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A look at the beliefs and perspective of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. How can we best communicate with people with this worldview? Listen to the LectureIn the 19th and 20th century, a number of uniquely American off-shoots of Christianity grew out of the Great Awakening and adventist movements. Their beliefs and practices look similar to the American Protestantism of the era, but their beliefs looked back to some of the ancient heresies of the church. The single most defining doctrine where these new sects broke from orthodox Christianity is the doctrine of the trinity. Today many of these non-orthodox sects are eager to present their churches as truly Christian. The Latter Day Saints, for example, have increasingly been marketing them selves as “the church of Jesus Christ , and then responding to those who would question their Christianity by stating that they are of course Christian because they have the name of Christ in the name of their church. The Book of Mormon is now subtitled, “another testament of Christ.” But what makes someone truly Christian? Is it the name attached to the church, or is it adherence to the beliefs of orthodox Christianity? The term orthodox and heresy are not statements of judgment about the sincerity, but a question of whether or not these sects believe in the long held historic beliefs of the church. When it comes to the trinity, both the LDS church and Jehovah's Witnesses are clearly outside the orthodox teaching on the nature of God and the nature of Christ. The TrinityBiblical Teaching On the TrinityThe Old Testament Teaching Regarding the TrinityThe Unity of God (Deut. 6:4)The clarity of Deuteronomy 6:4 demands that we regard this passage as definitive in the nature of God. “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is One!” There is only one God, and that One God is unified, in perfect balance. But while the concept is simple, that does not necessitate that God himself is simple, or of only one personality. Merely that whatever His nature is, it will be unified and completely consistent with the rest of His character. The word “One” used in this passage is also used in Genesis 2:24, where the institution of marriage is founded. Here, God declares that a husband and wife “shall become ONE flesh.” Certainly there are still two distinct persons within the marriage, but in some mystical sense, a husband and wife are of one substance, or flesh. They are united. So it is with God. He is one substance, united. The relationship of the Spirit to Yahweh (Isaiah 48:12-16)God speaks in this prophecy to Judah through the prophet Isaiah, to comfort them with His coming deliverance from Babylon. God first identifies himself in verse 12 as three “I am's.” “I am He, I am the first, I am the last.” This is clearly Yahweh, the self-existent one who exists from eternity past to eternity future. He then assures them that He is in control of what is happening with the Babylonians and that He is "against" Him. (Contrast this with how the name of Yahweh assures Israel that He is for them) In verse 16 we seem to still have Yahweh speaking, discussing how He is going to deliver Israel. Yet the speaker says, “The Lord Yahweh has sent Me and His Spirit.” If Yahweh is sending the speaker, then who is this speaker, this I am first and last, spoken of in verse 12? Here it seems there is a unity of Yahweh who has distinct persons with different roles to play sent by the Father. The comparison does not end there, for we see in verse 17 that Yahweh, our God is the one who teaches and guides us. Yet this is specifically a role set forth for the Holy Spirit in John 17. Furthermore, verse 16 describes the going forth of the Spirit. This would lend proof to the unity of the Spirit of God with God himself. Jesus' Teaching Regarding the TrinityJesus on the Oneness of GodJesus affirmed that God is one. When asked what is the most important commandment in the Old Testament, He affirms Deuteronomy 6:4. (Mark 12:29) Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.'” Jesus' relationship with the FatherJohn 8:51-59i. The context – Jesus is in a heated discussion with the Pharisees and other Jews. Jesus has been trying to show them their sinfulness and their own need for salvation. Furthermore that by believing in Him, they “will never taste of death” (v. 52). The Jews respond by stating that Abraham and the prophets died, and question Jesus as to who exactly he thinks he is. Does he really regard himself as more than Abraham (vs. 52-53)? Jesus' response astounds these people. In verse 56 He states, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” This was a preposterous claim. Jesus was a relatively young man who was claiming to have seen Abraham. The Jews believe Jesus is insane for making this statement. ii. The claim – Jesus' response is an even more preposterous (or shall we say blasphemous) statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Note, he does not say that before Abraham was born, he was. He said I AM. He is specifically using this to assert his claim that He is Yahweh, the Great I AM. He is claiming to be God himself, in the flesh, having existed from eternity past, self-existent, independent, and here willing to reach down and redeem His people. iii. The response – The Jews understand this claim and immediately seek to execute this blasphemer. But what should our response to this be? What is the relationship that Jesus has to the God of Israel, Yahweh? Jesus is clearly claiming to be Yahweh. Yet He has also distinguished himself in this passage from the Father, “whom you say, ‘He is our God.'” (vs. 54). He states that He and the Father are both God, but are distinct persons with different roles. John 10:22-39i. The context – The Jews directly ask Jesus again, who He is. Is He the Christ? ii. The claim – Jesus responds by telling them in verse 30, “I and the Father are One.” They pick up stones, ready to kill Him. But He asks why? He cites his works as evidence of this oneness with the Father, and then reasserts the claim in verse 38, “the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” iii. The response – The Jews do not misunderstand His claim. Again they seek to kill Him. Jesus is claiming a special relationship with the Father. In verse 30 He claims unity with the Father. They are One. But He also shows a distinction between the two, stating that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father. The grammatical gender of the word “one” is neuter, meaning that Jesus was not claiming to be the same person as the Father, but was united with the Father and was as divine as the Father (Ryrie, 54) . The relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and Son (John 14:23-26)Jesus does not just claim a special relationship with the Father, but with another person: The Spirit. In John 14:23, Christ promises that the Father and He will together abide in those who love Him. But how will this abiding take place? In verse 26 we see that the Father will send, in the name of Christ, a Helper, the Holy Spirit. This Helper will teach, bear witness of Jesus (15:26), convict (16:8-9), and guide into truth (16:13) This third person, the Holy Spirit, is distinguished from the Father and the Son, and yet is closely tied into the work of the Father and the Son. The work of the Spirit involves things that only God can do (i.e. convict of sin and righteousness), thus demonstrating Jesus belief that the Spirit was divine. ConclusionJesus taught that there is only one God. Yet Jesus regards himself in a united relationship with the Father. The Jews rightly interpreted that in claiming to be united to the Father, Jesus was declaring himself to be equal in divinity to the Father. Jesus also taught that another like himself, the Holy Spirit, was divine, yet distinct in His role. The New Testament Teaching Regarding the TrinityThe Unity of God in the New TestamentThe New Testament does not does not contradict the Unity of God, and in fact, reaffirms the Oneness of God. This fundamental belief is taken for granted in James 2:19, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 and 1 Timothy 2:5. However, the coming of Christ and the Holy Spirit raised questions as to how exactly these persons fit with the unity of God. The Distinction of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the New TestamentWhile the unity of God is assumed in much of the New Testament, these books also emphasize the distinctness and uniqueness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:4-6, in a passage reminiscent of Deut. 6:4, declares that there is not just one God and Father, but also one Spirit, and one Lord (i.e. Christ). 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 exhibits this same distinctness and unity. The distinction is not just in form, but also in role. Ephesians 2:18 is one example of how access to the Father is shown as coming through Jesus in the Spirit. I John 4:12-15 and 1 Peter 1:2 also show similar roles. Finally, Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Clearly the New Testament teaches these three entities are distinct. Other Important PassagesColossians 1:15Jesus is declared to be the image of God, the firstborn of all creation. This has caused some to believe that Christ is a created being, not equal to God. In this view, Jesus is still “semi-divine,” being the “first born.” This is the Greek word “proto-to'kos,” meaning the first born. However, if the accent symbol is moved back one syllable, the word is now “pro-tot'-okos,” it changes the verb to the passive voice. This would change the meaning to ‘the first bearer of all creation.” Accents were not included in the Greek text until the 16 th century, and the changing of such an accent can have a profound difference in meaning (Brake) . John 1:14Jesus is said here to also be the “only begotten” of the Father. Again, this is used to state that Jesus was created by the Father, thereby making him not fully divine. However, the term only-begotten can also be translated, “one-of-a-kind,” or “unique.” This is confirmed by the usage of the same word in Hebrews 11:17, where Isaac is considered Abraham's “only-begotten” son, when Isaac was neither the only son nor even the first born son of Abraham (that distinction belonging to Ishmael) (The Theology Program, 114) . In both the Colossians and the John passage, the term begotten or first born speaks not to Christ being created, but being of first priority. John 1:1 makes that clear, showing that Christ was with God already in the beginning, and that Christ was indeed God from eternity past. 1 John 5:6-8Certain later manuscripts found in the West include the words: …in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one And there are three that testify on earth, the Spirit. This, however, is not found in most of the earliest manuscripts, and in none of the manuscripts found in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the West there was a prevalent heresy called Arianism (see below) which denied the Trinity. Therefore most scholars today believe this passage was not part of the original manuscript, but was added here to combat the Arian heresy (Brake 2003) . Conclusions
The Trinity DefinedThe doctrine of the Trinity can be summarized as follows: There is One God who eternally exists in three distinct persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit- all of whom are fully God, all of whom are equal (The Theology Program, 82) . Ancient Heresies
However, by the late third century AD, persecution began to wane, and by AD 318 the Roman emperor Constantine issued an edict of toleration towards Christianity. By AD 325 Christianity was made the state religion, and by AD 338, Christianity was the only legal religion and paganism was persecuted just as the Christians had been. After Christianity became tolerated by the government, the church now began to explore many of the important doctrines, not the least of which was this dichotomy between God's oneness and His three-ness. There were several viewpoints that arose at this time to try to reconcile this dichotomy (The Theology Program, 84-88) . Modalism (aka Sabellianism)In the third century, Sabellius proposed that the Father, the Son and the Spirit were all different roles or manifestations of the one God. There was only one entity, God, but three different names assigned to God. For example, one individual person takes on many different roles. I can be a husband to my wife, a father to my children and a son to my parents. But I remain only one person. There is no distinction in my essence, only in my role. This viewpoint was condemned by the synod of Antioch in AD 286. ArianismArius was an elder in Alexandria in the early fourth century. In contrast to Sabellius, Arius proposed that that Christ was not just another name for God, but that He was a distinct creation of God. Using Colossians 1:15, Arius taught that before the creation of the world, God created Christ as His firstborn, and was therefore subordinate to God. Christ was still very important and had a unique relationship with the Father, but He did not have the fullness of deity that the Father did. Modern HeresiesMormonismAccording to LDS teaching, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three separate entities, but are all considered God. God the Father (usually called “Heavenly Father”) resides in heaven with His wife, the Heavenly Mother. Jesus is God's firstborn son and is God of this earth. He is called “Yahweh” in the Old Testament and was the creator of all in heaven and earth as directed by God the Father (Beliefnet) . In our model of orthodoxy, Mormonism believes in the distinctness between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, they deny the oneness of the Father and the Son, stating that they are one in purpose, not one in being. This makes Mormonism Tri-theistic. Jehovah's WitnessesThe Jehovah's Witnesses believe there is one God and no Trinity. Jesus is not a God (Jehovah) incarnate, but a God's only begotten son, created as a spiritual being and dwelling with God in heaven. He was sent to the earth as a perfect human, served as a perfect atoning sacrifice, and then was exalted to a place higher than the angels but below God. The Jehovah's Witness theology is almost classically Arian. They believe in the distinction of the Father and Son, but not in their equality. Ramifications of Trinitarian TheologyThe doctrine of the Trinity is a beautiful mystery which, if we let it inform and influence our world view, we will find new meaning and depth of understanding. An understanding of the Trinity answers many of the philosophical problems of monotheism. It should be the foundation of our Christian worldview. The Purpose of CreationWhy did God create the universe, and specifically why did God create humanity? A non-Trinitarian monotheist would answer that God created for his own good pleasure and for his own glory. However, this understanding of creation makes God a narcissistic egotist. He created just so he would have someone to tell him how great He is. However Trinitarianism teaches us that God did not create the world so he could have someone to glorify him. Instead God created out of the outpouring the love between the members of the Trinity (Metzger) . There seems to be a truism that when people come together in love and unity, the creative act comes out of that. For example, why do have children? Ideally it comes from two distinct individuals have come together in one flesh and in the midst of that unity and out of the outpouring of that love comes a desire to share that love with another—a child. Having children is not something we do to find our own glory. We do not have children so they can worship us. We have children out of the expression of our love for each other and as a means to extend our oneness and our love to a greater level. Children become then the fulfillment of the love found within the unity of a husband and a wife. So it is true with the trinity. God created humanity out of the outpouring of the love and unity of the Trinity. As Father, Son and Spirit have been sharing in the communion since eternity past, out of that comes the creative act not to be worshipped by the creation, but so that God could extended the love and union found within His triune self with others. This Trinitarian view of creation shows that God is not an ego-maniac, but a God of love and humility. The Self-Sufficiency of GodWhen studying the aspects of God's character, certain characteristics are transitive, meaning they only find meaning when they operate on objects outside of themselves. For example, the love of God has no meaning if there is no person for God to love. In a non-Trinitarian monotheism, for God's love to find its fulfillment, God needed to have an object on which to pour out his love. Therefore, God needed us (or some other creation of His) in order to be found perfect. Yet we know that God does not need creation. This creates a quandary in the non-Trinitarian worldview. However, within Trinitarian theology, God's love has an object. The love of the members of the Trinity were expressed on the other members of the Trinity during eternity past, such that God did not need creation to find the full expression of His attributes. God's transitive attributes are perfect and complete within the relationships of the Trinity. Only Trinitarianism can conclude that before creation God existed in a self-sufficient state and that He does not need creation. As Horrell states it: All creation exists and is sustained, not by necessity nor by divine selfishness, but by the abundance of Trinitarian grace (Horrell) . The Unity of MarriageIn 1:26 , God says, “let Us make man in Our image.” Why didn't God say, “I will now make man in my image?” Why does He use the plural here? In the Hebrew, just as in English, there is the “royal plural,” where a sovereign refers to himself or herself in the plural. However, this also leaves open the possibility that God is speaking within the Trinity to himself. While not a definitive proof, it does leave open the possibility of the trinity. This is significant beyond just a proof text for Trinitarian theology. God's image is most fully realized when a man and a woman are joined together in marriage; for marriage serves a living example of the Holy Trinity. Just as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three persons joined to become one, so also, a husband and wife are two persons joined to become one. When the world sees a properly function marriage, they should have a greater glimpse of the Trinitarian God. This is bearing the image of God, and is the primary purpose of marriage. Eternal GloryNon-Trinitarian monotheism leads to the belief that God is a narcissistic ego manic desiring to receive worship and glory from His creation. But Trinitarianism teaches that God is not arrogant, but is humble and selfless. Within the Trinity, no member of the Trinity seeks to glorify himself, but to share that glory, both with the other members of the Trinity and with His creation. Jesus entire ministry was to bring glory to the Father (17:4). Furthermore, when Christ obeyed the Father by dying on the cross, the Father glorified the Son, declaring His name to be above every name (Philippians 2:9). The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, not taking credit for His teaching as if it were His own, but only passes on what the Father gives Him (16:13-14). This dynamic gives us remarkable insight to the inner workings of the Trinity. This passing of glory from Father to Son and Son back to Father is like a cosmic game of hot potato, with none grasping onto the glory, but always passing back to the one from whom it came. But this mutual glorification is not limited to the Trinity. For in Jesus request for the disciples' unity, Christ seeks to share His glory with His disciples: The glory which You have given Me, I have given to them that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me. (John 17:22-23a) Jesus is requesting that the Father allow Him to include His disciples in the unity of the Trinity, and to share in the mutual sharing of glory within the Trinity. He is asking the Father to include the church in the Trinitarian game of glory hot potato! The ultimate hope of the Christian is to enter into fellowship with the Trinitarian community. Indwelling of SpiritEach member of the Trinity dwells within the other: (John 17:20) …even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You. Because we bear the image of God we have the capacity to be indwelled by another, just as the members of the Trinity indwell one another. When we become believers in Christ, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Paul describes this indwelling in Ephesians 1:14 as a down payment of future glory. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse of the mutual indwelling of the Trinity and serves as a foretaste of the fellowship we will posses with the Trinitarian community. Church UnityIn John 17:21, Jesus prays that His disciples would be one. Jesus request for unity is not merely a request that the church get along. There is a much deeper, much more glorious significance than just a call to quit squabbling in the church. It is a call to be included in the unity of the Trinity. It is a call to share in the glory of God. It is a call to not selfishly hold onto glory, but to pass that glory off to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is also a call for us as Jesus disciples to humble ourselves before each other, and thus emulate the Trinity. When Jesus commands us to “love one another” and to put the interests of others ahead of ourselves, He is calling us to establish a community which exhibits the dynamics of the Trinitarian community. It is a lesson to learn here and now so that when we are glorified and are allowed to commune with the Trinity in our future glory, we already understand the dynamics of such a union. RevelationIn beliefs all of the modern unorthodox sects, God gave new revelation to the founders of these groups. All lay claim to the original historic Christianity, believing theirs to be the original teachings of Jesus. However, the church became corrupt and polluted the original teachings of Jesus. Therefore, God, in these latter days, has had to respond by providing new revelation which corrects the false teaching of the past. The assumption, on the part of these groups, is that God still speaks today through prophets and apostles. That is to say, the bible is not sufficient to understand God's word for us, and God still communicates to people and His church through prophets, visions and audible encounters with God. The non-orthodox sects are not alone in believing that God continues to speak through prophets and apostles. Most of the charismatic church would agree that God's will for his church and his people is given not just in the generalities of scripture, but through every day revelation. However, if the Pentecostals are correct in believing that God still speaks through prophesy and direct revelation, then the canon of scripture remains open. If that is the case, then who is to say that God did not provide that revelation to Joseph Smith? What, then, does the bible say about his revelation to His church? Is the canon open? Does God still speak through prophets today? Evidence from HistoryThe intervention of God supernaturally into history is not the norm. The bible shows that there are only brief periods in history where God actively provided miracles, prophesy and new revelation.
Outside of these three periods in history, God's supernatural revelation did not come backed by signs and wonders. This includes long eras of Israelite and church history. In fact, the church itself was void of signs, wonders and prophesies for nearly 1,900 years before the non-orthodox sects and the Pentecostals began asserting a “latter day” or Adventist theology. This theology suggests that the second coming of Christ is near, and therefore we are in a new era of history where God is once again actively providing miracles and prophecy to, first judge the church for its apostasy and to prepare people for the return of Jesus. Evidence from ScriptureHebrews 1:1-3In the past, God spoke to His people through prophets and through other forms of super natural revelation. However, that program has changed with the coming of Christ. Now, in “these last days” God speaks, not through prophets, but through His Son. The prophets and the Old Testament scriptures attempted to disclose the Word of God and explain the nature of God to us. However, in the person of Jesus, we have the exact representation of the nature of God. He is the fullness of God's revelation. He is the Word of God incarnate (John 1). He is the revelation of God in the flesh. Therefore, after Jesus, there is no need for further revelation. 2 Peter 1:3If Jesus is the fullness of God's revelation, then we do not need any additional teaching or revelation to grow spiritually. If we have the true knowledge of Jesus, then we have everything we need for “life and godliness.” Peter goes on to warn of false teacher that will arise among the church (2 Peter 2:1). He contrasts their “cleverly devised tales” from the teachings about Jesus which they brought (2 Peter 1:16ff). We can trust the teachings of the apostles because they were eyewitnesses to Jesus. No other teaching is necessary but the testimony of Jesus given by the apostles. 1 JohnThe apostle John also warns of false teachers and of false spirits. We must test these false spirits and these false teachers to see if they are from God (4:1a). John gives us three tests to see if the spirit or the prophet is true:
Those who fail these tests are not from God, but are from the world. Even though their message may sound spiritual, it is merely worldly wisdom disguised (4:5). There message is that of the antichrist (4:3). But we need not fear these false teachers, for we know that we have overcome them, for Jesus is greater than the antichrist and is greater than the world (4:4). ConclusionMany people today desire to hear the voice of God. They desire to know God's will for their lives. However, God's voice is clearly given to us. God's will has been made known to us. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh is the voice of God. His teaching is God's will for our lives. As we read the written record of Jesus, namely, the bible, we can know authoritatively what it is God wants us to do and wants us to know. We can be confident of God's will, for He tells us plainly in the scriptures (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12). That is not to say that God might not reveal himself to people in “the still small voice,” or that God might call people to do one thing or another. However, if one is “sensing God's leading,” that leading must be tested against the scripture, for it can never contradict it. For example, I've had a friend who told me God wanted her to get a divorce because “God wanted her to be happy.” I doubted that this was God's will for her life, for it was a direct contradiction to scripture. Furthermore if God does lead in this fashion, it will come out of scripture, and not be read into scripture. In other words, we don't go looking for affirmation of this still small voice by looking for proof within the bibl that it is okay. Instead, we read the scripture consistently, and out of that regular reading and studying, God will show us application for our lives. BibliographyBeliefnet. "What Latter-day Saints Believe." Beliefnet. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8035_1.html (accessed May 22, 2007). Brake, Donald J. "Unpublished class notes from TH 507: Christian Theology I." Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Fall 2003. Horrell, J. Scott. "In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Constructing a Trinitarian Worldview." 2003. http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=246 (accessed April 24, 2006). Metzger, Paul. "Christian Theology II." Portland OR: Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Summer 2003. Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987. The Theology Program. "The Theology Notebook- Trinitarianism." 2005. http://www.bible.org/assets/ttp/TRIN_Notebook_Nov2005.pdf (accessed April 24, 2006).
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Based on these scriptures, here are some truths about God: 
The scriptures teach that there is only one God. Yet they also teach that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are unique and divine. This dichotomy was accepted by the church without much development for the first three centuries. This doctrine, along with many others, was not fully developed in the mind of the church because the church faced rampant persecution, and survival was more important than a thorough development of theological ideas.