Which Churches Do Not Believe in the Trinity?

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, Oneness Pentecostals, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Christadelphians, Christian Science, and Unitarian Universalists do not confess the Nicene Trinity. Each group’s own page says how it speaks of God. Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant confessions, including the Baptist Faith and Message, confess one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God. The Trinity is that confession. Seventh-day Adventists confess it too, in Fundamental Belief 2, so they are not in the list of churches that deny it. What Do Seventh-day Adventists Believe? quotes that belief.

Key Points

• Augsburg Confession, Article I (1) says God is one divine essence, and yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of the same essence and power.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses: “we have learned from the Bible that Jesus is not Almighty God and that there is no Scriptural basis for the Trinity doctrine.” (2) Their New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) of John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source is quoted on John 1 and the Word.
• Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe 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.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen source (3) says the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, the Son also, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching quotes the verse.
• The United Pentecostal Church International (4) says there is one God, revealed as Father, through his Son, and as the Holy Spirit by emanation, and that Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh. That is Oneness teaching. It is not the Trinity’s three persons. The Assemblies of God confession is a different Pentecostal text. What Do Pentecostals Believe? quotes it.
• Iglesia Ni Cristo (5) says the one true God is the Father, and “There is no trinity of persons in God.” Christadelphians reject “that God is three persons.” (7) Christian Science says it does not equate Jesus with God. (8) Unitarian Universalist bylaws do not require a creed that confesses the Trinity. (9)

What Trinitarian Churches Confess

Augsburg Confession, Article I (1):

God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible. Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are of the same essence and power.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article II (10), as What Do Protestants Believe? prints it, says, “The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.” Matthew 28:19Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source (12) names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one baptism. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source (11) says the Word was God. John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source is Thomas: “My LORD and my God.”

The Trinity, Is Jesus God?, and Is the Holy Spirit God? are that confession on this site. What Do Catholics Believe? and What Does the Eastern Orthodox Church Believe? quote churches that say the same creed. Eastern Orthodox vs Baptist is a comparison of two churches that both confess it.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

On the beliefs page: (2)

However, we have learned from the Bible that Jesus is not Almighty God and that there is no Scriptural basis for the Trinity doctrine.

What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe? · English, jw.org

They say they follow Jesus as Savior and Son of God, and that this is why they are Christians. The Christian confession is that the Son is Almighty God. John 1 and the Word quotes the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), which reads the Word was “a god,” beside the King James line that the Word was God. What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe? is their shelf.

Latter-day Saints

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe 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.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen source (3):

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.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.org

Augsburg Article I says the one divine essence is without a body. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 says the Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and bones. The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching sets the verse beside the Nicene confession. Latter-day Saints use the words Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Those words in their scripture are not the Augsburg sentence that the three persons are one essence. What Do Mormons Believe? is their shelf.

Oneness Pentecostals

The United Pentecostal Church International (4):

There is one God, who has revealed Himself as Father; through His Son, in redemption; and as the Holy Spirit, by emanation. Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh. He is both God and man.

United Pentecostal Church International

The same page teaches baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, with speaking in tongues as the initial sign. What Is Oneness Pentecostalism? quotes that account: Jesus is fully God, and the one God is one person who manifests as Father, Son, and Spirit. That is not three persons of one essence. What Do Pentecostals Believe? is the Assemblies of God, a Trinitarian Pentecostal statement. Pentecostal is that shelf. The two are not the same church.

Iglesia Ni Cristo

“One God, the Father” (5) says, “We believe that the one and only true God is the Father, the Creator,” and “There is no trinity of persons in God.” What Is Iglesia Ni Cristo? quotes the paragraph. The Christian confession is that the Son is God with the Father, not a second god, and not excluded from the one God. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source (11) says the Word was God.

Christadelphians

The Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (6) says the only true God is “the supreme self-existent Deity, the ONE FATHER.” The reject list (7) rejects “that God is three persons,” “that the Son of God was co-eternal with the Father,” and “that the Holy Spirit is a person distinct from the Father.” What Do Christadelphians Believe? and What Is Biblical Unitarianism? quote those lines. Biblical Unitarianism on this site is that shelf. It is not Unitarian Universalism.

Christian Science

The church’s frequently asked questions say: (8)

While Christian Science affirms the divinity of the Christ, it does not equate Jesus with God.

Christian Science

The six tenets, quoted on What Is Christian Science?, acknowledge one supreme and infinite God, his Son, one Christ, and the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter. The sentence that the church does not equate Jesus with God is the parting from John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source (11). Christian Science is the shelf.

Unitarian Universalists

The Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws (9), Article II, covenant around Love and six values. Section C-2.5 says congregations may not require members to adhere to a particular creed. What Do Unitarians Believe? quotes that the Association has no shared creed and does not confess that Jesus is God. A body that will not require the Nicene creed is not confessing the Trinity as its faith. Unitarian Universalism is the shelf. The bylaws are not the Christadelphian reject list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Do Some Churches Deny the Trinity?

The sentences above are the reasons each group prints. Jehovah’s Witnesses say there is no Scriptural basis for the doctrine and that Jesus is not Almighty God. (2) Latter-day Saints teach embodied Father and Son in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. (3) Oneness Pentecostals say the one God has revealed himself as Father, through the Son, and as the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus is God manifested in flesh. (4) Iglesia Ni Cristo says there is no trinity of persons. (5) Christadelphians reject the claim that God is three persons. (7) Christian Science does not equate Jesus with God. (8) Unitarian Universalists do not require that creed. (9) The Trinity answers with Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source, Matthew 28:19Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source, and John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source.

What Is Trinitarian Theology?

Augsburg Article I (1) is one church’s form of it: one divine essence, three persons, the same essence and power. The creed of 381, quoted on The Trinity, confesses the Son as true God from true God. The theology is that confession. It is not the claim that the Father is the Son under another name, which is the Oneness sentence, and it is not a denial that the Son is God.

Which Denomination Does Not Believe in the Trinity?

No one denomination is the only one. The shelves linked above are the groups whose own statements do not confess it. Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Baptist, Lutheran, and the other denomination hubs on Denominations are churches whose official texts confess it, or whose comparisons on this site quote those texts. What Do Seventh-day Adventists Believe? belongs with the churches that confess it.

Do Baptists Believe in the Trinity?

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article II, calls God the eternal triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without division of nature, essence, or being. (10) Baptists who hold that statement confess the Trinity. Baptist vs Catholic and Eastern Orthodox vs Baptist compare Baptist texts with other churches that also confess it. Not every church called Baptist uses the 2000 statement. Can You Lose Your Salvation? notes the Free Will Baptists’ own treatise.

Do Pentecostals Believe in the Trinity?

Trinitarian Pentecostals do. What Do Pentecostals Believe? quotes the Assemblies of God. Oneness Pentecostals do not confess three persons. The United Pentecostal Church International says one God revealed as Father, through the Son, and as the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus is God manifested in flesh. (4) What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? is the gift those statements treat differently from each other.

Keep Reading

• The Trinity
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Latter-day Saints
• Oneness Pentecostalism
• Biblical Unitarianism
• Unitarian Universalism
• Iglesia Ni Cristo
• Christian Science
• Common Arguments