The Trinity is NOT a Fourth Century Invetion
It has been repeatedly claimed, on Usenet newsgroups and on various websites that the Trinity is a 4th century invetion. To those who claimt this, I say: "This is demonstrably false. Where do you get your information?"
Here are some citations which prove that the Trinity was NOT a 4th century construct...and has been the teaching of the church since the time of the Apostles.
Ignatius of Antioch (c 107) writes the following:
There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God[. For the "Lord thy God," saith [the Scripture], "is one Lord." And again, "Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father?" And the is also one Son, God the Word.
Letter to the Philippians, Ch II
God the Word - distinct in some way from God the Father! In AD107 at the *latest*. Now, just to be clear, he goes on to say:
There are not then either three Fathers, or three Sons, or three Paracletes, but one Father, and one Son, and one Paraclete. Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three posessed of equal honor.
Letter the the Philippians, Ch II
That pretty much puts a nail in the "Trinity as a 4th century" construct. Notice clearly this denies *both* Arianism *and* Sabellianism (Modalism). And the language is very much that which was adopted in the Athanasean Creed centuries later.
That's enough to prove my point, but there is more early writing on the Trinity…
Athenagoras (c 177) defends the Trinity as an essential part of the faith. He mentions, BY NAME, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in "A Plea for Christians" (Chapter X). He confirms the very nature of the Son as being eternal.
Theopholis, who was Bishop of Antioch (AD168 to AD181) uses the actual word "Trinity" in "To Autolycus" (Book II, Chapt 15). He says that the three days in the tomb are a type of the Trinity.
Aristedes in his "Apology" (c AD125) mentions again, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He states that Jesus is the "Son of God" who came down from heaven unbegotten [by a man] and called all men to "Himself away from false gods." (Ch XV in Greek, Ch II in Syriac). While there is no clear statement "Jesus is God" the inferences are fairly clear.
Clement of Alexandria argues that Plato had knwon (in a way) of the Trinity:
And the address in the 'Timeaus' calls the creator, Father, speaking this "Ye gods of gods, of whom I am Father; and the Creator of you works." So that when he says, "Around the king of all, all things are, and because of Him are all thing; and he is the cause of all good things; and around the second are the things of the second in order and around the things of the thrid, the third," I understand nothing else that the Holy Trinity to be meant; for the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the second, by whom all things were made according to the will of the Father.
Clement, Stromata, Book V. Ch XIV
He uses the term *Trinity* here. Again, we see the Trinity before the 4th century, and again, mentioned by the word "Trinity."
Here's a quote from Tertullian:
What, now (has this to do) with the CHurch, and your (church) indeed, Psychic? For, in accordance with the person of Peter, it is to spiritual men that this power will correspondantly appertain, either to an apostle or else to a prophet. For the very Church itself is, properly and principally, the Spirit Himself [ie the Godhead], in whom is the Trinity of One Divinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Tertullian, on Modesty, ch XXI
Now THAT couldn't be clearer. Trinity of One Divinity.
HIPPOLYTUS, who died about 235 C.E., wrote in "Against the Heresy of One Noetus", Section 14:
And the blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this economy (disposition) and acknowledges this Word as God, when he says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
If, then, the Word was with God, and was also God, who follows? Would one say that he speaks of two Gods? I shall not indeed speak of two Gods, but of one; of two Persons however, and of a third ecoonomy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost.
He not only confirms that the Father and Son are *both* God, and there is only one God, but that the Holy Spirit is God as well. He continues:
For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word executes, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The economy of harmony leads back to one God; for God is One.
Reinforcing the point - three in one. And he continues:
It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He concludes this chapter with the following:
…for it is through the Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, procaim this truth.
Yes! The WHOLE SCRIPTURES proclaim the truth of the Trinity!
Origen, who died ca 250AD, writes:
"This is the stone, which was set at naught of you the builders, which has becomes the head of the corner." And one of the names applied to the Savior is that which He Himself does not utter, but which John records: - the Word who was in the beginning with God, God the Word.
Commentary on John, Ch 23
It is important to note that the teachings of the Fathers in Council in the 4th and 5th centuries *is* supported by the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Was their doctrine fully explicated and developed? No! There was no need until Arius came along and tried to *change* the deposit of faith!
In the same way that the New Testament Epistles were mostly written to correct error, so too the Councils were called to address erronious teaching, like that of Arius.
The Church Fathers clearly taught the Trinity. Ante-Nicea, at Nicea and post Nicea.
The AdamsSuggestions/questions about this website: