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I was raised in the Episcopal Church, which believes in the Trinity. I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was 19 years old.
The only explanation of the trinity I heard in the Episcopal Church was that God appeared in 3 forms: as the Father, as the Son, and as the Holy Ghost. Even while I was in the Episcopal Church and went to Episcopal High School and St. Stephens Episcopal elementary and junior high school, the concept of the trinity never made sense to me. Many years later (after I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I read 2 founding fathers – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – who thought that the idea of the trinity was absurd:
John Adams said in a letter that 3 is not 1, and 1 is not 3. John Adams added a humorous note: that if an angel appeared to him and told him that 2 + 2 = 5, he (John Adams) would agree with the angel but only because he was afraid.
Thomas Jefferson was more concise. He referred to the trinity as “Cerberus.” Do you know who Cerberus is? Cerberus in Greek mythology was the 3-headed dog that guarded Hades.
As I said, even while I was in the Episcopal Church and went to Episcopal High School and St. Stephens Episcopal elementary and junior high school, the concept of the trinity never made sense to me. I knew that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were 2 separate individuals YEARS BEFORE I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I knew of this great truth because of one simple verse. Somehow this verse I knew by heart. Thus, when I was a high school student at the Episcopal Church one Sunday, and the Episcopal minister said that Heavenly Father came to earth and gave his life for us, I mentally disagreed with that minister. As I mentally disagreed with the minister, that one simple verse occurred to me proving me right and the minister wrong. What was that verse:
John 3: 16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
At that time I didn’t know why I knew the verse by heart. I didn’t even know the reference John 3: 16. I just knew the verse itself without knowing that it was John 3:16. After joining the Church, I realized that it was the Holy Ghost who had impressed my mind with this one verse. Thus when I was 19 years old, and the missionaries taught me the First Vision, they wanted to be sure that I understood that there were 2 personages who appeared to Joseph Smith. I said to the missionaries that I already knew that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were 2 separate individuals.
If a stupid, immature teenager like me knew (despite his Episcopal Church’s teachings) that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are 2 separate individuals, if 2 brilliant founding fathers (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) saw the concept of the trinity as absurd, why in the world was the concept of the trinity taught for centuries? How, oh how, did the concept of the trinity come to dominate apostate Christianity? The concept of the trinity is proof that when so-called experts, theologians, and philosophers became proud and ignored – IGNORED – the promptings of the Spirit and chose, instead, to follow Greek philosophers (including Plato) rather than prophets, these so-called experts, theologians, and philosophers came up with an absurd, stupid concept of God. Thomas Jefferson had the sense to describe Plato as “nonsense.” I have a B.A. and a M.A. in English and Philosophy from BYU. I have a higher opinion of Plato than Jefferson did, but even I could EASILY see that Plato was not the equal of any prophet. NOT EVEN CLOSE! Well taught 8-year olds in our Church know far more than the so-called experts, theologians, and philosophers who came up with the stupid idea of the trinity. Even a stupid, immature teenager like me in another church knew more than those so-called experts, theologians, and philosophers.