The Inescapable Trinity

God, Christ, & The Holy Spirit
Post Reply
User avatar
Paidion
Posts: 5452
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:22 pm
Location: Back Woods of North-Western Ontario

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by Paidion » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:54 am

98% again. Seemingly a figure that just popped into your head. Do you have any justification whatever for that?
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

Avatar shows me at 75 years old. I am now 83.

User avatar
darinhouston
Posts: 3112
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:45 am

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by darinhouston » Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:07 pm

dwight92070 wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:05 pm
About 98% of Christians see the Trinity in the Bible. About 2% do not. It appears that the non-Trinitarians are not acknowledging the truth that is right in front of them.
According to Lifeway Research, only 72% of Americans "say" they believe in the Trinity. However, a majority of those same Americans hold beliefs that contradict the Trinity. That tells me they are pretty ignorant on the subject, don't really know what it means, and when asked about particular aspects of the Trinity, it is clear they don't really believe in (at least) the orthodox view of the Trinity.

https://lifewayresearch.com/2020/09/08/ ... ogy-study/

Image

User avatar
dwight92070
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:09 am

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by dwight92070 » Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:51 pm

Paidion wrote:
Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:54 am
98% again. Seemingly a figure that just popped into your head. Do you have any justification whatever for that?
Dwight - The following is from a former Christian, written 5 years ago. So he has no dog in this fight. We all know that just because a person belongs to a Trinity-believing church, does not necessitate his being a Trinitarian. We also know, as Darin has pointed out, that even someone who claims to be a Trinitarian, does not always understand the classical definition of the Trinity - I'm "guilty" as charged of this. I don't claim to have full knowledge of the topic, but I certainly have been interested in the topic since I was saved in 1970 - and my main textbook for studying the Trinity is the Bible itself. What do I believe? I believe the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. I believe each Person is distinct from the other two, and yet, in another sense, each Person IS the other two. Together, the three comprise the Godhead. This may not be the classical understanding, but it is what I have gleaned from the scripture, at this point. I am teachable, so if someone shows me from the scripture where this is not a correct understanding, I have no problem changing my belief.

The following numbers are not going to be 100% accurate, obviously, but I think they can give us a ballpark idea of how many Christians accept the Trinity, whether they fully understand it or not.

Profile photo for Chas Warren
Chas Warren
, a former Christian who finds more in it to admire than to despair.
Answered 5 years ago · Author has 1.2K answers and 1M answer views
Originally Answered: How many Christians believe in the Trinity?
Most Christians believe in the Trinity.

There are approximately 2.1 billion Christians in the world, counting all denominations. Of nontrinitarian denominations, these are the largest, listed with their number of adherents:

Christadelphians: 50,000

Christian Scientists: 400,000

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 15.5 million

Dawn Bible Students: 60,000

Friends General Conference: 35,000

Iglesia ni Cristo: 3-10 million

Jehovah's Witnesses; 8.5 million

Living Church of God: 50,000 (best estimate)

Members Church of God International: 13.7 million (wildly optimistic estimate)

Oneness Pentecostals: 24 million

Seventh Day Church of God: 300,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

Unitarian Universalist Christians: 200,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

United Church of God: 145,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

Shepherd's Chapel: 10 million (wildly optimistic estimate)

Combined, total membership of all of these denominations is under 90 million. If IProfile photo for Chas Warren
Chas Warren
, a former Christian who finds more in it to admire than to despair.
Answered 5 years ago · Author has 1.2K answers and 1M answer views
Originally Answered: How many Christians believe in the Trinity?
Most Christians believe in the Trinity.

There are approximately 2.1 billion Christians in the world, counting all denominations. Of nontrinitarian denominations, these are the largest, listed with their number of adherents:

Christadelphians: 50,000

Christian Scientists: 400,000

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 15.5 million

Dawn Bible Students: 60,000

Friends General Conference: 35,000

Iglesia ni Cristo: 3-10 million

Jehovah's Witnesses; 8.5 million

Living Church of God: 50,000 (best estimate)

Members Church of God International: 13.7 million (wildly optimistic estimate)

Oneness Pentecostals: 24 million

Seventh Day Church of God: 300,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

Unitarian Universalist Christians: 200,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

United Church of God: 145,000 (wildly optimistic estimate)

Shepherd's Chapel: 10 million (wildly optimistic estimate)

Combined, total membership of all of these denominations is under 90 million. If I generously round up to 100 million, then 4.76% of all Christians are non-Trinitarians, leaving 95.24% who are Trinitarians.

User avatar
Paidion
Posts: 5452
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:22 pm
Location: Back Woods of North-Western Ontario

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by Paidion » Wed Sep 08, 2021 8:07 pm

Consider the following, "What do Americans Believe About the Trinity?"

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/kermitzar ... e-trinity/
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

Avatar shows me at 75 years old. I am now 83.

User avatar
Homer
Posts: 2995
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:08 pm

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by Homer » Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:59 pm

Hi Paidion,

Interesting link you posted but the writer didn't make his point any better than folks do here.

User avatar
dwight92070
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:09 am

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by dwight92070 » Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:17 pm

Paidion wrote:
Wed Sep 08, 2021 8:07 pm
Consider the following, "What do Americans Believe About the Trinity?"

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/kermitzar ... e-trinity/
Dwight - I looked at that article and he does what you're doing - speculating. He provides no scriptural evidence of his opinions.

User avatar
dwight92070
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:09 am

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by dwight92070 » Sat Sep 11, 2021 8:07 am

Correction. He does provide scriptural evidence of what he believes, but I don't agree with what he says those scriptures say. For example, he says: "The Father being in Jesus doesn't make Jesus God any more than the Father being in Christians makes them Gods/gods." Well, that probably would be true IF JESUS IS THE SAME KIND OF BEING AS CHRISTIANS ARE. But He is not! His birth was supernatural - theirs was not. His Father who begot Him was God. We Christians have earthy fathers. Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Which of us can say that? Paul said "He existed in the form of God" and "He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped." Which of us can say that? Paul said, "He is the image of the invisible God." Can we say that? Scripture tells us that Jesus preexisted. We did not.

To say that the Father is in us in the same way that the Father is in Jesus IS BEYOND SPECULATION, IMO, because WE ARE NOT JESUS.

User avatar
dwight92070
Posts: 1550
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:09 am

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by dwight92070 » Sat Sep 11, 2021 8:39 am

Also for the author of that article to say that Thomas was speaking to the God in Jesus, not to Jesus Himself, when he declared "My Lord and My God" is a colossal stretch beyond belief.

User avatar
Paidion
Posts: 5452
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:22 pm
Location: Back Woods of North-Western Ontario

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by Paidion » Sat Sep 11, 2021 2:30 pm

Dwight, you wrote:Paul said "He existed in the form of God" and "He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped."
Well, there you have it! Jesus, though in the FORM of God, had no desire to try to be EQUAL with God.
So He knew He was NOT equal with God. Thus if He was not even equal with God, how could He be God Himself?
Paidion

Man judges a person by his past deeds, and administers penalties for his wrongdoing. God judges a person by his present character, and disciplines him that he may become righteous.

Avatar shows me at 75 years old. I am now 83.

User avatar
Homer
Posts: 2995
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:08 pm

Re: The Inescapable Trinity

Post by Homer » Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:11 pm

Hi Paidion,

So what did Jesus empty Himself of?

Post Reply

Return to “Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology”