In his latest podcast, Dr. Dale Tuggy, one of today's most well-known non-Trinitarian scholars, authors, and apologists, said he took “a generous view of Trinitarian evangelicals,” Catholics, and even “some Mormons,” suggesting that many may believe the basics of the Gospel despite layering speculative and inconsistent beliefs on top of it. In his now-unavailable 2023 UCA Conference video presentation, Ten Arguments for Unitarian Inclusivism, Dale similarly argued that most Trinitarians are born-again Christians and members of the one body, the church, even without repudiating the doctrine of the Trinity. And that indeed, “We should honor most trinitarians as fellow believers and acknowledge the work of God’s spirit in their lives. In fact, we need them, since we and they are so many members of the one body of Christ.”
But if Jesus identifies knowing the Father as “the only true God” as essential to “the life of the Age to Come” in the Kingdom (John 17:3), why should belief in the Trinity be treated as non-essential or merely harmless theological “theorizing,” rather than a fundamental corruption of the strictly unitary biblical faith?
When asked about the greatest commandment in Mark 12:28-34, Jesus affirmed the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4, thus making it his own personal creed. He did not redefine Israel's one God as three distinct Persons. In John 17:3, Jesus prayed to the Father and identified Him as “the only true God,” while distinguishing himself as God's commissioned Messiah. Paul taught the same creed: “For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:6a). There is “one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:6), and “one God, and one mediator between that one God and humanity, Messiah Jesus, himself human” (1 Tim. 2:5). Nowhere is the “one God” defined as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together, but consistently identified as the Father alone throughout both Testaments. Jesus is His uniquely procreated human Son, whom God “made both lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36), His exalted human agent and King of the coming Kingdom.
Historically, the fully developed doctrine of the Trinity was not presented in the writings of the early so-called “Church Fathers” before the fourth century AD. Dr. Tuggy himself has written, presented, and debated this history extensively, establishing himself as one of today's leading specialists in the philosophy and historical development of Trinitarian doctrine. The councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD) marked decisive stages in the formulation of the later so-called orthodox Trinitarian creed, rather than merely restating the Jewish-Christian confession of Jesus and his apostles.
The concern for those who profess this NT unitary faith and devote themselves to defending it is not whether Trinitarians are sincere or display good ethical and moral character. Many people of other religions, and even non-religious people, demonstrate those same qualities. Nor is this an attack on Dale's motives. The issue is fidelity to the strictly unitary faith he has devoted so much of his life to defending. If the one God confessed by Jesus and his apostles is the Father alone, then redefining Him as three Persons is not harmless speculation. It fundamentally changes the biblical identities of the one God and His Son.
This is no minor academic issue. John warns, “Everyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Messiah does not have God. The one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). Jesus likewise warned that not everyone who calls him “lord, lord” will enter the Kingdom, but only those who do the will of his Father (Matt. 7:21). For the NT, the issue is not merely using biblical terminology but remaining faithful to “the sound doctrine of our lord Jesus the Messiah” (1 Tim. 6:3).
Neither is the Gospel preached in the NT simply believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who died for our sins. It is “the Gospel about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Messiah” (Acts 8:12; cp. 28:23, 31). At its core are the identity of the one God as Father, His Son as the anointed Messiah, and the coming Kingdom of God on a restored earth—not escaping to heaven when you die! A doctrine that obscures the identities of Father and Son, while often accompanying a Gospel stripped of its coming Kingdom, risks becoming “another Gospel” (Gal. 1:6-9). It cannot simply be dismissed as harmless theological “stuff” that supposedly has no bearing on one's ultimate salvation.
In his latest podcast, Dale himself warned against theorizing our way into beliefs inconsistent with divine revelation. Well, if Jesus teaches that life in the coming age depends on knowing the Father as “the only true God,” how can “Unitarian inclusivism” treat fundamentally different definitions of God and the Gospel as merely additional layers of theological “stuff”?
Scripture commands God's people to exercise discernment and “make honest judgments” (Deut. 13; John 7:24). This means evaluating people’s doctrinal claims against Scripture, not condemning individuals to the lake of fire. Final judgment belongs to God and His appointed Messiah (Acts 17:31). At the same time, we are commanded to defend the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Surely that begins with the first and greatest commandment, the very creed Jesus himself confessed!
We should therefore be careful that, in our efforts to be generous and inclusive, we do not end up doing precisely what Dale himself warned against: having “theorized your way into something that's not consistent with divine revelation.” Whether accidentally or not!
Amen to that, Dale Tuggy!
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