Sebellius was a Roman teacher who lived in the third
century. He said that one God exists, but that he revealed himself in history
in three different, temporary ways. His position later came to be known as
modalism. Next, in the early fourth century, a teacher named Arius again
focused on the unity of God, arguing that Jesus was not God, but instead was
the first and greatest of created beings, something like a super-angel. (This
Arianism position is very similar to what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe today,
which explains why the Christian Church doesn’t consider Jehovah’s Witnesses as
part of it.) The beliefs of Arianism spread rapidly, and soon the Church began
to divide over this issue. Although Arianism was popular in some Church
circles, the local churches rejected it.
Around this time, Emperor Constantine, who saw Christianity as
a way to bring his people together and stop regional in-fighting, took control
of the vast Roman empire. But in order to use the religion as a tool, he needed
to deal with this split in the Church. As a result, in A.D. 325, Constantine
called together a council of Church leaders in the town of Nicaea in order to
settle this issue. The council met and reached a consensus that Christ was
indeed God, which they wrote down and called the “Nicean Creed,” but Arianism
still had a foothold for some time. Another council that helped further define
the doctrine was held in A.D. 381 at Constantinople. Since that second council,
the Nicean Creed has stood for nearly 17 centuries (see the sidebar, “The
Nicean Creed,” later in this chapter) as a basic, non-negotiable belief of the Christian
faith.
A key early defender of the Trinity was Athanasius, who was
one of the Church leaders on the Council of Nicaea and devoted his life to
upholding the position. Athanasius believed that the Trinity is essential to Christianity
and that the Christian understanding of salvation falls apart if Jesus is not
God. I explain this idea further in the section “Understanding the Significance
of the Trinity.”
The Trinity made Jesus’ sacrifice worthwhile
The primary reason that the Trinity is essential to Christianity
is because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Christianity says that
salvation is possible because Jesus Christ, being fully God and fully man (see
Chapter 5 to wrestle with that doozy), was in the unique position of being able
to offer the perfect sacrifice on behalf of all people – because he was
perfect.
If Jesus wasn’t God, then his sacrifice would’ve been
illegitimate – meaningless. The Old Testament clearly says that humans can’t
achieve salvation on their own, picking themselves up to God by their own
bootstraps. The Israelites tried that route by following the Law that God,
through Moses, gave them. But they failed to keep up their end of the bargain
with God, falling into disobedience time and time again. Therefore, if
salvation is possible, it must fall on God and God alone to provide it on his
own initiative and his own doing, not on anyone else.
Further, Jesus Christ can’t simply have been some
super-angelic lackey that God sent to the earth to do his dirty work for him. Because
God is the one grieved by people’s sin, he’s the only one in a position to
restore the severed relationship between humans and himself. Or, to put it in a
catch phrase: He alone can atone.
The Trinity justifies worshiping Jesus
A second reason supporting the practical significance of the
Trinity deals with worshiping Jesus. Quite simply, if Jesus isn’t God, then it
makes no sense to worship him. You wouldn’t worship any other good person,
would you? You may respect him, but that’s a whole different ballgame.
Christians believe that the Ten Commandments make it clear
that humans are to worship one and only God, and no one – or nothing – else. Whenever
the Bible says angels appeared, it also says that they told people not to
worship them, which reinforces this point.
Yet, Jesus encouraged worship of himself, and the apostles
emphasize that throughout the remainder of the New Testament. Because Christians
believe that Jesus spoke the ultimate truth (see Chapter 5), they trust his
encouragement to worship him and regard him as Lord. And because Jesus is the
only human the Bible tells us to worship, that instruction helps back up the
claim that Jesus is indeed God, in light of the Bible’s earlier instruction to
worship only the one true God.
Digging Up the Biblical Foundation of the Trinity
It would surely make for a great quiz show question: What is
a key component of historical, biblical Christianity, but isn’t once mentioned
by name in the Bible? The answer: the Trinity. Although the Bible doesn’t call
it out by name, scripture reveals the Trinity doctrine as an underlying theme
in several different ways.
Over the years, some people have objected to the idea of the
Trinity because it’s not explicitly found in the Bible. But it’s important to
keep in mind that the Trinity creed is intended only to explain what Christians
believe the scriptures imply, not expand on them.
Consider the following parallel which explains how Christians
got the idea of the Trinity doctrine. Suppose I come up to you and share with
you the following story:
I drove to the store today. But before leaving my garage, I
put the top down, because it was sunny outside. At the store, I had a flat tire
and called AAA to come fix it for me.
Although I never once mention a convertible car
by name, it’s obvious that it’s the underlying subject of the story. In fact,
no other vehicle – a bicycle, semi, or a horse carriage – would provide a
logical explanation that takes into account all of the stated details. In much
the same way, the Trinity is like the convertible – the lone explanation that
is consistent with the characteristics of God that scripture portrays.
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