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If God were a Trinity, surely the apostle Paul, who recorded much of the theological underpinnings of the early Church, would have understood and taught this understanding. Yet we find no such concept in his writings.
Paul's standard greeting in his letters to churches, as well as individuals to whom he wrote, is, "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." There is no mention of the Holy Spirit.
This same greeting, with only minor variations, appears in every epistle that bears Paul's name: Romans 1:7To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.; 1 Corinthians 1:3Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.; 2 Corinthians 1:2Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.; Galatians 1:3Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,; Ephesians 1:2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.; 1 Thessalonians 1:1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.; 2 Thessalonians 1:2Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.; 1 Timothy 1:2Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.;2 Timothy 1:2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.; Titus 1:4To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.; and Philemon 3.
The Holy Spirit is always left out of these greetings-an unbelievable oversight if the Holy Spirit were indeed a person coequal with God and Jesus Christ.
This is even more surprising when we consider that the churches to which Paul wrote had many gentile members from polytheistic backgrounds who had formerly worshiped numerous gods. Paul's epistles record no attempt on his part to explain the Trinity or Holy Spirit as a divine person equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
In Paul's writings, only in 2 Corinthians 13:14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (The following was added by editors of the KJV:The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas) is the Holy Spirit mentioned along with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and there only about our "fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (New International Version) with God and Christ (see 1 John 1:3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.).
The apostle Paul states clearly that "there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things...and one Lord Jesus Christ..." (1 Corinthians 8:6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.). He makes no mention of the Holy Spirit as a divine person.
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