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Trinity doctrine - In the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the SDA Church

Trinity doctrine defined. The Trinity doctrine is the second one listed in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs (2020 edition) and reads as follows:

Trinity. There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 28:19; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.)

What needs to be proven. The above statement of belief makes (at minimum) the following four assertions which need to be proven from Scripture:

  1. That "there is one God...a unity of three Persons."
  2. That these three Persons (making up the one God) are coeternal.
  3. That these three Persons (making up the one God) are immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present.
  4. That these three Persons (making up the one God) are infinite and beyond human comprehension.

Trinity verses quoted. Study the nine (9) Bible verses referenced above (which are used to defend the Trinity doctrine) and determine for yourself whether the four assertions are reasonably (and satisfactorily) proven. The nine (9) Trinity verses are quoted below (in the ESV unless otherwise stated):

  1. Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
  2. Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
  3. Isaiah 6:8: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
  4. Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
  5. John 3:16 (NKJV): For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
  6. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22: And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
  7. 2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
  8. Ephesians 4:4-6: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
  9. 1 Peter 1:2: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Trinity verses examined

The nine (9) Trinity verses are examined below.

1. Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Nothing in this verse implies a three-Person, coeternal God. The plural pronoun "us" which occurs only four times in the Old Testament (see Plural Pronouns Used for God) gives no hint of who the "us" includes. The "us" could have very well been His divine council which included angels. Some commentators certainly regard this as a possibility. The four instances of "us" are Genesis 1:25; 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8. None provide support for a triune God. In contrast, the Hebrew word, Yahweh (the most common name for God in the Old Testament), occurs over 6,800 times all in the singular—that is, they all refer to a single Being.

These are EGW's comments on the Creation itself and this verse in particular:

  • RH February 24, 1874, par. 3: God, in counsel with His Son, formed the plan of creating man in His own image.
  • 1SP 24.2 (also in SR 20.2): After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image.” As Adam came forth from the hand of his Creator he was of noble height and of beautiful symmetry. He was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned. His features were perfect and beautiful. His complexion was neither white nor sallow, but ruddy, glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was not quite as tall as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders. She, too, was noble, perfect in symmetry, and very beautiful.
  • 3MR 425.3: The Father and the Son rested after Their work of Creation. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made.... And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested.” Genesis 2:1-3. The death of Christ was designed to be at the very time in which it took place. It was in God's plan that the work which Christ had engaged to do should be completed on a Friday, and that on the Sabbath He should rest in the tomb, even as the Father and Son had rested after completing Their creative work. The hour of Christ's apparent defeat was the hour of His victory. The great plan, devised before the foundations of the earth were laid, was successfully carried out.—Manuscript 25, 1898, 3, 4. (“The Man of Sorrows,” typed, February 24, 1898.)
  • YI August 10, 1899, par. 3: God said, “Let us make man in our image.” He gave to the work of his hands not only a form resembling his own, but a mind capable of comprehending divine things. His understanding, his memory, his imagination,—every faculty of man's mind,—reflected the image of God. . .

Two things are evident in the above EGW quotes: (1) Only two Divine Beings were involved in the "work of Creation;" and (2) Man was created in "a form" resembling the form of the Father and the Son. That is to say, man's physical appearance resembles that of the Father and the Son. There is no mention of the Holy Spirit in any of EGW's commentary.

2. Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord [Yahweh] our God [Elohim], the Lord [Yahweh] is one [echad].

Some trinitarians regard the Hebrew word echad (Strong's #0259), "one," to be a compound unity. However, echad in Hebrew is the numeral "one." There is no possible misunderstanding about the meaning of this simple word. In the Old Testament, there is no reference to the word “one” as indicating a plurality of any kind. To the Jewish mind, one God means one God, not a plurality of gods. The history of Jewish thought is well known. They were famous in the ancient world for being downright obnoxious when it came to defending their “one God” against the polytheistic views of other civilizations. Therefore, from a Jewish perspective, this Bible verse is one of the strongest Bible verses against the Trinity.

We find that Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 in Mark 12:29 and affirms the scribe's (and the Jewish audience's) understanding of this verse. Had Jesus believed in a Trinity, he would have said something about it—this was his perfect opportunity—but he didn't. In truth, Jesus believed what the Jews believed, that there is only one true God (John 17:3).

Reference: REV commentary on Deuteronomy 6:4.

3. Isaiah 6:8: And I heard the voice of the Lord [Adonay] saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Generally, commentators on the phrase "who will go for us?" include the angels in this reference to God's divine council. Rather than a plural God, it could very well be referring "to the Lord, seraphs, and the rest of the heavenly assembly" (see footnote on Isaiah 6:8 in the NetBible).

4. Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

See The Great Commission text which covers this verse in great detail. There is abundant evidence against the traditional wording of this verse. Its authenticity is questioned on the grounds of textual, literary and historical criticism. Christian scholars suspect that it is an interpolation.

5. John 3:16 (NKJV): For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This is not a triune God proof text. Only two divine Persons are listed here. Moreover, there is the issue with the meaning of the phrase "only begotten Son." This is covered in detail in monogenes - Only Begotten and generally in The Son.

6. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22: And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

In the above verse there is one God. He (God) "establishes us with you in Christ." This one God has also "anointed us" and "put his seal on us and given us his Spirit." We are sealed by God with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) which God (the Father) poured out at Pentecost (Acts 2:18, 33). As the apostle Peter said,

Acts 2:32-33, This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Again, this verse references only one God, not a triune God. The Spirit is "his Spirit" which God poured out through Jesus at Pentecost.

7. 2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

In this verse, three powers are mentioned, but notice, only one of them is called God. One is the Lord, and the other is the Holy Spirit through which we have communion or fellowship with God and Jesus. The verse does not say fellowship "with" the spirit, but fellowship "of" the spirit. It is the fellowship that comes "of" or by the spirit such that we can have fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with each other. The spirit is the means by which we have fellowship with others.

1 John 1:3: that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

8. Ephesians 4:4-6: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

This verse clearly states that there is "one God and Father of all." He is not a committee of three Persons. Also, this one God is "over all and through all and in all." He is not coequal with anyone. Not a trinitarian proof text at all.

9. 1 Peter 1:2: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

This verse mentions only one God, the Father, not a committee of three Persons. Also, it is not the sanctification "with" the spirit, but sanctification "of" or "by" the spirit. As the spirit is the means by which we have fellowship with others, the spirit is the means by which we gain sanctification.

Concluding thoughts

The Trinity statement found in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs (2020 edition) has nine (9) Biblical proof texts supporting its position. The statement itself makes (at minimum) four assertions (as listed at the top). What remains to be answered is the question: Have these four assertions been reasonably (or satisfactorily) validated by Scripture? Not at all. In fact, by any measure, nothing was validated.

  • Not the three-in-one God assertion.
  • Not the coeternal assertion.
  • Not the immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present assertion.
  • Not the infinite and beyond human comprehension assertion.

A complete lack of Scriptural support for any of these assertions. Yet this doctrine is intended to be a cornerstone, foundational doctrine of the SDA Church. Surely SDA theologians can do better than this.

Further reading

  • BRI (Biblical Research Institute) Release-9. "God in 3 Persons - In Theology," May 2015. "No text of Scripture specifically says that God is three Persons: but theological reasoning on the basis of biblical principles leads to that conclusion." What follows from the article is a twelve (12) point list of biblical evidence to establish the divinity of the Three. See 12 points of proof.
  • The Trinity - Jan Charles Haluska, July 2, 2013. The Bible's clear allusions to the Trinity are enough for Adventists.
  • Adventist (SDA) Trinity Verses - Nader Mansour. Duration 1:00:33.
  • Echad - Closer Look - Imad Awde. Duration 28:59. Echad always means "one." It is always the numerical "one." As in Genesis 11:6, it could be "one people" (in purpose) or "one language" (only one language). Man and wife are said to be "one flesh." However, a man by himself cannot be "one flesh". He needs his wife in order to be "one flesh." We are to worship one God, the Father (John 4:23). Malachi 2:10, "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? ..."
  • Proverbs 8:23 (NKJV): I [Wisdom; Christ] have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.