Ever since the “Are LDS (Mormons) Christians?” debate erupted on here the past few weeks, the questions around Nicaea and whether the Trinity holds up have been occupying most of my thinking. So here’s what we’d actually be surrendering if we walked away from it. 🧵 5 Problems With Abandoning the Trinity

If we are to be fair to our LDS friends we would have to admit that so far we haven’t fully answered their objection. So here’s how it breaks down. Oneness (essence not theology): “united in purpose” is how allies, spouses, even pantheons relate. It isn’t being one. The Shema means more than “the gods agree.” Love: if they’re separate beings, love is between gods, not what God is. Point 2 needs one essence or it’s just a committee. Worship: three divine beings are three Gods, however aligned. That’s the polytheism that revelation rules out. The fight was never whether God is plural. It’s what kind of oneness he has. One being in three persons, or three beings in one purpose. Only the first holds.

🧵Two Sets of Witnesses and they aren’t the same. I recently heard a LDSaint argue that there are more witnesses to the golden plates than the resurrection. Let’s grant that the 500 extra witnesses Paul describes in his account is based off his word and thus doesn’t count. (Just for the sake of argument) 🧵Here’s what I found.🧵

If the resurrection was a lie, they were the ones who invented it, and men do not let themselves be flayed, speared, clubbed, and crucified upside down for a story they know they wrote. The resurrection witnesses were given every chance to recant and chose the club, the spear, the sword, and the cross. One of these testimonies was tested in fire. The other was never tested at all Then I was reminded of this powerful quote from an early church father.