Does Jesus’ Baptism Refute the Trinity?

The LDS Church rejects the Christian doctrine of the Trinity—claiming it is a manmade doctrine that has no basis in Scripture. One frequently given evidence to support this claim is the account of Jesus’ Baptism, in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost were all doing distinct actions.

Latter-day Saints often point out that Christians believe (because of the Trinity) that God was a puppet master, controlling each person of the Godhead in turn, to create the illusion that there were multiple people involved. Mormons have a solution: the LDS Godhead. Mormonism views the Godhead as 3 separate beings that are completely united in purpose. But – does this view of the Trinity accurately represent what Christians believe?

In this video, we argue that this argument, made from the account of Jesus’ baptism, does not rightly understand what Christians believe about the Trinity. What Mormons often think that Christians believe about Trinitarianism is a Christian heresy that has been called “Modalism.”

Jesus baptism DOES include the actions of three separate persons, who can interact with each other in different ways. Yet this does not disprove what Christians believe about the nature of God and the Trinity.

 “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” (Matthew 3:16-17)