There are definite differences between the Catholic version of the Trinity and the Seventh-day Adventist version. Jets of Light does not deny this. There are also many similarities. The question to you reader is, do the differences mean we worship a different God than the Catholics? Do these differences mean that our version is closer to the truth? This is from the Catholic Encyclopedia found at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm:
“The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion — the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another.
Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: “the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.” In this Trinity of Persons the Son is begotten of the Father by an eternal generation, and the Holy Spirit proceeds by an eternal procession from the Father and the Son. Yet, notwithstanding this difference as to origin, the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent. This, the Church teaches, is the revelation regarding God’s nature which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came upon earth to deliver to the world: and which she proposes to man as the foundation of her whole dogmatic system.”
This is from the Seventh-day Adventist website found at https://www.adventist.org/en/beliefs/god/trinity/:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation.
Immortal, all-powerful and all-loving, God is a relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The only being worthy of our worship, God is our Creator, Redeemer and Friend.
And from our 28 Fundamentals:
“God the Father…” (p.29) “God the Son…” (p.37) “God the Spirit…” (p.59)
All three are God, yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
There are differences between the Catholics’ Trinity and the Seventh-day Adventists’ Trinity, the eternal generation of the Son of God is one of them. But there are even bigger similarities, mainly, that God is a unity of three persons where all three persons are God, yet there is still only one God.
Many of our SDA brethren that I’ve talked to believe that our Trinity is so different from the Catholic Trinity that it means we are safe from Catholic errors. Yet the Catholics don’t see it this way. Despite the differences, they say, “Seventh-day Adventists agree with many Catholic doctrines, including the Trinity” (http://www.catholic.com/tracts/seventh-day-adventism).
According to the Catholics, we agree with their doctrine on the Trinity. So, to them, these differences don’t mean that much, or change the fundamental Trinity that we both worship.
For evidence that the foundational concept of the Trinity is the same for Seventh-day Adventists, Catholics and Protestants please look at the following four pictures:
First Picture – Seventh-day Adventist Trinity
Our Seventh-day Adventist bookstore has a large book entitled “Pictorial Aid for Bible Study” which has the following picture on page 74:
(As of September 28, 2016 you can purchase this book in our Seventh-day-Adventist book store for $59.99)
http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/new-pictorial-aid-for-bible-study.html
Second Picture – Catholic Trinity
This picture is taken from a Catholic website which is the same picture except in black and white and surrounded by angels.
http://www.catholicbible101.com/theholytrinity.htm
Third Picture – Protestant Trinity
The third picture is from a very popular Protestant question and answer website called gotquestions.org. This picture shows the same concept as the Seventh-day Adventist symbol and the Catholic symbol above.
http://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-Bible.html
The symbol that is used by SDA’s, Catholics and Protestants is also known as the “shield of the Trinity.”
Fourth Picture – Common Doctrinal Beliefs Held In Common
Mark Finely, the Vice President of Evangelism for the General Conference, agrees that the Godhead is a common doctrinal belief between our church and the Catholic church. In the book “Studying Together” on page 131, Mark Finley mentions the Godhead as one of the common beliefs held between Catholics and Seventh-day Adventists. Other common beliefs mentioned include, the Virgin Birth (although not the immaculate conception), the necessity of obeying God, the inspiration of the Bible, the second coming of Christ and the importance of prayer. I’m sure the Pastor would agree that there are differences (eternal generation of the Son) but the point is that he believes the foundation of the Trinity is a common doctrinal belief.
Why the Differences Don’t Mean that Much
The differences between the different versions of the Trinity that make the Seventh-day Adventist version unique don’t mean that much because the differences are about the details, not the foundational concept of the Trinity. Both the Catholic Church and the Seventh-day Adventist Church agree that God is a unity of three persons – three Gods yet not three Gods but one God. The details that proceed from this base can differ (eternal generation), but as long as the main teaching of the Trinity remains intact, that God is a unity of three persons, we believe in the same fundamental Trinity.
It’s finally come down to this, I knew it was coming, I have been in the Church fifty years and always believed in the almighty God and his begotten Son, with the Holy Spirit being from God or what Jesus said was the comforter, guess it’s time to move on, I am living a lie being in the SDA church
Wow, you are blessed to have known for the past fifty years that the trinity doctrine is false. I came to know about this only last year.
Well I guess you guys don’t believe in virgin birth/ 2nd coming of Christ / Catholic share the same belief Ellen white did about the heavenly trio, it takes two seconds to find that out. I mean the alternative produces a lot more problems than it solves, Jesus has no beginning (you believe he does without the trinity). Jesus is not a lesser god. Also, if Jesus is in the sanctuary, God on his throne, and the Holy Spirit in the world reconciling man and convicting them to do the work of Gods will, how do we not see 3? The issue with people is they don’t understand Oneness in the bible. There is unity, you can’t have love without another to express that love, unless it’s Self love. Self love basically satanic.
God is a person. Christ is a person. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency, that through His grace we might be complete in Him.
Trinity is a manmade conception of God. A philosophical idol. But the true God, have revealed Himself with no need of human speculation.
1Corinthians 8:6
without going into details, there i s no question that God the Father is God….however,is Christ presented as a Deity…the answer is YES!…you already have a situation where the human mind cannot understand how two Persons can be in the Godhead and yet that’s how they have presented themselves .this understanding that Christ is God is not catholic, it is biblical,Christ has used terms only used by a Deity..I and my Father are one..the Jews wanted to stone Him..they understood Him clearly and had never heard those words from human lips …….before Abraham was IAM…those words were unheard of….Christ used devine attributes to describe Himself hence the jEWS GOT MAD…..the Bible reveals Christ that way…it is not catholic to believe that CHRIST IS God….its in the revealed Word……..the next reference of debate is the position of the comforter,Christ calls Him another Comforter,the Holy Spirit…….the bible reveals the earthly office of Christ being taken over by the Holy Spirit as Christ ascended…too much is speculated about the HOLY SPIRIT when its not necessary…the HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES people to ALL TRUTH…this means to understand His Role church members would do well to pray more for the filling of the HOLY Spirit and He will reveal to them the truth about the Holy Spirit…there is too much human reconstruction about who the Holy Spirit is, or is not, too much debate and less prayer.The Holy Spirt has been revealed with enough details for our salvation,He reveals hIMSLEF TO PRAYING HUMBLE BRETHREN WHO HE REALY IS….No amount of debate will resolve the tensions in debate apart from personal connection with God through the work of the HOLY SPIRIT….then people will arrive at conclusions .Without heart regeneration ,there will be unnecessary debates on things not revealed.If people asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit that will be better than being filled with debate
The SDA and Catholic denominations can never have the same views on trinity. The difference is like light and darkness. The problem is that the SDA leadership is leading the Remnant Church into a dangerous territory of apostasy.
Thank you for your comment David. Do you have some bullet points why you believe the difference is like light and darkness when it comes to the Trinity doctrine? How did you come to your conclusion?
You see a problem with the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist church leading towards apostasy. Does this mean you are in opposition to the SDA leadership? Do you still support the SDA leadership in their leading people into apostasy? What would you recommend a member of the SDA church do when they clearly see their leaders guiding them into apostasy? Do you ever see the day when members of the Seventh-day Adventist church will have to apply Revelation 18:4 to their own denomination?
Thank you again for taking the time to add to the comments.
The devil’s conspiracy was “to be like the most High” not “TO BE THE MOST HIGH” Isaiah (14:14) that caused all the chaos in heaven and desolation and woah upon the earth; and yet there is only one who is LIKE THE MOST HIGH; the one who is the express image of His person, the one by whom and through Him He created everything- even the only Begotten of the Father; our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is our God, but not the “Father’s God,” Our Heavenly Father Has no GOD, But our LORD and Savior has a GOD. and this does not mean that Jesus is inferior to His Father, for no Son even in the earthly matters is inferior to His Father whose DNA He carries, an inferior son is no son at all. Lucifer could not be like the Most High because He cant be like the Most High, for he is only a CREATURE like as we are. therefore one of the subtle and destructive consequences of trinity doctrine in all its forms, whether catholic or SDA is that it destroys the Son-ship of Christ which He (Christ) defended with His own blood here on earth. and also eradicating the true ground of the controversy we are in. lucifer’s jealousy was found in the exalted position of the Son of God as to why He should be worshiped. am afraid, whoever will receive the truth of God and His Son and their Holy Spirit as it is revealed in the bible and the spirit of prophecy and rejects it, will not receive the seal of GOD in our time
today.
Thank you for you this thought.