The move from Unitarian to Trinitarian has not been easy and understanding the basic building blocks of Trinity and Christology has meant significant effort. Letting go of my Unitarian structures has taken deep thought and restructuring. I grew up in this tradition and sometimes my default thinking is still unitarian and I have to stop, breathe and work through my theology afresh.
To be clear, I am orthodox (in most ways) and embrace academically the Nicean Trinitarian tradition. It is just that over many decades, I was deeply Unitarian. My family are all unitarian and thats a kind of programming that is somewhat difficult to dislodge.
To be honest, it humbles me and makes me hesitant to dive into a debate on virtually any topic. I just take my time and settle into my understanding of Trinity and Christology before I speak.
Early in my transition, I wrote many of the following articles to give both views a fair hearing and document my transition in thinking. So I wrote articles exploring the substantive unitarian perspectives and objections to the doctrine of Trinity and then used the writing to develop my thinking around Trinity. I wanted to present the unitarian case as strongly as its advocates would – because I lived it for nearly 50 years and it deserves serious engagement, not dismissal.
Reading Guide: The Trinity Series
- The Trinity: Introduces the series and my personal journey from Christadelphian unitarianism to orthodox Trinitarianism, including the emotional and spiritual struggles of transitioning beliefs held since childhood.
- Unitarian and Trinitarian: Defines the basic theological difference between Trinitarian and Unitarian positions, noting that not all Unitarians hold identical views about Christ’s nature.
- The Name Beyond Names: Explores YHWH as God’s self-revelation through relationship rather than control, tracing how the divine Name creates encounter from the burning bush through Sinai to Christ’s ‘I AM’ declarations.
- Arguments supporting Unitarianism: Presents the strongest unitarian objections to Trinity doctrine (pagan origins, divine immutability, Jesus’ temptation, monotheism, logical paradoxes, textual manipulation) as I would have argued them during my nearly 50 years as a unitarian.
- God Manifestation in a Unitarian Framework: Explains the beautiful Christadelphian doctrine that Jesus manifested God perfectly and believers likewise manifest God’s light to the world, showing how this concept survives (transformed) within Trinitarian theology.
- From Socinus to Thomas (historical genealogy): Traces how modern anti-Trinitarian doctrine isn’t apostolic restoration but represents inherited 16th-century Socinian interpretive methods transmitted through European intellectual networks to American restorationism, explaining how John Thomas ‘rediscovered’ Polish theology.
- Modalism and Monotheism: Addresses the unitarian objection that Trinity violates monotheism (Deut 6:4) and clarifies that Trinitarians reject modalism—showing how Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons with unique roles in salvation, not different modes of one being.
- From God Manifestation to Orthodoxy: Explains why I moved from the beautiful but insufficient Christadelphian doctrine of Jesus manifesting God’s character to embracing orthodox incarnation—showing how only the God-man could accomplish what salvation requires and how this transforms prayer, worship, and assurance.
- Arguments supporting the Doctrine of the Trinity: Presents the biblical case for Trinity (threefold formulas, Christ’s deity, Spirit’s personhood), traces patristic development through Nicaea, and shows that modern unitarianism lacks genuine historical precedent before the 16th century.
- The Trinity is not Pagan: Refutes the claim that Trinity doctrine derives from pagan triads or Platonic philosophy, showing it emerged from biblical reflection by early church fathers articulating Scripture’s witness about Father, Son, and Spirit – superficial similarities to pagan concepts prove nothing.
- Understanding God-Man: Addresses why ‘God-man’ initially sounded blasphemous to me as a Christadelphian, explaining the hypostatic union – one person with two complete natures (fully divine, fully human) – showing this isn’t pagan mythology but precise biblical theology with profound practical implications.
- The Temptation: Refutes the unitarian argument that Jesus’ temptation proves he wasn’t God (Heb 4:15 vs Jas 1:13), showing how Jesus as God-man could experience temptation through his human nature while resisting through his divine nature – temptation isn’t sin unless it conceives.
- Does the Trinity mean that God changes?: Addresses the unitarian objection that incarnation violates divine immutability (Mal 3:6), showing that Jesus’ incarnation was progressive revelation of God’s unchanging love nature, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy rather than representing change in God’s essence.
- Conclusions: Brief personal testimony reflecting on the difficulty of leaving 50 years of Christadelphian unitarianism, acknowledging the beauty but ultimate inadequacy of God Manifestation theology, and affirming that Scripture plainly teaches Jesus’ divinity and the personhood of the Holy Spirit—recognizing this needs fuller development.
How to Use This Series
This series is designed to be read sequentially, building from foundational definitions through fair presentation of both positions, into the historical evidence and theological arguments, concluding with personal synthesis. Each post links to the next, but you can also explore specific topics that interest you.
Total estimated reading time: Approximately 2 hours