Thank you for the reply, but my reply will be relatively short because, ultimately, the point I am trying to make is quite simple. The Pharisees who were falsely accusing Jesus of being God didn't believe in the Trinity to begin with nor is the Trinity compatible with Judaism.
When they said that claiming to be the Son of God was tantamount to claiming to be God Himself, it was a false charge because they didn't even believe in there being a Son of God in a Trinity who is co-equal with God in any way, shape, or form.
As far as Jesus being the the begotten Son of God, that isn't something that was a problem to the Pharisees either and he didn't inform
them he is God's offspring, but I think that's something he told his disciples. If he did then that wouldn't have been a problem either since the Pharisees claimed it too.
Below, the Pharisees make no distinction between being direct descendants of Abraham or God Himself. An interesting thing said here is, "We are not illegitimate children..." That is open to interpretation, but it was most likely a verbal jab at Jesus; they may have been suggesting that Jesus is an illegitimate Son.
John 8
39“Abraham is our father,” they replied.
“If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
40But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.
41You are doing the works of your father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they declared.
“Our only Father is God Himself.”
Anyway, the Pharisees didn't later switch positions and come to believe that there is a Son of God in a Triune Godhead. The Jews view their Messiah as a savior, liberator, and/or redeeming figure but they don't believe the Messiah is God Himself. Jesus never directly claimed to be God, but it can possibly be interpreted or inferred from various quotes.
This is quite a strange argument. Why would Jesus’ audience necessarily need to believe in trinitarianism? Of course the Jews of Jesus’ day didn’t hold to a trinitarian doctrine of God
per se; but that’s what makes it all the more scandalous: Even if the Jews were (for all intents and purposes) unitarian; for Jesus to claim equality with God would be to challenge their traditions, perception, and doctrine of God. For the Jews, there is only one who occupies the heavenly throne, but now here comes this man (Jesus) claiming that He occupies a place at the right hand of the Father, seated on God’s heavenly throne. Would that not be a reason to cry afoul?
If the NT teaches us anything: Just because the Jews held to certain doctrinal beliefs in no way makes them correct.
Second, you claim trinitarianism is incompatible with Judaism. But as scholars of Jewish antiquity can frequently attest (as echoed by Daniel Boyarin),
“There is significant evidence (uncovered in large part by Segal) that in the first century many—perhaps most—Jews held a binitarian doctrine of God.” (Daniel Boyarin,
Two Powers in Heaven; Or, The Making of a Heresy, p. 334).
As Alan Segal points out in his book,
Two Powers in Heaven, throughout the Talmud, Jews attempt to deal with OT texts which seem to indicate that there is more than one divine person. 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch are post-Christian works, written by Jews, in an attempt to combat the Christian response to these OT texts.
For further reading on the subject, I refer you to Peter Schäfer’s book entitled
Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity), Alan Segal’s
Two Powers in Heaven, Moshe Idel’s
Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism), and Daniel Boyarin’s
Two Powers in Heaven; Or, The Making of a Heresy.
There are a number of OT texts that have historically been pointed to in order to demonstrate that there is more than one divine person. One of these classic texts is Genesis 1:26,
Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”
The unitarian response to this is that God was speaking to the heavenly hosts, i.e., angels. But there is a natural problem that arises: For this interpretation to hold true, it would suggest that angels were participants or co-regents in creation. Michael Heiser’s solution to this: Though a group is being addressed when God utters the words, “Let Us make,” when it actually comes down to the act of creation itself, God is the one performing the action, not the angels.
But this raises more problems than it does solutions. Each time the verb
na-‘ă-śeh (Gen. 1:26, “Let Us make”) is used in the OT, it always has reference to a plurality of personal subjects who are always involved in the action. For example, consider Ex. 19:8,
Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do (na-‘ă-śeh)!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
Further examples include, but are not limited to, Ex. 24:3, 24:7; Numbers 32:31; Joshua 1:16, 9:20, 22:26.
Here in Ex. 19:8, would it be acceptable by God for the people to say, “All the words you have spoken, we will do this” when all they really meant was one guy was going to obey God’s command, while the rest are off to do their own thing?
Gen. 1:26 has historically been understood through the centuries to refer to a plurality of persons who were involved in the act of creation. Hence, through the second and third centuries, this was the most commonly held interpretation in the Christian world. To cite a few,
For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, “Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea.” And the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man, “Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” These things were spoken to the Son. (Barnabas 6:12)
Now man is a mixed organization of soul and flesh, who was formed after the likeness of God, and moulded by His hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom also He said, "Let Us make man." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4:4 cf. 20:1)
Since then he is the image of the Creator (for He, when looking on Christ His Word, who was to become man, said, “Let Us make man in our own image, after our likeness”), how can I possibly have another head but Him whose image I am? (Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book V)
Piggy-backing off of Genesis 1:26, there are further OT texts which seem to indicate that there are more than one divine person active in creation,
But none says, “Where is God my Maker (`osay), who gives songs in the night” (Job 35:10)
The word ‘osay is the plural participle of asa’ and literally means, “my Makers.” Also see Ps. 149:2,
Let Israel be glad in his Maker (`osayw); let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! (Psalm 149:2)
Again, ‘osayw is a plural participle and refers to “his Makers.” Again, in Isaiah 54:5,
For your Maker (`osayika) is your Husband (bo`alayika), the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. (Isaiah 54:5)
The word `osayik is the plural participle of asa’ and bo`alayika is the plural noun form of baal, and can, therefore, be read, “For your Makers are your Husbands.” Again, in Ecclesiastes 12:1,
Remember also your Creator (bora’eyka) in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
Bora’eyka is a plural participle, which is literally, “your Creators.”
(Continued...)