Why is it so hard for some people to understand the concept of the Christian trinity?

To me its fairly simple to understand. An analogy of the Trinity is water, or H2O. Water is a liquid. Water can also be vapour. And it can be a solid, ice. The liquid state is not ice, ice is not vapour and vapour is not liquid. They are distinct. But they are all H2O. This is the same as the trinity. God the Father, the son Jesus and the Holy Spirit are distinct but all the same being.

Best Answer
The H2O illustration is on the Never Use list of Trinitarian apologists like this one:

Quote:
“The doctrine of the Trinity is like an egg: three parts, one thing.” Ever heard that? How about this, “The doctrine of the Trinity is like a three leaf clover: three leaves, one clover.” Or how about THIS, “The doctrine of the Trinity is like water: three forms (ice, steam, liquid) one substance.” But the greatest I ever heard was by a guy in one of my classes. He said that he thought that the Trinity was like 3-in-1 shampoo: three activities, one substance.” [Emphasis added.]
Stupid statements. Creative, but stupid. Don’t use them. Any of them. Ever.[1]

He prefers to use the diagrammatic Scutum Fidie instead, and calls the H2O illustration modalistic: "Ice, steam, and liquid are examples of the same nature which *at one time or another* has a particular mode of existence. Sometimes it is liquid, sometimes it is ice, and sometimes it is steam. God is not sometimes Son, sometimes Father, and sometimes Spirit. He is eternally each, always at the same time." Thus it is on the Trinitarian Never Use list.

I understand it that there are three people in the impersonal Trinitarian Godhead as shown in the scutum fidei. As one Trinitarian apologist explained:

Unlike traditional Judaism and Islam, the God of Christianity possesses a unique and mysterious plurality of personhood within its single divine essence. In other words, while God is one in being, he nevertheless exists as three distinct persons (or centers of consciousness). One way of expressing this special monotheism is to say that God is "one what and three whos." That is, in terms of what God is, God is one and only one divine being. But in terms of who God is, God is three distinct persons. (end quote)[2]

Thus God for the Trinitarian is not a person but a What, an impersonal Godhead, composed of three whos or divine people.

Yet, this is diametrically opposed to the beliefs of the Lord Jesus Christ who fearlessly declared with a doubtlessly booming voice that the Father is the "only true God." (John 17:1-5) Thus Jesus Christ clearly believed that God is a single person, the Father.

Additionally, Hebrews 5:7 informs us that Jesus Christ even relied on his Father and God to be resurrected from death, and that his prayers were favorably heard due to his his godly fear or piety.[3]

Thus, despite all the intellectual acrobats Trinitarians must go through to support their man-made, non-biblical doctrine, it still fails to accurately and scripturally describe the Lord Jesus Christ and his almighty Father, the only true God, Jehovah.


Source:
[1] Patton, C Michael. “The Trinity is Like 3-in-1 Shampoo”. . . And Other Stupid Statements. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/20...

Popular Arguments some Trinitarians use that are on a Trinitarian "Never Use" List
http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2012/06...

[2] What a tangled web we weave...
http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2010/04...

[3] Hebrews 5:7 and Trinitarianism: A Compatibility Crisis
http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2012/09...

LINK

Jehovah's Witnesses. Why does Satan hate the "Trinity" doctrine?

Note:
I am including this as it demonstrates the depths of intellectual depravity some Trinitarians are willing to plumb.

LaVey shaved his head as part of a formalized founding ritual, in the tradition of medieval executioners, carnival strongmen, and black magicians before him, to gain personal power and enhance the forces surrounding his newly-established Satanic order. It was the enactment of an allusion at the end of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan: an incantation rejecting the Holy Trinity and the spiritual life in favor of one devoted to Hell and material pursuits.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/CShistory3COS.html [asked by surfari]

Best Answer
Please notice that it does not say that Satan hates the Trinity as such. Please read it again, this time with more astute comprehension:

"an incantation rejecting the ***Holy Trinity and the spiritual life*** in favor of one ***devoted to Hell and material pursuits.***"

Did you catch the real meaning this time? You can replace "Holy Trinity" with "God and Jesus" and the meaning remains intact, for it is connected to the words "and the spiritual life."

Thus, the first clause could be replaced with 'A' meaning "Godly devotion," and the final clause "devoted to Hell and material pursuits" could be replaced with 'B' meaning "selfish materialism."

Thus that sentence can read like this: "an incantation rejecting A in favor of B." The only reason why they wrote "Holy Trinity" is because they think it's Christian, when ironically it's apostate and satanic!

Edit:
[Trinitarian*]: "God is not a person."
Jesus Christ: "God is a person." (John 17:1-5)
The Trinity and its promoters contradict Jesus Christ.


Source:
Reading comprehension

LINK

* user Grey Tower

See also: Jehovah's Witnesses. Why do demons hate the "Trinity" doctrine? http://jimspace3000-ya.blogspot.com/2014/10/jehovahs-witnesses-why-do-demons-hate.html

Jehovah's Witnesses. Why do demons hate the "Trinity" doctrine?

Note:
I am including this as it demonstrates the depths of intellectual depravity some Trinitarians are willing to plumb.

You teach the union of three persons in one Godhead ... This is a piece of human fallacy and is an absurdity. (p.265) ... Christ taught a unipersonalist God ... He knows of no triune God of Whom the Catholic and other Christian denominations teach. Only the Father is God. (p. 364)
Communications with the Spirit World, Johannes Greber.

The reason the Bible does not clearly teach the Trinity doctrine is simple: It is not a Bible teaching. Had God been a Trinity, he would surely have made it clear so that Jesus and his disciples could have taught it to others. And that vital information would have been included in God’s inspired Word. It would not have been left to imperfect men to struggle with centuries later.
Watchtower 11/1/91 p.23 [asked by surfari]

Best Answer
How do you know Greber received his knowledge that the Trinity is false doctrine from the demons? Was he totally incapable of independent thought? How could you possibly know, unless you claim to have the uncanny ability to read minds? How ironic then.

It therefore appears very clear that ones who say 'Greber was a spiritist' + 'he rejected the Trinity' = 'demons hate the Trinity' are extremely shallow in their reasoning abilities, for they fail to be objective enough to think of another possibility, that he was capable of independent thought--which is apparently what Trinitarians are incapable of.

Source:
See related Q: Jehovah's Witnesses. Why does Satan hate the "Trinity" doctrine? [archived in link below] http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqtgp2kkZsVmeL4d26r0iCzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20130723072617AA1kw0W

LINK


See also:

• Jehovah's Witnesses. Why does Satan hate the "Trinity" doctrine? http://jimspace3000-ya.blogspot.com/2014/10/jehovahs-witnesses-why-does-satan-hate.html
• Extent of involvement with spiritist Johannes Greber? http://jimspace3000-ya.blogspot.com/2011/06/extent-of-involvement-with-spiritist.html

---

How this same questioner surfari continues to abuse over Greber:

Jehovah's Witnesses. Under what circumstances will you trust demons to tell the truth?

My answer:

Under no circumstances.

You were refuted in your two earlier attempts at presenting this same topic:
In your question "Jehovah's Witnesses. Why do demons hate the "Trinity" doctrine?" you were exposed as incapable of rational and independent thinking.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjGsVQNSrp_21AZ.4YGDIJPsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20130723080036AApGiQm

In your question "Jehovah's Witnesses. Why does Satan hate the "Trinity" doctrine?" you were exposed as having extremely poor reading comprehension.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqtgp2kkZsVmeL4d26r0iCzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20130723072617AA1kw0W

I will close with this:

"You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear." (James 2:19, NET Bible) Ironically, Trinitarianism rejects that "God is one," promoting instead that God is three. The demons know this is false but use it, the Trinity, to lead people away from Christ and salvation. People who can think for themselves also reject the Trinity.

Edit: Thanks for proving my point.
(Just because it's in that book doesn't necessarily mean he got it from demons. Your quote doesn't specifically say he got it from demons. It looks like you're simply assuming that, which in turn suits your sensational purposes.)

Further reading, including an appendix from JWD2: http://jimspace3000-ya.blogspot.com/2011/06/extent-of-involvement-with-spiritist.html

Edit: People who say our message and/or NWT is demon-inspired have blasphemed the holy spirit. They are also liars.

LINK (proceed at your own risk)

Jehovah's Witnesses: what is an Uninspired Prophet wouldn't that be the same as a false prophet?

Best Answer

No. Per Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:20-22 a false prophet ADDS to God’s word by making NEW predictions that fail and/or advocates worship of false gods.

An uninspired person cannot by definition add to God’s word. An uninspired INTERPRETATION of prophecy in God’s word that turns out to be a misreading of that prophecy is not a false prophecy.

Source:
False Prophecy or Misguided Interpretation of Prophecy? The Test of a Prophet.

http://onlytruegod.org/jwstrs/prophecy.htm

http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2011/03/false-prophecy-or-misguided.html

http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2011/10/test-of-prophet-god-provided-means-of.html

LINK

Jehovah's Witnesses. Why did this guy not do exactly as Jesus told him to?

Luke 8:39 (NWT)
“Be on your way back home, and keep on relating what things God did for you.” Accordingly he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what things Jesus did for him.

According to you, Jesus is not God, so, when told to keep relating what God did, instead he went around talking about what the Archangel Michael / God's representative or anyone else who is not God did.

Or did he in fact do exactly as requested? He went and proclaimed what God did for him?

Best Answer

He did do what Jesus said. It went like this: "Jesus healed me through God's power." It's all in the semantics.

Also, take heed that Trinitarianism does not teach that Jesus is God. No, it teaches that Jesus is the second person of the impersonal Trinitarian Godhead with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Why can't Trinitarians ever actually say what they believe?

Additionally, Jesus said he would be killed. Peter rebuked him, saying that he would not be killed. Trinitarianism actually agrees with Peter here. But Jesus disagrees with that thinking, calling it Satanic.

See:

A Lesson from Jesus’ Rebuke jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-lesson-from-jesus-rebuke-in-order-for.html

LINK