Unitarian and Trinitarian
At their most basic, the difference between Unitarian and Trinitarian doctrine can be summed up as follows. A Trinitarian believes in one God in three persons, whilst a Unitarian believes in one person in the Godhead.
Unitarian and Trinitarian Doctrine
The Trinitarian Doctrine is the Christian Doctrine that states that there is one God in three persons, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. It is a central pillar of Christianity held by the majority of Christian denominations.
Unitarian Doctrine holds that there is only one person in the Godhead – the Father. Unitarian’s believe in the unity of God and reject the doctrine of the Trinity.
Consistency with Scripture
Trinitarians believe that the Trinity is clearly taught in scripture in various passages in the New and Old Testaments and that it is consistent with the revealed nature of God. The Father is presented in Scripture as the creator and ruler of the universe, the Son is revealed as the saviour and redeemer of humanity and the Spirit is revealed as the guide and empowerer of believers. I will delve into the scriptural proofs for the Trinity in a later blog in this series.
Trinitarians also believe that unitarian teaching denies Jesus’ divine nature as revealed in the bible.
It should be noted that Unitarian faith asserts that Jesus was not a part of the Godhead. Some unitarians assert that Jesus had no divine element to his nature and that he was an ordinary man, an inspired teacher who was chosen to be saviour.
Not all Unitarians believe the same
My previous theology was that Jesus was begotten of God, Son of God, but not God. My theology asserted that Jesus inherited characteristics of both his father and his mother. In this, I would have differed in my belief around the nature of Christ from most Unitarians.