Being Berean - The Trinity

Acts 17:10-12 And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

I think we should be as the noble-minded Bereans, examining the Scriptures (what we call the "old testament") daily to see if what we find in the "new testament" (both in our Bible and in the world today) lines up. Without this benchmark we can be and are swayed by every wind of doctrine. Without this, we have every man doing what is right in his own eyes (and, more often than not, sadly, claiming he was "led by the spirit").

As Bobby and I have studied we've are constantly challenged to question what we believe and why, no matter the cost. Most recently (over the last several months) we have examined scripture to try to understand Christianity's #1 doctrine: the Trinity. More to the point, the teaching that Yahshua is Yahweh come in the flesh. (Years ago we studied the Holy Spirit and came to the conclusion that it is not an individual person, merely Yahweh's spirit. It's not my intention to "go there" in this entry.) This doctrine is apparently so significant that most theologians say if you don't believe in the deity of Yahshua, you cannot call yourself a Christian. Interesting. (Notice the lack of “Christian” in my labels in the “about me” section?)

I always thought Christmas was a prime example of how Christianity has forsaken Yahweh’s word and clung to it’s pagan roots. Later, when we studied what is possibly Christianity’s second most popular doctrine, that good boys and girls go to heaven and bad ones burn in hell for eternity, we were sure we’d struck on an even greater example (sorry to burst your bubble – you won’t find this teaching in the Bible – try looking elsewhere, like Greece). We were also quick to consider Christianity’s forsaking Yahweh’s law (Torah), including his Holy Sabbath.

So, no sooner had we become “Christian” then we found ourselves unable to really fit into any local body of believers we met. Not to say we didn’t learn and grow with others in the areas of love, compassion, patience, etc, learning about marriage and parenting and other good things. Just that everywhere we went we asked enough questions (some out of a sincere desire to know the truth, some to challenge others to seek the same) to make others uncomfortable. We believe Yahweh has led us the whole way and that everywhere we’ve fellowshipped has been perfect for the season Yahweh intended.

Even after walking this wacky road ten years, we were taken aback by the absurdity of the Trinity doctrine, little prepared for the pagan origins of the church’s favorite teaching. I can’t say we had ever really believed it, because we hadn’t ever fully looked into it. I can say that hearing the “Bible Answer Man” on the radio (or any other theologian) trying to explain the Trinity to some poor caller definitely bothered me. No matter the topic (spiritual or otherwise), I’ve never been comfortable with someone trying to pass as common sense something that made no sense at all. Now, I think I know enough to know that there are things I don’t know and so try to give people the benefit of the doubt. If I’m not knowledgeable about something and you seem to be, I might ask questions but I don’t take a decided stance. “That doesn’t sound logical to me, but I guess you know what you’re talking about….” and then, if I’m really curious (or challenged), I’ll look into it myself.

When a loved one told me, early last year, that she no longer believed in the deity of Messiah, I was both curious and challenged. Better yet, so was Bobby. I have to give him credit for doing the digging on this one. He has spent many waking hours (many of those when he should have been sleeping!) studying, sorting out the different claims to truth, always comparing with scripture. He has faced many challenges (you can’t open your mouth on this subject and not be challenged) that have spurned him to dig deeper.

The greatest thing about seeking truth is that Yahweh wants us to find it! He wants us to know and understand him (Jer 9:24). Truth is simple and should make a confusing mess of puzzle pieces come together into a clear portion of Yahweh’s great masterpiece – his plan for mankind. Truth should never be hard to grasp, tricky to piece together. Truth clicks. Truth makes you go, “Ooohhh! I get it! How incredible!” However, truth sometimes means throwing out pieces that don’t fit, pieces that might belong to a totally different puzzle, and that is too painful for some.

More details coming soon…