An Appeal to Trinitarian Christians

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
I Timothy 2:5

For over 15 centuries, the trinity has been the banner doctrine of mainstream Christianity. Even as Protestant groups enjoyed free access to the Bible and the freedom to break cleanly from Catholicism, almost all have chosen to retain doctrine of the trinity. And this despite the fact that the trinity flies in face of two of the Bible's clearest and most absolute teachings:

God is One.

Jesus died.

The Oneness of God was the defining belief that took Abraham from Ur, the pillar on which was built the nation of Israel.

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4)

It is impossible to be more clear and concise: God is one.

Yet the trinity purports that God is one, yet three. Biblically, the doctrine of the trinity fails for the following reasons:

The doctrine is entirely absent from the Old Testament. It makes no sense for God to insist for 3000 years that He is One, then backtrack and reveal that He is in fact three.
Biblically, God the Father and Jesus are distinct. Paul states clearly in I Cor. 8:6 that "for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and for whom we exist...".
In the Bible, "God" and "the Father" are interchangeable terms; "Jesus" and "God" are not. In fact, Jesus calls the Father his God in John 20:17. Paul reiterates this in many places, such as Eph. 1:17 and II Cor. 11:31.
All throughout scripture there is a clear hierarchy between Jesus and God, with the Father always acknowledged as supreme. See Addendum I for supporting passages.
It is evident that at least during Jesus' ministry (and tradition says he never ceased to be God), there were two distinct wills at work - the will of God and the will of the flesh (John 5:30).

And here we touch upon our second main point: Did Jesus die?

The unanimous answer is that yes, of course he did. However, have you seriously stopped to consider the undeniable fact of the immortality of God, and what that means? In essence, it means that God cannot die. Death and immortality are mutually exclusive characteristics.

If Jesus died, he cannot be God, for God cannot die.
If Jesus is God, he cannot have died, for God cannot die.

Think about this.

Think also about the temptation of Christ. The Bible emphatically states in many places (eg. Heb. 4:15) that Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. But if Jesus is God, this creates another set of contradictions:

Temptation without the possibility of falling to sin is meaningless.
If Jesus is God, it was impossible that he sin, and it makes no sense to say he was tempted.

Not to mention that James adds that God cannot even be tempted (1:13).

The essence of Christ's humanity lies in these two things: that he was tempted and that he died. In these two lies everything by which we identify ourselves with him, and relate through him to God. Both death and temptation to evil are absolutely remote from God. If God could be tempted and die, what need would there be of a mediator? He would be just like us.

The Trinity, resting on its' age and tradition in the Christian world, attempts to bring Jesus and God into one person. This is a Biblically untenable teaching that stands in the way of those who would come to God in spirit and in truth, seeking reconciliation and redemption through Christ.

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Addendum I - Additional Supporting Verses

God is the God of Jesus: Ps. 45:7; Mic. 5:4; Matt. 4:7, 27:46; Rom. 15:6, II Cor. 1:3, I Pet. 1:3; Rev. 1:6, 3:12 (4x's).
Jesus acknowledged God as his Head: Matt. 20:23, John 7:16, 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:28.

Addendum II - Additional Biblical Points Contradicting the Trinity

God is by nature invisible and never seen, Jesus was of course seen. John 1:18, I John 4:12, I Tim. 6:16
In the Bible, God = the Father, and no other. Rom. 1:7, Col. 3:17, I Thess. 1:1, II Tim 1:2 and many more.
The Trinity purports that Jesus never ceased to be God: yet God is omniscient, and Jesus is described to us as learning (Luke 2:40, 52) and in fact ignorant of certain things (Mark 13:32). Either a being is omniscient, or he isn't.
In Matt. 28:10 Jesus speaks of his followers as "brethren". Are we children of God, or brethren of God? We can't be both. It again follows that Jesus and God occupy very distinct stations.
Matt. 3:17 - What is the value of God indicating his pleasure in Christ, if Christ was himself? And what had Christ supposedly achieved here, if he was God and it was impossible for him to sin, or do wrong? And in fact, how can a Father and his Son be the same person? When a doctrine takes the most simple relationship to understand, and twists into something incomprehensible, you have to start asking questions.
I Cor 11:3 and 15:28. Here are two more instances (post resurrection!) where Christ is clearly not equal with God.
And the clincher: in John 8:17-18 Jesus quotes from the law the necessity that evidence, to be valid, must be agreed upon by two witnesses. Jesus states that the two witnesses are himself and God. Two, not one. If Jesus were God, there was only one witness, and if Jesus says there are two, then he and God are not one.

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