| Concept / Term | Trinity | Filium | Verses |
| Father, Son, and Holy Spirit | Designation of the three distinct yet completely equal persons within the Godhead. | Manner of speaking about God’s relationship to mankind that highlights and exalts the role of Christ as our mediator. | 1 Timothy 2:5 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 |
| God is One | There is one God, who exists eternally in the three persons of the Trinity | There is one God, Who is also one “person” | Deuteronomy 6:4-5 |
| Father | The first person of the Godhead | Title for God that speaks to His love and provision, as well as the love and obedience that he desires from each of us | John 14:21 Philippians 2:12-13 |
| Son | The second person of the Godhead. This personage is the one who is identified with Jesus, by which we affirm that Jesus is “fully God”. | Title for Jesus that speaks not only to his humanity, but most importantly to the unique relationship that He has with God when compared to every other person who has ever lived | Luke 1:35 John 13:31 |
| Holy Spirit | The third person of the Godhead. This personage is the one who indwells all believers and performs the work of sanctification within us. | Manner of speaking about the way in which God speaks to and guides human beings at a spiritual level, and subsequently empowers them to do His will. This includes the work of sanctification, which is how God conforms us to the image of His Son. | 1 Peter 1:2 Acts 7:55 |
| Co-existent Co-eternal Co-equal | Assertions about the members of the Godhead that must be true since they all have the same “substance” or “essence” | No need for these corollaries since there is one God. | |
| Logos | The “Word” of God who became incarnate in the person of Jesus, generally understood as another name for the “Son.” “Logos” is only used in this manner by John. | Reference to the common understanding of “Logos” in the first century AD as the active principle that unifies and brings order to the universe. It parallels Paul’s declarations about Christ that He is “before all things” and that in Him “all things hold together.” | |
| Jesus | The “God-man,” the eternal “second person of the Godhead” who took on a human nature | Due to the miraculous circumstances of His birth, Jesus experienced a relationship with God – through the Holy Spirit – that was utterly unique in human history. | Matthew 3:16 Matthew 4:1 Acts 10:38 Acts 16:6-7 |
| Christ / Messiah | Title for Jesus that literally means “Anointed,” the Greek word for Messiah. It speaks to Jesus’ being the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that foretold of His coming. | Includes the Trinitarian understanding, but also calls attention to Jesus’ unique ability to serve as our representative and advocate before God, the “new Adam,” on account of His complete, undefiled union with God | Romans 5:10-21 1 John 2:1-2 |
| Son of God | Title for Jesus that affirms His divinity on account of His identity with the eternal, divine, second person of the Godhead, “God the Son.” | Synonym for “Son” | |
| Son of Man | Messianic title for Jesus. Speaks to His humanity without denying His deity. | Another synonym for “Son” that emphasizes His unique ability to serve as our sacrificial substitute, our “kinsman redeemer” | Romans 5:19 John 3:14 |
| Emmanuel | Jesus is God by virtue of being inseparably united with God the Son. | Jesus is God Incarnate, the fullness of God dwelling in human form, made possible by virtue of His complete and undefiled union with God via the Holy Spirit | Luke 4:1 Colossians 2:9 Acts 10:38 |
| Lord | Title of authority ascribed to Jesus that is His by right, again on account of His union with “God the Son” who is part of the Godhead and therefore Lord. | The name above all other names, a title of supreme authority that God has conferred upon Jesus by virtue of His standing as the rightful heir to God’s Kingdom, as well as on account of Jesus’ complete and total obedience | Philippians 2:5-11 Acts 2:36 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 |
Debunking Dogma, Striving for Truth
Socratic Christianity 