I have this friend who just happens to be a christian pastor. Yes, he knows I’m an atheist and the one good thing about the both of us is that neither of us hold belief/non-belief against each other. I sometimes send him videos Find on Youtube that I think are compelling arguments for or against something with his belief. some of them delve into very complex ideas and try to make them understandable for we, the hoi-poli. One of the recent videos I emailed him concerns the idea of the Trinity in christianity and where it came from. This caused, how shall I say, a bit of consternation with my friend.

My friend is a pretty good guy. He’s also a pastor. I’ve known him most of my life. Wherever either of us were, we stayed in touch. Mostly him with me as there was a time I was moving every other year. Or at least it seemed that way. We would have conversations for hours sometimes about some aspect of Christianity. With the advent of social media platforms, it’s easier for me to send him a video about some topic and get his response than have a long, drawn-out conversation on the phone. I’ve had a lot of questions on the Trinity over the years and no matter how many time my friend goes into the explanation of what it is, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Why? Well, Christianity is monotheist, right? Yet here we are, talking about three equal beings, separate, but acting as one. How is that monotheism? It isn’t. Yet, to Christians, it is. If I have 2 friends helping me build a shed in my backyard, the other 2 having expertise say in carpentry and electricity. Does that mean at the end that because we all operated in single mindedness, to build a shed, that there was only one shed builder? Of course not. This is the conundrum of the Trinity that no matter how it is illuminated. We can make out a shape in the shadow, but it is ill defined. It’s truly a mystery to most.

Does that mean the concept can’t be challenged? According to my friend, the answer to that question is a determined no. It is a foundation of his faith and to challenge it in anyway is, well, blasphemy (Not words he used, my interpolation. Which may not be correct). In fact, my friend goes on to say that the proof is right there in the bible. the entire bible. all the way through it from Genesis to Revelation (not necessarily every book in the bible, but scattered throughout.) So show me. Of course, he didn’t as this was vis email and I guess he expects me to just believe him when he says it’s all there. Kind of like “Where’s Waldo?” I guess.

This comes back to the thread, common among agnostic and atheists alike, as well as those just not religious that Christianity has used the books of the Jewish religion all along to justify their own messianic belief. Here’s my challenge. Find an orthodox Jewish scholar. Someone down in his or her field, and ask them if the concept of the Trinity is contained in the Jewish scriptures or if it is something christians have interpolated, out of context, or just mistranslated. If it is true, why have we n to heard about this from those same Jewish scholars? Is it because it’s made up? Personally, I don’t know, but the more I read, the more I view videos of biblical scholars (not just some apologists) the more I want to know where, in fact, some of these ideas instantiated.

I would like to see an honest evaluation of the video from my friend. In fact, all I received was what I can describe as being dismissed without reason. In fact, he told me in the response that he stoped watching, “after 15 seconds”. What that told me is that he isn’t wiling to defend his belief in the face of what may be contradictory information. He doesn’t have to defend his belief to anyone, much less me, but it is in the best interest of everyone to explain why and how you believe something that actually makes sense. to, you know, we how-polli.