Unitarian Scholars like Dr Dale Tuggy like to make deductive arguments trying to put forth that doctrines of a Multipersonal Deity, such as that of The Trinity would be in some way Illogical because of the Law of identity. While these claims have been thoroughly demolished, leading to blocking of Christian Apologists who do so by the likes of the aforementioned scholar, the goal of today’s article is to show that the doctrine of Biblical Unitarianism, namely one of Christadelphianism or Socinianism, is purely illogical based on deductive argumentation derived from certain Biblical passages.

The passages in mind today will be Jude 1:4 and 1 Corinthians 8:6. These passages state that Jesus is “The only Sovereign Lord” and “One Lord” respectively.

“For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” Jude 1:4 NIV

“Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” 1 Cor. 8:6 NIV.

 

Before we delve into deductive argumentation in this subject, it must be Understood that within the Doctrine of the Trinity, there exists a sharing of Titles, Names and Attributes between the Persons, as they are the same being,

So for example, if Christ is said to be the “Only Sovereign and Lord” it in no way disqualifies the Father from being so, since both Father and the Son are the same Being. To say Son is the “Only Sovereign and Lord” is to in fact say that the Father is so also.

To be very simplistic here, imagine a 2 headed human. 2 Heads are Johnny and Nick. If one is to say that “Nick is the only tall guy here”, it is to in no way disqualify Johnny from being the same height a Nick, since they share the same body. To say Nick is tall is to in fact say that Johnny is so also, yet clearly, they are distinct persons.

Here then, comes the first Anti-Unitarian deduction. One that got me banned from Dale Tuggy’s Facebook page in fact! It is untraditional in that it posits the position it argues against as one of the premises, but aims precisely at knocking that premise down. We will call it the “Optionally False Premise” for the reasons that will become clear in the conclusion of the argument.

1. Jesus is our only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 1:4)
2.Unitarianism is true (Optionally False Premise)
3.Since only one Person is God (thus Father and Son do not share attributes, as Nick and Johnny do), Father could not possibly be our only Sovereign and Lord.
4.If the Father is not our only Sovereign and Lord he could not possibly be God
5. Conclusion: Therefore either Unitarianism is NOT true (Optionally False Premise is Factually False) or Father is not God (Optionally False Premise is NOT False but True)

Since no “Biblical” Unitarian in the world would posit that the Father is not God, he is only left with the option to knock the deduction down by denying the only non-self evident premise. Premise number 2, the Truth of Unitarianism. Our job is thus accomplished.

From my experience in defending the aforementioned deduction, Unitarians, like Dr.Tuggy, in desperation, knowing that the only premise that could plausibly be twisted in some way is Premise 1, have tried stating that Jesus is just our Lord in the human, Kingly sense. That he is a Human, enthroned in Heaven ruling over us. Completely ignoring that this is utterly blasphemous,knowing that God is the King of the Heavens and the Earth according to the Bible,and that Jesus being our Only Sovereign and Lord in that sense,would,again,disqualify Father from being God, the verse itself plainly qualifies the statement “Only Sovereign and Lord” by pronoun “hemon” or “of us”, making it clear that the qualifier for the statement is that Jesus is the Only Lord of Christians, leaving the possibility, that the Father, as a distinct being would be Lord over them – non-existent.

Moving on to 1 Corinthians 8:6, a verse that plainly teaches the Deity of Christ, but is often tragically eisegeted by our Unitarian friends to say something otherwise, we find that Jesus is said to be our One Lord. “Heis Kurios”

Let us then, again, put forth an Anti Unitarian deduction, following the same deductive construction I used previously.

1.Jesus is the One Lord of Christians (1 Corinthians 8:6)
2.Unitarianism is true (Optionally False Premise)
3.Since only one Person is God (thus Father and Son do not share attributes, as Nick and Johnny do), Father could not possibly be our One Lord
4.If Father is not the One Lord of Christians, he could not possibly be Our God
5. Conclusion: Therefore either Unitarianism is NOT true (Optionally False Premise is Factually False) or Father is not God (Optionally False Premise is NOT False but True)

In trying to pervert the plain words of the Bible, our Unitarian friends have sailed into unstable, illogical waters, exalting, the one who is in their Christology, a mere human being, to a functional, yet not ontological, state of Godhood.

To finish, as in my previous article, I will quote the words of the Blessed Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, the Disciple of the Apostle John:

“For I have shown, that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man.” (Irenaeus Against Heresies, chapter xix.2)

Praised be the Glorious Triune God, Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit, to all the ages, Amen.