It is evident in the prologue of the gospel according to John, that, there is an essential relationship between the incarnate Word and God (Jn. 1:1-5, 14), and also that, some people are marked for some filial relationship with God on the basis of their faith, “to those who accept him, he gave power to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12, NAB). This acceptance by faith is not merely a verbal confession, but requires a specific way of life, wherefore, those who were seen with this specific way of life in relation to Christ, were called Christians (Acts 1:26), and the filial relationship is a roping into the Divine life. This life is witnessed to in the revelation of Scripture, the starting point being Matt. 28:19-20, attesting to a Trinitarian baptism that frees us from sin and opens us to the Spirit that comes to dwell in us and giving us the courage to call God ‘Father’ (Rom. 8:14-17). To be Christian, therefore, is acknowledging God as Trinity in whose life we are roped into, and in whose name we are baptised.

A critical analysis of the foundational Scripture of Christians reveals that, Christ instituted a way of life – the way of love, and by following his teaching and example, those men seen to be Christ like were called Christians (Acts 1:26). As seen in the introduction, the initiation of a person into this way of life, is done by baptism (Matt. 28:19-20), which ushers one into participation in the Divine life of the Triune God Thus, one becomes a Christian by the profession of faith in Christ which raises men up to participation in his divine filial relationship with the Father. In similar vein, the existence of the Trinity is revealed in the Scripture, as scholars like Edmund Hill have proven. The relationship between Christianity and the Trinity, even on the level of their source of proof, is undeniable. To prove what it means to be a Christian, we must turn to the Scripture; similarly, to prove the Trinity, we must dig through the Scripture. If what it means to be Christian, involves believe in the God revealed by Scripture and this God revealed by Scripture is a Trinity of persons, then it means that, to be Christian one must of necessity believe in the Trinity. Some people however, ascribe to themselves the name Christian and yet deny the Trinity, probably without understanding implications. The identity of the Christian cannot be detached from the Trinity.

NO TRINITY, NO CHRISTIANITY

Having discussed the link between the Trinity and Christianity, I elaborate on some few points to that prove that there can be no Christianity without the doctrine of Trinity.

First, Christianity thrives on the foundation given to it by divine revelation in the Scripture. One of the basic foundations is the Trinitarian view of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. According to Edmund Hill, this is a mystery that is prepared in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament in the person of Christ.  The whole Scripture is God’s self-communication, thus, to deny his nature revealed in the Scripture is to deny the entire revelation of God. Without God therefore, there can be no true Christianity, for we will begin to question issues like creation, the identity of Jesus and the possibility of salvation without a deity.

Secondly, the denial of the Trinity is the denial of the truth about Jesus who is both God and man. To prove this point, one either denies Jesus’ divinity as in Arianism or confounds the persons of the Trinity. By so doing, the idea of Jesus’ sonship is lost, and consequently, our ‘adopted sonship’ (Eph. 3:20). If Jesus is not son, then Christians cannot be adopted sons, and this distorts the whole idea of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus is more than just a man, he had to be God in order to save us, and he always referred to himself as Son in relation to the Father (Matt. 5:16; 6:15, Jn. 1:18; 6:46). More so, the task of Christianity as evangelization and the subsequent initiation of people in the name of the Trinity (Matt. 28:19-20) is flawed and the unity of faith is distorted, because “Christian faith comes about as the Holy Spirit works to unite believers to Christ in his humanity, therefore, bringing us by grace into the Father-Son relationship”  and through baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, the Holy Spirit leads believers into an ecclesial communion, properly called Christianity.

REFERENCES

E. Hill, The Mystery of the Trinity, (London: Geoffrey Chapman), 1985, pp.11-38

D. Fairbairn, Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press), 2009, p. 192.

M. Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity, (Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.), 1998, p.195