Essay
Trinity and the Christian church
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This essay explores the arguments whether the trinity should or shouldn’t be important to the church
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The arguments about the Trinity should not important to the ChristianChurch (30 Marks)
By Ebenezer Abraha, Y12 Christianity
The Trinity, in Christian doctrine, is the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons
in one being (God). The doctrine of the Trinity is considered to be one of the central Christian
affirmations about God. Some argue, however, that this concept should not be important to
the Christian church and claim that whilst we speak of three in one, the three is only a matter
of theological differentiation and not in identity. Disagreements over the word ‘Filioque’ being
in the Nicene Creed, as well as contrasting theories of moralism, trait heist and Arianism are
believed to support this view. However, others dismiss this and claim that the Bible is clear
and that Paul and Jesus Himself declare the Holy Spirit, Him and the Father are all one God,
making the trinity important to the Church. Many Christian’s believe that the trinity teaches
God’s nature as the doctrine claims God the Father - the creator and sustainer of all things.
God the Son - the incarnation of God as a human being, Jesus Christ, on Earth. God the
Holy Spirit - the power of God which is active in the world, drawing people towards God. In
this essay, I will be arguing against this statement as I believe that the arguments about the
trinity should be important to the Christian Church.
One argument leading me to agree with this statement is that the word 'Trinity' does not
appear in the Bible and the Trinitarian doctrine is not set out in a single biblical verse or
passage. On the contrary, the Bible insists that there is only one God. The Old Testament
has no awareness of a Trinity, and neither, apparently does Jesus in his teaching, which
shows that the trinity should not be significant to the Christian Church. In Deuteronomy,
written in the Old Testament it is stated clearly that the Lord our God, the Lord is one', and
this is reiterated in the New Testament both by Jesus and by Paul. In the Gospel of John,
Jesus calls God the Father the only true God'. Furthermore, in the Ten Commandments that
"Thou shalt have no other gods before on my face", proving that there is only one Christians
we should worship. This cannot be the case if Jesus and the Holy Spirit also claim to be
God. Jesus also tells his disciples in John that he is going to the Father, 'because the Father
is greater than I', which proves that the concept of the Trinity should not be important to the
Christian Church. However, one can argue that it is true that in the New Testament Jesus is
often referred to as God, which shows that the Trinity is important to the Christian Church.
John 1 says that ‘Jesus was the Word and the Word was God and that all things were
created through him’. This proves the significance of the Trinity in three beings formed out of
one, and its importance in the Christian Church today. The concept of the Trinity is centrally
based on biblical testimony. It was Tertullian, in the 3rd century who coined the word “Trinity”
and the doctrine was formalised in the Nicene Creed (325 CE), which stated that the Son
was of one substance (Greek homoousios) with the Father. This shows that the arguments
of the Trinity should be of great importance to the Christian church as its early origins show
its significance to the history of Christianity. Furthermore, in John 14, Jesus speaks of the
Holy Spirit as equal with himself and the Father. In the Great Commission in Matthew 28, He
sends the disciples to baptise all nations 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit'. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, tells his readers that if the Spirit of God dwells
in them, God will give them life. This proves that the arguments about the trinity are
important to the Christian church as Jesus and the Holy Spirit are just as important as God
due to the roles they play in delivering His Gospel. This is a strong argument as the New
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