Short answer
No. No verse in the original text says that God is three persons in one being. Even the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. Catholic scholars who hold the doctrine admit this. The Hebrew scriptures teach again and again that God (﷾) is one, and no prophet taught three persons. Jesus called "The Lord our God is one Lord" the first of all the commandments. The verses that name Father, Son and Spirit together never say the three are one God. The one verse that states the Trinity outright is 1 John 5:7 in the King James Version. It was added long after the letter was written, and most modern Bibles leave it out. The word first appears around 180 AD, and the doctrine was settled only in the fourth century. Islam holds to what the prophets taught. The Qur'an says plainly: "Say not Trinity".
Full explanation
What reference works and Christian scholars admit
Encyclopaedia Britannica states that neither the word nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament. Even the Catholic Encyclopedia, which defends the doctrine, says Scripture has no single word for the three persons together. Edmund Fortman was a Jesuit priest (a member of a Catholic religious order) who held the doctrine himself and wrote its history. He writes that the New Testament gives no explicit teaching of three co-equal persons in one God (﷾).
States that neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, and that the doctrine developed gradually over several centuries, reaching the settled formula of one essence in three persons only in the 4th century.
A Catholic reference work that defends the doctrine states that Scripture has as yet no single term naming the three divine persons together; that the Greek word trias first appears in Theophilus of Antioch about AD 180; and that the Latin trinitas appears afterwards in Tertullian.
A Jesuit historian of the doctrine, himself a Trinitarian, writes that the New Testament writers give no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity and no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. He holds that they supply ideas from which the later doctrine was built.
One God (﷾), again and again
The Law, the first five books of the Bible, gives Israel its creed: the Lord is one. The prophets repeat it. Beside Him there is no God. No God was formed before Him or after Him. One God (﷾) created us all. When Jesus was asked for the first commandment, he quoted the same creed and added nothing to it.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:”
“Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”
“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
Jesus had a God
Jesus told Satan that God (﷾) alone is to be worshipped. He said true worshippers worship the Father. In John's Gospel, after what it describes as the resurrection, he spoke of "my God, and your God". One who has a God, and calls Him "my God", is not that God.
“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
Paul's creed: one God (﷾), the Father
Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, gives this creed: "one God, the Father" and "one Lord Jesus Christ". That is two, and only one of them is God. He writes of "one God and Father of all". He also writes of one God (﷾) and one go-between, "the man Christ Jesus". Jesus himself calls the Father "the only true God".
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
The verses that name three together
Christians point to two verses. One is the baptism command in Matthew 28:19. The other is the blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14. Both name the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit together. Christians read them as one God in three persons. Both are answered verse by verse below.
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
The one verse that states it was added
Only one verse in the Bible joins Father, Word and Holy Spirit as "one": 1 John 5:7 in the King James Version. Bruce Metzger, a leading scholar of the Greek text of the New Testament, shows two things. The words are missing from every Greek manuscript (hand-copied Greek text) except eight late ones. And no early Greek writer quotes them. The World English Bible, like most modern versions, leaves them out.
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
“For there are three who testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one.”
On 1 John 5:7-8, reports that the words about the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit are absent from every known Greek manuscript except eight late ones, four of which have them written in the margin as a later addition; that no Greek church father quotes them; and that every ancient translation except the Latin lacks them.
The usual proof texts do not state it
When Christians argue for the Trinity they usually quote John 1:1 and 1:18, John 8:58, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5 and Hebrews 1:8. Each is read as calling Jesus God, or as speaking of God (﷾) and Jesus. Not one of them says that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God. So even reference works that accept the doctrine say it is not taught explicitly in the New Testament. Even the wording of Acts 20:28 is uncertain. The Greek copies differ between "the church of God" and "the church of the Lord". Metzger notes that the last words can mean "with the blood of his Own", that is, of his own Son. Read that way, the verse keeps God (﷾) and the Son apart.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
“Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”
“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”
On Acts 20:28, sets out that the Greek manuscripts divide between "the church of God" and "the church of the Lord", with other copies reading "of the Lord and God". Keeping "of God", he notes that the closing words can be read "with the blood of his Own", a title for Christ, so that a word such as "Son" is understood: God obtained the church with the blood of his own Son.
States that neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, and that the doctrine developed gradually over several centuries, reaching the settled formula of one essence in three persons only in the 4th century.
When the word and the doctrine arrived
The Greek word trias (a group of three) first appears in Theophilus of Antioch, a Christian bishop, about AD 180. The Latin trinitas first appears in Tertullian, an early Christian writer, early in the third century. The Ebionites, an early Jewish-Christian group, held Jesus to be a man and not God. Eusebius, a church historian of the fourth century, says another group of them accepted his virgin birth. The Council of Nicaea, a meeting of church bishops, declared in 325 that the Son is "of one substance" with the Father. It spoke against Arius, a priest of Alexandria, who taught that the Son had a beginning. The argument did not end there. Arius's followers kept the dispute alive for decades. In 357 a council of bishops met at Sirmium, a Roman city in today's Serbia. It was opposed to the Nicene formula. It banned the word "substance" because it is not in the Scriptures. That council also declared the Father greater than the Son. The Council of Constantinople in 381 finally settled the doctrine.
A Catholic reference work that defends the doctrine states that Scripture has as yet no single term naming the three divine persons together; that the Greek word trias first appears in Theophilus of Antioch about AD 180; and that the Latin trinitas appears afterwards in Tertullian.
States that neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, and that the doctrine developed gradually over several centuries, reaching the settled formula of one essence in three persons only in the 4th century.
Irenaeus reports that Cerinthus taught that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary like other men, and that the Christ came down on him at his baptism. He says the Ebionites held a similar view of the Lord, used only the Gospel of Matthew, rejected Paul as an apostate from the Law, and kept the Law and its customs.
Eusebius says the Ebionites regarded Jesus as a plain and common man, justified only because of his superior virtue. Another group of them accepted his virgin birth but still denied that he existed before his birth as God.
The creed opens: "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible". The council confessed the Son as begotten of the Father, true God of true God, and "of one substance" (homoousios) with the Father, and condemned those who said there was a time when he was not.
Socrates records the reasoning of Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria: if the Father begot the Son, the Son had a beginning, so there was a time when the Son was not.
A history of the Arian controversy from 318 to 381. Argues that it was not the defence of a settled orthodoxy against heresy, but a search in which the church's doctrine of God was worked out, and reached its final form only in 381.
A council of bishops at Sirmium in 357, opposed to the Nicene formula, thirty-two years after Nicaea, ruled that the word "substance" (ousia), and so the Nicene formula "of one substance", should not be used at all, because it is not contained in the divine Scriptures. It also declared that no one can doubt the Father is greater than the Son, quoting Jesus' words "He that sent me is greater than I".
The council confessed the Holy Spirit as the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, and who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.
- About AD 180
The word first appears
The Greek trias, a group of three, first appears in Theophilus of Antioch.
- Early 200s
The Latin word
The Latin trinitas first appears in Tertullian.
- 325
Nicaea
A council of bishops declares the Son of one substance with the Father, against Arius.
- 357
Sirmium
Another council bans the word substance and declares the Father greater than the Son.
- 381
Constantinople
A council finally settles the doctrine.
The doctrine was settled more than three centuries after Jesus. No prophet taught it.
A church father's own admission
John of Damascus was a Christian writer of the eighth century. He was defending icons (holy pictures) against the charge that they are not in Scripture. He answered that the words "Trinity", "consubstantial" (of one substance) and "two natures" are not in Scripture either. He believed their meaning was there. But he conceded the words are not.
Answering the charge that icons are not in Scripture, the eighth-century church father John of Damascus replied that the words "Trinity", "consubstantial", "three persons" and "two natures" of Christ are not found in the Old Testament or the Gospel either. He held that their meaning is contained in Scripture and was defined by the church fathers.
An encyclopedia on the road to Nicaea
The Encyclopedia Americana (1956) states that Christianity came out of Judaism, and that Judaism was strictly Unitarian: it held that God (﷾) is one. It says the road from Jerusalem to Nicaea was "scarcely a straight one". Belief in the Trinity in the fourth century, it concludes, did not accurately reflect early Christian teaching about God (﷾). It was a deviation from that teaching.
States that Christianity derived from Judaism, and that Judaism was strictly Unitarian, holding God to be one. It says the road from Jerusalem to Nicaea was scarcely a straight one, and that fourth-century Trinitarianism did not accurately reflect early Christian teaching about the nature of God but was a deviation from it.
A Catholic theologian on why Muslims reject it
Hans Küng was a Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. He writes that Muslims, like Jews, cannot follow the Trinity. It draws lines between one God (﷾) and three "hypostases" (a Greek word for the three persons). It does this in terms taken from Syriac (a form of Aramaic used by the eastern churches), Greek and Latin. He says Muslims find it all a word game. He puts their question: why add anything to God's (﷾) oneness that can only dilute it?
The Catholic theologian Hans Küng writes that Muslims, like Jews, cannot follow the idea of the Trinity. The distinctions it draws between one God and three hypostases, in terms taken from Syriac, Greek and Latin, confuse Muslims rather than enlighten them, and they find it all a word game. He voices their question: why add anything to God's oneness and uniqueness that can only dilute or cancel it?
Nothing added to God's (﷾) oneness
The answer to Küng's question is that no one who took his creed from the prophets ever did. Moses gave Israel its creed: the Lord our God (﷾) is one Lord. Jesus called those words the first of all the commandments. The Qur'an says the same in four verses to which nothing can be added. The additions came from men, not from any prophet.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:”
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
Doctrines of men, and the Qur'an's verdict
Jesus quoted Isaiah against those who teach "for doctrines the commandments of men". A teaching is not of men because its word is new. It is of men when no prophet taught it. No prophet taught that God is three persons, and no verse in the original text says so. The Qur'an tells Christians not to go to excess in their religion: "Say not Trinity", for Allah (﷾) is one.
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
“O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.”
“They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.”
Verse by verse
1 John 5:7 — First Epistle of John, chapter 5, verse 7
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
Cited for
1 John 5:7 says outright that the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost "are one".
The response
The words are missing from every Greek manuscript except eight late ones. No Greek writer of the early church quotes them, even in the fourth-century debates over the Trinity. Most modern Bibles, such as the World English Bible, leave them out.
Where it lands — The only verse that states the Trinity was not part of the original letter.
Matthew 28:19 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 19
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Cited for
Baptism "in the name" (one name) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit shows three persons who are one God.
The response
Naming three together does not make them one being. Paul charges Timothy "before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels". No one concludes that the angels are God. The singular "name" does not make one being either. Jacob asks that "the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac" be named on the boys. Revelation shows the Lamb's followers with "his name, and the name of his Father" on their foreheads: two names side by side. In Acts, people are baptised simply in the name of Jesus. The historian Gregory Riley notes that no New Testament author explains how the Father, the Son and the Spirit relate to each other in essence.
Where it lands — The verse names three; it does not say they are equal, or one God (﷾).
2 Corinthians 13:14 — Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
Cited for
The blessing joins Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, so Paul held them to be one God.
The response
The verse itself separates them: "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God". Paul names Jesus beside God (﷾), not as God. His creed says the same: "one God, the Father" and "one Lord Jesus Christ".
Where it lands — A blessing that names Jesus alongside God (﷾) keeps them distinct.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians say the word is not in the Bible, but the doctrine is. Scripture teaches one God. It calls the Father, the Son and the Spirit God, and it names the three together. The councils of Nicaea and Constantinople put this into words.
Matthew 28:19 names the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit under one name. Christians read this as one God in three persons.
Rebuttal
Naming three together does not make them one being. Paul charges Timothy "before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels", and no one thinks the angels are God. One "name" does not make one being either: Jacob asked that "the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac" be named on his grandsons. As the historian Gregory Riley notes, no New Testament writer explains how the three relate in essence.
The doctrine is not stated in any one verse but is gathered from many passages.
Rebuttal
A doctrine can be gathered from many passages. But on who God (﷾) is, the Bible gives one plain creed, "The Lord our God is one Lord", which Jesus gave as the first commandment. The passages Christians gather never say that three are one God, and the one verse that does, 1 John 5:7, was added later.
Historians of doctrine
The word and the formula came after the Bible. The word appears about AD 180, and the formula was fixed by church councils in 325 and 381, after long dispute.
The word trias first appears in Theophilus of Antioch about AD 180, and trinitas in Tertullian after him.
Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament. The doctrine took its settled form in the fourth century.
The Encyclopedia Americana (1956) judges that belief in the Trinity in the fourth century was a deviation from early Christian teaching about God. That teaching came from the strictly Unitarian faith of Judaism.
In 357 a council of bishops at Sirmium, opposed to the Nicene formula, ruled that the word "substance" should not be used. They said it is not in the Scriptures. The council also declared the Father greater than the Son.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) is One, as every prophet taught, from Moses to Jesus to Muhammad (ﷺ). The Trinity is a teaching of men that no prophet taught, and the Qur'an calls it an excess.
The Hebrew scriptures teach that God (﷾) is one and that there is no God beside Him.
Jesus gave the creed of one God (﷾) as the first commandment and added no Son or Spirit to it.
Paul's creed names one God (﷾), the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ.
The only verse that states the Trinity outright, 1 John 5:7, is a later addition to the text.
The verses usually quoted to show that Jesus is God never say that three persons are one God. Examples are John 1:1, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5 and Hebrews 1:8.
Acts 20:28 varies in the Greek copies. Its closing words can be read as "the blood of his own Son", which keeps God (﷾) and the Son distinct.
A leading Catholic theologian writes that Muslims find the Trinity's distinctions a word game that dilutes God's (﷾) oneness.
Nothing was added to God's (﷾) oneness by Moses, by Jesus, who called it the first commandment, or by the Qur'an. The additions came from men, not from any prophet.
Jesus condemned teaching the commandments of men as doctrine.
The Qur'an forbids saying "Trinity" and teaches that Allah (﷾) is one God.