Linguistic reasons for the Trinity

Gorgoll2 wrote: Thank you, JW. But, wouldn´t speaking about more than one god wouldn´t be polytheism?

From a linguistic standpoint (since this is a language forum) I find that the only way to accurately categorize the Biblical data is via the Doctrine of the Trinity. This is because the data say that God is a plurality but also a singularity.

For example, John 1:1 says that the Word was πρὸς τὸν θεόν (pros ton theon) "with God" i.e., distinct from God but also that θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (theos en o logos) "the Word was God" i.e., one and the same with God.

Another example is that in John 10:30 Jesus said:

ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν (ego kai ho pater hen esmen)
I and the Father are one

On the surface, this appears to conflict with the Great Shema of the Jews in Deut 6:4:

שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה ׀ אחד ׃(shema yisrael Yahweh eloheinu Yahweh echad)

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one

and this apparent contradiction, God being one yet more than one, is why the Jews were outraged at Jesus' statement:

31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

They simply did not understand how the "one" in John 10:30 could be reconciled with the "one" in Deut 6:4. This is because this truth, God as "a singularity that is also a plurality" was a μυστήριον (mysterion - mystery) in the Old Testament--it was there but not understood--until it was fully explained in the New Testament, the clearest statement of which is Matt 28:19:

πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος,

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

This is how I see the Biblical data on the subject coming together from a linguistic standpoint. Of course others with strong linguistic skills in the Greek and Hebrew would (and have) disagree(d) with me but they seem, at least to me, to be engaging in eisegesis rather than exegesis, i.e., they are letting their theology influence their hermaneutic, rather than simply interpreting from the Hebrew and Greek based on linguistic consideration alone.

After all. the very first verse of the Bible starts out representing God linguistically as a "singularity that is also a plurality" via a plural noun with a singular verb:

בראשית ברא אלהים
bereshit bara elohim
In the beginning God created

Elohim is a plural noun
bara is in the singular

La Naturaleza Pecadora

Amerykanka wrote:

No nego lo que la corazon humana puede volverse muy perversa. Hay muchos ejemplos de esto en la Biblia. Solo digo que la alma no es intrinsecamente mala. Cuando Dios estuvo a punto de crear a Adan, dijo, "Hagamos al hombre a Nuestra imagen, conforme a Nuestra semejanza." (Genesis 1:26) Si estamos hechos a la imagen de Dios, no podemos ser intrinsecamente malos, porque Dios es bueno. Dios dijo esto antes de la Caida, pero el pecado de Adan no destruyo esta semejanza, todavia la desfiguro. Vivimos en un estado caido, pero no estamos privados de todo lo bueno.

Dios mismo crea cada alma. Las almas no pueden venir de nuestros padres. Dios no puede y no quiere crear nada que es malo, asi que nuestras almas no son intrinsecamente malas.
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El problema con el hombre no es el alma sino la naturaleza pecadora:

Porque así como en Adam todos mueren 1 Corintios 15:22

Porque como por la desobediencia de un hombre los muchos fueron constituídos pecadores Romanos 5:19

Entre los cuales todos nosotros también vivimos en otro tiempo en los deseos de nuestra carne, haciendo la voluntad de la carne y de los pensamientos; y éramos por naturaleza hijos de ira, también como los demás. Efesios 2:3

Y es esta naturaleza pecadora que es heredado de nuestros padres (y no el alma como has correctamente dicho tu).

En este respecto:

Thantophobia wrote:

Los humanos son malos. Si hay algo malo que puede ser hecho, es hecho.
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Malos como:

..adulterio, fornicación, inmundicia, disolución, idolatría, hechicerías, enemistades, pleitos, celos, iras, contiendas, disensiones, herejías, envidias, homicidios, borracheras, banqueteos, y cosas semejantes á éstas. Gálatas 5:19-21

los malos pensamientos, muertes, adulterios, fornicaciones, hurtos, falsos testimonios, blasfemias. Mateo 15:19

fornicación, inmundicia, molicie, mala concupiscencia, y avaricia, que es idolatría Colosenses 3:5

Por eso, la declaración de Jeremías:

Engañoso es el corazón más que todas las cosas, y perverso; ¿quién lo conocerá?
Jeremías 17:9

Tatoo Marks

JW, this is striking to see indeed. But what does the Hebrew mean? Something with tattoo? Obviously in Hebrew "to tattoo" is meaning also "to destroy, ruin." Were you speaking of this ambiguity?

It's from Leviticus and it is a prohibition against tattoos. Very clever, JW.

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Yes, it is specifically from Leviticus 19:28 which reads: ושרט לנפש לא תתנו בבשרכם וכתבת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני יהוה

You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.


כתבת (ketobet) is another hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible which means: an impression, inscription, mark. The Septuagint translators rendered this as γράμμα meaning letters or writing.

Thus כתבת קעקע (ketobet qaqa) = tatoo marks. There are two reasons for the prohibition:

1. In the ancient world, such tatoo marks were used in the worship of idols with the symbol and/or the name of the idol imprinted on the body.

2. This was considered as a disfigurement of the body, and thus of God's workmanship, since Man was created in the image of God.

I find it generally very useful to drill down on fashions and trends and investigate their origins. Many of them go back to ancient times and often have links to practices with which I do not wish to be associated.קעקע (qaqa) is a hapax legomenon (a word occurring only once) in the Hebrew Bible which means: a mark branded in the skin, incision, imprint, tatoo, mark. The Bilingual Jewish Elders tranlsated this word as στίγμα (stigma) in the Greek of the Septuagint and this word has been taken directly into English "stigma."