QUESTION:  Does Matthew 3:16 support the idea of the trinity?

ANSWER:

No it does not.
 

The verse:

Matthew 3:16-17

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

In Matthew 3:16, 17 we read, ".....the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

Some say that it was the Spirit - the third person of the Godhead that actually spoke, proving the Spirit is a literal being.

Let us assume that view is correct. Do you see what it would mean? The Holy Spirit would then be the literal FATHER of Christ (see also ch. 1:20), and all through His ministry He then talked and prayed to the WRONG Father!

Read verse 17 again. It says, "A voice," not  "THE voice of the spirit" or  "THE voice of the Father." It was “A voice from heaven" that spoke. To say it was the voice of the Holy Spirit is just an assumption by men; this verse cannot prove such a claim. You try to find the verse that says the Holy Spirit has a mouth or literally talks.

Was it the Father speaking these words? No!  Not even the Father, because Christ Himself said, ".....You have neither heard His voice at ANY time, nor seen His shape" (John 5:37).

There is not one verse in the entire Bible that shows God the Father has ever spoken or showed Himself to mankind.

Someone will say, but this voice spoke in the first-person tense.  It must have been the Father or Spirit.  Not necessarily!

In John 12:28 we read: "Father, glorify your name (Christ talking to the Father). Then came there A voice from heaven (notice, A voice, not THE voice of God) saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." This voice spoke in the first-person tense.

Now, did the people say, "That was God speaking" or  "That was the voice of the Holy Spirit"?  No!  Read verse 29.

    "The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said, an angel spoke to him."

It is possible to speak on behalf of someone else and speak in the first-person tense. Someone representing a higher authority can speak on behalf of that authority in the first-person tense.

In passing, notice in Matthew 3:16 the shape of the spirit of God was like a dove. The shape of a dove is a long, long way from being the shape of a man.

 
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