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Answers
to Arguments that the Doctrine
of the Trinity Did Not Exist Before the
Council of Nicea in 325 AD
First, the term Trinity is mentioned throughout the writings of
the church fathers in the second and third centuries over 106 times.87
In many of these cases they were explaining and defending the doctrine of
the Trinity, in other cases mentioning it in passing to an audience they
believed were already familiar with the subject. Names used were
"Holy Trinity," "Blessed Trinity," "Perfect
Trinity," "Eternal Trinity," "Sacred Trinity,"
and "most Divine Trinity." Other phrases used were "holy
and consubstantial Trinity" and "consubstantial and indivisible
Trinity." These statements indicate clearly that the church fathers
both taught and upheld the doctrine of the Trinity long before the Nicene
Council of 325 AD. Not everyone used the Term Trinity. Other terms used to
describe God were Three-in-One, one Deity in three Persons, three Persons
in one substance, etcetera. People who claim that the Trinity was invented
at the Counsel of Nicea have never read the writings of the Church
Fathers.
Early Church Teaching
on the Trinity
1.The Trinity was believed and taught by Jesus, the Apostles and
Church from the beginning.
2.Ignatius (d. 117 AD), a disciple of the Apostle john, wrote a
letter to Polycarp, another disciple of John, and referred to Jesus as God
twelve times.88/139 He believed Jesus was both God and Man,
instruction he received from the Apostle John, and also believed Jesus
retains His humanity into eternity. He wrote about the crucifixion of
Jesus:
"For He suffered all these things for our sakes (that we might be
saved); and He suffered truly, as He also raised himself truly; not as
certain unbelievers say, that he suffered in semblance .... for I know and
believe that he was in the flesh even after the resurrection."88/157
3.Polycarp’s belief in the Trinity is reflected in the
following prayer he wrote:
"I praise You, I bless You, I glorify You, through the eternal and
heavenly High-Priest, Jesus Christ, Your beloved son, through whom with
him and the Holy Spirit be glory both now and ever and for the ages to
come. Amen."88/208
4.The secular Greek writer Lucian, in his book Philopatris,
written in AD 160, confirmed the well known belief of the Christians in
the Trinity: "The exalted God. . . Son of the Father, Spirit
proceeding from the Father, One of Three, and Three of One."41
5.Trinity reaffirmed by the Church during a Church council held at
Alexandria, Egypt in AD 317.
6.One of the earliest known manuscripts is known as the Shepherd of
Hermas. He was a brother of Pius, the Bishop of Rome. Some scholars
believe this is who the apostle Paul is talking about in Romans 16:14.
Hermas wrote, "The Son of God is more ancient than any created thing,
so that He was present in council with His Father at the creation."42
7.Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), a Church father in AD 150,
wrote that the Trinity was proclaimed with great clarity from the earliest
ages of the Church. He taught that all communications in the Old Testament
of God with men was Jesus Christ speaking to them (The Word of Yehovah,
Zechariah 12:1, John 1:1):
"Now that Christ is Lord, and substantially God the Son of God,
and in times past appeared potentially as a man and an angel, and in fiery
glory as He appeared in the bush. and at the judgment of Sodom, has been
proved by many arguments."43
He taught that the early church knew they were saved by faith, not by
works and that they learned this from Jesus Christ Himself. He also said
that they worshiped Jesus. Only God is to be worshiped and adored. He also
believed and taught that Jesus was Yehovah in the burning bush that Moses
talked to. He clearly believed and taught that Jesus is Yehovah. He also
made it clear that Jesus and the Father were two distinct persons and that
Jesus was the Father’s only Son meaning of His essence, God Himself.83/105-106
He also taught that the Holy Spirit was a person of the Godhead distinct
from the Father and the Son.
9.Irenaeus (120-203 AD) was a pupil of Polycarp and a strong
defender of the Christian faith. In his book Against All Heresies
he taught that God created all things, that there is only one God and that
there is nothing above this one God.84/67-70 He taught that
Jesus was God the Creator. He believes it was Jesus Abraham was talking to
in Genesis 19:24, therefore he believed Jesus was Yehovah. He also
believed that the Father and the Son were two different persons but that
God is One.
10.The Council of Sirmium was held in A.D. 351 to deal with a
number of heresies that were beginning to plague the Church. This council
established a creed as a clear statement of the teaching of the Church
regarding the Trinity. In one of its comments on this subject we find the
following words: "If any one says that the Father did not speak the
words, ‘Let us make man,’ to His Son, but that he spoke them to
Himself, let him be anathema."44/743 "Anathema"
meaning to be currsed and cut off from the church. This indicates strongly
the Church held to the doctrine of the Trinity.
Teachings on the Trinity in the
Late
Second Third Centuries AD
1.Athenagoras (late 2nd century), who was a professor of
philosophy in Athens, originally sought to destroy Christianity. In order
to be effective in this endeavor he studied the Scriptures. As a result of
his study, he came to realize their truthfulness, became a Christian and
defender of the faith.85/21 His greatest work is called A
Plea for the Christians. In it he said the following about Christians
that they are, "... men who speak of God the Father, and of God the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare their power in union and
their distinction in order."84/43 He taught that there are
two kinds of existence: God and matter. The Son and Spirit and Father are
one and one existence, and the other finite powers are angels and demons
which are distinct from the Trinity. He taught that the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit are one in essence, therefore the Son and the Holy Spirit are
also uncreated beings just as the Father is. He stated clearly that
Christians believe God is only One but that He is manifested in three
Persons: the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2.Tertullian (c.160-220 AD) addressed the Three Persons in One
God issue. His greatest work is titled The Apology. In it he wrote:
"We have been taught that He [the Son] proceeds forth from God,
and in that procession He is generated; so that He is the Son of God, and
is called God from unity of substance with God."84/92-93
He used the words "nature," "essence," and
"substance" to mean the same. He taught that the Father and the
Son are equal in essence, but that the Son is second in position to the
Father. We can be equal to someone in our humanity but below them in
position. Therefore the Son can be second in position to the Father while
being equal to Him in His essential nature as God. In his work titled Against
Praceas he stated clearly that God is One |
in
essence but Three Persons.85/396 A "Person" meaning
self-conscious, capable of independent thought, will and interaction with
others.
3.Origen (c. 185-235) taught what is known as the
"Rule of Faith" which teaches the essential doctrines of
Christianity. He taught concerning God that He is One, who created and set
in order all things, that when there was nothing, He spoke the universe
into existence. Concerning Jesus the second Rule of Faith taught that He
was God from eternity who became man in time but remained God. This means
that Jesus is now fully God and fully man and will continue to be so
throughout eternity. Further this second rule teaches that Jesus is one
person with two full and complete natures: humanity and Deity. The Rule of
Faith teaches that the Holy Spirit is united in honor and dignity with the
Father and the Son.86/199 Only a Person can be honored, so the
Holy Spirit is not a force from God, but one of the three Persons in the
One essence of God.
4.Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 190-264 AD) in a
letter argued against three different heresies being taught on the Godhead
by the mid-third century. The first heresy was "tritheist." This
was the teaching that the Father and Son and Holy Spirit were three
distinct gods. He wrote, "I may reasonably turn to those who divide
and cut to pieces and DESTROY that most sacred teaching of the Church of
God, THE DIVINE MONARCHY, making it as it were three powers and three
separate substances and godheads three."
The second heresy he addressed was "modalism" which taught
that the Father, Son, and Spirit are one and the same Person. He wrote
about Sabellius, a primary opponent of this teaching, "He
blasphemously says that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the
Son."
The third heresy he addresses is known as Arianism after Arius
who was its chief supporter. Arianism taught that Jesus was
created. Dionysius said in response that while the Scriptures teach Jesus
was generated from the Father, no where does it teach He had a beginning
or came into being. Dionysius wrote:
"Neither then may we divide into three godheads the Wonderful and
Divine Monad: nor disparage with the name of ‘work’ the dignity and
exceeding majesty of the Lord; but we must believe in God the Father
Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and hold
that to the God of the universe the Word is united.... For thus both the
Divine and the the holy preaching of the Monarchy will be preserved."86/252-253
Man Is
Spirit & Soul & Body
1 Thessalonians 5:23 "Now may the God of peace Himself
sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit4151
(pneu'ma)
and soul5590
(yuchv)
and body4983
(sw'ma)
be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
Matthew 28:18-20 "GO THEREFORE and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’"
•
Man is not a soul or a body or a spirit, but is a spirit and soul and
body. The three make the one us. In the same way God is not a Father or a
Son or a Holy Spirit, but Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The three make
the One God.
Hebrews 10:12, & 15 "But He, having offered one sacrifice
for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. . . . And the
Holy Spirit also bears witness to us"
•
Here again we see the Trinity involved in Redemption.
H.A. Ironside wrote in his book The Holy Trinity:
"The doctrine of the Trinity is denied by various groups, from
different standpoints. Some have insisted from olden days that God is
simply a Trinity in manifestation. In the Old Testament they say it was
the manifestation of God as the Father; when Christ was here it was the
manifestation of God as the Son; now it is the manifestation of God as the
Holy Spirit. But that is absolutely contrary to the Word itself. It was
the Lord Jesus Christ who came to reveal the Father, and while here on
earth spoke of coming from My Father and going to My Father and He speaks
of sending the Holy Spirit; it was the Holy Spirit who witnessed to the
glorified, finished work of Christ the Son. Scripture is very careful in
the use of pronouns."
John 15:26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you
from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the
Father, he will bear witness of Me." (see also John 14:16-17)
Jesus made plain that God is Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
1 John 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one in
agreement." (1 John 5:7)
•
John Wesley wrote in a sermon on the Trinity concerning this passage:
"I would insist only on the direct words, unexplained, just as
they lie in the text: ‘There are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one.’ 5. ‘As
they lie in the text :’ — but here arises a question: Is that text
genuine? Was it originally written by the Apostle, or inserted in later
ages? Many have doubted of this; and, in particular, the great light of
the Christian church, lately removed to the Church above, Bengelius, —
the most pious, the most judicious, and the most laborious, of all the
modern Commentators on the New Testament. For some time he stood in doubt
of its authenticity, because it is wanting in many of the ancient copies.
But his doubts
were removed by three considerations: (1.) That though it is
wanting in many copies, yet it is found in more; and those copies of the
greatest authority: — ( 2.) That it is cited by a whole
gain of ancient writers, from the time of St. John to that of
Constantine. This argument is conclusive: For they could not
have cited it, had it not been in the sacred canon: — (3.) That we
can easily account for its being, after that time, wanting in many copies,
when we remember that Constantine's successor was a zealous Arian, who
used every means to promote his bad cause, to spread Arianism throughout
the empire; in particular the erasing this text out of as many copies as
fell into his hands. And he so far prevailed, that the age in which he
lived is commonly styled, Seculum Aranium, — "the Arian
age;" there being then only one eminent man who opposed him at the
peril of his life. So that it was a proverb, Athanasius contra mundum:
‘Athanasius against the world.’"56
In order for Jesus to be able to have relationship with all Christians,
He would have to be infinite: fully God.
In order for the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers, He would have to
be infinite: fully God.
God the Father sent Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit: God the Father
is God. |
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