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Question: Thank you for sending your Fundamental Beliefs booklet. I was intrigued by this statement on page 4: "The Holy Spirit of God is not identified as a third person in a trinity, but is consistently described as the power of God." What am I to infer from this statement?
A.C., Cornwall, England
Answer: Because so many have been taught erroneous concepts of the nature of God, it can be difficult to accept that the Bible does not teach the Trinity doctrine. Consider this admission in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, edited by Bruce Metzger and Michael Coogan, in its opening words under the entry "Trinity":
"Because the Trinity is such an important part of later Christian doctrine, it is striking that the term does not appear in the New Testament. Likewise, the developed concept of three coequal partners in the Godhead found in later creedal formulations cannot be clearly detected within the confines of the [New Testament] canon" (1993, pp. 782-783, emphasis added throughout).
The Holy Spirit is spoken of in many ways in the Bible that clearly demonstrate that it is not a divine person. For example, it is referred to as a gift (Acts 2:38; 1 Timothy 4:14). We are told that the Holy Spirit can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and that it can be poured out (Acts 2:17). The Holy Spirit must be stirred up within us (2 Timothy 1:6), and it also renews us (Titus 3:5). These are certainly not the attributes of a person.
If God were a Trinity, surely the apostle Paul, who recorded many of the theological underpinnings of the early Church, would have comprehended and taught this under-standing. Yet we find no such concept in his New Testament writings.
Paul's standard greeting in all 13 epistles that bear his name (with only minor varia-tions in wording) is: "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Yet not once in these greetings does he mention the Holy Spirit. It is always left out. This is an inconceivable omission if indeed the Holy Spirit were a person coequal with God and Christ.
Paul clearly states: "There is one God, the Father, . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 8:6). He makes no mention of the Holy Spirit as a divine person.
If the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be found in the Bible, when and from where did it emerge? The Oxford Companion to the Bible goes on to explain that the doctrine was not formulated until long after Jesus Christ and the apostles had passed from the scene. "This issue is debated over the following centuries" and wasn't resolved until the "councils of the fourth century and beyond" (ibid.). Regrettably, by that time Christendom had been heavily influenced by non-Christian concepts and teachings from various pagan sources.
For an in-depth examination of what the Bible says about the nature of God and much more biblical evidence that God is not a Trinity, please request or download our free booklet Who Is God? Also, to understand the Bible description of the Holy Spirit as the power of God at work in the lives of believers, request or download .
Question: Which day is the Sabbath for Christian believers? Why do modern-day Christians worship on Sunday?
J.E.T., Internet
Answer: The institution of the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath as a weekly day of rest and worship goes all the way back to creation week in Genesis 2:1-3. God set the example for humankind by resting on that specific day. Indeed the Creator "blessed the seventh day and sanctified it." The word sanctify means "to set apart for a holy use and purpose."
When God led Israel out of Egyptian captivity, He again instructed them about the need to observe the Sabbath day (Exodus 16:23-30). Later God incorporated His instruction to keep the Sabbath day holy as one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). Kept from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, observant Jews still honor this same day as God's Sabbath.
During Jesus' earthly ministry He set an example of Sabbath keeping (Luke 4:16). And after Christ's death, resurrection and ascension to His Father, the early first-century Church continued to observe the seventh-day Sabbath (Acts 13:14,42,44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4).
In the centuries that followed, however, a satanic apostasy gripped the church and only a relative few remained faithful to apostolic teaching and doctrine (please see the chapter on "Counterfeit Christianity" in our free booklet The Church Jesus Built).
The seventh-day Sabbath was one of the first doctrines that fell under attack, along with many of Christ's other teachings. Those who propagated these false doctrines began to observe the first day of the week, Sunday (the day commonly used to honor the sun god in the Roman Empire), as the official day of rest.
That practice soon became almost universal among professing Christians and remains so today. But scattered groups of believers have continued to observe God's true Sabbath through the centuries. To learn more, please ask for or download our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest.
Question: Do you use the King James Version? This is the only Bible that is truly inspired of God, so it is a very deep concern of mine considering the scriptures quoted in your magazine. Please let me know.
J.H., Internet
Answer: We recognize and appreciate that some of our readers may prefer the classic English of the King James Bible of 1611. But we also believe that the New King James translation, an updated version of the King James Version with more modern language, is usually equally accurate and has the advantage of clear, reader-friendly wording. That is why we selected it as the standard translation for United Church of God publications.
Of course, we occasionally refer to other versions when they make the meaning of particular passages clearer. The fact that no Bible translation is as accurate as the original documents is explained in our free booklet How to Understand the Bible and our free reprint article Which Bible Translation Should I Use? Both are free for the asking from any of our offices.
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