Christians

[Ryft]

Agreed and yet this is the claim of Trinitarianism. One God in three separate persons. Would you like some Bible verses where Jesus is a separate being from Yahweh? The quote "not my will but thy will be done" leaps to mind.

You begin by getting trinitarianism right, but then end by getting it wrong. That is rather curious. If God is in three separate persons, as trinitarianism teaches, then Jesus cannot be a separate being from Yahweh; that suggests Jesus as separate from himself, which is nonsensical. When Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done," he was addressing the Father: (Luke 22:41-42) "He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done" (cf. Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:35-36). He was praying to the Father who is God no more or less than Jesus himself is; that is, he was praying to a distinct person, not a distinct god.

And I suppose the point that the Synoptic Gospels were written first and the advanced theology of John came later is lost on you?

No, it is the relevance thereof that is lost on me. All of Paul's letters predate both the synoptics and John's gospel, as do other letters in the New Testament, all of which correspond to the rich Christology and soteriology found in John's gospel (e.g., Titus 2:13). As for what God revealed to the various authors of the New Testament, it spoke to the church in specific times and circumstances; they did not all address the same issues and themes, so it is not surprising that what is revealed in this letter is not revealed in that letter. But the scriptures taken as a whole include the entirety of all revelation.

Do tell. Feel free to clarify what you were saying then.

That the scriptures, ancient creeds, liturgies, systematics and so forth all confirm that orthodox Christianity has never taught three separate gods. As I had said, the teaching is polytheistic only if it is held that each member of the Trinity is a unique god distinct from the others; searching the creeds and so forth shows that such was never held by orthodox Christianity. Therefore, supposing that the Trinity is comprised of three distinct gods is thus exposed as a straw man caricature. If one wishes to criticize what Christianity teaches, then one ought to work with what Christianity actually teaches.

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I brought up Occam's razor at work to help someone who thought ghosts were in his house ... A few hours later I asked him if he ever trapped a mouse in his home and if he ever saw the ghosts of those mice hanging around afterwards. He got a big kick out of it ...

I think it has to do with disembodied souls; that is, the sort of people who believe in ghosts would not expect mice and cockroaches to have souls, which is why human ghosts are the only ones ever seen. (Assuming, of course, that I understand their view right, and I am pretty sure that I do.)

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In Judges 1, he is with them. It says so right before the iron chariots, same verse. ... [snip rest]

Enjoy your proof-texting, slick. I prefer exegesis, so you are on your own.