Snap, Crackle, & Pop: The Holy Trinity , or a blasphemous mockery?
442067
LOL that is a good metaphor. Well I think al religions are full of SHI*. Full of violence and a fairy tail.
734710
Father,Son and the Holy Ghost
221087
The idea of the trinity is very confusing even to those raised with Christians, so I can see where the confusion is.\n\nOne Christian scholar, James M. Arlandson, says "The co-equal and distinct persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three Gods because they share the same essence in complete unity." He also goes on to explain the idea like three dimensions, you can describe length, width, and thickness or height separately but they work together.  Still confused?  Me too.  \n\nTo further complicate things, there are at least two ideas of the Trinity out there thanks to the Reformation.  In case you're not familiar, that's the term used to refer to the schism between the Catholic and Lutheran/Calvinist (Protestant) churches in the mid-sixteenth century.  This happy little event is the direct root of the number of Christian sects out there, since after Luther & Calvin broke with the "Church" which we now call Catholic, nearly everybody that had an issue basically broke off and made their own church - Anabaptists, Episcopalians, and so on, and so forth. \n\nOf course, this Eurocentric view leaves out the earlier split between the Roman (now generally called Catholic) & Byzantine (now generally called Orthodox) churches, and the Copts were never really accepted by either.\n\nModern Christianity is really diverse and sometimes random, and even within the Catholic church there are divisions in belief between American Catholics and other Catholics even though the Pope is supposed to be spiritual leader for all Catholics.  \n\nBe prepared, you're probably going to get a lot of angry answers to your question, because a lot of people will either decide you need conversion or that you're attacking their sect with this question.
273540
""""One person's theology,\nIs another person's belly laugh.""""
151266
The Holy Trinity is the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. However, these three persons, although separate are also one. 1 John 2:23 says "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also." This basically means that the Father and Son are equal. It also says this several other places in the Bible. The Great Commission also tells us to baptize believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, in conclusion, they are one and the same.
420193
Very good!  If more Christians displayed such a sense of humor, we wouldn't have so much trouble with hostilities in this section of Yahoo! Answers, let alone in the rest of the world.  Isn't there plenty of stuff about joy and lightheartedness and so forth in the gospels?  Howcum so many Christians forget that part?
1043323
I find you make a very good point.  I find it quite amusing to hear of people denouncing the idea of a God, yet get married or hold their loved ones funeral  in a church.  Politicians fall to the pressure of a society that want to take Christ out of Christmas yet plan elaborate weddings for their children whom they insist get married by a priest or minister.  Funny how it works isn't it!!
421946
At the age of nine, with a magic show gone horribly wrong (in my case) at a local Baptist church.  I had the numinous belief in the supernatural that all kids have through contact with such beliefs from the society they live in.  Then I saw a guy mystifying children with simple sleight of hand tricks and extrapolated from there, which I am sure wasn't what the pastor of the church intended at all.  It was a life changing moment, though I did not really know it.  I had decided to throw off the shackles of the mind that are required by religion and embraced logic, reason, and science as my "holy" trinity.
230912
I read through your paper and I must admit that it must have been difficult to cram so much into something so little. Theological debate can go on and on. Just the history of Christianity can even be volumes. \n\nNow, I don't know where you stand with God, I just know that one thing you failed to mention was (well I guess you touched on it a little) was the fact that Christianity is spiritual, hence, "God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) Ones own relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be by or through the intellect. There's where faith come in. With all do respect, your presentation was accurate, however, we MUST remember that we cannot bring God down to OUR level, we must assend to HIS level through the Holy Spirit and the only way the Truth can be discovered is by faith alone. Good job, and God bless you.
1183655
I did, and many other people with me. I learned about the Holy Trinity. The Father is love, mercy and compassion. The Son is the path to the Father. Nobody goes to the Father except through the Son. The Holy Spirit is wisdom.
797926
Trinitarians who point to Zechariah 12:10 do their cause a disservice when they pretend that unitarians (lower-case "u") misunderstand the original Hebrew there. Bible students and scholars have long acknowledged that "me whom they have pierced" is the LITERAL translation of this verse.\n\nBut this Scripture is *NOT* to be taken literally.\n\nClearly, any parent would feel the pain of his child. When Christ Jesus the Son was cut, of course his Father Jehovah felt that pain. Trinitarians and non-Trinitarian Christians alike should well-understand this point, and note that "the Father" remained in heaven when "the Son" was impaled on earth.\n\n(Luke 23:46) Jesus called with a loud voice and said: "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit." When he had said this, he expired. \n\n\nInterestingly, bible prophesy shows that *EVEN MARY* the human mother of Jesus would feel this stabbing pain when the human Jesus was impaled. Would Mary constitute a fourth member of a Quadity instead of a Trinity?\n\n(Luke 2:34-35) [The prophet] Simeon blessed them [Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus], but said to Mary its mother: "Look! This one is laid for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel and for a sign to be talked against 35 (yes, a long sword will be run through the soul of you yourself)\n\n\nRotherham, American Standard Version, Moffatt, An American Translation and Revised Standard Version all use "him" instead of "me" either in the main body of the text itself or in a footnote as an honest alternative.\n\n\nSadly trinitarians repeatedly misapply scripture while they insist upon worldly philosophy, Greek paganisms, and quotes from other Babylon-loving Trinitarians to support their unscriptural ideas. By contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Scriptures alone quite plainly demonstrate that Jesus and the Almighty are separate distinct persons, and the Almighty created Jesus as His firstborn son.\n\n(Colossians 1:15) the firstborn of all creation\n\n(Mark 10:18) Jesus said to him: 'Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, except one, God.\n\n(Revelation 3:14) the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God\n\n(Philippians 2:5-6) Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God's form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God\n\n(John 8:42) Neither have I come of my own initiative at all, but that One sent me forth\n\n(John 12:49) I have not spoken out of my own impulse, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to tell and what to speak\n\n(John 14:28) I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am\n\n(1 Corinthians 15:28) But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him\n\n(Matthew 20:23) this sitting down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father\n\n(1 Corinthians 11:3) I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; ...in turn the head of the Christ is God\n\n(John 20:17) I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.\n\n(Deuteronomy 6:4) Jehovah our God is one Jehovah\n\n(1 Corinthians 8:4-6) There is no God but one. For even though there are those who are called "gods," whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many "gods" and many "lords," there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him\n\nThanks again for an opportunity to share what the bible actually says about the distinct persons of Jesus Christ the Son and Jehovah God the Father!\n\nLearn more!\nhttp://watchtower.org/library/ti/index.htm\nhttp://watchtower.org/e/ti/
4454
Study Modalism, not to be confused with Patripassianism.\n\nThe Trinity was a product of philosophy, and politics.  Theological Evolution.  You can see that early "trinitarians" rarely agreed with each other, and all held the 'heresy of sub-ordination'\n\nIt was not until the Council of Nicea that the trinity was given a 'solid' form that could be built upon by later councils.\n\nEusubius, from which we know most of what we know about Nicea, went to the council for the express purpose that modalists would not have a voice in the council, and they didn't.  He origianlly went to help arius, but had been misinformed about his beliefs, and then supported athanasius, since Esubius liked Origen's teachings.\n\nWhen studying modalism, remember that trinitarians oversimplify the doctrine and label it as patripassianism.  This comes soley from claims from thier ancient enemies such as Tertullian and Hippolytus.  \n\nModalism beleives that Jesus was the messiah, God manifested in the flesh, but that he WAS NOT God in three persons, but rather God in A person, who was the image of the invisible God.  The Logos, the plan God had in His mind since the Beginning.\n\nPatripassianism is the view that the Father died on the cross. I am not a modalist. God did not die on the cross, the human flesh died on the cross, not the divine Spirit that dwelt fully within Him.\n\nWere Praxeas and Sabellius patripassianists?  Really, NO ONE can say yes or no.  All we have are biased writings from thier enemies.  Historically, no one knows.\n\nThere is but ONE God.  Jesus is the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
816147
What you are not entertaining, is the other possibility, that they CAN be reconciled, and you aren't seeing it, or not letting yourself.  It is not hard, it is right there.   The reference you give supports itself within the bible.  I don't see the problem, sorry.  Perhaps, your bible (Catholic Bible), could be off?    Do a study of the Christian cannon, and how the books were chosen to be included, or left out.  It is fascinating and eye opening.  Don't just assume the catholic church has it right, study for yourself.
856629
Clericalism, intolerance and hypocrisy.
1176285
The holy trinity consists of the Father (God), the Son (Jesus Christ), and the holy spirit or holy ghost (the very real part of the first two that you carry within yourself). You know ?  How you feel when you've done something unsellfish & helpfull for someone else or feel really great about someone who showed they care about you & did something similar for you.
751681
I AM SO OFFENDED BY YOUR BLASPHEMY!!!\nOr,  maybe I love it.\nRAmen\n:)
331951
You make an interesting point. I have made an exclusive study of the trinity in the Christian scriptures and found it to have a solid premise, albeit that particular word isn't in the bible, and neither is the concept directly addressed. I wouldn't attempt to go into it here - it's too much - and that wasn't your question. I know  little about the Hindu religion,  so I'm not really qualified to comment.  What I find interesting about your point - the trinity notwithstanding - is that Mary, the mother of Jesus is worshiped in some Christian religions, as some  pray to various saints as well. It does indeed sound like at least some Christians have more than one god. I think that's rather odd. But...I haven't answered your question. It's a bit tricky. If you were a Christian we could discuss it.