Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: eric@wdl47.wdl.fac.com (Eric Kuhnen) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: How does the Godhead function? Message-ID: Date: 4 Dec 90 05:08:03 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: LORAL Western Development Labs Lines: 27 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [100 lines of Trinity & The Son deleted] I believe that the doctrine of the Trinity exposes its own fallacies when explanations like the preceding are undertaken. (I'm not flaming the individual who wrote it; it was well-written within the context of the Trinity doctrine.) I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, separate in form and body from God the Father. I believe that the oneness spoken of in such passages as John 17 allude to a oneness of purpose, thought, and action. This brings up an interesting point: what is religion for? To answer my own question, I think that religion is a vehicle for clarifying the nature and attributes of God the Father, Jesus Christ The Son, and the Holy Ghost. If a religion espouses beliefs that cloud the nature of God with confused and convoluted doctrine, then they are not serving the function for which they were intended. Comments? "Q" [Sure. But the question is what is meant by "clarifying". To paraphrase, a doctrine should be as complex as necessary, and no more so. In this case, as complex as is necessary to do justice to all of the evidence in Scripture. Almost all heresies have been simpler than the orthodox doctrines. The reason is that they emphasized one side of a situation where balance was needed. It's often more complex to do justice to all the considerations. --clh]