# The Trinity > Christians confess that the one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: not three gods, and not one person taking turns. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/the-trinity - Religions: Christianity, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints - Denominations: none - Beliefs: Atheism - Tags: trinity, monotheism, god - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) Christians who stand in the Nicene faith say: God is one. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God. They are not three gods, and they are not one person taking turns. The church used “being” for what is one, and “person” for Father, Son, and Spirit. ## Key points - [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4) says, “The LORD our God is one LORD.” That sentence is the claim, not an embarrassment beside it. - [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one name at baptism. - [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1) says the Word was with God and the Word was God. [John 14–16](/bible/john/14) has Jesus speak of the Spirit as another advocate whom the Father will send. - [2 Corinthians 13:14](/bible/2-corinthians/13/14) is a grace that names the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost. - The [creed of 381](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3808.htm) says “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.” - Muslims hear a threat to tawhid in [Qur’an 4:171](https://quran.com/an-nisa/171) and [surah 112](https://quran.com/al-ikhlas). Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the Son is a creature and the holy spirit is God’s active force. Latter-day Saints teach three beings, one in purpose, in [Doctrine and Covenants 130:22](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130?lang=eng&id=22). - The confession does not say the Father died on the cross, or that the Son is the Father with a different name, or that 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. ## The question The church used “being” (or “essence”) for what is one, and “person” for Father, Son, and Spirit, who are distinct and who indwell one another. The words are fences around a confession. They are not a claim that we have comprehended God. “Three gods” and “one person with three masks” are both refused. ## The objections Muslims hear a threat to tawhid, the confession that God has no partners. [Qur’an 4:171](https://quran.com/an-nisa/171) and [surah 112](https://quran.com/al-ikhlas) are the usual places that concern is voiced. See [tawhid and Christian monotheism](/islam/tawhid-and-christian-monotheism). An answer that says only “it’s a mystery,” and will not say what is being denied, has not answered the oneness of God. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jehovah alone is Almighty God, that the Son is a created being, and that the holy spirit is God’s active force rather than a person. They are trying not to split God. The argument is about texts, and about whether the Spirit speaks and can be lied to as a person. [Is the Holy Spirit a person?](/jehovahs-witnesses/is-the-holy-spirit-a-person) is that page. Latter-day Saints often accept “three” more readily than Nicene Christians expect. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one in purpose. The usual Latter-day Saint teaching, drawing on texts such as [Doctrine and Covenants 130:22](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130?lang=eng&id=22), presents them as three distinct beings. That is not the same sentence as Nicaea. See [the Godhead](/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching). That teaching is not modalism, and it is not Nicaea. Atheist objections are often about coherence: can “one” and “three” be said together without cheating? Sometimes the Trinity is exhibit A that religious language does not cash out. Those are different objections. ## The Christian claim Begin with [the Shema](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4). [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4) [(1)](#ref-1) is not an embarrassment for Trinitarians; it is the claim. Then show where Christian prayer and baptism actually put the Son and the Spirit. [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) [(2)](#ref-2) names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one name. John’s Gospel has the Word, who is God, with God in the beginning ([John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1)), and later has Jesus speaking of the Spirit as another advocate whom the Father will send ([John 14–16](/bible/john/14)) [(3)](#ref-3). [Second Corinthians 13:14](/bible/2-corinthians/13/14) [(4)](#ref-4) is a grace that already runs in three directions. The confession does not say the Father died on the cross. It does not say the Son is the Father under another name. It does not say 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. Comparisons — water, a man who is son and father, the sun — have been used for centuries, and they have misled people. The sentences above are the confession. ## Passages - [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4) and [Mark 12:29](/bible/mark/12/29). - [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19). - [John 1:1–3](/bible/john/1), then a chapter from [John 14–16](/bible/john/14) on the Spirit, not a single verse pulled out. - [2 Corinthians 13:14](/bible/2-corinthians/13/14). - [The creed of 381](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3808.htm) [(5)](#ref-5), including “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.” ## Keep reading - [The Islamic dilemma](/islam/the-islamic-dilemma) - [The deity of Christ](/christianity/deity-of-christ) - [What do Catholics believe?](/christianity/what-do-catholics-believe) and [What do Protestants believe?](/christianity/what-do-protestants-believe), which quote the same Nicene sentences and do not decide the later disagreements - [Tawhid and Christian monotheism](/islam/tawhid-and-christian-monotheism) - [Can God have a Son?](/islam/can-god-have-a-son) - [John 1 and the Word](/jehovahs-witnesses/john-1-and-the-word) - [The Godhead in Latter-day Saint teaching](/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) - [What is the difference between Judaism and Christianity?](/judaism/what-is-the-difference-between-judaism-and-christianity) - [What do Unitarians believe?](/unitarian-universalism/what-do-unitarians-believe) - [What do Seventh-day Adventists believe?](/what-do-seventh-day-adventists-believe) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Deuteronomy 6:4 King James Version. > Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: ### Matthew 28:19 King James Version. > Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ### John 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ### 2 Corinthians 13:14 King James Version. > The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. ### Qur’an 4:171 Saheeh International. [Open on quran.com](https://quran.com/4/171) > O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allāh except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allāh and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allāh and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allāh is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allāh as Disposer of affairs. ### Qur’an 112:1-4 Saheeh International. [Open on quran.com](https://quran.com/112/1-4) > [1] Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One, [2] Allāh, the Eternal Refuge. [3] He neither begets nor is born, [4] Nor is there to Him any equivalent." ### Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 English, churchofjesuschrist.org. [Open on churchofjesuschrist.org](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130?lang=eng&id=22) > The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. ### Mark 12:29 King James Version. > And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ### John 1:1–3 King James Version. > [1:1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [1:2] The same was in the beginning with God. [1:3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Deuteronomy, 6:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/6/4). King James Version 2. [Gospel of Matthew, 28:19](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/28/19). King James Version 3. [Gospel of John, 1:1–3; 14–16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1). King James Version 4. [Second Letter to the Corinthians, 13:14](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-corinthians/13/14). King James Version 5. [Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, 381](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3808.htm) (The creed churches still say when they mean one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.) ## See also - [Is Jesus God? Where Jesus Claimed to Be God](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-jesus-god) — Yes. Jesus is truly God and truly human. He forgave sins, applied God’s name and honor to himself, and received the words “My LORD and my God,” which is why the church confesses him as God the Son. - [The Deity of Christ: Is Jesus God?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/deity-of-christ) — Yes. Christians confess that Jesus is truly God and truly human. The passages are in Is Jesus God?; this page maps how Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, and atheists hear that confession. - [Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god) — Is Allah the same God? Muslims and Christians both confess one Creator, the God of Abraham. They do not confess the same account of who that God is: Christians say Jesus is God, and the Qur'an denies it. - [Does the Trinity Depend on 1 John 5:7?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/does-the-trinity-depend-on-1-john-5-7) — The sentence about the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost in the King James Version of 1 John 5:7 was added later. The Trinity does not rest on it. - [Tawhid and Christian monotheism](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/tawhid-and-christian-monotheism) — Muslims and Christians both say God is one. The argument is whether Father, Son, and Spirit are partners beside God or the one God. ## External links - [Nicene Creed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed) — Further reading on the 381 text named in the sources. - [Deuteronomy 6 (King James Version)](/bible/deuteronomy/6) — The public-domain English text of the passage cited as reference 1, on this site. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/the-trinity.md)