No, that is not what I meant.
:facepalm:
I wasn't saying that in response to you, but rather telling you what I said to Wrangler, hence my saying "Wrangler said [...]" and "In reply, I said [...]".
Were you not attempting to prove that the Trinity is in scripture?
Again, you partially quoted a post of mine that was directed at Wrangler, and replied to it saying, "The passage you reference does not discuss the Holy Trinity as you defined it." Wrangler had said, "1. The trinity is not in Scripture", and I showed him that the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are in Scripture by citing Matt. 28:19 and highlighting the following words in bold: "
the Father,
the Son, and
the Holy Spirit", which isn't
defining the concept of the Holy Trinity. Then, I went on to tell him that he should've worded his statement as "My understanding of the concept of the Holy Trinity being three separate gods isn't in Scripture", and that would've been true, because the Holy Trinity isn't three separate gods.
As for your good question [...]
I asked what's called a "rhetorical question", because I answered after asking it, which was in reply to the following post by you:
"Jesus' instructions concerning baptism focus on the sources of teaching: God the Father, The son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. He wants his apostles to know and understand that when they baptize, they are not making disciples for themselves, they make disciples for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit because all three of them speak the same exact message [...]"
If Jesus was instructing the apostles to baptize in the name of those who speak God's message, then Jesus would've and should've included
all the names of those up to that point who did, e.g., John the Baptist, but He didn't, because it's about initiating new believers in God
in the name of God: "Go and
make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name of [...] (Matt. 28:19)
, and He says the name of the Father, the Word (the Son), and the Holy Spirit, because
They are God, each distinct, united as one because They are the same Essence: love.
I explained to you that water is not a valid analogy because it does not represent a plurality within unity. Water can exist in one of three distinct states at any given time, but this is not how Trinitarians understand God. Trinitarianism teaches that God is one being who exists as three distinct persons.
The water analogy works well to explain the concept of modalism, but Trinitarians are not modalists.
You are thinking like a modern. Moderns are atomists; we believe that material objects can be explained in terms of atoms and molecules. For us, a "substance" is a single element, such as hydrogen, or a molecule, such as water. But those who invented Trinitarianism weren't atomists.
Those living in the third century conceived of "substance" differently. "Material" refers to the physical, tangible objects we encounter in the world. These are imperfect and transient copies of the true, eternal Forms. For example, any specific tree you see is material.
"Substance," on the other hand, refers to the Forms themselves. These are abstract, perfect, and immutable essences that exist in a higher, non-physical reality. The Form of a Tree represents the true nature of all trees and exists independently of any particular tree.
In summary, material is the physical manifestation, while substance (Form) is the eternal essence.
So, when Trinitarians teach that God is one "substance," they mean that God exists on a higher plane of existence where the ideal forms exist—he is a being that is perfect, immutable, and eternal.
:facepalm:
I've told you before that water isn't an exact comparison to God in all respects, e.g., God isn't substance, etc., but both water and God are examples of "plurality within unity", a concept which means "multiple, distinct elements or parts that coexist together as a single, unified whole; essentially, diversity existing within a cohesive structure, where the individual parts do not diminish the overall oneness":
Water exists in multiple states, each distinct, united as one, because they are the same substance: water.
God exists in multiple Persons, each distinct, united as one because They are the same Essence: love.
You are mistaken. Once you read enough of my posts, you will undoubtedly conclude that I never "automatically" conclude anything.
You haven't concluded that God doesn't exist in three Persons: the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit, united as one because They are the same Essence: love, solely because that isn't explicitly stated in Scripture? I hope that I am mistaken about that.
Additionally, Jesus has spoken
explicitly about the Holy Trinity on
several occasions, back in the 1940's, and probably since then as well,
just like you want. However, that won't do you good as long as you're someone who claims to believe in a living God Who stopped revealing truths to humanity, despite that not being explicitly, nor implicitly, stated in Scripture. Are you?