What do they say?
I have enquired further as to the beliefs of some of evangelical friends and coworkers, gently of course, and my previous posting to you about their understanding of the Trinity appears to be correct.
Surprisingly, the mainline Protestants maintain theological orthodoxy when it comes to the Holy Trinity (at least in theory) even though it is not to be found in "sola scriptura."
Rather, it seems, they accept the orthodox Trinitarian concept and then work their way backwards, searching the Bible for suitable verses and neglecting the preponderance of non-Trinitarian or even anti-Trinitarian verses that are all over the place.
That's the kind of "science" when you know what result you want and then devise experiments that will give you the desired result!
***That’s not what the JWs say. :)
What do they say? ***
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in one God, the Creator of the universe and the God of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. They stress the fact that God has revealed his personal name to humanity, which is Jehovah.
Jehovah’s Witnesses disagree with the mainstream Christian belief that Jesus was “fully God, fully man.” Witnesses teach that Jesus was not God, but rather God’s first creation. Jesus existed in pre-human form as God’s agent of creation and God’s chief spokesman (the Word), and took on human form as the man Jesus by means of a virgin birth.
The purpose of Jesus’ incarnation on earth was threefold in the view of Witnesses: (1) To teach the truth about God; (2) to provide a model of a perfect life for people to follow; and (3) to sacrifice his life to set humans free from sin and death. His crucifixion was not on a cross, but a single upright stake. After his death, God raised Jesus from the dead “as a spirit creature” and Jesus returned to his home in heaven. Jesus was not made King, however, until 1914.
In accordance with their rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity, Witnesses disagree with mainstream Christianity that the Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons in the Godhead. Instead, they believe the Holy Spirit to be “God’s active force.”
from http://www.religionfacts.com/jehovahs_witnesses/beliefs.htm
***Surprisingly, the mainline Protestants maintain theological orthodoxy when it comes to the Holy Trinity (at least in theory) even though it is not to be found in “sola scriptura.” ***
That is correct.
But the breakaways and the non denominationals which now make up the vast majority of Protestantism do not.