The Final Excommunication

What came next at the All-Star Theologians Reunion was almost beyond belief! There had been a few awkward moments to be sure but by and large the church “fathers” had behaved themselves reasonably well in spite of old disagreements. That all changed dramatically when Athanasius asked for a few moments to address the group “from the heart”. He said he didn’t have any carefully prepared remarks but simply wanted to share his feelings. This was an exceptional request from a man who had spent his entire life speaking “from the head.” Now he wanted to share what was in his heart!

Athanasius Liked to Argue!

A few people thought Athanasius might have mellowed since the great Ecumenical Council in Nicea. His request to make a few remarks at this particular session was taken by some as a clue that he wanted to sow peace and reconciliation in the Body of Christ. It turned out they were wrong. He still felt like arguing! Interestingly enough, the session he chose for sharing his heart was listed on the Reunion Program as “The Mark of the Lamb“. The theme was “By this shall all men know you are my disciples if you have love for each other.” The irony of what followed was exquisite.

Athanasius Against the World!

Athanasius’ adversaries had some pretty uncharitable nicknames for him (you’ll have to research them yourself if you’re interested). Suffice it to say his enemies were not shy about using well-placed insults when it suited them. History tells us that Athanasius was known for his adversarial and confrontational approach and was generally argumentative with everyone! Maybe it was his basic temperament or maybe he just liked arguing since he was so good at it. Athanasius even had his own brand name and became known as “Athanasius Contra Mundum” which meant “Athanasius Against the World”.

Athanasius Argued With  Everyone!

Our great theologian from Alexandria argued with just about everyone! His most notable conflicts were with Arius, Eusebius and Emperor Constantine, along with Emperors Constantius II, and Emperors Valens and Julian too. Athanasius used his political connections to excommunicate and banish his religious rivals whenever he was in favor with a particular Roman Emperor. Sometimes though, the political tides would turn against him and then his rivals would exile and excommunicate him! His career was an ongoing drama of forced exiles followed by a return to ecclesiastical power… until the next time. Then the cycle would start all over again. Four different Roman Emperors excommunicated and banished Athanasius on five different occasions! That’s just how it goes when you hitch your wagon to an earthly star and Athanasius had hitched his wagon firmly to the power of the Roman empire.

Heretics, Scoundrels and Traitors

Athanasius: Beloved friends and brothers!  You all know it is my custom to bring you well-reasoned and eloquent arguments for our doctrines and traditions but today my heart is stirred and the time has come for something more. I have a few things to get off my chest and want to clear the air about how some people have treated me. Most of you already know that Eusebius is a scoundrel through and through! If he wasn’t I wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of having him banished and excommunicated in the first place. It was a great disappointment to me when afterwards he got Constantine’s ear and had me excommunicated and banished. What a rat!

Arius, Constantine and Eusebius Were All Against Him!

I was faced with Arius the heretic, Emperor Constantine the backstabber and Eusebius the weasel and they were all against me! I’m not going to bore you with all the sordid details of how they shamelessly disagreed with some of my finest theological arguments for the trinity. It is enough to say they did and they were not the only ones! Emperors Constantius II, Valens and Julian also banished me a few times after I’d been excommunicated by some second-rate bishops and councils who were just jealous of my prominence.

Athanasius Excommunicates Everyone!

What really gets under my skin is that the reunion organizers allowed some of these characters to come to this reunion and even let them speak!  I can’t even tell you how ticked off I am about that! Anyway, they are such colossal disappointments I have decided to excommunicate all of them personally and permanently. Yes, that includes the reunion organizers too! I have made up my mind so there is no need to convene a council or take a vote or anything like that. Don’t go running to old Constantine either! His days are over and his power is broken. I’m warning you ahead of time. Don’t even try to argue with me because it won’t do you any good. Just remember that the creeds you know and believe in were my writings and ideas!

A Janitor Rebuked the Great Theologian

Pragmatticus was up in the rafters again and had heard all he could take. He didn’t start cussing but he did have something to say. “That’s the whole problem Smarticus! The things you argued for and established were your ideas and that’s why they caused so much trouble. You were smart enough to overwhelm your human opponents but you will never overwhelm God! If the things you taught were simply God’s words they would have brought peace and blessing to those who heard them. Your prideful words only brought division and bloodshed. The legacy of your dogma started with your arrogant claim that to be saved men had to think of God in the incomprehensible way you declared. You will be remembered for your brazen desire to banish and excommunicate anyone who disagrees with you. Thank God the Kingdom is not yours!

Athanasius: I recognize that voice! That’s the janitor Pragmatticus! Who does he think he is to disagree with me? People like him who don’t even have an advanced degree in theology really aggravate me! How did he get invited to our reunion anyway? I hereby excommunicate him too. No one gets in the Kingdom unless I say so…  and I say it takes understanding and complying with the creed that bears my name!

A Still Small Voice Was Heard…

A Still Small Voice was heard saying, “Truly, truly I tell you I am the door of the sheep. I am the way and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. I am the door. If anyone enters by me he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.”

Some listeners decided there was a big difference between what was in the heart of Athanasius and what was in the heart of God.

PS: We don’t think the Athanasian Creed expresses what is in the heart of God at all! That’s our honest opinion anyway. What’s yours? By the way… we’d sure appreciate it if you would share this website with a friend. Believing Christians should at least be aware of the perspective we try to share at       www.theologyallstars.com    Thanks and God Bless.

Copyright 2021 by Bob Shutes

What God Did Not Say

It is sacrilege to put words in God’s mouth. It is the height of hubris to speak for God, as if God did not make Himself clear. When it comes to religion, theologians cannot help themselves; they simply must speak for God. The theological fallout is lay Christians carry the heavy burden of attempting to justify how there are three in one and one in three when it comes to the “godhead.” What a curious and non- Biblical term that is. This becomes ever more complicated when fiddling with defining the divine and human natures of Jesus as a part of the three-in-one “godhead.”

God certainly did speak to His creation. There are many hundreds of Biblical references to God speaking to His people from Genesis to Revelation. In the first verse of Genesis, God created His creation. Then, in the first short chapter, He specifically spoke, proclaiming His work was good. Adam and Eve were spoken to, as was Moses. Throughout the Old Testament God spoke to His people and His Prophets. In the Gospels God and Jesus had some of the most intimate and compelling exchanges in the Bible. Finally, God spoke to the Apostles and the writers of the Bible. Recognize Scripture is not merely a collection of Bible stories. It IS the spoken word of God.

When God speaks, it is often an awesome event. “The Lord thundered from heaven” (2 Samuel 22:14). “The God of glory thundereth” and “the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness” (Psalms 29: 3-9). The longest conversation with God comes in the Book of Job. The tremendous tenor of it is made plain in Chapter 38 when God speaks from the whirlwind asking Job where he was when the foundations of the earth were laid, and if he could change the stars in the sky. All the way to Revelation God speaks with unequivocal authority: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Revelation 1:8). Awesome, just awesome!

God does not always speak with the voice of intimidating and dramatic events or revelation. In the 18th and 19th chapters of First Kings, Elijah was pursued by Jezebel wanting to kill him but was thwarted by an earthquake and fire. God comforted the exhausted Elijah with “a still small voice.” God spoke to Jesus solemnly as in famous Luke 3:22: “Thou art My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

God is succinctly summed up in the Shema of the Hebrew and Jewish tradition from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Notice the one. God specifically reiterates this with “I am the Lord thy God” no less than seven times: Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6, Psalms 81:10, Isaiah 43:3, Isaiah 48:27, Isaiah 51:15, and Hosea 13:4. In Genesis and Exodus alone God spoke in the singular twenty-seven times about the covenants with Israel using “My covenant” and “I covenant.” And, when God spoke to Jesus, it was always in the singular. Of the many hundreds of times when God spoke, there is only one oddity.

“Let us make man in our image.” Genesis 1:26 is simple fodder for those who are compelled to make a sophomoric attempt at speaking for God. This “us” is in no way evidence of a trinity, but rather God and His attendant angels. God makes it clear He is a single God when He tells us, “I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by Myself” (Isaiah 44:24). God reiterates this again with, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5). These verses among hundreds of others tell us God is one God. But because one errant interpretation among the hundreds of other singular verses, theologians and indoctrinated lay Christians believe they can speak for God in the pluralistic three-in-one and the one-in-three.

It is a pretty big deal for God to be three persons in one being. In fact, this is the biggest deal of all in the Bible and the biggest deal to Christians. Lay Christians labor over this mystery, and theologians build entire careers on this conundrum. However, and this is a gigantic HOWEVER, not once did God ever say, “We, the three-in-one and the one-in-three, covenant with Israel.” God did not compel Job with, “We will demand of thee, and thou will answer Us” (Job 38:3). From the second verse of the Bible to the second to the last verse of the Bible, God did not say: “Surely We will come quickly” (Revelation 22:20).

Six times God tells us He is a jealous God. Tampering with His words and His being is the height of hubris. Christians needn’t speak for God. There is no need or reason to pick up the weight of a man- made mystery and turn God into an egg or water. All we need do is accept God the Father, His Son the Christ, and listen to the gift of our Paraclete in the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, Jeremiah 33 tells us He (not we) will forgive our inequities and remember our sin no longer. It is sacrilege to speak for God!

Bubbles of Glass

The theological term “Bubbles” is not often used and in fact, this may be the first time. Yet, it may very well be one of the most important terms needed in an honest discussion of religion. The glass bubbles we live in whether large or small tint our own personal spiritual universe. We defend our religious beliefs as vigorously as we defend our family. In these modern times a “live and let live” attitude prevails…. to a point. As long as we are left alone in our glass bubbles, all is well. It doesn’t much matter to a Baptist if a Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal or Catholic exist, as long as they don’t criticize the Baptist.

Seventeen hundred years ago people were murdered if they believed in ek duo physeon instead of en duo physeon, i.e., Jesus has a human and divine nature or a single nature that is both divine and human. This subtle difference is usually ignored in the contemporary culture of our churches, unless someone pushes the point. Will you agree only Jesus the divine can save all of mankind from eternal damnation? If so, will you further agree that Jesus as a co-equal third of the Triune Godhead cannot suffer, and since God cannot suffer, the crucifixion is thereby made an ersatz show? Or, is Jesus an admixture of the divine and human and therefore not a co-equal One in Trinity? Ages ago these questions required deep theological thought, not to mention extreme coercion to the point of torture and murder. This man-made question and other deep ones are answered within our preferred bubble one way or another. To paraphrase one writer, “Orthodoxy is my doxy and heresy is the other guy’s doxy.”

We see clearly through our church bubbles that make complete sense to us. This sense depends on which questions are considered most important, which verses of Scripture are emphasized, and the logic of our man-made arguments. For instance, The Twelve Articles of Faith clearly lay out what it means to be a Catholic. Article 3 addresses the physeon issue in the previous paragraph. It was further addressed by Leo’s Tome as a major topic in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon. Other sects may not have as long of a history as the Catholic Church, but they have equally sound arguments defending their stance on the Bible and their beliefs.

Analogous to the Twelve Articles, but longer, is the Lutheran Book of Concord. This collection of nine writings reacts to the Catholic faith as well as being expressions of doctrine, ecumenical creeds, and confessional writings. This book is the foundation for Lutheranism, but it leaves room for the franchised variations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Missouri Synod.

John Wesley in the latter 1700’s unintentionally broke away from the Church of England. Methodists emphasize Matthew 16:18 and the concepts of “My church,” “practical divinity,” acting on one’s faith, and being social among other believers. Interestingly, Wesley coined the phrase, “agree to disagree.”

It is impossible to explain any bubble in a sentence or two. Trotting out a list of Christian denominations would fill a long chronological book or could come from the perspective of mainstream to the fringe. Many consider Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and Seventh Day Adventists some of the more outlying flavors of Christianity. Nevertheless, once a believer accepts the tenets of a particular bubble, all makes good sense within that bubble, and all is well. How good it is to be accepted and approved by other folks who live in your own bubble!

The logical consistency of a Catholic bubble is certainly there, but that game is played and won only by those living within that rose-colored bubble. The practicing Catholic’s relationship to the church, to the social order, to marriage, and a host of other elements have that Catholic rose tint applied to everything. Unitarians see everything in the orange glow of a non-judgmental God and are concerned with the more worldly matters of human dignity, justice, and peace. Lutherans have a lovely blue bubble wherein the wretched sinner can be saved only thru grace reinforced by sacraments. Conversely, The Salvation Army has next to no sacraments in its green bubble. No one is really quite sure how the Pentecostals and Baptists color their bubbles.

The Catholic Church has the longest history of men defining and refining their belief system. Martin Luther obviously instigated a break therefrom and very quickly the Lutheran sect caught fire. Similarly about the same time, John Calvin and a dozen other malcontents constituted the Reformation Movement which evolved into the Episcopal, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches. Two hundred years later John Wesley began the Methodist church. In modern times William Booth broke from the Methodists to found the Salvation Army, and Charles Russel founded the Jehovah Witnesses. This list of churchmen also extends to volumes.

Glass bubbles are created by men. The tenets of the Bible have not changed in two thousand years, but along the way men built glass walls between themselves and other Christians. The Bible remained clearly laid out, but men said the Trinity must be this way or that, and Jesus must have two natures or a single nature with two elements. As soon as men defined God, Jesus, and how the Bible ought to be read, tinted bubbles were formed separating Christians from Christians. As yet another example, the Mennonites are from the Reformed Movement, but the Quakers were from the Anglican Movement.

A great and ironic example of a significantly tinted bubble is the Separatist Movement of the Pilgrims, the Puritans if you will. It is an inspiring but totally wrong notion to think the Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom. In 1608 a group moved from England to Holland for greater religious freedom. They found the “devil may care” attitude of liberal Amsterdam adversely affected their children with examples of licentious living. They packed up and came to American where they could enforce less religious freedom; where their children could be raised within stricter puritan boundaries.

My hometown was founded in later 1800 by French Catholic fur traders. Soon thereafter immigrants from Scandinavia settled to work the lumber mills in the northern forests of Minnesota. For a hundred years there were Catholics who divided into French and Polish churches and Lutherans separated into Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian churches. Eventually Presbyterian and Episcopal churches were established. Even among the Lutherans subtle tints of blue separated the lighter shade of the Norwegians from the mid-range of the Swedes from the darker bubble of the Finns. The Finns considered the Norwegians wildly liberal and inappropriate. Even in a small town our glass bubbles separated neighbor from neighbor. We could clearly see the other denominations through our bubbles but not very easily relate to them.

A single Gospel message evolved, or is it devolved, into more than a hundred bubbles of different tints. What should Christians do about this? Does God intend to burst your bubble? In a word, yes! Christians ought to recognize that their bubble is a human construct rooted in how a man lobbied for this or that question and this or that answer. Nothing Biblical can separate one Christian from another. It is only man’s ideas and not God’s that separate us.

Does this mean there should be no bubbles whatsoever? In a word, yes. This, though, does not mean God’s church cannot react to society differently from one time or place to another. The great Gothic cathedrals were a glimpse of heaven on earth during very difficult times. Veritable shacks were the needed solace of exuberant worship on slave plantations. And, storefronts offer refuge to the homeless in inner cities.

Christians should be mindful of seeing the world through the tinted glass bubbles of men’s thoughts rather than God’s principles plainly laid out in Scripture. Is there room for discussion? Of course, but let us recognize that some things are secret to God. For example, men ought not ask nosy questions about His substance and the nature(s) of Jesus. Those questions only create bubbles separating Christians from Christians.

Man disregards how God explains Himself and His Son

Golfing Reveals the Trinity

A Day on the Golf Course

The last session of the All Stars Reunion, A Road Less Traveled, caused quite a stir! The uninvited intruder that showed up left many of the attendees feeling rattled.  Others thought a social break was in order anyway and that right now would be a good time for it. The Reunion Committee decided some good old-fashioned rest and relaxation was definitely in order! When someone suggested a golf outing the idea was received with enthusiasm by one and all. Emperor Constantine had just completed his mental health hold and he clearly needed some fresh air and fun. A day on the golf course was just what the doctor ordered!

Author’s Note: Golfers know full well that playing the game is almost as maddening as trying to understand the trinity! Now at long last, all is made clear. Understanding golf will definitely help you understand the trinity! The author hopes to bring clarity and peace to golfers everywhere and put an end to the epidemic of profanity heard on our golf courses today.

High Hopes and Good Intentions

It’s hard to imagine what it must be like for an emperor to play golf for the first time, but we shall try! The day began with high hopes and good intentions. The “church fathers” had never even heard of golf but thought it sounded like fun. Everyone agreed it would be a wonderful way to relieve some tension and create good will. Little did they know! The whole group felt energized and exhilarated as the day began. The idea of golf was exciting but the reality of golf was something altogether different! (Readers who have played the game will know exactly what I mean.)

Theologians Competed for Preeminence

Tensions began to rise when the  church fathers tried to decide who would drive the golf carts. Many refused to ride with anyone whose opinions were other than their own. The Romans felt they should be first in everything. The Alexandrians were convinced they knew more than anyone and that they alone should drive. The Antiochians argued for the beauty and history of their fair city. The team from Jerusalem just KNEW that no one was more qualified to lead and Constantinople insisted on preeminence too. Our esteemed theologians competed for preeminence even though none of them knew a thing about golf!

Emperor Constantine Made the Rules

In spite of his golfing ignorance Constantine was to be the final arbiter in all disputes, just like at Nicea. His decisions were final, authoritative and binding on all golfers. This was most apparent when he tallied scores after each hole. No matter how many strokes a player might claim, Constantine had the final say. This was especially true of his own scores. No one dared challenge the accuracy or math of the emperor’s scorecard! On the very first hole took nine strokes to put his ball in the cup but he gave himself a three!  Then he proudly declared that he had just made par on his very first hole ever!

The Logic of the Trinity Prevailed

Some golfers argued that Constantine’s counting was faulty but he silenced them with indisputable trinitarian logic! The emperor proclaimed that three strokes in play equaled one stroke in scoring! He said there was no difference between three strokes playing and one stroke scoring since they were all of the same essence.  Therefore his nine strokes were actually just three strokes and did anyone want to argue about it? It’s pretty hard to argue with that kind of logic! A unitary score subsists in a plurality of strokes and these must not be confounded or distinguished. It was all very reminiscent of the arguments that held sway in Nicea.

What is the Meaning of One?

Some players foolishly insisted that one stroke equals one stroke and that the meaning of one is simply one. Not surprisingly this caused them to be banned from play and their scorecards were burned and taken out of circulation. Those who persisted in their contrary ways were removed from the course and never seen again. Players who wisely supported the emperor were hailed as true champions of golf and also enjoyed imperial favor.

The Golfer’s Creed

“Multiple strokes in essence equal single strokes in scoring and the final score is thus a true and single score. Those who would play golf must first acknowledge that this is the only true and orthodox rule.”  This statement was formally approved by Emperor Constantine himself and became became known as the golfer’s creed!  Many believe this explains why it is so important to keep a close eye on other players. The Golfers’ Creed created much uncertainty and debate about how a plurality of actual strokes could somehow equal a single scoring stroke.  Ultimately, most people accepted the fact that just because words are supposed to have meaning doesn’t mean that they mean what they mean at all! That was the beauty of the golfer’s creed!

Confusion Owned the Day

Later in the day a great deal of confusion arose over the meaning of the word four, or as some prefer, fore. Inevitably this raised the question of when or even if, it is ever proper to shout “fore” after hitting a bad ball. Misunderstandings over words and ideas began to multiply and some proclaimed that confusion owned the day. Debate also raged over whether an eagle should be considered a birdie or some other type of fowl. Some questioned if it is legal to use a putter to gently move the ball toward the hole or is the time-honored foot nudge the only acceptable method?

The Blind Were Leading the Blind

By the end of the day it became clear that the “blind were leading the blind” and no one was any the better for it!   The Church Fathers were “ever golfing but never coming to a knowledge of the game” (see II Timothy 3:7).  All in all though, it had been a fine day on the golf course and at least everyone got plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

PS: Once you begin to grasp the implications of Trinitarian Logic lots of things begin to make sense! Even if its peculiar reasoning doesn’t make any sense at all we can still have some fun with it. May God Bless us all, each and every one.

Copyright 2021 by Bob Shutes

Satan’s Fingerprints

The Screwtape Letters is a book by C. S. Lewis wherein is a collection of fictitious letters from Satan to his son advising him on how best to turn humans towards hell. His advice boils down to ‘all you need to do is nudge the believer slightly off the path.’ Satan saw no need convert the believer to a full fledged Wiccan. Just as a small nudge to an archer sends the arrow wildly off its target, a small nudge from Satan can send the believer disastrously off course. This little push can be seen in the non-Biblical creeds men write. Creeds separate Christians from Christians. This is especially evident in the concept of the Trinity. Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

The very early centuries of Christianity saw converts believing in the Gospels. Simple enough. Some Romans began to ask nosy questions about Christians being polytheists as they believed in three gods, even four if Mary is thrown in the mix as the mother of one of the gods. The hubris of the first theologians caused them to answer in writing. Once written the answer could be criticized and had to be defended. Schools of thought developed in the east in Antioch and Constantinople and in the west in Alexandria and Carthage. The following centuries saw Holy sees established in these cities with all the accoutrements of wealth, power, and prestige. Each jealously protected its power while demanding the others become subservient to their answers, that is their creed.

Whichever city had the most facile answer, and the ear of the emperor, won the power. The argument of the time revolved around understanding the true nature of Jesus and His relation to the Father and the Spirit. Conclaves of bishops convened a number of times to defend one position or another. Ever more precise creeds were drafted explaining the Three in One of the Trinity and the dual nature, or not, of Christ. These creeds defining the true nature of Jesus were voted on and assented to by bishops. The end result of the winning creed was the winning city winning the power.

The process of maintaining power is an interesting one. What it was not was the prayerful meditations of bishops waiting on the Holy Spirit to guide them to a correct understanding of the Trinity. The goal of the process was to protect and hold the see with all of its perks of wealth and power that go along with such a prestigious position. Most often this meant stamping out the opposition, i.e., anathematizing and exiling the opposition – and worse. This process was generally a statement of the opposing positions, arguing the points of each position, voting on the proper position, and writing or revising a new creed for the bishops to sign on to. This seems reasonable as long as they prayed about how to vote.

Fun fact: The Second Council of Ephesus was so rowdy Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople was beaten by a thousand monks while clinging to the altar. (An actual one thousand monks were waiting outside and called in by Dioscorus to do their worst.) After a few days he died because of this beating. At another point during the Council, April 12, 449 to be precise, the holy conclave of bishops became so enraged at the reading of a certain letter that they chanted, “These things pollute our ears. …Cyril is immortal. …Let Ibas be burnt in the midst of the city of Antioch. …Exile is of no use. Nestorius and Ibas should be burnt together!” These are the precise words penned by scribes at the time of this incident. It cannot be stressed enough that our creeds of today were NOT the result of prayerful meditations of devout men of the cloth waiting to be moved by the Holy Spirit.

The process of argument, rebuttal, and voting seems reasonable at first blush. However, the truth is the voting bishops were buttonholed in back rooms by the more powerful in order to convince them of the correct position. This convincing came in the form of beatings, bribes, and threats of exile. It cannot be emphasized enough that intimidation thru violence was the norm and not the exception; for most it did not take much convincing to see the light. Soon there were enough right minded votes to support this creed or that properly defining the relationships of the Trinity. The inspiration of greed, violence, and bribery was surely not God’s intent. Surely it was not God’s intent to split His church into an east warring with a west. This acrimony has Satan’s fingerprints all over it.

In order to win the day, or more properly to justify the day, the first nine Great Councils invented brand new theological terms. Homoousios and homoiousios related the substance of Jesus to the substance of the Father. Prosopon and the hypostatic union related the human and divine elements of Jesus. The Christian world devolved into Dyophysites and Monophysites. Eventually dynamic monarchicianism and modalistic monarcharianism developed. These terms and many others were the result of wrestling with the concept of the Trinity and the person of Jesus.

In modern times theologians and philosophers still wrestle with the Trinity, but rarely does one theologian physically beat another. Their arguments, though, are no less robust. To understand a position these days requires advanced university training. To the regular Christian in the pews the Trinity is a mystery to be left to the theologians. Unfortunately, it is not just set aside as a mystery. The unlearned Christian not only carries the burden of not knowing, but argues their version of the Trinity with other Christians. Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

In these gentle days of Christianity the Trinity is based on this verse or that depending on one’s sect. Instead of fighting one another over the concept, demure Christians just say it’s a mystery that might be the case. They believe it is only for the highly educated to know such things, so let’s just say the Trinity might be real. It is this state of equivocation that Satan wants in us. As for the mystery of the Three in One and the human and divine in Jesus, Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

If we cannot be sure of the nature of Jesus and the Trinity, what else are we unsure of? It is a dangerous nudge Satan gives us by fomenting the mystery. This approach is the same as contending all emeralds are grue. This means the jewels are blue in color until they are observed. At the instant they are observed they become green. This might be the case, but it is ridiculous to believe so. No doubt Satan is pleased if we doubt the physical world. But, Satan must be ecstatic when we doubt and “dispute” the Trinity and the nature of Jesus. Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

Not only was the concept of the Trinity and the nature of Jesus born out of violent intimidation, these issues sow doubt about the very nature of God the Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Man’s definitions have split the Christian church, weighed down Christians with an unfathomable mystery, caused rifts among everyday Christians, and have led to ridiculous “it might be” suppositions. Satan’s fingerprints are all over this.

So what is the solution to the conundrums? The first step is to realize the questions are man-made, if not the direct result of Satan’s nudge to contention. The second is to realize some things are secret to God, Christ, and the Spirit. Jesus, the Great Teacher, did not forget to teach the disciples about His nature, He chose to not teach about His nature. Furthermore, He never asked the disciples to write a creed and exhort a theology explaining His nature. Therefore, set these matters aside and do not allow Satan to contend with you. Do not contend with other Christians about such things as the Trinity. Humbly believe in God the Father, Christ the Savior, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Life in faith will be light and without provocations with other Christians. Do not be nudged off the path by Satan’s fingerprints.

Copyright 2021 by Greg Hallback