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Do You Have to Believe in the Trinity to be Saved? (Endnotes)

1. Let us say at the outset, which we will restate later in the paper, that some Trinitarians do not believe the official position of orthodox Christianity, which is that a person must believe in the Trinity to be saved. Close

2. Some people would assert that Isaiah 9:6 sets forth that the Messiah would be God, but there are other ways that verse can and should be understood, and there is no record of any Jew expecting the Messiah to be God. Besides, Isaiah was written almost 750 years before Christ, and the vast majority of the Old Testament believers lived and died before that time. See our book: One God & One Lord, Appendix A for an explanation of Isaiah 9:6 that fits within the monotheistic framework of the Old Testament. Close

3. Bertrand de Margerie, The Christian Trinity in History, Translated by Edmund J. Fortman. (St. Bede’s Publications, Petersham, Mass. Originally published in French in 1975, copyrighted 1982), page 3. Close

4. Psalm 110:1, when properly understood, is one of the great pieces of evidence in Scripture that Jesus was human and not “God.” See our book: One God & One Lord, Appendix A, Psalm 110:1 Close

5. Some people might claim that Matthew 28:19, about baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and “Holy Spirit” is proof of the Trinity, but it clearly is not a teaching of the co-equality and co-eternality of the three. A first century person knew of the “holy spirit” as the spirit that God gave, which was spirit life and power (Num. 11:17), not a “Third Person” of a Trinity. Close

6. The “You have heard that it was said” and “but I tell you” are in quotes because that is the exact format Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount (cp. Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28, 31 and 32, etc.). Close

7. Tradition teaches that the Pentecost experience happened in the Upper Room, but it happened in the Temple, as a close study of Acts will show, and as more and more scholars are attesting in their writings. Close

8. Walter Elwell, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Books, Grand Rapids. 1984), p. 1112. Close

9. J. D. Douglas, ed. New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Ed. (Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL. 1982), p. 1221. Close

10. Trent Butler, ed. Holman Bible Dictionary (Holman Bible Pub., Nashville, TN. 1991), p.1372. Close

11. NIV Study Bible (Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1985), p. 2161. Close

12. The NIV text note on Hebrews says, “Hebrews could be called ‘the book of better things….’” NIV Study Bible (Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1985), p. 2346. Close

13. The verses referred to as “better” use the word “better” in the KJV. Other versions may use “better,” or another word such as “superior.” Close

14. Some theologians argue that Hebrews 1:8 says Jesus is God, but that would not be the natural way a Hebrew would read the verse. The word “God” in Hebrew, Aramaic, and most other Semitic languages, was not used exclusively of the Father God, but was also used of angels, judges, or people representing God, and that is the clear context here, because Hebrews 1:9 says that the “God” in verse 8 has his own “God,” which is certainly true of the Lord Jesus, who, as a man with God’s authority, would be called ”god” but still have a God over him. For more on Hebrews 1:8, see our book: One God & One Lord, Appendix A, Hebrews 1:8. Close

15. This particular prayer was taken from a website near the top of the list of search results when Google was searched for “the sinners prayer,” a search that returned more than 500,000 results, which is indicative of how many churches use the sinner’s prayer to bring people to salvation. Close