"True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him " -John 4:23.

Christ's words, quoted above, are challenging. They declare that God finds pleasure only in the worship of those who approach Him "in spirit and truth." They imply that true worshippers are limited to those who are prepared to search out the truth concerning God, and make it the foundation of their spiritual life.

Most will acknowledge the right of God to dictate the terms of worship. Even human authorities do that in regard to themselves. No one would think of approaching an earthly monarch without conforming to the required conventions - and if he were in ignorance of them, he would take steps to find out what they are.

Should God, Who is higher than any earthly monarch, be treated with less respect?

By no means! And Christ's words above, reveal that He desires true worshippers to come to a sound knowledge of Him as a basis for acceptable worship. This imposes a solemn responsibility upon all who desire to please Him, to carefully search His revelation of Himself (the Bible), if they desire to know Him.

But, if our motives are right, do mere terms of doctrine matter? Most would answer in the negative; but Christ's words above reveal that doctrinal truth is vital to personal salvation. After all, how can we properly worship God if we lack a basic understanding of who He is? No, there can be no compromise, no "agreeing to differ" upon this all-important theme. God has revealed Himself and His purpose in the Bible, and it is our duty and privilege to search that wonderful Book, that we might know God whom we worship. To ignore it will render our worship vain and useless, and destroy any hope of personal salvation.

A Sound Knowledge of God Essential to Salvation
Christ, on several occasions, revealed that salvation is bound up in a correct understanding of divine truth (Mark 16:16; Rom. 1: 16; 1 Cor. 15:2-3 etc.). In praying to the Father, he declared: "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" John 17:3).

To what extent do we "know" God? Is our knowledge according to Bible truth? Two opposing ideas are taught in Christendom concerning God.

Most churches teach that He is a triune Being, made up of Father, Son and Holy Ghost - one yet three; equal in knowledge, power, and being, from all eternity to all eternity. On the other hand, Christadelphians claim that the doctrine of the Trinity is false; that God is one only; that Jesus Christ is His Son born 1900 years ago, before which he had no corporeal existence; and that the Holy Spirit (rend. Ghost in many Bibles) is the power of God.

Both cannot be right, and, in the light of the Lord's statements above, those who are in error are not in the way of life eternal, no matter how sincere they may be.

This is a very serious statement, and many may not like us stating it so bluntly. In fact, many deprecate debating about God as being undignified. They feel it is unnecessary, and prefer to leave such questions to theologians, whom they believe to be professionally equipped to do so.

But if Christ's words mean anything, they teach that eternal salvation is conditional upon a person worshipping God in truth. Therefore, the reader must decide as to whether his personal salvation is worth the trouble and time to seek into the matter.

The Trinity Is A Contradiction In Terms
Most systems of religion propound belief in what is termed the Trinity. They set forth the doctrine that God is both one and three, and is made up of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This doctrine is not drawn from the Bible (where the term, Trinity, never appears) but from what is known as the Athanasian Creed, which was drawn up by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in the fourth century after Christ. It defined the Godhead in the following terms:

"The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God."

The Trinity is further defined thus:

"There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

A careful analysis of that definition will reveal contradiction and confusion.

For example, how can "one God" be three persons, each one a god? How can the Son be "begotten" and yet be from eternity? How can the Father be separate from His "Holy Spirit"?

In short, to believe in what most churches teach concerning the Godhead is to believe an impossibility, a contradiction.

Paul taught that "God is not the Author of confusion" (I Cor. 14:33), but the doctrine that teaches that God is both one and three is an obvious error of logic and is confusion.

Test it yourself. Ask any clergyman how God can be both three and one; how He can be "without body parts and passions," and yet be "one substance;" how the Son can be from all eternity, and yet, at the same time, be God's "only begotten son" (John 1: 18).

You will be told that it is a "mystery," beyond the scope of mankind to understand; or you will be advised not to concern yourself with such "unimportant" matters.

Yet the doctrine of the Trinity is part of the faith, concerning which, the Church of England Prayer Book states: "Except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly."

God As Revealed In The Bible
We have briefly seen that the doctrine of the Trinity is contradictory, incomprehensible, and unscriptural. What is the alternative?

The Scriptural teaching is that God is one; Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the manifestation of the Father; the Holy Spirit is the power of God. This is straightforward, comprehensible, orderly, and above all else, Scriptural.

Consider the following epitome, in the light of the Scriptures appended:
1. One God - The supreme, self-existent Deity, the One Father, dwelling in unapproachable light, Who has, out of His own underived energy, created heaven and earth, and all that is in them (see Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6-8; 45:5; 46:9; Mark 12:29-32; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; Psalm 124:8; 146:6; 1 Timothy 6:15-16).

2. The Son of God - The Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, without the intervention of man, and afterwards anointed with the same Spirit, without measure, at his baptism. Put to death as a sin-offering, raised again the third day when he was given eternal life, and now awaiting the time when he shall return to earth to set up the Kingdom of God (see Luke 1:26-33; Acts 2:22-24, 36; Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 3:16-17; John 3:34; Hebrews 2:14-16; Romans 1:3; Hebrews 5:8-9; Acts 1: I 1; Acts 3:26).

3. The Holy Spirit - The Power of God by which He is cognizant of all that happens in heaven or earth, by which He sustains all creation, by which holy men of old were moved to record His revelation (the Bible), and by which they were enabled to perform miracles in ages past (Genesis 1:1-2; Job 26:13; 33:4; Acts 17:25-28; Neh. 9:30. Connect john 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, with Mark 16:17,20 and Luke 24:49. See also Luke 1:35; Acts 5:30-32; 2 Peter 1: 19-21).

The Bible nowhere teaches that God is a triune Being, or that the Lord Jesus Christ is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, but the very opposite.

Theologians Admit Trinity Not Taught in the Bible
The word Trinity is not found in the Bible. Mosheim, in his History of the Church, and Gibbon, in his The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (Ch. 21), both acknowledge this. Apparently, the word was first used in an apologetic work of Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch in Syria, in the latter half of the second century. The Trinity of this Bishop, however, was not the modern doctrine of co-equality, but rather a trinity of attributes rather than of persons, and he says expressly, "The true God (i.e. the Father) is alone to be worshipped." It was not until the fourth century, at a time of great apostasy from the pure Apostolic faith, that the doctrine of the Trinity was actually introduced. It caused heated controversy, for many still adhered to the teaching of the one God. But gradually the new doctrine prevailed, and ultimately became accepted as basic Christian teaching, fulfilling the prophecy that religious leaders would "make the Word of God of none effect through their tradition" (Mark 7:13; 2 Tim. 4:3).

Many theologians have been frank enough to admit that the doctrine is not taught in the Bible, and that it cannot be logically explained. They acknowledge that the teaching is incomprehensible, and that it propounds a contradiction in terms. They cannot explain how one God can be also three Gods and vice versa; how God can have substance, and yet no form; or how the Son of God can at the same time, be his own Father!

The doctrine is one of confusion, because it is drawn not from the Bible, but from pagan mythology. One edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica states:

"The propositions constitutive of the dogma of the Trinity were not drawn directly from the New Testament, and could not be expressed in New Testament terms. They were the products of reason speculating on a revelation to faith ... They were only formed through centuries of effort, only elaborated by the aid of the conceptions and formulated in the terms of Greek and Roman metaphysics."

In short, they were developed, not from the Bible, but from pagan mythology.

That is confirmed by a statement made by Mr. F. J. Wilkin, M.A., D.D., Professor of Theology, Baptist College of Victoria, Australia. In a book attacking Christadelphian teaching, he made the following revealing comment:

"In the Old Testament, the Unity of God was clearly affirmed. The Jewish creed, repeated in every synagogue today, was 'Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord (Deut. 6:4). This was the faith of the first Christians, so Paul writes, 'There is one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in you all" (Eph. 4:6). But gradually some addition or modification of this creed was found necessary. Christians were fully persuaded of the Deity of Jesus Christ and later of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, and they were compelled to relate these convictions with their belief in the Unity of God. During many years, the problem was discussed and many explanations were attempted. One advanced by Sabellius, that became fairly popular was that Christ and the Holy Spirit were successive manifestations of the Supreme Being, but finally, the belief prevailed that the words Father, Son, Spirit, declared eternal distinctions in the Godhead. That is, that the Trinity of Manifestation revealed a Tri-unity of Being. In other words,' that Christ and the Holy Spirit were coeternal with the Father. With the exceptions of the Unitarians, this is the belief of Christendom today... But Christadelphianism denies the Trinity ... In this denial it challenges all Christian Churches" (From Christadelphianism, published by The Australian Baptist, Victoria).

This clergyman's statement is staggering in its frankness. It confesses that the doctrine of the Trinity is not to be sought for in the Bible, that it differs from the teaching of the Apostles, and that it was only "adopted" by the Church after many years of contention, because members were "fully persuaded of the Deity of Jesus Christ, and later of the Deity of the Holy Spirit".