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 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" --Matthew 22:36,37 NIV

Notice how in the above passage says to love God with all of your mind.  Since your mind is the center of your reasoning, it is safe to say that if you believe in something (context of the paper implies that the "something" is about God) that is unreasonable, then you are not loving Him with all of your mind. Many groups out there say that the Bible does not support the Trinity doctrine, but I believe it does, and this paper will attempt to analize the Bible. I pray that any errant beliefs about God may be dispelled, and those who hold errant beliefs will humble themselves before God. (including my own, if that is the case)

(1) What is a Trinity

Trinity is the belief that there is one God (intelligent being, not impersonable force) in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The term "persons" here is not implying separate individuals (that would make it 3 gods), but it is the best word in our limited vocabulary to describe the Trinity.

(2) a refutation of, "The word 'Trinity' is not in the Bible"

Some would argue that this means the Trinity doesn't exist.  But, neither is the word "Bible," so that must mean the Bible doesn't
exist. Oops.

(3) Biblical support of "one God" (all verses on this page from NIV unless otherwise noted, JW's see discussion on the Jehovah's Witness Bible below)

Deuteronomy 6:4
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."

Deuteronomy 32:39
"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand."

Joshua 22:22
"The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He
knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day."

1 Samuel 2:2
"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."

2 Samuel 7:22
"How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears."

1 Chronicles 17:20 "There is no one like you, O LORD, and there is no God butyou, as we have heard with our own ears."

Psalm 68:8
"The earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel."

Psalm 113:5
"Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high."

Isaiah 43:10
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me."

Isaiah 44:6
"This is what the LORD says-- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."

Isaiah 44:8
"Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

Isaiah 45:6
"So that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other."

Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, [1] and those tall Sabeans-- they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, `Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'"

Isaiah 45:18
For this is what the LORD says-- he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited-- he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other."

Isaiah 45:21
"Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me."

Isaiah 45:22
"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other."

Malachi 2:10
"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?"

Mark 12:32
"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him."

Romans 3:30
"Since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith."

1 Corinthians 8:4
"So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one."

1 Corinthians 8:6
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."

Galations 3:20
"A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one."

Ephesians 4:4-6
"is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

1 Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

James 2:19
"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."

Revelation 11:17
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign."

(4) The Father is God

John 6:27b
"On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

(5) Jesus is God

John 1:1,14a
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

From the context of the book of John, we can determine that the "Word" is Jesus.

John 5:17,18
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

In many ancient societies, a son (often the firstborn) as an adult was equal to his father. Someone claiming to be equal to God in a strictly monotheistic society is implying that he or she claims to be God. A possible refutation to this is to say that we are all children of God. But Jesus doesn't say "our Father," but he says, "my Father." He is making clear his special relationship to Father God.
 

John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

What is special about this verse? Jesus is quoting Exodus 3:14, where God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.'" Otherwise, this would be a strange statement, but not worth a stoning, see John 8:59. Stoning was a punishment for blasphemy against God.

Colossians 2:9
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

Hebrews 1:6-8
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire." But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom."

(6) the Holy Spirit is God

Acts 5:3,4
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."

In verse 3, Peter says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. in verse 4, Peter says Ananias lied to God. Peter is clearly equating the Holy Spirit to God.

(7) But, isn't that three Gods?

No. Let's look at the difference between the words, "God" and "god." "god" (with a small "G") is a word that means something that is worshipped, or superior, etc. "God" (with a capital "G") is the name of the Christian god. So, when three persons claim to be God, with a capital "G," they are all claiming to be the same entity, one God.  Besides, if it was three Gods, this would contradict many of the verses I quoted from Isaiah, Isaiah 44:6 in particular: "apart from me there is no God." (with a capital "G").

(8) The Bible the Jehovah's Witnesses use have different translations for many of those verses.

The New World Translation, as it is called, does have some different translations for many of the verse I cited earlier. Well, I could
respond by citing a few of the many biblical scholars that agree that the NWT is not a creditable translation, but I won't. Instead, i will analize one of these verses. If we find error in one that is vital to doctrine, then the translation cannot be trusted.

John 1:1 (NWT)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.

Note that the end of this one says "a god," not "God." this is strange.  Since Jehovah's Witnesses are strictly monotheistic, this verse poses a problem. What kind of god is Jesus? If he is God, then the NWT actually supports the Trinity doctrine. If Jesus is not God, he is an idol. And, if Jesus is an idol, Jehovah's Witnesses are violating two of God's Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.... Exodus 20:3-5. Following the teachings of a god other than God (especially one in the form of a man) will not look very good on your resume come judgement day.

(9) maybe God is one person who was Father, and became the Son, and finally became the Holy Spirit.

If this is the case, who was Jesus praying to in John 17? Why does Jesus say to the Father, "yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)  Many problems come up in this theology.

(10) The Trinity is your truth, but not mine

The problem is, we all live in the same reality. Multiple truths cannot contradict each other. If one truth is true, anything that contradicts that truth is mutually false.