The trinity: God, the father
God, the Son Jesus Christ
God , the Holy Spirit
Are they three Gods or One God in three Forms.
If they are three different Gods then who is more worthy to worship first.

And if they are one in three forms then Jesus(pbuh) is God.
And according to many Christians he was died on the cross. Can God also die.
Life and death is in the hand of God. And if God was died on the cross who make him alive.
Can Any One REPLY

Firstly OLIVER...

"My point is that the Church didn't adopt a Jesus-like approach and institutionally never has taken his path."

and.. believe it or not, that is close to my own point also :)
At least you see the uniqueness of Jesus. The early Church (as in Acts) did adopt a "Jesus like" approach. Only after Constantine did it become the huge institution you (and I) dislike.
Unquestionably, there were various local assemblies prior to Constantine, and there was the usual to and fro of high profile personalities in regards to doctrine, sound teaching etc..

Honestly, I cannot answer all your questions with sufficient detail within 350 words, or even a few posts. Perhaps thats why I faded in the past ? :) Links are better if they handle the subject better than I can.

SMARTBOY.. (who appears to be a Muslim)

"Can God die" ?

Let Jesus answer:

John 10:
17 ...I lay down my life—only to take it up again.
18....No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

Here we see clearly the 'separateness' of Jesus from the Father.
"My Father loves me"

A little further we see the 'one'-ness of Christ Jesus with the Father.

30 "I and the Father are one."

You might be tempted to suggest (as Zakir Naik does) that this 'mean's "Oh... Jesus was of one heart with the will of the father"

But the reaction of the Jews shows this to be untrue. Jesus is claiming 'divinity'

"The Jews took up stones to stone him"

"because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
Now..as far as I'm concerned, Mr Naik (and others such as Ahmad deedat) can argue with the Jews..not me. They knew what Jesus was saying in the CULTURAL SETTING of the day. No confusion in their minds.

Add to this "Your sins are forgiven" in Mark 2 for the paralyzed man.
How did the Jews react ? by thinking "Only GOD can forgive sin... this man is uttering blasphemy"

So, while I understand your confusion, and I freely admit that the 'doctrine' of the Trinity is difficult to comprehend for a rational mind, I cannot deny the clear Word of God as you can read above.

Let me just say, that Prayer to God, is like this:

We pray 'to' the Father, 'through' the Son, 'by' the Spirit.

-"Our Father who art in heaven" (Lords prayer)
-"Whatever you ask in my name" (Jesus words to his disciples)
-But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. (Notice the word "he" referring to the Spirit)

I suggest you read Johns gospel chapter 14 to 16 in full. Along with Chapter 8 and chapter 10 separately. It will help
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=14&version=31

BOAZ,

Thanks.

The further point is what is true of the Churches is largely true of the Scriptures too. These were derived from various house assemblies and written years later than Jesus. There were many Jesus assembly threads [versions of account]. Later still, Nicaea, for example, the creeds and doctrines, with much help from established theocrasaic practice, selected between the the Jesus movement threads [Mack], not going back to the Jesus generation. With the NT, we have third hand people drawing on many second hand accounts.

Do you agree with Wells that Jesus was not a Christian?

Hi Oliver
Jesus was/is "Messiah, Saviour, LORD of Lords, KING of Kings, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the soon coming One"...but He was not a 'Christian' :)

This is simply because the word 'Christian' arose at Antioch during the life of the early Church and mean't 'Christs ones' It was a descriptor of the Messiah's followers, not of the Messiah Himself.

While we are on this important subject of background, I highly recommend to you the following area to peruse.
My claims come from the Gospel of John, and thus the issue of its reliability and history are very important.

Here is an outline of the tradition.

1/ John himself.... wrote the Gospel some time in the first century.33-99ad
2/ Papias, a disciple of John himself, write 5 books (lost) but some of them are quoted in other Church fathers. The importance of Papias is his testimony about the Gospel.
http://hajimac.qee.jp/papiase.htm
3/ Then, we have Ignatius and Eusebius and Ireneaus etc. With Eusebius contending that Papias was a disciple of a later John (The presbyter)

You can evaluate this material as you see fit. Personally, I think the weight of evidence is toward "John the Apostle".

When examining the various early Church fathers and their documents, including works they reference and issues they canvassed, it is possible to build up a reasonably clear picture of Biblical reliability even if one does not share the convictions of knowing Christ.

I find it quite strange that such strong evidence can be simply swept aside and discounted.
blessings.

BOAZ,

I was not referring to the word “Christian”, but the essence of actions of the Christians. The Christians to me were/are very different people to the Jesus assemblies of the 40-80+ CE period. The former appear to have practised a belief in the Kingdom of Heaven/God, a very different system to Christianity [or Islam].

- I re-put the question, “Would Jesus approve of Christianity”?

Historically, the Gospel of John is believed to have been written in 90s CEs in Northern Syria. It seems in part to have been derived from Mark, which was written in Southern Syria c. 80. The historical account would have that Gospel written by a member of the Johnnine Jesus assembly: One of several Jesus assemblies, as I posted before.

The Gospel of John is not synoptic and does not mesh well with the other gospels. There is more praise for the word [logos] of god and an emphasis on Jesus as the Son of God [the Father]. Here, the Writer [90s CE] is trying to deify Jesus. Moreover, John predicts the fall of the Jewish Temple [c.70]. That is like me, today, predicting the D-Day Invasion. The text was written twenty years after the fall! :). John's author was a spinmaster for his assembly.

What the Christian Church does not do is show the interim steps between the historical Jesus and the assemblies and those assemblies and itself. Of course, it cannot. You wont answer the question, "Did Jesus commit suicide?". But the Christian Church would know what "suicide" is, were it to open the doors on these assemblies.