Biblical Questions Answered, Trinity etc.
Woe to those who make right wrong and wrong right.
EXPLAIN... HOW
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> Jesus Sinless : Heb 4:15
Response
Jesus [means Jehovah is salvation] existed as only- begotten by God
[only creature created ONLY by God himself, all other creation was
done through Jesus [as a spirit Being] by God. So, then, the lifeforce
of Jesus was transferred from heaven to the womb of a Jewish virgin,
the Creator ensuring that the conception would be perfect and the
offspring being born perfect without the effects from Adam.
Also, he was completely righteous remaining faultless and faithful
to his God and Father Jehovah even to death.Philippians 2:5- 11,
Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:45, Hebrews 1:1, 2, 3, 4; 4:15.
At Luke 1:31-33 we read: and, look! you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son,
and you are to call his name Jesus. This one WILL be great and WILL be called Son of
the Most High; and JEHOVAH God WILL GIVE him the throne of David his father, and
he WILL RULE as king OVER THE HOUSE OF Jacob, FOREVER, and there WILL be
no end of his kingdom." Compare with Daniel 7:13,14; 2:44; Isaiah 11: 1-9; Psalm 2:7,8.
NOT CO-EQUAL TO GOD
Response
Read please.
John 14: 28; 1 Corinthians 15: 28, Matthew 24: 36, 1 Corinthians 11:3.
John 14:28 reads: You heard that I said to you, I am going away and I am coming back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.
1 Corinthians 11:3 says: But I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 15:28 reads: But when all things will have been subjected to him,
then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things
to him, that God may be all things to everyone.
John 5:19 reads: Therefore, in answer, Jesus went on to say to them: “Most truly
I say to you, the Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only
what he beholds the Father doing.”
John 5:30 reads: I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative; just as I hear, I judge; and the judgment that I render, is righteous, because I seek, not my own
will, but the will of him that sent me.
Verse 36 of John 5 reads: But I have the witness greater than that of John, for the very works that
my Father assigned me to accomplish, the works themselves that I am doing, bear witness
about me that the Father dispatched me.
Verse 46 of John 5 reads: In fact, if you believed Moses you would believe me, for
that one wrote about me. [Deuteronomy 18:18, Acts 3:22].
1. Psalm 110:1 and 4 compared with Hebrews 6:20, 8:1, 2, 4:15, Matthew 22:41- 46.
These Scriptures show that Jesus Christ is High Priest to God. WHO is greater,
God, or the ONE who acts as High Priest?
2. Deuteronomy 18:18, 19 compared with John 1:19-21, 25-27; 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:19-26
Jehovah God mentioned a Prophet that was to come similar to Moses [would liberate the people from any entanglement so they can pursue true worship of God]. This Prophet was to SPEAK only TRUTH from God himself. John 12:49, John 8:42; John 18:37, Matthew 21:9 - 11.
3. When Jesus Christ was tempted by the Devil [slanderer] to do an act of worship to him, Satan [resister], Jesus directed Satan to God's Word [Bible] saying this privilege was
God's ONLY.
Matthew 4:10, compare with Deuteronomy 6:13.
4. At Matthew 27: 46 we read: And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying,
"Eli Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" NKJV.
Who was this God? Yes, my friends, Jesus was speaking to Almighty God, Jehovah.
Compare Psalm 22:1.
5. There are various references of the God and Father of Jesus Christ. Please read; 1 Peter 1:3, Romans 15:6, 2 Corinthians 1:3, Ephesians 1:3, John 20:17, Revelation 3:12,
2 Corinthians 11:31.
NOTE PLEASE that EVEN when Jesus is glorified and in heaven he refers to his God [Re 3:12].
6. Jesus is identified as taking the scroll from the hand of the One seated on the throne in
the heavens [that is from God's hand]. Revelation 5: 7.
7. Jesus is compared to an angel of God, at Galatians 4:14. This is supported by Proverbs 8:22-31, Hebrews 1: 5; Hebrews 8: 1, 2; Phillipians 2: 5- 11; Revelation 3:14; 1 Thess. 4: 16. Col. 1:15, John 3:13, Daniel 7: 13, 14, Micah 5: 2.
Ray wrote:
> Where is he seated right now?o you know? hint at His [God
> the Father's right hand] EXAULTED by Him [God] so if He
> does why don't you?
Response
1 Peter 3: 18 says: Why, even Christ died once for ALL TIME concerning sins, a righteous
[person] for unrighteous ones, that he might LEAD YOU to God, he being put to DEATH
in the FLESH, but being made ALIVE in the SPIRIT.
1 Peter 3: 22 says: He is at God's right hand, for he went his way to heaven; and angels and
authorities and powers were MADE subject to him.
Please READ Acts 3: 12 - 26 ; Acts 7: 51 - 56; Acts 17: 11, 24 - 31; John 17: 3.
John 5: 22-24 read: For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the
judging to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
He that does not honor the Son DOES NOT honor the Father WHO SENT him.
MOST TRULY I say to you, he that HEARS MY WORD and BELIEVES him that
SENT me has EVERLASTING LIFE, and he DOES NOT come into JUDGMENT
but has PASSED OVER FROM DEATH TO LIFE."
Philippians 2:5- 11 say: Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although he was EXISTING in God's form, gave NO CONSIDERATION to a
SEIZURE, namely, that he should be EQUAL TO God. No, but he EMPTIED himself
and took a slave's form and came to be in the LIKENESS of men. More than that, when
he FOUND himself in fashion as a man, he HUMBLED himself and became obedient
AS FAR AS death, yes, death on a torture stake.
For this VERY REASON also God EXALTED him to a SUPERIOR POSITION and
kindly GAVE him the name that is above every [other] name, so that in the name of
Jesus EVERY knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under
the ground, and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father.
Ray wrote:
.. hmm anyway... check this..
> Jesus FORGIVES SINS : Lk 5:20 -24 and Lk 7 :47 -48
> Matth 9:2 and vs 6
Response
Let us read John 20: 21-23: Jesus, therefore, said to them again: "May you have peace.
Just as the Father has sent me forth, I also am sending you." And after he said this he
blew upon them and said to them: "Receive holy spirit. If you forgive the sins of any
persons, they stand forgiven to them; if you retain those of any persons, they stand
retained."
The Bible records the requirements for FORGIVENESS of sins by God.
Under direction of holy spirit, the apostles could discern whether individuals were MEETING
SUCH REQUIREMENTS and could declare on THIS BASIS that God had either
forgiven or not forgiven SUCH ONES. EXAMPLE the account of Ananias and his wife Sapphira
at Acts 5: 1-11. In this instance Ananias and Sapphira were intent on working deception, being
hypocritical in their declaration of proceeds to a property they owned. They were individually
accused of putting God's spirit to the test, subsequently losing God's favor and their lives.
John 3:33- 36
He that has accepted his witness has put his seal to it that God is
true. For the one whom God SENT FORTH SPEAKS THE SAYINGS of God, for he
does not give the spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things
into his hand. He that EXERCISES FAITH IN THE Son has everlasting life, he that
disobeys the Son, WILL NOT SEE LIFE, BUT THE WRATH OF God remains
upon him.
If you ask anything in my name, I will do it, "If you love me, you will observe my commandments;
and I will request the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, the spirit
of the TRUTH, which the world cannot receive, because it neither beholds it nor knows it..... John 14:14-17.
He that has my commandments and observes them, that one is he who loves me. In turn he that loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and plainly show myself
to him." John 14: 21.
You Submitted:
1. Does the NWT omit a word at John 14:14, which distorts its meaning?
Answer
14 If YOU ask anything in my name, I will do it. [NWT]
John 14:14 (King James Version)
14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
2. Did the early Christians pray to Jesus (Acts 7:59,60)?
Answer
PRAYERS DIRECTED ONLY TO God Almighty, THROUGH, Jesus Christ.
Jesus the Messiah, has set the pattern of how we should pray.
John 14: 6 says: Jesus said to him: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me...."
In verse 14 of the same chapter Jesus here says: If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
John 16: 23- 24 read: And in that day you will ask me no question at all. Most
truly I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything he will give it to you
in my name. Until this present time you have not asked a single thing in my
name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
ACTS 7
Acts 7:30 (King James Version)
30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
In the above verse, an angel of the Lord; who is this Lord? Clearly Stephen meant an angel of JEHOVAH/ Yahweh.
Exodus 3:2 (Young's Literal Translation)
2and there appeareth unto him a messenger of Jehovah in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he seeth, and lo, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed.
Thus the NWT CORRECTLY RENDERS Acts 7:60 as JEHOVAH being the One that Stephen prays to.
NWT Acts 7:59 to 60.
59 And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: “Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them.” And after saying this he fell asleep [in death].
What about Acts 7:59?
Well, Stephen was fully aware, that his resurrection was through Jesus Christ as shown at John 5:24 to 30.
John 5:24 (King James Version)
24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
You Sent:
. Who has the name above every name (Phil. 2:9)?
Philippians 2:9 (King James Version)
9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Answer
It is simply alarming to me why there is a controversy with the above scripture.
Please note that JEHOVAH/ Yahweh is the Most High [Psalm 83:18], and cannot be exalted any higher since He already is the HIGHEST. In fact Jehovah/ Yahweh is the One DOING the exalting. The Scripture at
1 Corinthians 15:28 should help us to better understand.
1 Corinthians 15:28 (King James Version)
28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
You Sent:
6. Does the NWT render the Greek word translated worship when used for Jesus as obeisance, but worship at other times?
Answer:
WORSHIP
In many cases where worship was recorded, obeisance, was intended.
Compare please these Bible texts.
Matthew 14:33; Revelation 3:9
Matthew 14:33 (Young's Literal Translation)
33and those in the boat having come, did bow to him, saying, `Truly -- God's Son art thou.'
Revelation 3:9 (Young's Literal Translation)
9lo, I make of the synagogue of the Adversary those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie; lo, I will make them that they may come and bow before thy feet, and may know that I loved thee.
Candor
It is quite evident by those of us who honestly study its contents that the
Bible [in the original tongues] was written with a great deal of candor. So
events and comments were recorded as they occurred. In the event that a comment was made by someone, however erroneous, it was recorded just as it occurred. Therefore the Jews sought to kill Jesus because [in their minds] He made himself equal to God by saying He is the Son of God.
CAREFUL SEARCH
It is in our best interest then in order to obtain truth, to CONSIDER EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO A PARTICULAR ISSUE.
Why do some get sidetracked on a particular Bible passage, when there are so many others where the TRUE MEANING IS CLEAR AND WITHOUT ANY DISPUTES AS REGARDS THE CORRECTNESS OF RENDERINGS?
You Submitted:
7. Is the NWT a literal translation at John 8:58?
Answer:
John 8:58 (King James Version)
58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 8:58 (Worldwide English (New Testament))
58Jesus answered, `I tell you the truth. I already was before Abraham was born.'
John 8:58 (The Message)
58"Believe me," said Jesus, "I am who I am long before Abraham was anything."
58 Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” [NWT].
Ardent Bible readers will know that the rendering of this Bible passage is merely stating that Christ existed, before Abraham even existed. Refer to Micah 5:2 etc.
You Submitted:
10. Is Jesus the God, according to the Greek?
Answer:
Sadly, much of the confusion regarding the true identity of the Messiah
arouse during the time of the pagan emperor Constantine’s attempt to harmonize the church. A careful research of history will show that Constantine’s efforts led first to the declaration of the Son and the Father being of the “same essence”.
It was precisely this and other concepts foreign to the primitive Christians, which has influenced many of the individuals who subsequently rendered the Greek and Syriac texts into Latin, English and other tongues.
Comparisons
A careful comparison of various translations may alarm some, but the very
Scriptures themselves, predicted that many false teachings would appear.
In the attempt of some to support ideas that were clearly NOT SUPPORTED by Scriptures some SERIOUS errors have entered in some translations.
So then 1 John 5:7 has an addition [Comma Johanneum] which is indisputably fallacious.
Revelation 1:11 has an addition which entitles such individual[s] to the plagues recorded in that Book.
1 Timothy 3:16 has inserted God, where Christ was intended.
Comments
The Athanasian, or Trinitarian creed was probably written sometime in the fifth century. Although it bears the name of Athanasius, it was not written by him.
Whosoever [sic] will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith; which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the Catholic Faith is this: that we worship One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, the Father uncreate, the son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal; and yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty; and yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; and yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord; and yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord; so we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another, none is greater or less than another; but the whole three persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He, therefore, that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation, that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect man; of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his manhood; who, although he be God and man, yet is he not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ: who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; he ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; at whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Works Cited
Bauer, Walter. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. Trans. Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins. Ed. Robert A. Kraft and Gerhard Krodel. Philadelphia: Fortress. 1979.
The Bible.
Burns, Eugene. The Doctrine of Christ. np
Campbell, James Marshall. The Greek Fathers. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1963.
Carter, Jesse Benedict. The Religious Life of Ancient Rome: A Study in the Development of Religious Consciousness, from the Foundation of the City Until the Death of Gregory the Great. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1972.
Durant, Will. Our Oriental Heritage. New York: Simon. 1935. Vol. 1 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.
—Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.
—The Age of Faith. New York: Simon. 1950. Vol. 4 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.
Fortman, Edmund J. The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Philadelphia: Westminster P. 1972.
Harnack, Adolf. History of Dogma. Trans. Neil Buchanan. 3rd German ed. 3 vols. New York: Dover. 1961.
Hart, George. Egyptian Myths. Austin: U of Texas. 1990.
Hislop, Alexander. The Two Babylons: Or, the Papal Worship. 1853. 2nd American ed. Neptune: Loizeaux. 1959.
Hooke, S. H. Babylonian and Assyrian Religion. Norman: U of Oklahoma P. c1963.
Hornung, Erik. Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many. Trans. John Baines. Ithaca: Cornell UP. 1982.
Isaiah. Ed. A. Cohen. Rev ed. London: Soncino P. 1983.
Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. New York: Harper. 1959
Laing, Gordon Jennings. Survivals of Roman Religion. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1963.
Lonergan, Bernard. The Way to Nicea: The Dialectical Development of Trinitarian Theology. Trans. Conn O’Donovan. Philadelphia: Westminster P. 1976. Trans. Of De Deo Trino. Rome: Gregorian UP. 1964. 17-112
McGiffert, Arthur Cushman. A History of Christian Thought. Vol. 1. New York: Scribner’s. 1932.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: U of Chicago P. 1971. Vol. 1 of The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. 5 vols.
—Historical Theology: Continuity and Change in Christian Doctrine. New York: Corpus. 1971.
Saggs, H. W. F. The Greatness that was Babylon: A Sketch of the Ancient Civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. New York: New American Library. 1968.
The Soncino Chumash. Ed A. Cohen. 2nd ed. London: Soncino P. 1983.
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The Nicene was not a popular creed when it was signed. Durant affirms that the majority of Eastern bishops sided with Arius in that they believed Christ was the Son of God ‘neither consubstantial nor co-eternal’ with his Father (Age 7). Arianism has never been truly quenched. While the West accepted the Athanasian view of the Trinity, and the East accepted the Trinity of the Cappadocian fathers, Arianism lives on in the Unitarian Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in many smaller religions.
There is an unfortunate side to the whole Athanasian/Arian debate. Campbell could find no parallel in medieval nor modern times in the intensity of debate (49). Historically, this ‘doctrine of God’ has proved to be a bloody doctrine that has no relation to the true God of love, nor His Son Jesus Christ. Durant details the problems that arose from the Council at Nicea and summarizes that period with a dreadful verdict: ‘Probably more Christians were slaughtered by Christians in these two years (342-3) than by all the persecutions of Christians by pagans in the history of Rome’ (Age 8). Thus they perverted the teachings of Christ: ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’,{# Mt 19:19} and of his apostles: ‘If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us’.{# 1Jo 4:12}
The evolution of the Trinity can be well seen in the words of the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.2 As each of the creeds became more wordy and convoluted, the simple, pure faith of the Apostolic church became lost in a haze. Even more interesting is the fact that as the creeds became more specific (and less scriptural) the adherence to them became stricter, and the penalty for disbelief harsher.
In summary, the common culture of the day was one filled with triune gods. From ancient Sumeria’s Anu, Enlil, and Enki and Egypt’s dual trinities of Amun-Re-Ptah and Isis, Osiris, and Horus to Rome’s Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva the whole concept of paganism revolved around the magic number of three. In Greek philosophy, also, we have seen how the number three was used as an unspecified trinity of intelligence, mind, and reason.
In stark contrast, is the simple oneness of the Hebrew God. Jesus was a Jew from the tribe of Judah. He claimed to be sent to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’.{# Mt 15:24} His apostles were all Jews. His god was the Jewish God. He called himself the Son of God and acknowledged his role as the Christ, {#Mt 16:15-17} and the Messiah. {#Joh 4:25-26} His message was one of love, righteousness, and salvation, and he despised the religious dogma of tradition. What a contrast from the proceedings of the Council of Nicea and the murders that followed! He gave the good news of his coming kingdom to the poor and meek: the lowly of this world. He did not require dogmatic creeds that had to be believed to the word, but rather said, ‘Follow me’.{# Mt 9:9}
There can be no doubt: Jesus was a stranger to all sides of the political proceedings in Nicea. He never claimed to be God, but was content to be God’s son. His creed was not of words that must be followed to the letter, but rather of spirit: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’.{# Mt 4:8} He did not require wealthy and learned bishops to mingle philosophy and pagan polytheism with his simple truth, but blessed the ‘poor’ and the ‘meek’.{# Mt 4:1-12} No, it was not from Jesus that the dogma of the Trinity came.
Is this positive proof that the Trinity owes it origins to paganism and philosophy? The evidences of history leave little doubt. The concept of the Trinity finds its roots in Pagan theology and Greek philosophy: it is a stranger to the Jewish Jesus and the Hebrew people from which he sprang.
Reference Notes
1. Hislop devotes the first 128 pages of his book The Two Babylons to proving that the Christian Trinity is directly descended from the ancient Babylonian trinity. In particular, he convincingly proves that the origin of the Babylonian trinity was the triad of Cush (the grandson of Noah), Semiramis (his wife), and Nimrod (their son). At the death of Cush, Semiramis married her son, Nimrod, and thus began the confusion between the father and son so prevalent in early paganism.
It is interesting to note that the Gnostics considered the Holy Spirit to be the ‘motherly mystery of God,’ based on its attributes. It is also interesting to note that a modern controversy wants to bring back the feminine side of the Trinity by making the Holy Spirit feminine. (This is a very weak argument based on the attributes of the Holy Spirit as Paraklete (comforter) and the fact that, in Hebrew grammar, the word for spirit, Ruach, is feminine.)
2. The three most famous Christian creeds are the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian (or Trinitarian). The words of these three creeds show us a lot about the evolution of the Trinitarian theology. The creeds are printed below as translated in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England, and quoted in pages 18-20 of an unpublished work by Bible Scholar, Eugene Burns.
The Apostles’ or Unitarian Creed was the creed used during the first two centuries AD. It was not written by the Apostles, though it bears their name:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord: who was conceived by the holy ghost (spirit), born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell (the grave); the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
I believe in the holy ghost (spirit); the holy catholic (general) Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene, or Semi-trinitarian Creed, as commonly used today, is a revision of the original creed signed at Nicea in 325 AD. It was revised at the Council of Constantinople in 381.
I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; begotten of his Father before all worlds; God of (or from) God; Light of (or from) Light; Very God of (or from) Very God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven; and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary; and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father: and he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, (the Lord and Giver of life; who proceedeth from the Father (and the Son); who is with the Father and the son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets).
And I believe [in] one catholic and apostlic [sic] church: I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins: and I look for the resurrection of the dead; and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Athanasian, or Trinitarian creed was probably written sometime in the fifth century. Although it bears the name of Athanasius, it was not written by him.
Whosoever [sic] will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith; which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the Catholic Faith is this: that we worship One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, the Father uncrea
Clement of Alexandria (c.150-220) was from the ‘Catechetical School’ of Alexandria. His views were influenced by Gnosticism (Bauer 56-57), and McGiffert affirms, ‘Clement insists that philosophy came from God and was given to the Greeks as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ as the law was a schoolmaster for the Hebrews’ (183). McGiffert further states that Clement considered ‘God the Father revealed in the Old Testament’ separate and distinct from the ‘Son of God incarnate in Christ,’ with whom he identified the Logos (206). Campbell summarizes that ‘[with Clement the] philosophic spirit enters frankly into the service of Christian doctrine, and with it begins... the theological science of the future’ (36). However, it was his student, Origen, who ‘achieved the union of Greek philosophy and Christianity’ (39).
Origen (c.185-253) is considered by Campbell to be the ‘founder of theology’ (41), the greatest scholar of the early church and the greatest theologian of the East (38). Durant adds that ‘with [Origen] Christianity ceased to be only a comforting faith; it became a full-fledged philosophy, buttressed with scripture but proudly resting on reason’ (Caesar 615). Origen was a brilliant man. At 18 he succeeded Clement as president of the Alexandrian school. Over 800 titles were attributed to him by Jerome. He traveled extensively and started a new school in Cesarea.
In Origen we find an important link in the changing view of God. According to Pelikan’s Historical Theology, Origen was the ‘teacher of such orthodox stalwarts as the Cappadocian Fathers’ (22) but also the ‘teacher of Arius’ (22) and the ‘originator of many heresies’ (22). Centuries after his death, he was condemned by councils at least five times; however, both Athanasius and Eusebius had great respect for him.
As he tried to reckon the ‘incomprehensible God’ with both Stoic and Platonic philosophy, Origen presented views that could support both sides of the Trinity argument. He believed the Father and Son were separate ‘in respect of hypostasis’ (substance), but ‘one by harmony and concord and identity of will’ (qtd. in Lonergan 56). He claimed the Son was the image of God.
In the way in which, according to the bible story, we say that Seth is the image of his father, Adam. For thus it is written: ‘And Adam begot Seth according to his own image and likeness.’ Image, in this sense, implies that the Father and the Son have the same nature and substance. (qtd. in Lonergan 58)
He also maintained that there was a difference between the God and God when he said ‘_ß _&hibar; 2, __is indeed the God [God himself].... Whatever else, other than him who is called _ß _&hibar; 2, __, is also God, is deified by participation, by sharing in his divinity, and is more properly to be called not the God but simply God’ (qtd. in Lonergan 61).
As Greek influence and Gnosticism became introduced into the Eastern church, it became more mystical and philosophical. The simple doctrines that Jesus taught to the uneducated gave way to the complex and sophisticated arguments of Origen.
As Clement and Origen represented theological development in the East, so Tertullian had tremendous influence in the West. Kelly explains that the West, centered in Rome, gave greater credence to the traditional role of faith than to philosophy, and was more apt to expound on scripture (4).
It was Tertullian (c.160-230) who first coined the term trinitas from which the English word ‘trinity’ is derived. He clarifies thus the ‘mystery of the divine economy... which of the unity makes a trinity, placing the three in order not of quality but of sequence, different not in substance but in aspect, not in power but in manifestation’ (qtd. in Lonergan 46). At other times he used other images to show his point, such as the monarchy: ‘... If he who is the monarch has a son, and if the son is given a share in the monarchy, this does not mean that the monarchy is automatically divided, ceasing to be a monarchy’ (qtd. in Lonergan 47). Again, Tertullian explains the concept of being brought forth: ‘As the root brings forth the shoot, as the spring brings forth the stream, as the sun brings forth the beam’ (qtd. in Lonergan 45).
Tertullian did not consider the Father and Son co-eternal: ‘There was a time when there was neither sin to make God a judge, nor a son to make God a Father’ (qtd. in Lonergan 48); nor did he consider them co-equal: ‘For the Father is the whole substance, whereas the Son is something derived from it’ (qtd. in Lonergan 48). In Tertullian we find a groundwork upon which a trinity concept can be founded, but it has not yet evolved into that trinity of the Nicene Creed.
The world around the early Church was changing. The Roman empire began to crumble and Constantine came to power. He wished to unify the Empire, and chose Christianity to do so. But Christianity was far from unified.
Constantine invited the bishops from East and West to join him in the small seaside village of Nicea for a council to unify the church. McGiffert summarizes the council: three main groups were present at this council: Eusebius of Nicomedia presenting the Arian view of the Trinity, Alexander of Alexandria presenting the Athanasian version, and a very large ‘middle party’ led by Eusebius of Cesarea whose various theological opinions did not interfere with their desire for peace (259). Eusebius of Nicomedia submitted the Arian creed first and it was rejected. Then Eusebius of Cesarea submitted the Cesarean baptismal creed. Instead of submitting a creed of their own, the anti-Arians modified Eusebius’, thereby compelling him to sign it and completely shutting the Arians out. Those Arians who did not sign were deposed and exiled (261-263).
Thus Constantine had his unified Church which was not very unified. McGiffert asserts that Eusebius of Cesarea was not altogether satisfied with the creed because it was too close to Sabellianism (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three aspects of one God). Eusebius was uncomfortable enough with the Nicene creed that he felt it expedient to justify himself to his own people in a long letter in which he states that he ‘resisted even to the last minute’ until the words were examined and it was explained that the words ‘did not mean all they seemed to mean but were intended simply to assert the real deity of the Son...’ (264-265). McGiffert goes on to show that a ‘double interpretation [was authorized by the leaders] in order to win Eusebius and his followers.’ (266).
Lonergan shows just how much of the creed Eusebius took exception to as the words were explained. ‘Out of the Father’s substance’ was now interpreted to show that the Son is ‘out of the Father’, but ‘not part of the Father’s substance.’ ‘Born not made’ because ‘made’ refers to all other creatures ‘which come into being through the Son’, and ‘consubstantial’ really means that the Son comes out of the Father and is like him (75). It is clear that the council strongly lacked unity of thought. Lonergan goes on to explain that the language of debate on the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son has made many people think that the ‘Church at Nicea had abandoned the genuine Christian doctrine, which was religious through and through, in order to embrace some sort of hellenistic ontology’ (128). He concludes that the Nicene dogma marked the ‘transition from the prophetic Oracle of Yahweh... to Catholic dogma’ (136-7).
The end result was far less than Constantine had hoped. That he personally was never truly swayed to Athanasius’ views is amply shown by Durant: Constantine invited Arius to a conference six years later; did not interfere with Athanasius’ expulsion by the Eastern bishops; had an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia, baptize him; and had his son and successor, Constantius, raised as an Arian (Age 7-8).
The Nicene was not a popular creed when it was signed. Durant affirms that the majority of Eastern bishops sided with Arius in that they believed Christ was the Son of God ‘neither consubstantial nor co-eternal’ with his Father (Age 7). Arianism has never been trul
Even the Church of the Apostles’ day was far from unified. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that ‘the mystery of iniquity doth already work’.{# 2Th 2:7} Throughout his book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity, the German New Testament scholar, lexicographer, and early Church historian, Walter Bauer, effectively proves that many early Christians were influenced by gnosticism. He believes it possible that certain ‘[heresies recorded by early Christian Fathers] originally had not been such at all, but, at least here and there...were simply ‘Christianity”(xxii). Bauer goes even further, as he proves that early Christians in Edessa appear to have been followers of the Marcion’s beliefs (considered heretical today), with ‘orthodox’ views being so strongly in the minority that ‘Christian’ referred to one with Marcion’s beliefs, and ‘Palutian’ to one with ‘orthodox’ (by today’s standards) beliefs (21-38). In his work The Greek Fathers, James Marshall Campbell, a Greek professor, bears out the great fear of gnosticism prevalent in the early church.
With Gnosticism being so predominant in this early period, it behooves one to learn what they believed, for many early church writings were defenses against gnosticism. Gnosticism borrowed much of its philosophy and religion from Mithraism, oriental mysticism, astrology, magic, and Plato. It considered matter to be evil and in opposition to Deity, relied heavily on visions, and sought salvation through knowledge. The late Professor Arthur Cushman McGiffert interprets some of the early Christian fathers as believing the Gnosticism to be ‘identical to [sic] all intents and purposes with Greek polytheism’ (50). Gnosticism had a mixed influence on the early Christian writers: like the pendulum on a clock, some were influenced by Gnostic thought, while others swung to the opposite extreme.
Knowledge was also the desire of the Greek philosophers. We owe a lot to these sages of old. J. N. D. Kelly, lecturer and principal at St. Edward Hall, Oxford University, states that ‘[the concepts of philosophy] provided thinkers... with an intellectual framework for expressing their ideas’ (9) to the extent that it became the ‘deeper religion of most intelligent people’ (9). The eminent theologian Adolf Harnack considered Greek philosophy and culture to be factors in the formation of the ‘ecclesiastical mode of thought’ (1: 127). According to McGiffert, the concepts of philosophy prevalent during the time of the early church were Stoicism, which was ‘ethical in its interests and monistic in its ontology’ and Platonism, which was ‘dualistic and predominately religious’ (46).
That these philosophies affected Christianity is a historical fact. What did these philosophers teach about God? In Plato’s Timeus, ‘The Supreme Reality appears in the trinitarian form of the Good, the Intelligence, and the World-Soul’ (qtd. in Laing 129). Laing attributes elaborate trinitarian theories to the Neoplatonists, and considers Neoplatonic ideas as ‘one of the operative factors in the development of Christian theology’ (129).
Is this positive proof that the Christian Trinity descended from Greek philosophy? No. However, in a comparison between the church of the third century and that of 150-200 years before, the noted German theologian, Adolf Harnack, finds ‘few Jewish, but many Greco-Roman features, and... the philosophic spirit of the Greeks’ (1: 45). In addition, Durant ties in philosophy with Christianity when he states that the second century Alexandrian Church, from which both Clement and Origen came, ‘wedded Christianity to Greek philosophy’ (Caesar 613); and finally, Durant writes of the famed pagan philosopher, Plotinus, that ‘Christianity accepted nearly every line of him...’ (Caesar 611).
World conditions were hardly conducive to the foundation of a new and different religion. Pagan gods were still the gods of the state, and the Roman government was very superstitious. All calamities were considered the displeasure of the gods. When the dissolute Roman government began to crumble, it was not seen as a result of corruption within, but as the anger of the gods; and thus there were strong persecutions against Christians to placate these gods.
In such a time was Christianity born. On one side were persecutions; on the other the seduction of philosophy. To remain faithful to the belief of Jesus Christ meant hardship and ridicule. It was only for the simple poor and the rich in faith. It was a hard time to convert to Christianity from the relatively safer paganism. In the desire to grow, the Church compromised truth, which resulted in confusion as pagans became Christians and intermingled beliefs and traditions. In his Emergence of Catholic Tradition, Pelikan discusses the conflict in the Church after AD 70 and the decline of Judaic influence within Christianity. As more and more pagans came into Christianity, they found the Judaic influence offensive. Some even went so far as to reject the Old Testament (13-14).
With this background, the growth and evolution of the Trinity can be clearly seen. As previously stated, the Bible does not mention the Trinity. Harnack affirms that the early church view of Jesus was as Messiah, and after his resurrection he was ‘raised to the right hand of God’ but not considered as God (1: 78). Bernard Lonergan, a Roman Catholic priest and Bible scholar, concurs that the educated Christians of the early centuries believed in a single, supreme God (119). As for the holy Spirit, McGiffert tells us that early Christians considered the holy Spirit ‘not as an individual being or person but simply as the divine power working in the world and particularly in the church’ (111). Durant summarizes early Christianity thus: ‘In Christ and Peter, Christianity was Jewish; in Paul it became half Greek; in Catholicism it became half Roman’ (Caesar 579).
As the apostles died, various writers undertook the task of defending Christianity against the persecutions of the pagans. The writers of these ‘Apologies’ are known to us now as the ‘Apologists’. Pelikan states that ‘it was at least partly in response to pagan criticism of the stories in the Bible that the Christian apologists... took over and adapted the methods and even vocabulary of pagan allegorism’ (Emergence 30). Campbell agrees when he states that ‘the Apologists borrowed heavily, and at times inappropriately, from the pagan resources at hand’ (23). They began the ‘process of accommodation’ between Christianity and common philosophy, and used reason to ‘justify Christianity to the pagan world’ (22-23).
The most famous of these Apologists was Justin Martyr (c.107-166). He was born a pagan, became a pagan philosopher, then a Christian. He believed that Christianity and Greek philosophy were related. As for the Trinity, McGiffert asserts, ‘Justin insisted that Christ came from God; he did not identify him with God’ (107). Justin’s God was ‘a transcendent being, who could not possibly come into contact with the world of men and things’ (107).
Not only was the Church divided by Gnosticism, enticed by philosophy, and set upon by paganism, but there was a geographic division as well. The East (centered in Alexandria) and the West (centered in Rome) grew along two different lines. Kelly shows how the East was intellectually adventurous and speculative (4), a reflection of the surrounding Greek culture. The theological development of the East is best represented in Clement and Origen.
Clement of Alexandria (c.150-220) was from the ‘Catechetical School’ of Alexandria. His views were influenced by Gnosticism (Bauer 56-57), and McGiffert affirms, ‘Clement insists that philosophy came from God and was given to the Greeks as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ as the law was a schoolmaster for the Hebrews’ (183). McGiffert further states that Clement considered ‘God the Father revealed in the Old Testament’ separate and distinct from the ‘Son of God incarnate in Christ,’ with whom he identified the Logos (206). Campbell summarizes that ‘[with Clement the] philosophic spirit enters frankly into the service of Ch
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