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Scotty Scruggs Scotty Scruggs
Dr. Daniel Lloyd
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21 May 2017 Doctrine of the Trinity Throughout civilization several cultures have relied upon religion to shape their beliefs in a higher
spiritual being. This higher being is looked upon as the one who sets the history, moral standards and
everyday life issues to a particular faith. The Christian faith is the world’s leading religion with over 2.2
billion believers and followers. The Christian religion of protestants differs from the other two
Abrahamic religions in that it believes in a trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy spirit as being of one
but is a three head figure. Unlike Judaism, the origin of the Abrahamic faith, and Islam who believes God
is the only superior higher being and non other. I will explore the Judaism and Islamic faiths as a
monotheistic religion and the importance to Christianity. Concluding with the doctrine of the Trinity and
its relationship to the Christian’s purpose and goals.
The Jewish faith is the origin of all the Abrahamic religions and the culture in which Christ was reared.
According to (Novak, 176) the Jewish Bible begins with the creation of the world and states the
foundation of the faith is the belief in God as the ultimate source of all being. The Jewish Bible is called
the Tanakh and comes from three consonants T, N, and K. The meaning of T is Torah, N is for Nevi’im,
and the K is Ketuvim. The Torah is the teaching and law of the bible broken down into five books that
are attributed to Moses who was a great Jewish leader. The Nevi’im deals with the 21 books of the
prophets who were to remind the chosen people of their covenant with God. The last of the Tankh is the
Ketuvim, which gives the other writings within the bible. The history of the Jewish Bible sets the
foundation for the New Testament and Jesus life until his death leaving behind the Trinity. The author
(Novak, 176) calls Judaism as the evolution of two great ideas. The first is the idea of God being Scotty Scruggs
imageless, creative, and transcendent who cares for creation. The second idea is of human dignity dealing
with the moral guidelines divinely within us. Again, these ideas are synonymous with the Christian faith
and teachings yet, Jews only believe in God as being one superior being and no other is equal to or above
him. The question asked then, “Do Jewish people believe in Christ”? According to Harris (MJL) the
Prophets (Nevi’im) wrote years before the birth of Christ, envisioned a messianic age in which universal
peace, war, and hunger no longer existed and humanity accepted God’s sovereignty. Other Jews expected
the messiah to be a descendent of David (2 Samuel 7) along with the Dead Sea Scrolls speaking of two
messiahs one being a military leader and the other a priest. While the Torah/Old Testament speaks of a
messiah coming it doesn’t mention a third entity such as the Holy Spirit and contrasts with God being the
ultimate spiritual being. The other monotheistic religion is that of Islam.
The Islamic faiths major followers are within the Middle Eastern and Eastern countries. The faith
according to Pew Research center estimates 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 and making it the
second largest religion behind Christianity. One of the main affirmations of the Islamic faith is “There is
no god but God” (Qur’an). The two basic sources for the Islamic faith are the Qur’an and the hadiths of
Muhammad. Those who knew or were around him consider the hadiths sayings and deeds of the Prophet.
While the Muslims believe in one God as the Jews, along with the Jewish prophets, earthly father of the
world Abraham, and even the father who Jesus believes in. The Islamic faith came into existence
centuries after Christ’s death. However, the Muslims do not believe Jesus to be the messiah but a
messenger/prophet of God. The Muslims believe Muhammad was the last prophet of God. In the book of
World’s Religions (Huston, 223) the author describes the lineage of the prophet Muhammad deriving
from Ishmael descendants who would rise in Arabia. The story goes of Abraham’s wife Sarah giving him
permission to bear a child to their maidservant his she was barren. The maidservant Hagar bore Ishmael
and once God kept his promise to Sarah in her golden ages she exiled her maidservant and son to a far
away land. This land would be the Mecca and the place in which Abraham, rendering him to be buried at
the Ka’bah. The Prophet saw the effects of death at an early age and begin to see suffrage, poverty, and
old age. At this point in his life he went on a search for God and eventually during the night of power God Scotty Scruggs
revealed his revelation to Muhammad, thus the Quran. Throughout his search Muhammad claimed to
faith no other God but Allah. The Quran and Torah vehemently believe in the One God, monotheistic
religion. Nevertheless, the Christian faith is based off of the Abrahamic religion and has a Trinity God
belief. This mystery has often confused believers and some theologians in its explanations. The word trinity never appears in the bible but is considered the Godhead such as God the
Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To many believers and non-believers alike this
reasoning is impossible but the protestant faith has many followers. The Trinity is not to be
logical but of divine reasoning and revelation. Because of our limited mental capacity some of
the revelations of God has given to us. When seeking to explain the Trinity, our explanations and
our attempts to illustrate them must are confusing and lack our ability to simplify and understand
them. Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV) states, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways
My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”. Is this Old Testament scripture is
to mean that certain things and ways of God are to maintain mysterious? If this is the case it does
not explain several of life issues as poverty, war, and killings is beyond human understanding.
According to author Matt Perman in the article “What is the Doctrine of the Trinity”? The author
begins to explain the three head God-figure. His belief is the Trinity means that there is one God
who eternally exists as three distinct entities, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Additionally, he
goes on to state, God is one in essence and three in person. Mr. Perman later gives an illustration
of (1) the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there
is only one God.
He further breaks down the Trinity utilizing several Bible verses. The first on is of God the
Father Phillip 1:2 (KJV), Jesus as God Titus 2:3 (KJV), and Acts 5:3-4 (KJV) gives the Holy Scotty Scruggs Spirit as God. Then the author begins to ask follow on questions about the view of the Trinity.
Is it three distinct ways of seeing God or the different roles of the three are interlinked? Scholars
and theologians concluded the answer to be no because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
different entities.
In the Nicene Creed (Christian Reformed Church, 1988) the next to last paragraph reads as follows: “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the
Son, He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshipped and
glorified. He spoke through the Prophets.” This is given as another example of the Trinity and
the divine revelation as it relates to the interpretation given to men of God. There are other
popular documents published in order for Christian’s to understanding the humanities purpose
and goal of the Trinity. The DEI VERBUM (Pope Paul VI) opens with a preface to understanding the revelation of the manifested by the Father and through Christ for followers to fellowship amongst one another.
The first chapter deals with the revelation of the word becoming flesh and the Holy Spirit being
left to share the divine spirit of Christ and the Father. It lets us know God keeps all things into
existence and begins to give a brief history of our first parents. Chapter 1 goes on to tell how
God spoke to the prophets and Jesus. Later in paragraph five the constitution deals with the
obedience of faith and states, “To make this act of faith, the grace of God and the interior help of
the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes
of the mind and giving joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it”. This is
talking about man giving himself to Christ wholly and how the Holy Spirit brings the faith to
completion by God’s gifts. Scotty Scruggs Chapter 2 of the DEI VERBUM deals with the handling of the revelation of the word and how it
was left to the Apostles, Bishops, and preachers to interpret the word. This helps with explaining
the confusing and misunderstanding of the Trinity for those men of God who are called.
The last chapter deals with the sacredness of the holy word and the Holy Spirit and must be
acknowledged as the true word. The doctrine of the Trinity along with other scriptures and
doctrines have propelled the Christian faith forward through various protestant beliefs and
Churches. Though the Trinity continues to be a clandestine doctrine to some Christianity is the world’s
largest religion. The history and origin is rooted within a monotheistic religion from the Jewish
faith and the Islamic faith, which came several eras after Christ. Scotty Scruggs
Works Cited
Novak, Philip. The World’s of Wisdom. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.
Smith, Hutson. The World’s Religion. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
Perman, Matt. “What is the Doctrine of the Trinity.” (2006)
“Nicene Creed.” Christian Reform Church, 1988.
“Dei Verbum”. Pope Paul VI, 1965
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