Last Updated Iyar 18, 5950

While the doctrine of the Christian Trinity is not explicitly taught in any one single passage of the Bibile, the concept is definitely present when you look at the Scriptures collectively and put everything together in harmony.

Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image…in our likeness...'

And yet Deuteronomy 6:4 says: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one."

The Hebrew word for "one" (echad) can imply a composite unity (as in one cluster of grapes), supporting the idea of one God in multiple persons. So in the Torah (the first five Books of the Hebrew Bible) we already see a unity in diversity.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Are All Called God:

Father

John 6:27 

1 Corinthians 8:6 

Galatians 1:1

Ephesians 4:6

Philippians 2:11

1 Peter 1:2 

All these passages refer to God the Father.

The Son

The New Testament contains several passages that explicitly or implicitly affirm Jesus as God. Here are key examples:

John 1:1-3, 14 - In the beginning was the Word

In first-century Jewish and Greek thought, the Logos was understood as a divine principle or God's active expression. By identifying Jesus as the Logos, John asserts that Jesus is not merely a representative of God but that He Himself is fully God.

and the Word was with God

That is, the Word Jesus was with the Father.

and the Word was God.

Here it explicitly states that Jesus is God. Again we see a unity (the Word was God) and yet a plurality (the Word was with God).

Jesus is creator:

John 1:3 - All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

Colossians 1:16-17 - For by him [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:2 - In these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

Only God can create.

John 10:30 - I and the Father are one. Jesus makes Himself equal with the Father. 

Jesus forgives sins, something only God can do (Matthew 9:2).

John 20:28: Thomas addresses the risen Jesus as "My Lord and my God!" Jesus accepts this confession.

In Matthew 26:63-65, the high priest tears his clothes because Jesus claims to be the "Son of Man" who will sit at God’s right hand and come on the clouds (citing Psalm 110:1, Daniel 7:13). This implies equality with God, which the high priest deems blasphemous, leading to the charge against Jesus.

Romans 9:5: Paul refers to Christ as "God over all, blessed forever.”

Colossians 1:15 - Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

Colossians 2:9 - For in Him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

Philippians 2:6 - Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. (Though He was fully God Jesus chose to humble Himself in complete dependence upon the Father as an example to humanity.)

Titus 2:13 - our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:3 - Jesus is described as "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature," upholding all things by His power.

Hebrews 1:8 - But about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last forever…’, explicitly calling Jesus God.

Revelation 1:8, 17-18 - Jesus is the Alpha and Omega and the First and the Last, terms used for God.

The Holy Spirit

Divine Attributes

The Spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9:14).

The Spirit is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

The Spirit is Omniscient: The Spirit knows the depths of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Divine Work

The Spirit is an active participant in creation (Genesis 1:2, Job 33:4). Only God can create.

The Spirit gives new life when a Christian is born again (John 3:5-6, Titus 3:5). The Spirit also sanctifies us (1 Peter 1:2). These are both Divine acts of transformation only possible to/by God.

The Spirit Inspired Scripture (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16).

Personality

In Acts 5:3-4, lying to the Holy Spirit is equated with lying to God. The Holy Spirit can be grieved, a emotion (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11) and can teach (John 14:26). This shows the Spirit is more than just an impersonal force.

Finally, in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 the Spirit is called Lord, a title reserved for God.

Trinitarian Formulations

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. 

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.

Peter 1:2 - [Elect] 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.

Three times in the New Testament the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are mentioned all together.

Jesus’ baptism: 

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit comes and rests upon Jesus, and the Father speaks from Heaven.

Philosophical Argument

Historically Philosophy has sought to set forth a theory of knowledge and an explanation of the universe that accounts for the unity in diversity that we observe in the world. The very words Universe and University mean unity in diversity. The Greek Word quintessence came from the philosophical desire to account for the fifth essence (quintessence) that held together the other four essences of Greek cosmology (earth, water, air, fire). The words e pluribus unum - meaning out of the many, one - are printed on American coins.

Thus, if we observe unity in diversity in our world, would it not make sense that we would expect unity in diversity in the first cause of our world? In other words, would we not expect the creator God of our universe (the first cause) to possess unity in diversity in His very essence, since the universe He created displays the same? The riddle of philosophy and the University is solved by the doctrine of the Christian Trinity! God is Unity in Diversity and so is the world that He created.