The Trinity Doctrine declares that Jesus, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, has always been Co-Eternal and Co-Equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
Does Co-Equal refer to equal in authority/position or only equal in nature?
If it only means equal in nature, God's nature is "spirit," and so are the angels. Also, the only thing we really know about "spirit nature" is that it's invisible and different from human nature.
While I agree that Jesus had the divine spirit nature that God has, this doesn't seem to tell us much about Jesus at all.
With all of that said, I agree with Trinitarians that Jesus is absolutely Divine Deity (Colossians 2:9; John 1:1) and He deserves honor to the same degree as God, because He's God's Son. (John 5:23)
But how do these Scriptures agree with the Trinitarian Co-Eternal and Co-Equal claims?
The LORD created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago. (Proverbs 8:22 NET) (Compare the NIRV Translation)
This verse clearly says Wisdom was created by God as the beginning of God's works. Some translations say "produced" instead of "created," but it's the same idea.
A majority of scholars appear to agree that this Wisdom of Proverbs 8 was the source of John 1:1's Logos teaching, in other words, John's Logos is the same as Proverbs' Wisdom.
Unless you want to deny that Wisdom corresponds to the Pre-Human Jesus/Logos, I see no way around the fact that Jesus was created by God.
Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me. (John 6:57 NET)
Jesus here says Christians will live because of Jesus in the same way that Jesus lives because of God the Father. How can Jesus be Co-Eternal if He received His life, and continues to live, because of the Father?
If Jesus is the Almighty Supreme Being, Source of all life, then He would not need the Father to give Him life or keep Him alive, would He?
For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, (John 5:26 NET)
How could there ever have been a time when the Father had to grant life to the Son, if the Son is Co-Equal and Co-Eternal?
Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36 NET)
If Jesus has always been Co-Equal to the Father, then Jesus was always Lord. How could there ever be a time when the Father had to make Jesus become Lord?
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (John 5:19 ESV)
How can you be "Co-Equal" with someone if you cannot make a decision on your own, without the approval of another?
Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs. (Hebrews 1:4 NET)
If Jesus has always been Yahweh, together with the Father and the Spirit, how could there ever be a time when Jesus had to wait to inherit the Divine Name?
And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:28 NET)
How can Jesus be Co-Equal to God and at the same time, give up His Kingdom to God and subject Himself to God?
but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone. (Hebrews 2:9 NET)
How could the Supreme Being be made lower than angels, and even if the Supreme Being could be made lower than angels for a little while, how could He still be Co-Equal to God and lower than angels at the very same time?
You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. (John 14:28 NET)
I understand that the usual Trinitarian argument here is that the Father was greater than Jesus while Jesus was a human on earth, but this still eliminates the claim that Jesus was always Co-Equal to God at all times, because, at this particular time, obviously He was not equal, according to Christ's own words.
What does Co-Equal even mean after looking at these Scripture passages?
who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, (Philippians 2:6 NET)
In his very nature he was God. But he did not think that being equal with God was something he should hold on to. (Philippians 2:6 NIRV)
This passage, in either interpretation, doesn't agree with the traditional Trinity Doctrine's claim that Jesus has always been Co-Equal to God the Father.
If we go with the NET/ESV rendering, it means Jesus either never had equality with God or He gave up His equality with God when He became human.
If we go with the NIRV/NIV rendering, it means Jesus always had the nature of God, but He gave up His equality with God to become a Man.
Neither of these can harmonize with the claim that Jesus has always been Co-Equal to God.
What "equality" did Jesus give up (or never have) in Philippians 2:6?
We can't just ignore this verse to cling to the doctrine that Jesus was always Co-Equal.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15 ESV)
The Greek phrase for "firstborn of all creation," according to what I have researched, is most likely in the "partitive genitive" form, which is a fancy way of saying that the firstborn mentioned must be included as part of the group called "creation" here.
Also, usually in the Bible, the word firstborn refers to the first son born into a family or the first of a new type of thing or experience. There are a few occasions where it may not refer to the chronological first.
There are three ways of interpreting Colossians 1:15:
1: Jesus is the first creature that was ever made by God, thus He is the first being ever born. (Compare Proverbs 8:22)
2: Jesus is the first of the New Creation humans who have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them. (Compare Romans 8:29)
3: Jesus is the Preeminent or Supreme One of all the creatures God has made.
For in him the whole fullness of deity [divine nature] dwells bodily, (Colossians 2:9 ESV)
I totally agree, the fullness of the divine nature dwells in Jesus.
Colossians 1:19 explains that this fullness dwells in Jesus as a result of a decision made by God the Father:
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (Colossians 1:19 ESV)
So if God had to choose to place the fullness of divine nature into the Son, then this is not something the Son has eternally possessed.
In addition, God is going to grant some measure of divine nature to Christians too, according to 2 Peter 1:4:
...you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:4 ESV)
Only Jesus has the fullness of the divine nature, by a decision of God the Father.
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