Short Course Teaching an Orthodox View of the Trinity

Doctrinal Alert: Finis Dake’s teachings about the Trinity fundamentally contradict orthodox Christian doctrine. Rather than affirming one God in three persons, Dake teaches three separate Gods, each with their own physical body, effectively promoting tritheism—a heresy condemned throughout church history.

Dake’s Denial of the Trinity: Teaching Three Gods

The doctrine of the Trinity stands at the heart of Christian theology, affirming that God exists eternally as one divine essence in three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This foundational truth distinguishes biblical Christianity from all other religions and cults. Finis Dake, however, systematically dismantles this essential doctrine, replacing it with a polytheistic system that more closely resembles ancient paganism than biblical Christianity.

Three Separate Beings, Not Three Persons in One God

Dake explicitly states in his writings:

“God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct persons, each with a personal body, soul, and spirit… If there are three separate persons, then all three would have to have a separate body, soul and spirit, as is true of any three persons we could use as an example.”

This statement reveals Dake’s fundamental misunderstanding of the Trinity. Orthodox Christianity teaches one God in three persons sharing one divine essence. Dake teaches three separate beings, each with their own body, soul, and spirit—essentially three Gods.

Dake goes even further, arguing that it’s “ridiculous” to believe in one God existing as three persons. He writes: “The old idea that God exists as three persons in one person is not only unscriptural, but it is ridiculous to say the least.” In making this claim, Dake dismisses nearly 2,000 years of Christian orthodoxy, from the Apostles’ Creed to the Council of Nicaea, from Augustine to the Reformers. You will also note that Dake either does not understand what the theological term Trinity means or he is purposefully misinterpreting it. Christians do not say “Three persons in one person!”

Physical Bodies for Each “God”

Perhaps most shocking is Dake’s insistence that each member of what he calls the “Godhead” possesses a separate physical body. He argues that “No person can exist without a body or a shape” and applies this human limitation to God Himself. This teaching reduces the infinite, spiritual God to the level of created beings, bound by physical limitations and spatial restrictions. According to Dake, the Father has one body, the Son has another, and the Holy Spirit has a third—three separate physical beings meeting together like a divine committee.

This polytheistic view becomes even clearer when Dake states that Daniel and Stephen saw “two of them with separate bodies at the same time,” referring to visions of God. He interprets biblical theophanies and visions as proof of multiple Gods with physical bodies, rather than understanding them as accommodations to human perception of the one infinite God.

The Consequences of Dake’s Teaching

Dake’s trinity doctrine isn’t merely an alternative interpretation—it’s a different religion altogether. By teaching three separate beings with distinct bodies, souls, and spirits, Dake promotes tritheism, a heresy that denies the fundamental monotheism revealed in Scripture: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This error places Dake’s teachings outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy, aligning more closely with Mormonism’s polytheistic theology than with biblical Christianity.

The course below on the Trinity gives an in-depth view to help you to better understand the Trinity. Once you have a solid foundational view of the Trinity then you will more easily be able to see how Dake has rejected and reinterpreted this foundational belief of God’s very nature.

Course on the Orthodox Christian View of the Trinity