Historian Arthur Weigall notes: “Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word ‘Trinity’ appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord.”—The Paganism in Our Christianity.
My Answer:
The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Author: Athenagoras the Athenian
Time of writing: 175-177
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 148 to 150
“Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order, called atheists?”
“…that they know God and His Logos, what is the oneness of the Son with the Father, what the communion of the Father with the Son, what is the Spirit, what is the unity of these three, the Spirit, the Son, the Father, and their distinction in unity…”
Author: Theopholus, Bishop of Antioch
Time of writing: 180
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 145
“In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom.”
Author: Clement of Alexandria
Time of writing: 195
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 130
“…thank the Alone Father and Son, Son and Father, the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy Spirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all is One, for whom is eternity…”
Author: Tertullian
Time of writing: 213
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 112
“Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said. Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other. This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit.”
“Still, in these few quotations the distinction of Persons in the Trinity is clearly set forth. For there is the Spirit Himself who speaks, and the Father to whom He speaks, and the Son of whom He speaks.”
“With these did He then speak, in the Unity of the Trinity, as with His ministers and witnesses In the following text also He distinguishes among the Persons…”
Author: Hippolytus
Time of writing: 205
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 120
“Many other passages, or rather all of them, attest the truth. A man, therefore, even though he will it not, is compelled to acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. But if he desires to learn how it is shown still that there is one God, let him know that His power is one. As far as regards the power, therefore, God is one. But as far as regards the economy there is a threefold manifestation, as shall be proved afterwards when we give account of the true doctrine.”
“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, what 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 economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also 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 is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”
Author: Athenagoras the Athenian
Time of writing: 175-177
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 148 to 150
“Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order, called atheists?”
“…that they know God and His Logos, what is the oneness of the Son with the Father, what the communion of the Father with the Son, what is the Spirit, what is the unity of these three, the Spirit, the Son, the Father, and their distinction in unity…”
Author: Theopholus, Bishop of Antioch
Time of writing: 180
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 145
“In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom.”
Author: Clement of Alexandria
Time of writing: 195
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 130
“…thank the Alone Father and Son, Son and Father, the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy Spirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all is One, for whom is eternity…”
Author: Tertullian
Time of writing: 213
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 112
“Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said. Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other. This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit.”
“Still, in these few quotations the distinction of Persons in the Trinity is clearly set forth. For there is the Spirit Himself who speaks, and the Father to whom He speaks, and the Son of whom He speaks.”
“With these did He then speak, in the Unity of the Trinity, as with His ministers and witnesses In the following text also He distinguishes among the Persons…”
Author: Hippolytus
Time of writing: 205
Topic: Trinity
Years before Nicaea: 120
“Many other passages, or rather all of them, attest the truth. A man, therefore, even though he will it not, is compelled to acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. But if he desires to learn how it is shown still that there is one God, let him know that His power is one. As far as regards the power, therefore, God is one. But as far as regards the economy there is a threefold manifestation, as shall be proved afterwards when we give account of the true doctrine.”
“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, what 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 economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also 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 is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”
Source(s):
A PleTo Autolycus, II:xv, (ANF 2:100-101)
The Paedagogus, III:xii, (ANF 2:295)
Against Praxeas, IX, (ANF 3:603)
a for the Christians, X, (ANF 2:133)
Against the Heresy of One Noetus, 8, (ANF 5:226)
The Paedagogus, III:xii, (ANF 2:295)
Against Praxeas, IX, (ANF 3:603)
a for the Christians, X, (ANF 2:133)
Against the Heresy of One Noetus, 8, (ANF 5:226)
Greetings James Passman
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, the fact remains that there are no statements/verses in the NT whether from the mouth of Christ, or any of his apostles;
that support the notion of
"and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Trinity, three persons" or such like.
Your earliest quote being nearly 100 years after the writing of the apostles!
Rather, the creed of the apostolic early church (and should be of the church today) remains 1 Cor 8.6.
Therefore James Passman,
On the subject of the Trinity,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you in your quest for truth.
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Nice to know that someone is reading these. I would like to point out that the person with whom I was dialoging stated that the doctrine originated 300 years after the death of Christ. As you can see, it was taught in the church much earlier than that.Now concerning the words of Christ or His apostles, it is pretty convincing that a trinity of personages is mentioned even in Christ's dissertation to His apostles in John chapters 14-17 as well as His statement in Matthew 28:19-20. Paul made a revelatory statement closing out 2 Corinthians when he stated: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
ReplyDeleteHere Paul is stating truths that concur with what Jesus spoke when He said...I go to the Father and He will send you another comforter (paraclete), the Spirit of Truth.