In many liturgical churches, this past Sunday was observed as Trinity Sunday--a day to contemplate the doctrine of God as "Three-in-One." In my Trinity Sunday sermon, I suggested many reasons why believing in the Trinity shouldn't be viewed as essential for Christians. (There are many ways that God is named and described in the Bible besides as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the word trinity does not appear in scripture; the church's understanding of the Trinity took centuries to develop; disagreement over how the different members of the Trinity relate to each other contributed to the Schism between Western and Eastern churches in 1054; our monotheistic brothers and sisters in Judaism and Islam see belief in the Trinity as bordering on polytheism; etc.)
Admittedly, the vast majority of mainstream Christian denominations adhere to Trinitarian thought (including my own United Church of Christ). But, with all these reasons to question the Trinity as indispensable doctrine, do you think belief in the Trinity should be a must for Christians?
-Pastor Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment