The Trinity is the central dogma of our faith. It is the revelation of the ultimate reality of God Who is Three Persons, but One in being. In a sense, all other doctrines and dogmas flow from this paramount belief.
But is dogma of Trinity found in the Bible?
The answer would seem to obviously be “Yes,” since all Christians, even fundamentalists, believe in the Trinity. But the answer is a bit more complex.
First of all, the word “Trinity” is not found anywhere in the Scriptures. We also will not find the explicit description of God as three Co-Equal Persons in One God.
In the Old Testament, the focus is on God’s oneness and unity. He is called most often “King.” But He is also called at times Yahweh and Father. One of the most important prayers of the Hebrew people is “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” This is statement stands against the polytheism of the other religions of the day. This is a clear embrace of the monotheism of God’s revelation.
In the New Testament, the doctrine is also not explicitly stated. The formula of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” is found only three times in the New Testament (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:13, and 1 Peter 1:2). And while the name of all Three are invoked, their relationship is not clearly explained. Even the references to Jesus as “Son of God” are not clearly explicit in meaning a second Person of a Trinity. In Jesus’ day “Son of God” could have meant things like an angel or the entire nation of Israel. Paul connected “Son of God” to Christ’s resurrection. Mark connects it to His baptism. Matthew and Luke point to how He is born the “Son of God.”
So does that mean that the Trinity is not found in the Bible at all?
No, it does not mean that.
The Trinity is revealed in the Scriptures, even if it is not explicit.
First, it must be noted that reality of the Trinity is something that is experienced in the salvation of the Christian. In the post New Testament period, the believers had to understand the Scriptures in light of that experience of salvation. Particularly they had to answer the questions of how Christ and the Holy Spirit play a role in the saving power of God. It took several centuries and a number of Church councils until the dogma of Trinity became explicitly laid out. During that time, Christians reflected on how God revealed Himself as Trinity in the subtlety of Scripture.
In the Old Testament, God is spoken of as Father, which depicts Him as the Source of Life. But God is also spoken of as Word or Wisdom, which shows us His creative power at work in the world. He is depicted as Spirit, which falls upon His people and is filled with His redemptive power. Even though the Old Testament does not explicitly talk about three Persons in the Godhead, speaking of God in these ways lays the groundwork for speaking about Him as a Tripersonal God.
In the New Testament, we see this especially in the Gospel of John and its understanding of the Logos or Word. John wrote “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). Throughout this Gospel in particular, Jesus’ unity with the Father and His Divinity are clearly established. Jesus says, “”I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) And at the same time there is a clear distniction between Christ and the Father, as Jesus is always in relationship to the Father. As Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) wrote, “The discover of the dialogue within God led to the assumption of the presence in God of an “I” and a “You,” an element of relationship, of coexistent diversity and affinity, for which the concept of a persona absolutely dictated itself.” (Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, pg 182)
In other words, the fact that there was some kind of a relationship or dialogue between the Father and the Son, and since they are both God, there must be distinct Persons in the relationship. But since the truth of the Old Testament monotheism cannot be denied, the Persons are all One God. This includes the experience of God inside us, which we call the Holy Spirit. He also is a Person in relationship to the Father and the Son and is of the One Godhead.
So while the Bible may not explicitly lay out the dogma of the Trinity, its footprints are clearly there.
Copyright 2025, WL Grayson
W.L. Grayson
I am a devoutly Catholic theology teacher who loves a popular culture that often, quite frankly, hates me. I grew up absorbing every movie, TV show, comic book, science fiction novel, etc. I could find. As of today I’ve watched over 2100 movies and tv shows. They take up a huge part of my life. I don’t know that this is a good thing, but it has given me a common vocabulary to draw from in order to illustrate whatever theological point I make in class. I’ve used American Pie the song to explain the Book of Revelation (I’ll post on this some time later) and American Pie the movie to help explain Eucharist (don’t ask). The point is that the popular culture is popular for a reason. It is woven into the fabric of our lives and imaginations, for good or ill. In this blog I will attempt to bring together the things of heaven with the things of earth. Of course this goal may be too lofty for someone like me.
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