How do we prove the existence of the Holy Trinity?

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I’ve been asked how to prove the existence and divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How do I respond? What evidence can I give?

I know that there are several instances in the Bible where God is viewed as (for lack of a better word) a group, consisting of multiple Beings, but All of the same will. One that comes to mind is at the very beginning of Genesis. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” (Genesis 1:26) But, that doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of the Trinity; it just means that the Trinity could exist. Where does the doctrine on the existence of the Holy Trinity come from? Thanks!
 
Goodcreature said:
I’ve been asked how to prove the existence and divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How do I respond? What evidence can I give?

I know that there are several instances in the Bible where God is viewed as (for lack of a better word) a group, consisting of multiple Beings, but All of the same will. One that comes to mind is at the very beginning of Genesis. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” (Genesis 1:26) But, that doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of the Trinity; it just means that the Trinity could exist. Where does the doctrine on the existence of the Holy Trinity come from? Thanks!
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2 Corinthians 13:13 and Matthew 28:19 are probably two of the clearest examples I can think of off the top of my head.

Matthew 3:16-17 is also good.

Edit: catholic.com/tracts/the-trinity
 
There is no trinity, there is the Father Yehowah and his son Yehowshuwa, who was brought forth before the Earth was.
The trinity is a doctrine first introduced in 325 AD by Constantine.
 
Called_out said:
There is no trinity, there is the Father Yehowah and his son Yehowshuwa, who was brought forth before the Earth was.
The trinity is a doctrine first introduced in 325 AD by Constantine.
Click to expand...
Really???
 
ask him what kinda evidence he is looking for, if he asks for scientific evidence say I can’t give this to you, and then try to proove something he know he exists without using science, love, truth, beauty, etc.

If you can get to this point try Augustines love Analogy to show why it can be a trinity and use scripture to prove it other wise.

In love there is always 3 persons involved

the lover (father)
the loved (son)
the love that goes inbetween (holy spirit)

The love of the Father eternally begets a Son, the Son is eternally loved by the Father.
the Love that itself that goes between the Father and Son is the Holy Spirit.

you could also try the psychological explination, any time you think of a memory you have 3 aspects to this and for the trinity causes 3 persons

when you have a memory you have the person having the memory (father)
you have the image in your head of the memory (son)
you have the love of that image in your head (holy spirit)

this one is alittle more difficult to rap your head around.

but even philosophically its difficult and maybe impossible to prove without help of revelation that God must be a trinity. A couple of Catholic philosophers said it must be the case I don’t remember who, but we know for certain that Christ reveled the trinity through revelation, then you have theologians/philosophers try to explain how the trinity can exist.

this isn’t simple and if someone is asking for proof you probably aren’t going to be able to give it to him.
 
well to prove it to other people while using the Bible i would use the baptismal forula found in the Scriptures. I the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. why would 3 Dinstinct names be said if They Themselves weren’t dinstinct,. not sure if that makes any sense :o
 
Called_out said:
Yes really.
ro-jo-yo.hubpages.com/hub/Lost-Truth
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The name Christian already became implanted, for before there was no such thing as Christian, they were waiting for a Messiah not a Christ. So that is one of the first thing they did is the twisting of Titles from Messias to Christ.
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Read Acts 11:26

“and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.”

But in case you think the Bible might be ‘flawed’, here’s one from Pliny the Younger 200 years before Constantine.

Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan around 96AD:

"It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished. "

That’s just one example from your interesting yet factually and historically incorrect article.
 
Called_out said:
There is no trinity, there is the Father Yehowah and his son Yehowshuwa, who was brought forth before the Earth was.
The trinity is a doctrine first introduced in 325 AD by Constantine.
Click to expand...
Matthew 3:16-17
  • And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. 17 And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased*
The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, the voice of the Father.

And this was written well before 325 AD, and not by Constantine. 😉

Jon
 
Genesis 1:1. Admittedly I’ve never read the Hebrew, nor do I know any of the language. The only word I know is “el” (god) and its plural “elohim.” But from what I’ve read online, throughout the Old Testament, Elohim is used to refer to God, and he even speaks in plural pronouns. Later on in Gen 1:26, he says “Let us make man in our image.” (Emphasis mine, text from the NAB)
 
Elisabethelisa said:
Ijust can’t stop laughing! I’m not being mean or maybe I am but your link is just soooooo funny!
You apparently found the truth so may I ask you what you’re doing here?
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The question was how to prove the existence of the trinity, I gave an answer, too bad you find it funny, Everybody answers with what they have been taught (indoctrinated). I gave an answer that I believe is correct.
 
albertus_magnus said:
2 Corinthians 13:13 and Matthew 28:19 are probably two of the clearest examples I can think of off the top of my head.

Matthew 3:16-17 is also good.

Edit: catholic.com/tracts/the-trinity
Click to expand...
Thank you! I could really use these!
If you can get to this point try Augustines love Analogy to show why it can be a trinity and use scripture to prove it other wise.
Click to expand...
In love there is always 3 persons involved
Click to expand...
the lover (father)
the loved (son)
the love that goes inbetween (holy spirit)
Click to expand...
The love of the Father eternally begets a Son, the Son is eternally loved by the Father.
the Love that itself that goes between the Father and Son is the Holy Spirit.
Click to expand...
Wow! I’ve never heard of that! I read “City of God” last year, but I don’t remember finding that analogy there. Where did Augustine write that? I absolutely loved reading "City of God,"so anything else from him that I can find I would greatly appreciate.
well to prove it to other people while using the Bible i would use the baptismal forula found in the Scriptures. I the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Click to expand...
Where is that?
But from what I’ve read online, throughout the Old Testament, Elohim is used to refer to God, and he even speaks in plural pronouns. Later on in Gen 1:26, he says “Let us make man in our image.”
Click to expand...
I’ve heard of that reference, but I thought that it wasn’t direct enough to be clear evidence to someone who doesn’t believe in the Trinity. It is great support though.

Thank you all so much!
 
JonNC said:
Matthew 3:16-17
  • And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. 17 And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased*
The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends, the voice of the Father.

And this was written well before 325 AD, and not by Constantine. 😉

Jon
Click to expand...
The bible states, that God is spirit, there is not another person playing the role of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God descending as a dove is the spirit of the Father, to show the witnesses that Yehowshuwa the Messiah is truly from God our Father.
John 4:24 KJV
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
1 John 4:6 KJV
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error
 
Called_out said:
The bible states, that God is spirit, there is not another person playing the role of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God descending as a dove is the spirit of the Father, to show the witnesses that Yehowshuwa the Messiah is truly from God our Father.
John 4:24 KJV
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
1 John 4:6 KJV
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error
Click to expand...
May I ask you, then, what John 20: 28 is all about? And why Christ did not correct him?

And also, when He used the term ‘I AM’, He was literally saying that He is God. It was blasphemous of Him to do so, or so the Jews believed. There is a reason they were outraged. He also says He is the Shepard, whom God is referred to many times in the Psalms. In John 14: 9, He also says that those who have seen Jesus have seen the Father. Again in John 10: 30, Christ says that He and the Father are one. Kinda points to consubstantialilty, doesn’t it?
 
Called_out said:
The bible states, that God is spirit, **there is not another person playing the role of the Holy Spirit. **The spirit of God descending as a dove is the spirit of the Father, to show the witnesses that Yehowshuwa the Messiah is truly from God our Father.
John 4:24 KJV
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
1 John 4:6 KJV
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error
Click to expand...
John 15:26 seems to differ.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

He doesn’t say He will send the Father.

Jon
 
It is a theological and apologetic error to try to “prove” the Trinity.

We can readily offer our good reasons for why we believe it, with all the scriptures and teachings of the Church, and we may be certain of its truth by our own faith and reason, but it is a divine mystery that cannot be proved by mere intellectual reason alone, and anyone who asserts they can prove it makes a terrible apologetic error and will get shot down by his opponents.

Stick to the teachings of the Church and her interpretations of scripture to explain and defend why we believe in the Holy Trinity, but we should never assert that we can prove it by human reasoning alone because it completely defies any vestiges of such proofs and makes its proponents appear foolish.

Mark Brumley calls this the first deadly sin of apologetics. Namely "Apologetical Gluttony"
"…Biting Off More than You Can Chew. (See discussion: Mark Brumley’s “How NOT to Share Your Faith”)
 
Goodcreature said:
I’ve been asked how to prove the existence and divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How do I respond? What evidence can I give?

I know that there are several instances in the Bible where God is viewed as (for lack of a better word) a group, consisting of multiple Beings, but All of the same will. One that comes to mind is at the very beginning of Genesis. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” (Genesis 1:26) But, that doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of the Trinity; it just means that the Trinity could exist. Where does the doctrine on the existence of the Holy Trinity come from? Thanks!
Click to expand...
God’s revalation that He is a Trinity is just that, Divine Revalation. It cannot be deduced or proven.
 
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