Unitarianism.net

Ten Short Arguments for Unitarianism

What follows are some short, concise arguments for Unitarianism. These are developed more in other resources, both on this site, and written by others, but this is intended as a brief overview of some points favoring a Unitarian view of God and Scripture.

Ten Arguments

  1. No Prophet of God, no Apostle of Jesus, and no writer of Scripture ever once took the time to write a concise statement of the doctrine of the Trinity, let alone offer a cursory explanation or clarification of the doctrine. Not a single sentence is spared to describe it. Consider how easy it would have been to write, "Brethren, God is three in one", or "Brethren, Jesus Christ is Almighty God, in the same way as the Father". Consider how many centuries of bitter debate would have been prevented, and how much bloodshed and exile would have been avoided with such simple sentences, and yet, God inspired no such sentence, anywhere. Why?

    If the doctrine were true, it would be explained in Scripture, and taught unambiguously. It would be repeated many times, and guarded against misconceptions or attacks, with clarity and precision. It would not need to be pieced together from various statements of various different authors, and then declared to be the crowning revelation of God, which one is damned for rejecting. The lack of an explicit Biblical mention or explanation of the doctrine, along with the nature in which it is constructed, gives good reason to believe that it is a later addition, not occupying the minds of the Biblical writers.
  2. When Jesus asks the disciples who they say He is, Peter responds that He is the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-17, Mark 8:27-30, Luke 9:18-20, compare John 6:67-69). Others think that He is a prophet, or Elijah, or John the Baptist (Matthew 16:13-14, Mark 8:27-28, Luke 9:18-19, 24:19, John 6:14, 7:40). The demons confess that He is the Son of God (Matthew 8:28-29, Mark 3:11-12, 5:6-9, Luke 4:41, 8:27-30), and the Devil tempts Him on that claim specifically (Matthew 4:1-6, Luke 4:1-9). John the Baptist confesses that He is the Son of God (John 1:34), Nathanael confesses that He is the Son of God (John 1:49), Martha confesses that He is the Son of God (John 11:27), the disciples in the ship with Him confess that He is the Son of God (Matthew 14:33), and John the Apostle makes that the explicit thesis of his book (John 20:30-31). None of those who are closely acquainted with Him confess that He is God (not even Thomas), which would immediately be the first and foremost thing one would mention in these situations, if they had believed it. They instead confess what are in comparison lesser titles (the anointed of God, the Son of God), because they do not believe that He is God, but one chosen by God.
  3. The first preaching of the Apostles after the resurrection, when their religion was the newest, and most in need of clarification, and the most subject to misunderstanding, totally excludes the doctrine that Jesus is God, and instead communicates that He is distinct from God, and is not God (Acts 2:22, 2:36, 3:13, 3:26, 4:10, 5:30-31, 10:38-42, 13:37-38, 17:30-31).
  4. If a subject is said to sit at the right hand of Yahweh (Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:41-45), then they are not Yahweh. A subject at the right hand of Yahweh is distinct from Yahweh. Notice how the statements that Jesus is sitting at Yahweh's right hand are simply left there by the Biblical authors (Acts 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 3:1, Hebrews 1:13, 10:12-13: 1 Peter 3:22). They do not labor to explain that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of Yahweh, but is actually Himself Yahweh. They do not qualify the statement in any way, even though if Trinitarianism were true, it would bear explaining. This is because they believe that Jesus is not Yahweh, but the Son of Yahweh.
  5. If a subject is said to be the Son of God (Mark 1:1), then they are not God. The "son of" a person is not that person. There is no attempt, by any Biblical author, to ensure that it is understood that when they write "Son of God", that this Son of God is also God, or "God the Son", or the same Being as His Father.
  6. Jesus is said to have a God, and also directly states that He has a God (Psalm 45:6-7, Micah 5:2-4, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, John 20:17, Romans 15:6: 2 Corinthians 1:3, 11:31, Ephesians 1:3, 1:17: 1 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 1:8-9, Revelation 1:5-6, 3:2, 3:12, 5:10). God does not have a God. If one has a God over them, they are not God.
  7. The Father is called "God" over 1,000 times in the New Testament. Jesus is called "God" arguably 9 times (John 1:1, 1:18, 20:28, Romans 9:5, Acts 20:28: 1 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8: 2 Peter 1:1), each of which are contested. Out of these 9 passages, 6 contain well-known textual critical or translational controversies (John 1:18, Romans 9:5, Acts 20:28: 1 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:13: 2 Peter 1:1), where if a different manuscript tradition is used, or the verse is translated differently, Jesus is not called "God". The Holy Spirit, also, is arguably called "God" a single time (Acts 5:3-4), which is also contested, and easily accommodated by a Unitarian view of the Holy Spirit. This distribution of the use of the word "God" does not communicate a Triune God, but rather, overwhelmingly favors a Unitarian view of God, where God just is the Father.
  8. The Father, Son, and Spirit are never grouped together, and then referred to as "God", anywhere in the Bible. If the Trinity is the crowning revelation of God, the fact that not a single Biblical author calls all three together as a unit "God", even once, is inconceivable.
  9. There is no word in the Bible used to refer to all three Persons within the Triune God. That is, the function that the word "Trinity" serves today, has no parallel whatsoever in the Bible. If the Trinity is the crowning revelation of God, and if it is true that one of the primary jobs of the Prophets and Apostles of God is to teach us about God, then it is inconceivable that not a single one of them has any specific term that they use to refer to the three together as a unit.
  10. If the Father is logically prior to the Son and Spirit, then the Son and Spirit are created, even if they are "begotten" or "spirated" "outside of time" or eternally, or necessarily. That is, if the Father is the original "source" of life for the Son and Spirit, and communicated His life to them, then they are created entities, as they have an entity logically prior to them, who caused them.
    • If, on the other hand, the Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct agents, all with no logically prior causes, then there are three Gods.