Defending the Trinity
It is true that the word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible. But that does not make the doctrine unbiblical. The Scriptures clearly reveal one God who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together they form the one divine Godhead. This understanding has been the historic faith of the Christian church, as clearly confessed in the ancient creeds.
One God in Three Persons
The Old Testament proclaims God's singular oneness: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word echad (“one”) often describes a unified or complex oneness, not merely an absolute singularity. For example, husband and wife become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). This illustrates—not proves—the mystery of three persons sharing one divine nature.
The Apostles’ Creed, dating to the early church, confesses belief “in God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord” and “in the Holy Spirit.” This affirms three distinct persons who are fully divine.
The Nicene Creed (325 AD) explicitly declares:
“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty...
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God... very God of very God...
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life...”
This creed affirms the full deity and eternal distinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united as one God.
The Son of God Is Divine
Scripture makes clear Christ’s deity:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh” (John 1:1,14).
“His name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13).
“Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Thomas’s confession: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
In Philippians 2:6–7 (ESV), Paul writes:
“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Jesus did not give up His divinity but willingly laid aside its independent exercise in humble incarnation.
The Holy Spirit Is Divine
The Spirit is not a force, but a person:
Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, and Peter stated he lied to God (Acts 5:3–4).
Paul writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
The Spirit distributes gifts as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Historic Christian Affirmation: The Athanasian Creed
The Athanasian Creed (5th–6th century), the church’s definitive summary of Trinitarian doctrine, states:
"We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal."
It clearly rejects both modalism (confusing persons) and tritheism (three gods), affirming the coequal, coeternal divinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one God.
Further, the creed teaches:
"The Father is uncreated; the Son is uncreated; the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is eternal; the Son is eternal; the Holy Spirit is eternal; and yet there are not three eternals but one eternal."
This expresses the mystery and unity of the Godhead precisely as Scripture teaches.
The Three Together in One Godhead
New Testament passages place the Father, Son, and Spirit side by side in divine unity:
The Matthew 28:19 baptismal command to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” reflects Trinitarian reality, as confirmed by early church writings like the Didache and Irenaeus.
At Jesus’ baptism, the Father’s voice speaks, the Son is baptized, and the Spirit descends as a dove (Matthew 3:16–17).
Paul’s benediction invokes all three distinctly (2 Corinthians 13:14).
Rejecting Heresies About Christ and the Godhead
Some assert Jesus was created or merely human. Scripture denies this. Jesus states, “Unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24), invoking God’s self-name from Exodus 3:14. Denying Christ’s deity is fatal to salvation.
Conclusion
The Trinity is not a late invention or theological guesswork. It has been confessed from the beginning by the apostles and maintained by the creeds as the biblical teaching on God’s nature: one divine essence existing eternally in three coequal, coeternal persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Rejecting this truth means rejecting the gospel itself, for Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the Holy Spirit divine, and the Father Almighty. As the Athanasian Creed declares, “Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith”*—that is, belief in the Triune God.
*Ancient use of the word "catholic faith" does not mean "Roman Catholic." The word Catholic means universal, so this is describing the universal church (body of Christ) making up all true believers everywhere.
