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1.    The Trinity is the belief that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. They are co-equal, co-eternal, and share the same essence. These three distinct persons make up the one God, the “triune God”. Jesus has a dual nature. He is 100% God and 100% man. This is called the hypostatic union. Jesus’ human and divine nature live together in him: he is the God-man (Mathis, 2007), (Perman 2006). 2.     The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible. The Bible nev

In Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by

Section 3 of my blog, Universal Salvation, shows that universal salvation is biblical. God will make it happen. One way God has made it happen is through Jesus preaching to the imprisoned spirits in 1 Peter 3:19-20 and 4:6 for their salvation. While these verses are an amazing example of God’s grace and love towards all, even towards those who died in the flood whose every thought was inclined towards evil (Genesis 6:5), Peter seems to indicate that Jesus’ preaching in these

What is salvation according to the Bible? If someone has “salvation”, that person is “saved”. But saved from what? Most Christians understand that Christ’s saving work and intercession for us on the cross saves us from God’s judgment because of our sin. All people have sinned and are tempted to hate God and our neighbor instead of obeying the greatest commandment, loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). Our sin se

God is clear from the beginning in Genesis that His image is both male and female, as Adam and Eve were made in God’s image. Why don’t we take Him at His Word? Clearly, God’s image is not 3 persons in 1, only male as the Trinity doctrine suggests. Are women less made in the image of God then men? If not, then why are they not equally  represented in the Godhead? Some may respond by saying that God transcends gender – which is of course in part true given that God is Spirit –

This section demonstrates that God is inherently logical and that we should study theology using logic. Affirming that God is logical is essential for determining if God has told us that Jesus is God and God is 3 in 1. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 1:18) God calls people to reason with Him. This shows that being reasonable is part of who God is, and He invites us to be reasonable and logical ourselves in how we converse with Him. “Teacher, which i

The first instance of Jesus worship is in Matthew 2:2 "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’” This was said by the Magi in their pursuit of finding Jesus, king of the Jews. This is the first of many instances in the New Testament of apparent Jesus worship (see also Matthew 2:8, 11, John 9, Matthew 14:26-33, Matthew 28:9, 17, Luke 24:52, John 9:38, Revelation 5). If Jesus isn’t God, why is he worshiped i

Introduction to "Scripture in Context" Hebrews 1:8 says that God the Father says about the Son, “ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever…” Out of context, and only reading this verse from the Bible, the reader must conclude that Jesus is God. In John 17:3 Jesus prays to the Father, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God , and Jesus Christ,  whom you have sent.” Out of context, and only reading this verse from the Bible, the reader must conc

The Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke I lump these gospels together in examining Jesus’ deity because of their many similarities, giving some of the same evidences against Jesus’ deity and raising similar questions regarding his potential deity.   So: did Matthew, Mark, and Luke think that Jesus was God? Matthew 1.     Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”   If Jesus isn’t God, how can his name be “Imma

This post examines the gospel of John, and Part 8 examines 1 John and Revelation. These books were all written by the same author: John, so consider all of them together in thinking about if John believed that Jesus was God. Many claim that John’s gospel, John, clearly shows that Jesus was God, more than any of the other gospels or books in the Bible. If John really believed Jesus was God, that belief would be consistent throughout the book of John, 1 John, and Revelation. J

The “Blue Letter Bible” by Don Stewart is very helpful in answering this question. The name “Holy Spirit” comes from two Greek words: “hagion”, which means holy, and “pneuma” which means “spirit.” The Holy Spirit has many names in the Bible, including “Spirit of God”, “Spirit of Jesus”, “Spirit of Christ, and “Spirit of Truth”. Jesus names the Holy Spirit as “Comforter” and “Helper” (Stewart, 2020). The Holy Spirit is a person, not simply an influence or force. This is demons

1 John 1.     1 John 3:20 “…for whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son , but the Father only.” If Jesus is God, why doesn’t he know everything, specifically when he will return? God does not lie. He says he knows everything. Jesus does not know everything, so this shows Jesus is not God. 2.     1 John 4:12 “No one has ever

While Christians universally agree that sanctification, or holiness, is one of the goals of the Christian life, and that a Christian’s eternal state will be sinless, there are varying perspectives on how a Christian will become sinless. Protestants generally believe that upon death, a Christian, regardless of if they are “perfected” or “sinless”, goes straight to heaven and enters God’s presence. Catholics believe that when a person dies, God immediately judges them and deter

Acts This book uniquely shows the beliefs of the early Church, how they presented the gospel, and what they believed was important. Acts is very helpful in determining what Luke, the author of the book, and his fellow Christians believed concerning Jesus’ deity. 1.     Acts 2:22-41 “’Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man  attested to you by God,  with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did   through him  in your midst, as you yourselves know – thi

There is an intermediate state between death and the final resurrection when Jesus returns. This is shown in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In “Hades”, this intermediate state, Lazarus and Abraham are comforted and the sinful rich man is tormented. There is memory of the past for those in this parable. This state also involves fellowship with Christ, as Paul wants to be there with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23) as that is where Christ is

Paul’s Epistles 1.     Romans 5:15-17 “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of  God  and the free gift by the grace of that one man  Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s  sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s  trespass, dea

Helpful Background on Reincarnation 1.              The definition of reincarnation is: the rebirth of “the aspect of an individual that persists after bodily death” (sometimes referred to as soul or spirit) in another body (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2024). The Bible distinguishes between the soul and the spirit (Hebrews 4:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:23). The “soul” is who a person is, and it is that aspect that reincarnates if reincarnation is real. Adam, for example

There is historical evidence that some of the earliest Christians thought the Holy Spirit was feminine. The church father Jerome refers to the Holy Spirit as Mother in his writings. Another church father, Epiphanius, states that the Holy Spirit is “a Female Being”.  The Pseudo-Clementines, a work named after Clement of Rome, speaks of the Jewish Christian idea of the Holy Spirit as feminine, specifically stating that “Wisdom”, as described in Proverbs, is the Holy Spirit. The

A.        Reincarnation is unbiblical because people are destined to die once, and after that face judgment. Hebrews 9:24-28 “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had t

If the Holy Spirit is God the Mother, why… 1.        Why isn’t the Holy Spirit as Mother explicitly in Scripture? I would actually argue that, upon studying Scripture, it is explicitly in Scripture, as I will show. Yes, there is not explicit declaration that the Holy Spirit is God the Mother in the Protestant Bible (there is one in the Catholic bible in Solomon’s Wisdom books in some translations), but God declares from the beginning that His image is male and female (Genesis