Christian Traditions:
The Trinity Concept

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Contents

  • What is the Trinity Concept

  • How was Scripture Changed

  • Who Made the Trinity Concept

  • Where do Trinity Traditions Originate

  • What are some Alternative Concepts

    What is the Trinity Concept

    Definition

    Christians define the Trinity as belief that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as three seperate persons but one in substance, power, and eternity.

    Christianity

    The Trinity Concept is one of the defining themes of Christianity. Many of the doctrines are based upon this concept. The exact wording of the Trinity in doctrine will vary from denomination to denomination and does cause division.

    How was Scripture Changed to Support the Trinity

    (1 John 5:7-8)

    For there are three that bear record [ in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. {8} And there are three that bear witness in earth, ] the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
    1 John 5:7-8 (KJV)
    This passage is one of the two main passages used in supporting the Trinity Concept. However, it is now known that this passage is not original to the text and was added at a later date. In the quote to the right, the portion with the brackets added and the smaller font is not found in any of the original Greek manuscriptus of the early centuries. It is not to be found quoted in any of the early church fathers even when discussing and defending the Trinity concept in the early centuries. It is not found in the Scriptures until around 800 AD where it appears to have been back-written into the Latin Vulgate from a quote dating back to Cyprian. Modern translations of the Bible do not include this passage or set it off with brackets to notate that it is not part of the original text, yet those who support the Trinity Concept still use it today as one of their main support texts.

    (Mat 28:19)

    Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
    Mat 28:19
    This is the only passage in Scripture which directly supports the trinity concept. It is also a passage for which there are no original manuscripts and which was re-made during the fourth century from quotes in the ante-nicene fathers. Most manuscripts stop at Gen 26:52 so there is no origanl for chapters 27 and 28. Depending on the person quotes there is a long form (Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian), a short form (Eusebius), one form with the beginning and no inclusion who one is baptized into (Shem Tov), and no form (Jerusalem Bible) quoted for chapter twenty-eight verse nineteen. This passage was not used to defend the trinity concept during the decades of debate when trying to prove their point. It has also become a doctrinal issue in regards to baptism. In all other instances of New Testament Scripture, baptism is done only in Messiah's name.

    Who Made the Trinity Concept

    Catholicism

    One must note that this doctrine is strongly of the Catholic church. During the 1000 years it ruled exclusively, this was the doctrine. Before that time and starting with the reformation after, non-trinitarian groups have emerged and many church doctrines such as this have come into question.

    Other Religions

    It does seem like the idea developed as christianity spread and more and more pagan customs were adopted into its own. Christianity may have won the conversion of the pagans, but paganism won the battle of traditon and custom. It is well established that the church found it easier to convert a people by allowing them to keep their customs and giving them a new meaning in Messiah rather than make them start over with the christian religion.

    Theophilus

    The Greek word 'trias' means a set of three or the number three and is the foundation for some english words such as 'triad'. This did not appear in any writings until about 180 AD when Theophilus , Bishop of Antioch, while writing about the fourth day of creation wrote about the 'triados' of "God, his Word, and His Wisdom" as represented by the first three days of Creation and then continuing to say that man is represented by the fourth day of creation (Ad Autolycus book 2 Chapter 15 - OF the Fourth Day). Add to this Theophilus's own definitions of the Word as 'Sovereignty' and Wisdom as 'offspring' (Ad Autolycus book 1 Chapter 3 - The Nature of God) and we see that he was not referring to Father, Son, and Spirit.

    Tertullian

    Many of the early "fathers," including Justin Martyr of the second century, taught that the Holy Spirit was an "influence or mode of operation of the Deity." Hippolytus ascribed no personality to the Holy Spirit. In the creation, the Spirit of Yahweh, or Yahweh’s Power, went forth from Him and accomplished His will.

    Athanasius

    The term used by trinitarians is "homoousios" whih is greek for 'of the same essence'. Non trinitarians use the word "homoiousios" which is different by only one letter (the iota) and means 'of similar essence'. During thethird and fourth centuries, the meanis of "ousia" and "hypostasis" overlappe and so the latter term for some meant 'essence' and for others it meant 'person'. These words were clarified by Athanasius.

    Constantine

    Many sources say that Emperor Constantine was the one that really helped Trinitarianism take root. He suggested the relationship fo the Son to the Father to e "homoousios" or 'of the same substance" and appearantly no one dared change this word during his lifetime.

    Erasmus

    When translations of the Scriptures were made into other languages starting in the 1300's, any texts made from the Latin Vulgate contained this passage. The texts written from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, such as the Wycliffe Bible, did not contain this text. In the 16th century, Erasmus was producing an english Bible that worked from the original Hebrew an Greek and the early version of this Bible did not contain the text. The Catholic church put such strong pressure on him to include it, that he said he would include it if only one greek text could be shown to contain it. The Church did come up with such a text. Erasmus questioned it's authenticity, and stated such in the Bible he produced, but did include the passage. Research since then has shown that greek copy to be a modern forgery to his time. However, it was this edition of the Bible that has become known to us today as the Textus Receptus and the one which has been used to translate so many other Bibles, including the King James Bible.

    Where do Trinity Traditions Originate

    Philosophy

    Greek: The concept itself was made up of individuals who were greek philosophers who converted and then still used philospohy as a means of explaing and understanding who and what Elohim is ... this is a questionable practice as greek philosophy has many limitations and problems. Many of the philsophic and idealizedtenets of Plato were counted as worthy of beliefe. (did these come from egypt?). In Plato's philosophy it was the Unknwn Father, Nous/Logos, and the world soul. Later Platonic philosophers developed the doctrine of the trinity. The language of this doctrine comes not from Scripture, but from philosophy.

    Other Religions

    General: What is most disturbing about this pat of the trinity concept is that a triad or trinity of divine beings as being supreme has exited for thousands of years ... long before Messiah was to come about.
    Terminology: For this paper, it is a side issue that many pagan terms used for other deities such as God, Lord, and Christ (background of words ????) were transferred to the One Most High and to the Messiah. Yet it opens the door to many questions about the fact that so many pagan religions worship a triad or trinity of gods [example, baylon, egypt, eastern, etc.) all picturing a father sometiems reborn as a son. Because Christianity has assimilated so many other pagan ideas and icons it must be questioned if this is one of those concepts of pagan origin.
    Art: There are many statues in the world that are now entitled "mary and jesus" that were orginally made long before and entitled for pagan gods.
    Triads: In Indian religion we have Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu. In Egyptian religion we have Osiris, Isis, and Horus. In Babylon it weas nimrod, Semirams, and Tammuz. The Babylonians used an equilateral triangle to represent their three-in-one god. In Israeli paganism, it is Kether, Hokhmah, and Bina. The Greek triad was composed of Zeus, Athena, and Apollo. who were said to 'agree in one'. A large Roman temple was built to the trinity of Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus.

    What are some Alternative Concepts

    General

    In general, there are only minor differences between Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant views on the Trinity. When looking at Non-Trinitarian views there is a much broader range of beliefs. It is not the goal of this paper to look at all possible models of describing who and what Elohim is. This short list of other therories is only presented to give an idea as to what other theories exist. Obviously, these theories contradict each other and have their own problems. This author is not endorsing ANY theories.

    Non-creedalism

    Some denominations, like the Society of Friends (Quakers), reject using doctrine or creeds as a test of true faith because they are man-made. Others like the Churches of Christ go with a 'Scripture only' understanding of the Scriptures. These reject the Trinity concept because it is not clearly articulated in the Scriptures and therefore cannot be required for salvation.

    Modalism

    Holds that the Father, Son, and Ghost are merely modes, or roles, of the Almighty. These are not three persons, but three distinct ways that Almighty has interacted with humans. They are not co-existent, but instead we only have one mode of the Almighty at any given time.

    Judaism

    Judaism regards the Amighty as being One. They consider the christian doctrine of the trinity as being polytheistic and blasphemous. Judaism is well known for being the only religion in its day to have a monotheistic belief. All other groups and religions were polytheistic.

    Todd Elder is a believer in the Messiah who wants to help people understand Scripture and know the message of Salvation. For more information from the Christian Traditions series, please visit my website http://www.exploringsalvation.info and look under 'Scripture'.
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