The Catholic View On The Trinity Is Correct

Table of Contents

Scriptural Arguments Against The Trinity

The Holy Trinity is one God as three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Catholics have always believed in the Trinity.

In contrast, heretics throughout history have denied the Trinity.

Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Messianic Jews, and several cults deny the Trinity.

The arch-heretic, Arius, first promulgated this heresy, called Arianism, in the 4th century.

They generally believe that only God the Father is God, and the Son and Holy Spirit are not.

They are wrong, of course!

This is because they don’t understand that the Son and the Holy Spirit are homoousion, or consubstantial with the Father.

This means that all three Persons of the Trinity are of one substance/essence – God.

And since They are the same substance/essence, they also have one Divine nature, one intellect, and one will.

These heretics also don’t understand that the Son is eternally begotten.

This basically means that the Father eternally generates the uncreated Son in eternity.

They also don’t understand the Hypostatic Union, which means that Christ has both a divine nature and human nature.

Dyothelitism means that Christ also has two wills, one for each nature, which also confuses the heretics.

Yet, the Bible proves all these things, but the heretics don’t understand these nuances, and get things wrong.

But to give them justice, let’s go through the Bible verses they cite to prove their heresies and show why they’re wrong.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:4

It would seem here that this would deny the Holy Trinity. But this is not true.

Firstly, St. Gregory of Nyssa says:

Wherefore [Scripture] says, “The Lord God is one Lord.” By the word Godhead it proclaims too the only begotten God and does not divide the unity into a duality so as to call the Father and the Son two gods, although each is called God by holy writers.
On Not Three Gods

Secondly, St. Augustine says:

This Trinity is one God, not to the effect that the Father is the same [Person] as the Son and the Holy Spirit, but to the effect that the Father is the Father, and the Son is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit; and this Trinity is one God, according as it is written, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God.“
Of Faith and the Creed

Thus, we Catholics say that the “one” that this passage refers to is the “one” Trinity, and not specifically to the Father alone.

In other words, this passage proves consubstantiality/homoousion.

Proverbs 8:22

The Lord created me as the firstborn of his ways, before the oldest of his works.
Proverbs 8:22

Heretics use this to claim that the Father created Christ. But this isn’t so.

However, St. Athanasius says:

The fact is, then, that the Word is not from things created but is rather himself their creator. For this reason did he assume a body created and human: so that, having renewed it as its creator, he might deify it in himself and thus might introduce all of us in that likeness into the kingdom of heaven.
…
Although the Word did indeed become flesh, it is to the flesh that affections are proper; and although the flesh bears divinity in the Word, it is to the Word that grace and power belong. He performed the Father’s works, then, through the flesh;
…
Being Son, he is inseparable from the Father, and there was never a “when” when he did not exist. He always existed. Moreover, since he is the image and radiance of the Father, he also possesses the Father’s eternity.… What is the basic meaning and purport of holy Scripture? It contains, as we have often said, a double account of the Savior. It says that he has always been God and is the Son, because he is the Logos and radiance and wisdom of the Father. Furthermore, it says that afterwards for us he took flesh of the Virgin Mary, the bearer of God, and became man.
Four Discourses Against The Arians

In other words, the Father never created the Son, since the Son is eternally begotten.

However, the “creation” refers to the creation of the flesh for the Son, who always was.

God, knowing we would fall, planned the Incarnation of the Word, to redeem us, from the very beginning.

Micah 5:2

AND THOU, BETHLEHEM Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.
Micheas (Micah) 5:2

On the surface, the first part of this passage seems to indicate that Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, was a created Messiah.

On the contrary, St. Cyril of Jerusalem says:

It is enough for piety for you to know, as we have said, that God has one only Son, one naturally begotten, who did not begin to be when he was born in Bethlehem but is before all ages. For listen to the prophet Micah: “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are little to be among the thousands of Judah. From you shall come forth for me a leader who shall feed my people Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” Therefore do not fix your attention on him as coming from Bethlehem simply but worship him as begotten eternally of the Father. Admit no one who speaks of a beginning of the Son in time, but acknowledge his timeless beginning, the Father.
Catechetical Lecture 11.20

In other words, the Incarnation of the human nature of Christ was born in Bethlehem, per the prophecy.

However, the Divine nature of the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, which the latter half of the passage refers to.

Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:22

All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.
Matthew 11:27

This would appear to say that the Son is subordinate to the Father and that the Holy Spirit knows neither the Father or the Son.

On the contrary, St. Cyril of Alexandria says:

The one who sees the Son, who has the image of the Father in himself, sees the Father himself. … These things are to be understood in a manner befitting to God. He said, “Everything has been handed down to me” so that he might not seem to be a member of a different species or inferior to the Father. Jesus added this in order to show that his nature is ineffable and inconceivable, like the Father’s. For only the divine nature of the Trinity comprehends itself. Only the Father knows his own Son, the fruit of his own substance. Only the divine Son recognizes the One by whom he has been begotten. Only the Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God, the thought of the Father and the Son.
Fragment 148

In other words, since the Son is consubstantial with the Father He shares in the Father’s one intellect, and vice versa.

Moreover, since the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with both the Father and the Son, He too also shares in their one Divine intellect.

And since the Son is eternally begotten by the Father, it makes sense that the Father eternally delivers all knowledge and power to the Son.

Matthew 20:23 and Mark 10:40

He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on my right or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.
Matthew 20:23

On the surface, this appears to say that Christ doesn’t have the power to give people a place in Heaven.

On the contrary, the Church Fathers disagree with this:

St. Augustine answers that the words are true if taken of Christ, as he was man. The easier answer is, that it was not his to give to them, while they were in those dispositions of pride and ambition. So that the distinction made, is not betwixt the Father and his eternal Son, as if the Father could give what the Son could not, but betwixt persons worthy, and not worthy of such a favour.
It is true the word you, is now wanting in the Greek manuscripts and must have been wanting in some of them in the fourth, or at least the fifth century, since we find them not in St. Chrysostom. St. Augustine also in one place omits it, but sometimes lays great stress upon it; Christ’s meaning being no more, than that heaven was not his to give them; that is, to the proud, &c. St. Ambrose reads it; and what is still of greater weight, St. Jerome hath it in the text of the New Testament, which he corrected from the best Greek manuscripts.
Haydock Commentary On Matthew 20:23

Thus, it is not true that Christ couldn’t give seats in Heaven to men; but rather, He (the Trinity) prepared places in Heaven for those who will earn it worthily.

Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32

But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.
Matthew 24:36

This appears to indicate that the Father knows something the Son doesn’t.

On the contrary:

In answer to this difficulty, when it is said, but the Father alone, it is certain that the eternal Son and the Holy Ghost could never be ignorant of the day of judgment: because, as they are one and the same God, so they must have one and the same nature, the same substance, wisdom, knowledge, and all absolute perfections.
2. It is also certain that Jesus Christ knew the day of judgment, and all things to come, by a knowledge which he could not but have, because of the union by which his human nature was united to the divine person and nature. See Colossians ii.3. And so to attribute any ignorance to Christ, was the error of those heretics called Agnoitai.
3. But though Christ, as a man, knew the day of judgment, yet this knowledge was not due to him as he was man, or because he was man, but he only knew the day of judgment, because he was God as well as man.
4. It is the common answer of the fathers, that Christ here speaks to his disciples, only as he was the ambassador of his Father; and so he is only to know what he is to make known to men. He is said not to know, says St. Augustine, what he will not make others know, or what he will not reveal to them.
Haydock Commentary On Matthew 24:36

In other words, Christ knows the last day because He shares the Divinity with the Father (homoousion), but He decided to not tell us for our own good.

Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42

And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Matthew 26:39

It would seem on face value that this means that Jesus is subordinate to the will of the Father.

On the contrary:

He that was God and man, had both a divine and a human will. He was pleased to let us know what he naturally feared, as man, and in the sensitive part of his soul; yet shews his human will had nothing contrary to his divine will, by presently adding, but not my will, but thine be done. Here, as related by St. Luke, followed his bloody sweat. (Luke xxii. 43[44?].) (Witham) — These words are a source of instruction for all Christians. These words inflame the breasts of confessors; the same also crown the fortitude of the martyrs.
For, who could overcome the hatred of the world, the assaults of temptations, and the terrors of persecutors, unless Christ in all, and for all, had said to his eternal Father: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou willest. Let all the children of the Church then understand well these words, that when calamities violently beat upon us, we may with resignation exclaim: nevertheless, not as I will, but, &c. (St. Leo the great)
Haydock Commentary On Matthew 26:39

In other words, since Christ had human nature (hypostatic union), He was showing us his fear of His upcoming Passion.

Additionally, He shows that His human will won’t contradict His divine will (dyothelitism), even when He is experiencing intense emotion.

Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Matthew 27:46

On the surface, this appears to show that Christ was at the mercy of the Father to save Christ from His suffering.

On the contrary, St. Ambrose says:

As human he doubts. He experiences amazement. It is not his divinity that doubts, but his human soul. He had no difficulty being amazed because he had taken humanity fully to himself. In taking upon himself a human soul, he also took upon himself the affections of a soul. As God he was not distressed, but as a human he was capable of being distressed. It was not as God he died, but as man. It was in human voice that he cried: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” As human, therefore, he speaks on the cross, bearing with him our terrors. For amid dangers it is a very human response to think ourself abandoned. As human, therefore, he is distressed, weeps, and is crucified.
On The Christian Faith

Thus, it was again, Christ’s human nature (hypostatic union) that was afraid and in pain.

His human will still never contradicted His divine will (dyothelitism), which was in perfect unity with the Father (consubstantiality/homoousion/one will).

Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19

And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? None is good but one, that is God.
Mark 10:18

On the surface, it appears that Jesus is denying He is good and saying that only God is good.

Firstly, St. Hilary of Poitiers says:

He who is by nature God of God must possess the nature of his origin, which God possesses. The indistinguishable unity of a living nature cannot be divided by the birth of a living nature. But the troublers of church unity, under cover of the saving confession of the gospel faith, are subversively trying to take captive the truth by undermining it. By forcing their own interpretations on words spoken with other meanings and intentions, they are robbing the Son of his distinctive unity [with the Father].
On the Trinity

Secondly, St. Ephrem the Syrian says:

The rich man called Jesus “good,” as if he were offering him a favor, just as some favor others with honorary titles. [The Lord] fled from that by which people favored him, so that he might show that he had received this goodness from the Father through nature and generation, and not [merely] in name. “Only one is good,” [he said], and did not remain silent, but added, “the Father,” so that he might show that the Son is good in just the way that the Father is good.
Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron

Thirdly, St. Bede says:

It is only by participation in the divine goodness that a rational creature is capable of becoming good.
Exposition on the Gospel of Mark

Again, Christ and the Father are consubstantial. Thus, Christ is good because Christ is God.

Jesus wasn’t denying the rich as much as He was challenging the man’s faith and demonstrating His supernatural humility.

John 5:19, 5:30, 8:28

Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
John 5:19

These passages appear to say that Christ is not omnipotent.

On the contrary:

The ancient Fathers commonly allowed them to be understood of Christ as God, and as the true Son of God proceeding from him from all eternity; as when it is said, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, it is true, because the eternal Son is not of himself, but always proceeds from the Father.
2. Because the works of all the three Persons, by which all things are produced and preserved, are inseparable.
3. When it is said, that the Son doth nothing, but what he seeth the Father doing: that he heareth, as the Father hath taught him, or shewed to him: these expressions bear not the same sense as when they are applied to men, or to an inferior or a scholar, who learns of his master, and follows him; but here, says St. Augustine, to see, to hear, to be taught by the Father, is no more than to proceed from him, to do and produce by the same action, all that the Father doth and produceth…
The words immediately following, confirm this exposition, when it is said: For what things soever he (the Father) doth, these also in like manner the Son doth, i.e. the very same things by an unity of nature, of will, and of action: nor could these words be true, unless the Son was the same true God with the Father.
Haydock Commentary On John 5:19

Again, Christ is eternally begotten and homoousion.

John 5:22

For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.
John 5:22

Again, the heretics would say that the Father is delegating a task to Christ, which makes Christ His subordinate.

On the contrary:

It is certain that God is the Judge of all, by divers places of the holy Scriptures; and to judge, belongs both to the Father and to the Son, as they are the same God: so that when it is added, that the Father hath given all judgment to the Son,[6] this is meant of the exterior exercise of his judgment upon all mankind at the end of the world, in as much as Christ then will return, in his human body, to judge all men, even as man, in their bodies.
Haydock Commentary On John 5:22

Thus, since judging men belongs to God alone, this passage admits that the Son is God.

Moreover, because the Father and Son are consubstantial and share the same Divine intellect and will, when the Son judges, the Father judges too.

Finally, this isn’t subordination because Christ is the only Divine Person with a human body, and thus He is the only one that can be the mediator between god and man.

John 7:16

Jesus answered them, and said: My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
John 7:16

This is another passage where the heretics will claim that Christ is subordinate to the Father.

On the contrary:

Jesus answered, &c. My doctrines are not My inventions nor the result of My study. They did not primarily and originally proceed from Me, but from God the Father. He, as I am God, communicated to Me His own omniscience, But, as I am man, He gave and infused into Me His own Blessed knowledge of all things, according to that of Isaiah 11:2 . “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,” &c. So S. Chrysostom and others, who observe that in this very way Christ implies that He is God: as if He said, “I together with the Divine Essence have derived all My omniscience and doctrine from the Father.”
As S. Augustine says ( Tract 29), “What is the doctrine of the Father, but the Word of the Father? Christ Himself, therefore, is the doctrine of the Father, if He is the Word of the Father. But because a Word cannot be of no one, but of some one, He called Himself His own doctrine, and yet not His own, because He is the Word of the Father. For what is so much thine as thyself? and what is so little thine as thyself if thou art from some one else?”
Lapide’s Great Biblical Commentary on John 7:16

Everything the Son has proceeds from the Father, since the Father eternally begets the Son.

This means that the doctrine of the Father is also the Son’s, since they share in the Divine intellect.

The Son Himself is the eternal Word of the Father, and thus is the doctrine that the Father eternally begets.

John 14:28

You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.
John 14:28

To the heretics, this would seem to be an admission by Jesus that He is inferior to the Father.

On the contrary:

According to the common exposition, Christ here speaks of himself, as made man, which interpretation is drawn from the circumstances of the text, Christ being at that time, going to suffer, and die, and shortly after to rise again, and ascend into heaven, all which agree with him, as man, and according to his human nature. But the Arians can take no advantage from these words, (though with divers of the ancient Fathers, we should allow them to be spoken of Christ, as the Son of God:) the Father may be said in some manner to be greater than the Son, if we consider the order of the divine processions, that is, that the Father is the first person, and proceeds from no other; whereas the Son proceeds from the Father.
If any one, says St. Chrysostom, will contend, that the Father is greater, inasmuch as he is the cause, from which the Son proceedeth, we will bear with him, and this way of speaking: provided he grant that the Son is not of a different substance, or nature. St. Athanasius allows the same, and takes notice, that though the Father is said to be greater, yet he is not said to be better, nor more excellent, than the Son; because they are one and the same in substance, nature, and other perfections.
Haydock Commentary On John 14:28

Again, Christ is eternally begotten and homoousion.

John 15:10

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love.
John 15:10

This is another passage heretics use to try to prove that Christ is subordinate to the Father.

On the contrary, St. John Chrysostom says:

Again, His discourse proceeds in a human way; for certainly the Lawgiver would not be subject to commandments… And observe that He discourses with them in a very authoritative manner, for He said not, abide in the love of My Father, but, in Mine… And in order not to refer the action to Himself, and so make them more apt to fall, He says, Herein is My Father glorified. For everywhere He manifests His own and His Father’s love towards them. Not the things of the Jews, then, were glory, but those which they were about to receive… And so I am not now leaving you because I love you not... For, if you continue in My love, these dangers shall not be able to do you any mischief on the score of love.
Homily 76 on the Gospel of John

In other words, Christ is speaking from His human nature (hypostatic union) and is using His supernatural humility to yet again, refer to the Father as God (instead of just glorifying Himself).

However, because of homoousion, the Father’s commandments are Christ’s commandments.

This, Christ admits Himself when He says “Keep My commandments.”

And thus, when we keep Christ’s commandments, we abide in His love and the Father’s love.

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 17:3

On the surface, it appears that the Father alone is God and sent Jesus as His subordinate messenger.

On the contrary:

The Arians, from these words, pretended that the Father only is the true God. St. Augustine and divers others answer, that the sense and construction is, that they may know thee, and also Jesus Christ thy Son, whom thou hast sent to be the only true God. We may also expound them with St. Chrysostom and others, so that the Father is here called the only true God, not to exclude the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are the same one true God with the Father; but only to exclude the false gods of the Gentiles. Let the Socinians take notice, that (1 John v. 20.) the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is expressly called the true God, even with the Greek article, upon which they commonly lay so much stress.
(Witham) — Life everlasting. Both the life of glory in heaven, and of grace here, consisteth in the knowledge of God; the former in perfect vision, the latter in faith working by charity. For knowledge of God, without keeping his commandments, is not true knowledge, but unprofitable knowledge.
Haydock Commentary On John 17:3

In other words, the Son, Flesh Incarnate, is True God, along with the Father because They are homoousion.

Moreover, it is not incorrect to say that the Father sent the Son, since the Son is eternally begotten, and because the Trinity willed sending the Son into the world as the Incarnation.

John 20:17

Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.
John 20:17

On the surface, this appears to be Jesus admitting that the Father alone is God.

On the contrary, St. Cyril of Alexandria says:

In the first place, then, though we are servants by rank and nature (for creatures are subject to their Creator), He calls us His brethren, and designates God the common Father of Himself and us; and, making humanity His own, by taking our likeness upon Him, He calls our God His God, though He is His Son by Nature…
Be not, therefore, offended, though you hear Him calling God His God, but rather contemplate His words in a teachable spirit, and attentively consider their true meaning. For He says that God is both His Father and our God; and both sayings are true. For, in very truth, the God of the universe is Christ’s Father, but not ours by nature; but rather our God as our Creator and Sovereign Lord…
If, then, you choose in ignorance to cavil at this saying, and it seem intolerable to you that the Lord should say that God the Father was His God, you will then, in your perversity, be bringing a charge against the scheme for your own redemption; and when you ought to be offering up thanksgiving you will be dishonouring your Benefactor, and be foolishly objecting to the manner in which He manifested His love towards you.
Commentary on John (Sixth Part)

Jesus in His supernatural humility is condescending Himself to us in His human nature (hypostatic union) and referring to His Father as God.

Acts 2:36

Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified.
Acts of Apostles 2:36

On the surface, this seems to indicate that Christ is a created being, and not God.

Firstly, St. Ambrose says:

It was not the Godhead, but the flesh, that was crucified. This, indeed, was possible, because the flesh allowed of being crucified. It follows not, then, that the Son of God is a created being.
The Writings of St. Ambrose

Secondly, St. John Chyrsostom says:

The expression Hath made; i.e. has ordained: so that there is nothing about (οὐσίωσις) communication of substance here, but the expression relates to this which has been mentioned.
Homily 6 on the Acts of the Apostles

Thirdly, St. Thomas Aquinas says:

Hereby it is also clear that Peter’s saying that God has made this same Jesus, is to be referred to the Son in His human nature, in which He began to have in time what in His nature He had from eternity.
Of God and His Creatures

Thus, it is clear that St. Peter is only referring to the Trinity creating the human nature of Jesus and not the Divine Son, who is eternally begotten, not made.

Romans 8:29

For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son; that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren.
Romans 8:29

On the surface, it appears that St. Paul is saying that Christ is the first created being.

On the contrary, Ambrosiaster says:

Those whom God foreknew would believe in him he chose to receive the promises. But those who appear to believe yet do not persevere in the faith are not chosen by God, because whoever God chooses will persevere. Christ is rightly called the “firstborn” because he was not made before the rest of creation but begotten, and God has chosen to adopt men as his children following Christ’s example. He is the firstborn in the regeneration of the Spirit, in the resurrection from the dead and in the ascension into heaven. Therefore, the firstborn in all things is said to be our brother, because he chose to be born as a man, but he is also Lord, because he is our God.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles

In other words, the Son is eternally begotten, not made, so this passage cannot refer to the creation of the Son.

The Son is begotten in all of eternity, which de facto means that the Son does exist before the creation of man.

It also refers to the fact that Christ was first baptized man, and upon Christ’s death, He was the first man to enter Heaven.

1 Corinthians 8:6

Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
1 Corinthians 8:6

On the surface, this appears that St. Paul is saying that the Father is God and that Jesus is not.

However:

The Catholics answer, that he is called the God, of whom all, because from him always proceeded, do proceed, and shall always proceed the Son and the Holy Ghost, though one and the same God in nature, substance, &c. And that when he is called the one God, by these words are excluded the false gods of the heathens, not the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are but one God with the Father. St. Chrysostom also here observes, (hom. xx.) that if the two other persons are excluded, because the Father is called one God, by the same way of reasoning it would follow, that because Jesus Christ is called the one Lord, neither the Holy Ghost, nor even the Father, are the one Lord, whereas the Scriptures many times express the divine majesty, as well by the word Lord as by the word God.
Haydock Commentary On 1 Corinthians 8:6

Again, since the Father eternally begets the Son and spirates the Holy Ghost, it is not incorrect to say that from Him proceeds all things.

On the other hand, since the Son and the Holy Spirt are homoousion with the Father, they are also God.

Moreover, the same logic applies to “Lord” since the Father and Holy Ghost participate in the Son’s majesty.

1 Corinthians 11:3

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 11:3

This would appear to be St. Paul saying that Christ is not God and is subject to God the Father.

Firstly, Ambrosiaster says:

God is the head of Christ because he begat him.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles

Secondly, Lapide says:

So God, as being of a higher nature, is the head and ruler of Christ as man.
Lapide’s Great Biblical Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:3

Thirdly, Haydock says:

He also calls God the head of Christ, that is, of Christ, as man.
Haydock Commentary On 1 Corinthians 11:3

Thus, this passage refers to the Father eternally begetting the Son and the Divine nature being head of the human nature of Christ (Hypostatic Union).

Both are true.

The Son, in His Divine nature, is still equal to the Father, though, because they are consubstantial.

1 Corinthians 15:28

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
1 Corinthians 15:28

Again, this would appear to be St. Paul saying that the Son is subordinate to the Father.

However, St. John Chrysostom says this:

Why does Paul talk about the subjection of the Son to the Father, when he has just finished speaking about the subjection of everything to Christ? The apostle speaks in one way when he is talking about the Godhead alone and in another way when he is speaking about the divine dispensation. For example, once he has established the context of our Lord’s incarnation, Paul is not afraid to talk about his many humiliations, because these are not inappropriate to the incarnate Christ, even though they obviously cannot apply to God. In the present context, which of these two is he talking about?
Given that he has just mentioned Christ’s death and resurrection, neither of which can apply to God, it is clear that he is thinking of the divine dispensation of the incarnation, in which the Son has willingly subjected himself to the Father. But note that he introduces a corrective by saying that the one who put all things under him is himself excepted from the general rule. This is meant to remind us that Christ the Son is also truly God.
Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 39.7

In other words, the human nature of the Son (Hypostatic Union) subjected Himself to the Divine will of the Trinity (dyothelitism).

Philippians 2:6

[Of Christ] Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Philippians 2:6

This appears to be another passage where St. Paul is saying that Jesus is like God but not God.

On the contrary, Jesus is God:

Who being in the form of God, (that is truly, properly, and essentially God from eternity, as the ancient Fathers here observed against the Arians) taking the form of a servant, (i.e. taking upon him our human nature) became truly a man, and as man the servant of God, but remaining always God as before, thought it not robbery, no injury to his eternal Father, to be equal, to be esteemed, and to declare himself equal to God, to be one thing with him: as on divers occasions he taught the people, as we have observed in the notes on St. John’s gospel, &c.
Haydock Commentary On Philippians 2:6

Jesus is God the Son, who is consubstantial with the Father and Holy Spirit.

Thus, it makes sense why Christ is in the form of God – He is God.

Moreover, because the Son shares in the Divinity of the Father and Holy Spirit, He is coequal with both.

Colossians 1:15

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 1:15

This is another passage by St. Paul that heretics use to refute the divinity of Christ.

Firstly, St. Athanasius says:

Not then because he was from the Father was he called “Firstborn,” but because in him the creation came to be; and as before the creation he was the Son, through whom was the creation, so also before he was called the Firstborn of the whole creation, the Word himself was with God and the Word was God. … If then the Word also were one of the creatures, Scripture would have said of him also that he was Firstborn of other creatures; but in fact, the saints’ saying that he is “Firstborn of the whole creation” demonstrates that the Son of God is other than the whole creation and not a creature…. He is called “Firstborn among many brothers” because of the relationship of the flesh, and “Firstborn from the dead” because the resurrection of the dead is from him and after him.
The Sacred Writings of St. Athanasius

Secondly, Haydock says:

St. Chrysostom takes notice against the Arians, that the apostle calls Christ the first-begotten, or first-born, not the first created, because he was not created at all. And the sense is, that he was before all creatures, proceeding from all eternity from the Father; though some expound the words of Christ as man, and that he was greater in dignity.
Haydock Commentary On Colossians 1:15

In other words, the Son is firstborn because He is eternally begotten by the Father before all existence.

Moreover, Christ is the first man to resurrect from the dead.

He is also the first baptized man and the first man to go to Heaven.

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
1 Timothy 2:5

On the surface, this would seem to indicate that Christ is only a man.

Firstly, St. Ambrose says:

But what is he who is at once the Most High and man, what but “the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for us”? This text indeed refers properly to his incarnation, for our redemption was made by his blood, our pardon comes through his power, our life is secured through his grace. He gives as the Most High; he prays as man. The one is the office of the Creator; the other of a redeemer. Be the gifts as distinct as they may, yet the Giver is one, for it was fitting that our Maker should be our Redeemer.
Ambrose – Selected Works

Secondly, St. Augustine says:

Now, we could not be redeemed, even through “the one mediator between God and man, Man himself, Christ Jesus,” if he were not also God. For when Adam was made—being made an upright man—there was no need for a mediator. Once sin, however, had widely separated the human race from God, it was necessary for a mediator, who alone was born, lived and was put to death without sin, to reconcile us to God and provide even for our bodies a resurrection to life eternal—and all this in order that a man’s pride might be exposed and healed through God’s humility.
Handbook on Faith, Hope and Love

Thus, this passage is referring to Christ’s role as both full God and full man (Hypostatic Union).

Summing Up The Arguments Against The Trinity

It should be obvious after going through all the arguments against the Trinity, that they are without merit.

Us Catholics can explain away every single one of their Scriptural arguments.

We can prove that not only are their arguments false, but that our Doctrine fits Scripture better.

The doctrines of homoousion/consubstantiality, how the Father eternally begets the Son, the Hypostatic Union, and dyothelitism refute every single argument of the Arian heretics.

This alone is not sufficient to explain why the Catholic doctrines are better.

No, we must also show how Scripture refutes the heresy of the Arian heretics.

Scriptural Verses That Prove The Trinity

Now that we have defended ourselves against the errors of the Arian heretics, we shall prove why the Catholics have the correct view on the Trinity.

Let’s go through more Biblical passages.

Genesis 1:2

And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
Genesis 1:2

The Spirit of God is another name for the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost or Paraclete or Spirit of Truth.

St. Thomas Aquinas says:

In creation the Person of the Father is indicated by God the Creator, the Person of the Son by the beginning, in which He created, and the Person of the Holy Ghost by the Spirit that moved over the waters. But in the formation, the Person of the Father is indicated by God that speaks, and the Person of the Son by the Word in which He speaks, and the Person of the Holy Spirit by the satisfaction with which God saw that what was made was good.
ST I, q. 74, a. 3

Genesis 1:26

And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:26

St. Augustine says:

For God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness”: a little later, however, it is said “And God made man in the image of God.” It would certainly not be correct to say “our,” because the number is plural, if man were made in the image of one person, whether Father, Son or Holy Spirit. But because he is made in the image of the Trinity, consequently it was said “in our image.” Again, lest we choose to believe in three gods in the Trinity, since the same Trinity is one God, he said, “And God made man in his image,” as if he were to say “in his [own triune] image.”
On the Trinity

Psalms 109:1 (Psalm 110:1)

The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.
Psalms 109:1

Of this verse, St. Augustine explains:

This Psalm is one of those promises, surely and openly prophesying our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; so that we are utterly unable to doubt that Christ is announced in this Psalm, since we are now Christians, and believe the Gospel. For when our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ asked of the Jews, whose Son they alleged Christ to be, and they had replied, “the Son of David;” He at once replied to their answer, “How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto My Lord?” etc. “If then,” He asked, “David in the spirit call Him Lord, how is He his son?” With this verse this Psalm beginneth.
Exposition on Psalm 110

Isaias (Isaiah) 9:6

For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.
Isaias (Isaiah) 9:6

St. Ambrose explains this verse as such:

So we have in another place: “A child is born to us, and a son is given to us.” In the term child there is an indication of age; in the term son a reference to the fullness of Godhead. He was made of his mother and born of the Father, but as the same person he was born and given. Do not think of two but of one. For the Son of God is one person, born of the Father and sprung from the virgin.
The names differ in order but unite in one, just as the scriptural lesson just read teaches: “Man was made in her, and the Highest himself has founded her.” He was man indeed in body, but the Highest in power. And while he is God and man through diversity of nature, he is the same person, not two persons, though being God and man. He has, therefore, something peculiar to his own nature and something in common with us, but in both cases he is one and in both he is perfect.
On His Brother Satyrus 1.12

Matthew 5:21-22

You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Matthew 5:21-22

Christ here is speaking in authority as God. Who else but God can declare moral commandments?

Matthew 14:33, 28:17, Mark 5:6

And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God.
Matthew 14:33

The Jewish followers of Christ adored Him.

Adoration is for God alone, per Exodus 20:1-4 and Deuteronomy 5:6-9.

Matthew 28:18-19

And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 28:18-19

The Haydock Commentary says this:

The Arians object that the power which Christ had, is said to be given him by another. The Catholics answer, that Christ, as man, received this power from God. 2ndly. It may also be said, that the eternal Son, though he be equal, and be the same God with the Father, yet he proceeds and receives all from the Father.
Haydock Commentary on Matthew 28:18

Again, since the Son proceeds from the Father eternally, He has all the knowledge and power of the Father.

Thus, He is God like the Father is God (and the Holy Spirit as well).

Mark 2:5-11

And when Jesus had seen their faith, he saith to the sick of the palsy: Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And there were some of the scribes sitting there, and thinking in their hearts: Why doth this man speak thus? he blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God only? Which Jesus presently knowing in his spirit, that they so thought within themselves, saith to them: Why think you these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?
But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.
Mark 2:5-11

This passage is rather self-explanatory. Only God can forgive sins. Christ forgave sins on His own accord.

Thus, Christ is God.

Mark 14:62

And Jesus said to him: I am [Christ, the Son of God]. And you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Mark 14:62

Jesus admits to being the Son of God to the Sanhedrin.

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
John 1:1-3

The Haydock Commentary says:

In the beginning was the word: wisdom, the second Person of the blessed Trinity, the only begotten Son of the Father, as he is here called (ver. 14.) of the same nature and substance, and the same God, with the Father and Holy Spirit. This word was always; so that it was never true to say, he was not, as the Arians blasphemed. This word was in the beginning. Some, by the beginning, expound the Father himself, in whom he was always.
Others give this plain and obvious sense, that the word, or the Son of God, was, when all other things began to have a being; he never began, but was from all eternity. And the word was with God; i.e. was with the Father; and as it is said, (ver. 18) in the bosom of the Father; which implies, that he is indeed a distinct person, but the same in nature and substance with the Father and the Holy Spirit…
The Greek for the word is Logos, which signifies not only the exterior word, but also the interior word, or thought; and in this latter sense it is taken here…
Here the eternity and the divinity of the second Person are incontrovertibly established; or, we must say that language has no longer a fixed meaning, and that it is impossible to establish any point whatever from the words of Scripture.
Haydock Commentary on John 1:1

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

The Haydock Commentary says:

This word, or Son of God, who was in the beginning, from all eternity, at the time appointed by the divine decrees, was made flesh, i.e. became man, by a true and physical union of his divine person, (from which the divine nature was inseparable) to our human nature, to a human soul, and a human body, in the womb, and of the substance, of his virgin Mother. From the moment of Christ’s incarnation, as all Christians are taught to believe, he that was God from eternity, became also true man. In Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer, we believe one divine Person with two natures, and two wills; the one divine, the other human: by which substantial union, one and the same Person became truly both God and man; not two persons, or two sons, as Nestorius, the heretic, pretended.
Haydock Commentary on John 1:14

And Isaias (Isaiah) 42:8 says: “I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.”

Thus, this glory of the Word, Jesus Christ, is the glory of God, which proves Christ is God.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.
John 3:16

The Haydock Commentary says:

God sent not his Son into the world. He was then his Son, his only begotten Son, before he sent him into the world. He was not, therefore, his Son, only by the incarnation, but was his Son from the beginning, as he was also his word from all eternity. This was the constant doctrine of the Church, and of the Fathers, against the heresy of the Arians, that God was always Father, and the Son always the eternal Son of the eternal Father. See note on chap. i. ver. 14. (Witham) — The world may be saved. Why, says St. Augustine, is Christ called the Saviour of the world, unless from the obligation he took upon himself at his birth? He has come like a good physician, effectually to save mankind. The man, therefore, destroys himself, who refuses to follow the prescriptions of his physician.
Haydock Commentary on John 3:16

John 5:21, 25

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
John 5:21

Only God can raise the dead.

1 Kings (1 Samuel) 2:6, says “The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell and bringeth back again.”

Thus, the Son is God, since He can raise the dead.

John 8:58

Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.
John 8:58

This is a reference to Exodus 3:14, which says: “God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.”

The Haydock Commentary says:

Christ here speaks of his eternal existence as God. St. Augustine shews this by these very words, I am. He does not say, before Abraham was made, I was made: because, as the Son of God, he never was made: but I am, which shews his eternal divine nature.
Haydock Commentary on John 8:58

John 10:30

I and the Father are one.
John 1 0 :30

The Haydock Commentary says:

I and the Father are one, or one being, not one person, nor one by an union of affection only, but in nature, substance, power, and other perfections, as appears by the whole text: for Christ here tells them that none of his elect shall perish, because no one can snatch them out of his hands, no more than out of the hands of his Father: and then adds, that he and his Father are one, or have one equal power: and if their power, says St. Chrysostom, is the same, so is their substance. Christ adds, (ver. 38.) that the Father is in him, and he in the Father; which also shews an union of nature and substance, and not only of love and affection, especially when taken with other words of our Saviour Christ.
Haydock Commentary on John 10:30

John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34

Christ here is speaking in authority as God. Who else but God can declare moral commandments?

John 14:9

Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, shew us the Father?
John 14:9

The Haydock Commentary says:

He that seeth me, seeth the Father also: that is, he seeth him, who is not a man only, but who also, by my divine nature, am one and the same with the Father: so that he who believes, and as it were sees, or knows by faith, who I am, cannot but know, that I am one with my eternal Father; not one person, as the Sabellians fancied, but one in nature and substance. The ancient Fathers take notice against the Arians, that these words, and others that follow in this chapter, could not be true, if Christ was no more than a creature, though ever so perfect, there being an infinite distance betwixt God and the highest of his creatures.
Haydock Commentary on John 14:9

John 16:13-15

But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak; and the things that are to come, he shall shew you. He shall glorify me; because he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. Therefore I said, that he shall receive of mine, and shew it to you.
John 16:13-15

The Haydock Commentary says:

When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will teach you all truth; will direct you and the Church, in the ways of truth. For he shall not speak of himself, or of himself only, because, says St. Augustine, he is not from himself, but proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak[3]; this his hearing, says St. Augustine, is his knowledge, and his knowledge is his essence, or being, which from eternity is from the Father and the Son. The like expressions are applied to the Son, as proceeding from the Father.
All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. The obvious sense of these words, shews, that the Son hath the same nature, and the same substance with the Father, and that he is one, and the same God with him. And by Christ’s adding: therefore he (the Holy Ghost) shall receive of mine, we are taught, that the third person proceeds from both the Father, and the Son, and that he receives, and has the same perfections.
Haydock Commentary on John 16

John 17:5

And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee.
John 17:5

Again, Isaias (Isaiah) 42:8 says: “I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.”

The Haydock Commentary says:

And now, glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was. Glorify me, is the same as make me known to men; so that the sense may be, make men know, that I had the same glory with thee, before the world was created, and from all eternity. Others understand, that Christ as man, here prays that his eternal Father would make known to men, that glory, which it was decreed from eternity should be given him: that is, that all creatures should be made subject to him, even as he was man, and appointed to be judge of the living and the dead.
Haydock Commentary on John 17:5

John 20:28

Thomas answered, and said to him [Jesus]: My Lord, and my God.
John 20:28

This is pretty self-explanatory. St. Thomas the Apostle called Jesus Lord and God.

Acts 5:3-4

But Peter said: Ananias, why hath Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldst lie to the Holy Ghost, and by fraud keep part of the price of the land? Whilst it remained, did it not remain to thee? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart? Thou hast not lied to men, but to God.
Acts of Apostles 5:3-4

St. Peter calls the Holy Ghost, God, since he is admonishing Ananias for lying to the Holy Ghost and say Ananias lied to God.

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13

St. Paul is saying that hope comes from God the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

St. Paul called the Holy Spirit the Lord. St. Ambrose says:

The same, then, is the Lord, who is the Spirit of the Lord; that is, he called the Spirit of the Lord, Lord, just as also the apostle says: “Now the Lord is a spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” You have then, the Lord called also the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit and the Son are not one person but one substance.
The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:30

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30

This passage shows that the Holy Spirit is One Person of the Holy Trinity, since you can offend Him (through sin).

Colossians 2:9

[Of Christ] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally;
Colossians 2:9

This proves that Jesus Christ is full God, just like the Father. The Haydock Commentary says:

That is, in the person of Christ, the Son of God, really and substantially united to our human nature. Not inhabiting, as in a temple as the Nestorian heretics pretended, nor as by his grace in men’s souls, but so as to be personally or hypostatically united to the soul and body of Christ.
Haydock Commentary on Colossians 2:9

Titus 2:13

Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ
Titus 2:13

This passage also directly refers to Jesus Christ as God. The Haydock Commentary says:

The title of great God, says Dr. Wells, is here referred to our Saviour Jesus Christ, by Clement of Alexandria in protreptico, chap. vi. He might have added, and by the general consent of the Greek and Latin Fathers. St. Chrysostom cries out: “where are now they who say that the Son is less than the Father?” St. Jerome in like manner: “where is the serpent Arius? where is the snake Eunomius?”
And that this title of great God is here given to Jesus Christ, may be shewn from the text itself, especially in the Greek; for the glorious coming, and appearance, in other places of St. Paul, is always used to signify Christ’s coming to judge the world. Secondly, inasmuch as one and the same Greek article falls upon the great God, and our Saviour Christ; so that even M. Simon, in a note on these words, says the construction is, and the coming of Jesus Christ, the great God, our Saviour, and blames Erasmus and Grotius for pretending that this place is not a confutation of the Arians.
Haydock Commentary on Titus 2:13

Hebrews 1:3

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3

The Haydock Commentary says:

in which sense the council of Nice[Nicaea] understood the eternal Son of God to be light of light. This partly helps us to conceive the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, because the brightness is at the same time with the sun, though all comparisons fall short of this mystery… We may here observe the two natures of Christ. As God, he is the Creator of all things; as man, he is constituted heir of the goods of God. Not content to possess the inheritance of his Father in his own person, he will have us as coheirs to share it also with him…
And the figure of his substance.[4] In the Greek is the character of his substance; which might be translated, the express image. There are different ways by which a thing may be said to be a figure or image of another: here it is taken for such a representation of the substance of the Father, that though the Father and the Son be distinct persons, and the Son proceed from the Father, yet he is such a figure and image, as to have the same nature and substance with the Father, as the Catholic Church always believed and declared against the ancient heretics, and particularly against the Arians.
Haydock Commentary on Hebrews 1:3