Which "clear and unambiguous verses" say this?
It seems to me verses in John clearly demonstrate that the Father and the Son are One, "in" one Godhead which also includes the Holy Spirit. There is one divine Substance which expresses as Three Persons.
Since evidently you do not share this view, although you claim to believe in God, possibly you are a deist — in the sense understood by the Founders of our nation. To them — e.g., Franklin, Jefferson — a deist was a person who, though believing in God the Creator, was skeptical of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
I wonder what these verses from John's Gospel would mean to a deist in this sense:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.People will read these verses according to their best lights. To me, the "thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee" statement strongly suggests a single, ONE divine substance. Thus, to me, the Holy Trinity does not contradict the Shema, "Hear O Israel! The Lord thy God is One!"If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. — John 14:6–11
That they may all be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. — John 17: 21–24
Others will disagree.
But really, Eagle Eye, is this the measure of your reasoning regarding the purported falsity of the Trinity: That God cannot be tempted by evil, but that Jesus Christ was so tempted; therefore, Jesus was not God?
That is certainly an easy test. But is it a truthful one? In particular, it is simply oblivious to the idea that the Son of God was incarnated as a man and so to some extent participates in human nature. Recognition of this would seem to counterindicate the application of simple formulas, such as "God cannot be tempted by evil, but that Jesus Christ was so tempted; therefore, Jesus was not God."
Are we to be satisfied with such simplistic, superficial answers to questions of such enormous importance?
It seems to me that some mortals want to apply the laws of logic to God, e.g. the Law of Identity or the Law of the Excluded Middle --- as if God, the Creator of such laws, is restricted by His own Creation.
Man is not the measure of God.
Exactly.. Whose to say.. Who can even know?..
Whether God has ONE or 128 Spirits is a mute point, I think..
What is..... Is.. and What ain't........ Ain't..
How can a temporal entity(man) de-construct GOD...
To study classify and bag GOD.. for christs sake..
Who are these devine scientists that know God like they are his shrink?..
Must be some that invented a small God.. and display him/it like an idol..
-OR- some that want to be believe God is an interesting myth.. (for the rubes)..
i.e. like Joseph Campbell..
I find solace in a God that can raise my horizons...
And studies ME and not me him...