Over the past 20 years or so, I have had at least 10 encounters with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Two nice women came to my door a few days ago and I “cut to the chase” immediately with them regarding their rejection of the Trinity and their false labeling of Jesus as “another god.”
I encouraged them to study the Bible on their own too, but they claim that they already have. One was a former Catholic, the other claimed to be a former “Christian” who “discovered” that the belief in the Trinity was not true. I challenged them with Scripture where Jesus says that we should go into all the world spreading the Gospel, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I stated that the term “name” in the verse was used in the singular – and thus our God self-identifies as being triune in nature. The older woman claimed that if what I was saying was true, then the Scripture would have read, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit. This was a ridiculous claim – on her part – but it just shows how deeply indoctrinated they are. I also said that Jesus claimed, “I and the Father are one.” She replied that he meant it as meaning that they are “one in agreement.”
Finally, I shared that our God had created a world in which we see the Trinity all around us, mentioning how we see it in the Bible, and in physics – especially regarding time and space.
At that point, they decided to depart, but wanted to leave their literature with me. I said, “no thank you, but please consider the possibility that what you are being taught could be wrong – then investigate for yourselves.”
Next time, I plan to be better prepared with a copy of “God in Three Persons” printed out so that I can hand it to them as they leave my door.
For convenience sake and future reference here at my Word Press Talk Wisdom blog, I include the relevant portion of the post below:
“The first few pages of the booklet discusses various Biblical references to the “God in Three Persons” nature of God. I can post this later if anyone here is interested. For now, I will just share a few brief points:
1. The first verse of the Bible we read, “In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). In Hebrew the word for “God” is Elohim. That word is plural. El is singular, but Elohim is plural. We know it is plural because it contains within it the personalities of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. We also read where God said, “Let us make man in our image….and in the image of God created he him”…in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27). “Us,” “Our,” “His.” And so over and over again, even in the Old Testament, when God speaks, He goes back and forth between the singular and the plural, the plural to singular, because He is the singular-plural God.
3. The facts of the Triunity of God are clearly seen in these four facts within the Bible:* The Father is God, said thousands of times.* The Son is God, said hundreds and hundreds of times.* And the Holy Spirit is God (Spirit of God in OT) is said dozens of times.* Finally, there is but one God.
Back to the main reason for this post.
In Dr. D. James Kennedy’s booklet entitled “Understanding the Trinity; Evidence for God in Three Persons,” Dr. Kennedy describes that the universe itself explains the Trinity.
Dr. Nathan Wood, formerly president of Gordon College of Theology and Missions, wrote a magnificent book, The Secret of the Universe. In it he spells out for us the result of years of searching in the natural realm for some kind of analogy that was correct for the Trinity. He finally came up with the universe itself.
It is so simple.
It is right there in front of us.
We can never get away from it.
It is always there.
We ought to see it very clearly.
He points out that any man who manufactures anything or makes anything with his hands is going to inevitably leave his fingerprints upon it. If you were to create a table or chair or something in your workshop, it would contain your fingerprints.
Dr. Wood says that the universe is covered with fingerprints of the Trinity because it was made by the Triune God. The Bible says that the Father created the universe, the Son created the universe, and the Holy Spirit created the universe – the Triune God created the universe.
What does Dr. Wood mean by that?
Well, there are fingerprints everywhere. We just don’t see them.
I would suppose that there are literally millions of fingerprints in this very sanctuary. Did you see any today? Not a one. We are blind as a bat when it comes to fingerprints. We just don’t see them. First of all, we’re not looking for them. Now you might see them at home on a mirror or something like that, but ordinarily, we don’t see fingerprints. However, if a detective were to come in here and begin to dust the wood on the pew in front of you, he would find thousands of them. So let’s put on our Sherlock Holmes cap, get out our dusting brush, and see if we can see the fingerprints of Him who made all things.
What does the universe consist of?
If you were to ask a scientist, he would tell you it consists of space, time, and matter. Now amazing to tell, we find all of those three things everywhere in the universe – not that we have a universe where some of them exist sometimes and not at other times. It is also true that each of the triune parts of the universe is, in itself, triune.
SPACE
Let us look at each one of them. For example, consider space. What is space composed of? It is composed of length and breadth and height. Always. There is nothing you could name that is not composed of all three of those things. If you were to simply take a pencil and draw a line on a piece of paper, it would have length, it would have a little bit of width, and if you looked in a powerful microscope, you would discover it has quite a bit of height. You can’t see it with your naked eye; however, it’s always there.
Something that I think is amazing about this is that God always consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – not one or the other. It is not a piece of the pie; it’s the whole thing, always. Imagine a square block that a child would play with. Draw a picture of it in three dimensions. Then you could take that picture, and with a pencil and using all length, you could make a bunch of lines and fill in that entire block with nothing but length. I have done that sometimes in fancy lettering. Maybe some of you have as well. Or you could take the same block and make the whole thing out of width, or out of height. The fact of the matter is that it is all length, it’s all breadth, it’s all height all of the time. That’s a perfect illustration of the Trinity.
TIME
Or take the matter of time. Of what does time consist? Obviously, it consists of the past, the present, and the future – those three. Any time we have ever known in this universe always consists of those three. Usually we have the idea that we come out of the past, that that really is first, because that is where we came from. The fact of the matter is, time comes from the future, and we meet it head on.
For example, today, yesterday was called tomorrow, and now it’s today. A week ago it was called next week, and now it is today. A year ago, it was called next year. So as time approaches us and we move through it, that is what always happens. Anything is first in the future, then in the present, and then it disappears into the past. That is the way time always works. That in itself is an amazing story when you examine it carefully. Past, present, and future.
Dr. Nathan R. Wood gives a fascinating quote that is so remarkable I would like to share it with you. I would challenge you to try to see if you can follow his drift.
He is going to give a long paragraph. Then he is going to give it again, only this time he is simply going to change four words. These four words are “time,” “future,” “present,” and “past”. They are going to be changed into “God,” “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.”
You are going to find out something some of you never knew before – that time, which you live by, which you look at constantly in the way of clocks you wind up every day, and which you make your lives run by, is an incredible illustration of the divine Trinity.
(Note: To make this paragraph easier to read, I will post it in a prose format).
Read carefully:
“The Future is the source.
The Future is unseen, unknown, except as it continually embodies itself and makes itself visible in the Present.
The Present is what we see, and hear, and know.
It is ceaselessly embodying the Future, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. It is perpetually revealing the Future, hitherto invisible.
The Future is logically first, but not chronologically.
For the Present exists as long as Time exists and was in the absolute beginning of Time.
The Present has existed as long as Time has existed.
Time acts through and in the Present.
It makes itself visible only in the Present.
The Future acts and reveals itself through the Present.
It is through the Present that Time, that the Future, enters into union with human life.
Time and humanity meet and unite in the Present.
It is the Present that Time, that the Future, becomes a part of human life, and so is born and lives and dies in human life.
The Past in turn comes from the Present.
We cannot say that it embodies the Present.
On the contrary, Time in issuing from the Present into the Past becomes invisible again.
The Past does not embody the Present. Rather it proceeds silently, endlessly, invisibly from it…
The Present therefore comes out from the invisible Future.
The Present perpetually and ever-newly embodies the Future in visible, audible, livable form; and returns again into invisible Time in the Past.
The Past acts invisibly.
It continually influences us with regard to the Present.
It casts light upon the Present.
That is its great function.
It helps us to live in the Present which we know, and with reference to the Future which we expect to see.
“That is an exact description of the way time operates. It is a perfect analogy. I’m using “analogy” not in the common sense of the word that something is like something or a simile or metaphor, but in the mathematical meaning of the word, which means it is an exact replica as far as every line, every angle, every corner is concerned.
SUBSTITUTE FOUR WORDS
Now let us replace the words. “Time” is replaced by “God”; the “Future” by the “Father”; the “Present” by the “Son”; and the “Past” by the “Holy Spirit” (every word the same but these four). You will see that perfect analogy and you will see the divine Trinity you have been swimming in all of your life!
“The Father is the source [every word the same, but those four].
The Father is unseen except as he continually embodies Himself and makes Himself visible in the Son.
The Son is what we see, and hear, and know.
He is ceaselessly embodying the Father, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment.
He is perpetually revealing the Father, hitherto invisible.
The Father is logically first, but not chronologically, For the Son exists as long as God exists, and was in the absolute beginning of God.
The Son has existed as long as God has existed.
God acts through and in the Son.
He makes Himself visible only in the Son.
The Father acts and reveals Himself through the Son.
It is through the Son that God, that the Father, enters into union with human life.
God and humanity meet and unite in the Son.
It is in the Son that God, that the Father, becomes a part of human life, and so is born and lives and dies in human life.
The Spirit in turn comes from the Son.
We cannot say that He embodies the Son.
On the contrary God, in issuing from the Son into the Spirit, becomes invisible again.
The Spirit does not embody the Son.
Rather He proceeds silently, endlessly, invisibly from Him…
The Son therefore comes out from the invisible Father.
The Son perpetually and ever-newly embodies the Father in visible, audible, livable form, and returns into invisible God in the Spirit.
The Spirit acts invisibly.
He continually influences us with regard to the Son.
He casts light upon the Son.
That is His great function.
He helps us to live in the Son whom we know and with reference to the Father whom we expect to see.”
That, my friends, is an exact mathematical analogy that each of the portions of the triunity of the universe are in themselves triune.”
Our Creator is so awesome!! He reveals Himself all around us….in the existence of the universe He created!
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