it, but I never got the time.

[Striped Leopard]

This is how you explain it:

There is one God. Someone posted above several verses in support of this idea. However, in both testaments, there are multiple beings referred to as God. Obviously, God the Father is called God, probably more so than the other two combined. But there are passages that support the deity of the Son, such as places where Paul calls Him, "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" or where Jesus Himself says, "I and the Father are one" or where John says, "the Word was with God and the Word was God." But then there arises an issue: The Word was God...and yet with God at the same time? How does that work?

As if that weren't enough, there's another person involved: the Holy Spirit. In Acts 5, Peter says that Ananias and Saphira had lied to the Holy Spirit. Then a couple verses later he says that they lied to God. So the Holy Spirit is God too?

Then we see several passages where the three beings referred to as God are interacting with one another. The main one is Jesus' baptism. In that scene, as God the Son comes up out of the water, God the Father speaks from heaven, and God the Holy Spirit descends upon God the Son. All three are moving at once! Is this a God who struggles with extreme triple schizophrenia (He thinks He's three people at once, and acts like it)?

Well, that begs the question, are there three Gods, then? No, of course not. It is so obvious from the Bible that there's only one God, and there always has been, and there always will be. So how do we reconcile all of these passages? That's where the early church fathers came in.

The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture. On a very basic level, the doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God who eternally exists in three persons. Each of these persons has different roles in the Trinity, and they each perform separate works for us. But, essentially, they are one God. The Godhead is one substence, one essence, with three subsistencies, three persons. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. That is the nature of God. There really is no other option.

That's the only conclusion we can come to, based on the whole of the truth of Scripture. There has never been a modalist (one who believes that there is only one person in the Godhead, who has chosen to manifest himself as three persons; or, there's one God with 3 different names) who was ultimately able to stand against the total force of Scripture. This same opposition came against the church father Athanasius at the very beginning of the church, and more recently it has come from Oneness Pentecostals like T.D. Jakes and Philips, Craig, and Dean, to name a few popular ones.

The sad truth is that these people are deceived, and are believing in the wrong god. They have an idol god, whom they've constructed in their own minds. That's breaking the second commandment: making a god in your own image, of your own liking. And 1 and 2 John say that if you have Jesus wrong, you have God wrong. And if you have God wrong, you don't have salvation. That's a problem. That's why we need to be standing strong for the doctrine that has been believed for thousands of years. There is one God, three persons, forever. Amen.

[Doll]

*claps* Thank you Christian, obviously, I need to work on explaining what I believe.

[Renae]

Yay!!! Your amazing at explaining Christian!!!!

[Smile Awhile]

I've been doing some studying, and found this.


Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.


According to this verse, the Holy Ghost was Jesus' Father with Marry. If the Holy Spirit was the Father, then who is God the Father the Father of?

[Samantha14]

Christian A: The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture. On a very basic level, the doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God who eternally exists in three persons. Each of these persons has different roles in the Trinity, and they each perform separate works for us. But, essentially, they are one God. The Godhead is one substence, one essence, with three subsistencies, three persons. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. That is the nature of God. There really is no other option.

One God, three roles. It is the same, SA. The "Holy Ghost" and "Gad the Father" are the same, just different roles in the trinity. These different roles are, as he said, one God. So, did that answer your question?

[Smile Awhile]

So are you for or against the trinity, Samantha? It's hard to tell with your comment.

[Doll]

Christian A: The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture.

I would take this to mean that she supports the Trinity. And by what she said, I could also tell that she supported the Trinity.

[Smile Awhile]

That still does not answer my question. If the Holy Spirit is the Father of God the Son, Who is God the Father the Father of?

[Samantha14]

I fully support the trinity, yes. I was saying, that they are the same God, just three different roles. So, God the Father is the father of God the son (Jesus), but his role that interacts with the person (Holy Spirit), is what came upon Mary. So, God the Father is still the father of Jesus, since it is the same God. But, his role as the Holy Spirit is what interacted in those days, including with Mary.

Does this explain at all?

[Striped Leopard]

That still does not answer my question. If the Holy Spirit is the Father of God the Son, Who is God the Father the Father of?

The Holy Spirit is not the father of God the Son. God the Son has existed eternally. He had no beginning. When the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary to conceive Jesus, He was giving to her the divine nature of Jesus, to which the human nature from Mary would be added, ending in a God-Man--one person with two natures.

Bottom line: God the Son existed before Jesus was born, so the Holy Spirit was not His father. God the Father is the "Father" of God the Son only in the sense of their relationship with one another. God did not come together with a female and give birth to the Son. They have both always existed as the one God. But the Son submits Himself to the Father, so they are called Father and Son. Does that answer your question?

-- Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:19 pm --

Christian A: The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture.

Not to be rude, but did you read anything I said? That was the exact point I was making in my post. An earlier poster had said that because the word Trinity was not in the Bible, it could not be true. I was refuting that, as you did. I believe in the Trinity wholeheartedly.

[Smile Awhile]

Well, I meant the body that God the Son was in. Can you re-answer that question replacing "God the Son" with "the body that God the Son was in"?

[Samantha14]

Christian A: The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture.

Not to be rude, but did you read anything I said? That was the exact point I was making in my post. An earlier poster had said that because the word Trinity was not in the Bible, it could not be true. I was refuting that, as you did. I believe in the Trinity wholeheartedly.

Um... I was quoting you, not talking to you. For some reason, the quote thing wouldn't work for me, at least not for your post. I was actually talking to SA, using what you said, (Hence "Christian A: *Text here*), and then going on with my own. Sorry for the confusion. And, I did read what you said, And I agree. =)

[Striped Leopard]

Christian A: The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. But it is totally supported from Scripture.

Not to be rude, but did you read anything I said? That was the exact point I was making in my post. An earlier poster had said that because the word Trinity was not in the Bible, it could not be true. I was refuting that, as you did. I believe in the Trinity wholeheartedly.

Um... I was quoting you, not talking to you. For some reason, the quote thing wouldn't work for me, at least not for your post. I was actually talking to SA, using what you said, (Hence "Christian A: *Text here*), and then going on with my own. Sorry for the confusion. And, I did read what you said, And I agree. =)

Okay, sorry. I misunderstood. That makes sense now.

-- Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:51 pm --

Well, I meant the body that God the Son was in. Can you re-answer that question replacing "God the Son" with "the body that God the Son was in"?

What I said still applies. The Holy Spirit is not the Father of anything or anyone. In a mysterious way, He somehow supplied the divine nature of Christ (God the Son), to which was added the human nature from Mary, creating one person, the God-Man.

God the Father is still the Father of God the Son, in the sense that the Son submits to the Father and always obeys His will. There is no sexual aspect in any of it. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit is eternally proceeding from the Son and the Father.

[Eleventh Doctor]

What is your stance on the Nicene Creed?

How often does your church take communion?

And do you practice closed or open communion?