Objection · Case 04 · The Trinity
Isn’t this just Semitic parallelism, where a line is restated a second way for emphasis rather than to identify two things as one? Hebrew and Aramaic-influenced speech does this constantly, and Trinitarians reading personal identity into a poetic restatement risk circular reasoning, assuming the doctrine and then finding it confirmed.
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
Parallelism restates a single referent, so if “the Holy Spirit” and “God” are functioning as parallel names for the one Ananias wronged, that is the identification this claim needs, not an alternative to it. What parallelism does not settle by itself is whether that referent is a distinct person within God or simply God under another title, which is why this evidence has to stand alongside the rest rather than carry the claim on its own.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Lying to the Spirit is lying to God, Acts 5:3-4.
Peter tells Ananias he has lied to the Holy Spirit, then says in the next breath, “You have not lied to man but to God.” Lying is something you can only do to a someone.
Under Claim 10: The New Testament identifies the Holy Spirit with God directly, not just as a person but as one who shares in what only God is.