Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello.

Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the doctrine of the Trinity. Does it really mean that Christians worship three gods: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Some people think so, and that's what we want to find out.

I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about our special offer. And now, with today's installment, here's Gary Hedrick.

Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome to another edition of the program, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we begin this new series of studies on one of the most controversial religious issues of the past 2,000 years, and that is the Trinity.

For almost 2,000 years, the doctrine of the Trinity, or the triunity, has been the watershed between Christian orthodoxy and the cults. Virtually all of the cults reject the doctrine of the Trinity. And they all reject it for basically the same reason: because the doctrine of God's triunity makes Jesus Christ God.

And the cults cannot deal with Jesus Christ being God. It destroys their theological systems, so they have to make him something less than God. But we're not going to be dealing with the doctrine of the Trinity from the standpoint of the cults in this series.

There are plenty of programs on the air and plenty of books that have been written that do a good job of dealing with the cults. What we're going to be doing over the next couple of weeks is looking at the subject of the Trinity from a Jewish-Christian perspective, a Hebrew-Christian perspective.

Because you see, many people think the Trinity is incompatible with Judaism. Many people think the Trinity is an idea that was cooked up by the Roman Catholic Church 1,500 or 1,600 years ago. They say the Trinity originated in paganism, like those ancient three-headed gods and goddesses people used to worship.

And for many Jewish people especially, the Trinity is a major obstacle to their coming to faith in Jesus Christ, not because of what the doctrine of the Trinity really says, but because of what they think it says or because of what they've been told it says.

So, let's see if we can get to the bottom of this. And if you're Jewish and you just tuned in today because you're curious to see what could possibly be said about the Trinity from a Hebrew-Christian perspective, from a Jewish perspective, then let me encourage you to stay with us for this entire series.

If you'll stick with us for the next couple of weeks, you'll be surprised to learn that Christians do not worship three gods at all. In fact, we worship the same God Moses talked about when he said, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." *Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad*.

We're going to see that there's no contradiction whatsoever. He is one God. You might say, "Gary, can you prove that?" Yes, I can. And if you'll just stay tuned, I will.

The sad thing is that the historical teaching of the Trinity has had the worst PR, the worst public relations, of probably any other religious teaching in history. Almost nobody, including Christians, understands it. And then they excuse their lack of understanding by saying, "Well, the Trinity is beyond understanding. Nobody understands it."

But that's not true. There's a lot about the Trinity that can be understood. And frankly, I don't know why we always use that same cop-out that it cannot be understood. As a matter of fact, we're going to see a little later that that's precisely why God described himself as a triunity: to help us understand something about him.

The Trinity is a divine model, a teaching aid to help us understand God. So why would he give us a model that cannot be understood to help us understand him? It doesn't make any sense. But the fact remains that most of us who are Christians don't understand the Trinity.

Dr. Alister McGrath is a professor of theology at Oxford University in England, and he's written a book on the Trinity. And in that book, he tells this little story to illustrate how most Christians think about the Trinity. Here's what he says:

"Once upon a time, there was a committee. It had three members. Now, committees are things which exist to find something to do, and so they set up a project. It was a complicated and long-term development project which took a long time to get off the ground. But it eventually got going, and the committee was pleased with the way it seemed to be working."

"The project was a long way from the committee's offices, however, so communication was something of a problem. Soon, the project developed some teething problems, so the chairman paid occasional visits to it, firing some of its directors and hiring new ones. But things got worse, and the committee realized that it would have to monitor the project on a more long-term basis."

"So the three of them decided that one of them would have to spend some time living and working on the project and put things right. But which one would it be? 'Not me,' said the chairman. 'Someone has to stay back at the office and keep an eye on things here.' And so the other two committee members drew straws, and the short straw was drawn by Mr. Davidson."

"So Mr. Davidson was sent off to the project. 'Don't forget to keep in touch, and we'll expect a full report from you on your return,' were the parting words of the chairman."

Now, that's how Dr. McGrath illustrates how many Christians think about the Trinity: sort of a heavenly committee. They envision the Godhead as a heavenly committee of three divine beings. The Father is the chairman of the board, and the Son is the one who was sent to Earth on a mission to set things right.

But this is a serious misrepresentation of the true biblical teaching of God's Trinity, God's triunity. In fact, it might surprise you to learn that what this little story actually teaches is heresy. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three gods.

That's tritheism, one of the oldest heresies in church history. There is only one God. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. Three persons, but one God.

So, let's begin by laying a little groundwork for our discussion. First, let's understand that God wants us to know him. Judaism and Christianity both agree that the purpose of the Bible is to reveal God and his plan in a way that we can understand.

That's why John Calvin described the Bible as God's baby talk. In other words, in the pages of Holy Writ, God has condescended to meet us where we are. He has used human words, human ideas, and human imagery to reveal himself to us.

And when God reveals himself to us, he often uses what we call models. In scripture, there are basically five models God uses to teach us about himself. For example, Psalm 23 describes God as a shepherd. That's one model, the shepherd model.

Another model is that of a breath or a spirit. Genesis 1:1 describes God as a *Ruach* or a spirit. A third model God uses to teach us about himself is that of a father or a parent. A fourth model is that of light; "God is light," First John says.

And the fifth model is that of a rock. In Psalm 18:2, David said, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust."

Now, of course, that doesn't mean that God is literally a piece of granite. What it means is that there's something about the characteristics of a piece of granite or a rock that teaches us about God. You see, that's what a model is: a teaching aid.

Years ago, we had a friend in Illinois who was a professor of chemistry at a local college, Illinois Central College in East Peoria. His name was Dr. Richard Hoffman, and Dr. Hoffman carried wooden Tinkertoys in his pockets when he was walking around campus so he could use those colored sticks and balls to construct models of molecules for his students.

He'd use little blue balls for oxygen atoms and little red balls for hydrogen atoms, and he had the little sticks to connect them with, and he could build a molecule in nothing flat. Now, everyone understood that the little Tinkertoy model didn't look anything like a real molecule. It was just a model.

But the model helped Dr. Hoffman's students understand something about a real molecule. The model takes something that's very complex and reduces it to a form that we can understand. And that's the purpose of these simple images of God in the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible. They were models to help us understand God.

But they were not comprehensive. They were not conclusive. There was more to come. And that additional revelation has been provided in the New Testament. The New Testament amplifies and clarifies the information that was provided in the Old Testament.

The process of revelation progresses gradually from the simple to the more complex, from the Old Testament to the New. That's why we talk about mysteries in Bible study. Do you know what a mystery is? That's right: a mystery is something that was concealed in the Old Testament but has been revealed in the New Testament.

In fact, there are 11 such mysteries in the Bible, 11 specific realities that were obscured in the Old Testament but have come to light in the New Testament. And one of those realities is the Trinity, specifically the incarnation of the God of the universe.

Listen to First Timothy 3:16. Here's what it says: "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." That's the mystery of the Trinity.

Well, that's about all we have time for today. I hope you'll plan to be back here with us next time as we continue this series of studies on the question, "Do Christians worship three gods?" I'll see you then. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friends, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer for this month. It's Gary Hedrick's booklet entitled *Do Christians Worship Three Gods?*

In this 70-page booklet, Gary addresses head-on the question of whether or not the doctrine of the Trinity makes Christianity incompatible with the teachings of the Jewish Bible, or what we call the Old Testament. It's available for a suggested gift of $7.

After all, the Jewish people have always been champions of monotheism. The central creed of Judaism is Deuteronomy 6:4, which says the Lord our God is one Lord, not three.

So when a Jewish person becomes a believer in Jesus, isn't he forsaking his monotheistic Jewish heritage? Surprisingly enough, the answer is no. And you'll find out why in this interesting booklet. It has an informative question and answer section and also a helpful glossary of Hebrew words at the end.

The title again is *Do Christians Worship Three Gods?* Then, we also have the programs you're hearing here on the broadcast available on compact disc with the same title, *Do Christians Worship Three Gods?* This series is available for a suggested gift of $12.

This set is a very effective witnessing tool. Several Jewish people who have come to the Lord in the past have told us that reading this book on the Trinity, more than anything else, helped them understand and believe the gospel.

More than anything else, it helped them realize that believing in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not the same as polytheism. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order.

If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on "Do Christians Worship Three Gods?" right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.