CRAIG FRUTH Shocked When people first find out that I do not believe in the Trinity they are shocked. It seems incredulous to them that anyone could stand against this beloved doctrine. After all this was the established teaching of the Apostles and Christ. Let me give you a few quotes about others that were startled. Tertulian of Carthage, one of the greatest supporters of the Trinity and whose writing greatly influenced its formation, did not even believe in the Trinity as we have it today. He did not believe that the son was co-equal with the Father. The fact that he believed the Son to be inferior to the Father can be easily seen in his letter Against Praxeas. In it, he states: Chap. IX. Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son. Chap. VII. And while I recognize the Son, I assert his distinction as second to the Father. (This concept is the exact stand taken by the Jehovah Witness’ of today. Jesus is a lesser subordinate god to YHWH. Is this the one we should be accepting of doctrinal truth?) The Great Trinitarian Athanasius did not even teach as most Trinitarians do that Christ emptied himself of his deity. He recognized that the emptying and subsequent exalting of Christ depicted in Phil2 refers not to God but to the man, for he writes: “It is said after the incarnation of the Word, to make it clear that “humbled” and “exalted” refer to the human nature.” (Contra Arionos 1, 41). Athanasius also writes: “His being (Jesus) in creation does not mean that He shares its nature; on the contrary all created things partake of His power. Similarly though he used a body as His instrument, He shared nothing of its defect, but rather sanctified it by His indwelling. (In other words he did not believe Christ could be tempted or capable of sin) Again, ask yourself why was Tertullian’s and Anathasius view of the trinity different from today’s view if it has always been taught by the church? The reason is because it was an idea that took more then 400 years to develop and be “accepted” by those in charge of the church. It was Greek philosophy being forced into Church Dogma. As centuries passed even the Translators (Either under imperial edict or church authorities) went to great lengths to modify scripture and at times add additional verses to support this dogma. AGAIN – If this was the established teaching of the apostles and scripture why all the turmoil to make it official? Why was it not spoken of clearly as we have it today from the very first writings of the church? Tertullian himself gives us the greatest proof of the fact that it was a developing idea in the same letter. He states: Chap. III. vv. 1. The majority of believers, are STARTLED at the Dispensation (of the Three in One)...They are constantly throwing out against us that we are preachers of two gods and three gods...While the Greeks actually REFUSE to understand the oikonomia, or Dispensation (of the Three in One). These are incredible statements! Tertullian is acknowledging that the majority of believers did not agree with the Doctrine of the Trinity. They accused him of being a polytheist. The Greeks(either Greek Christians or Christians that spoke Greek in different lands)refused altogether to believe him. These statements are probably the best proofs that the Doctrine of the Trinity was not taught by the Apostles. If it had been taught by them, the majority of believers would have known about the Dispensation and would not have been startled by it, neither would they have accused him of worshipping two gods. This doctrine was something new, it was not the established belief of Christianity as you can see. It was starting to work itself out and trying to gain popularity, especially with Hellenized Christians. But it was not in the majority. In fact, it was very much in the minority. Couple these facts with the knowledge that those who actually made the decisions on the doctrine of the church were pagan Roman Emperors. Constantine (a sun worshipper) put forth the statement that the Father and the son are of the same substance. He then used his imperial power to force that concept upon the bishops at the council of Nicea. Those that did not agree were banished and a few actually arrested. Arius was banished and then recalled as was Athanasius as the controversy went back and forth over this issue. 380 – Christianity is made the State Religion of Rome. 381 AD - The First Council of Constantinople is held to review the controversy since Nicaea. Emperor Theodosius the Great establishes the creed of Nicaea as the standard for his realm. The Nicene Creed is re-evaluated and accepted with the addition of clauses on the Holy Spirit and other matters. As of this date the addition of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity had not even been considered or acted upon in any writing. YOU MEAN THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY WAS NOT ACCEPTED AND PUT INTO PLACE TILL 400 YEARS AFTER CHRIST? The Christian church with it’s trinity doctrine now in place is made the state religion. It was certain that there would be no more changes. You cannot go changing the state religion every few years or it would lose it’s credibility. For over 1,000 years the state’s hand held firm till the truth was nearly lost. So ingrained is this doctrine in the church and the culture that it seems inconceivable that any other truth could exist. “Theologians” trained in the philosophy of Plato and Pagan Roman Emperors now dictated the doctrines of the Church. The Formation of The Holy Roman Catholic Church insured that it would never be questioned. They say the longer a lie is spoken the more credibility it gains. Back that with the might of the Roman Empire and the Corporate Church today and you can see how much easier it is to just go along with the program. Church leaders are taught Church Dogma instead of interpretation skills to discover the truth on their own. Church members are taught to sit in front of the talking head and blindly accept what ever is thrown out. Even when a hungry soul seeks truth, the loudest voices are parroting the party line, the bibles they have are far removed from the original manuscripts and the vast majority of churches and leaders have no idea how to research the matter. How very sad that post apostolic times carry this horrible legacy for the church and it’s people.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 15:37:03 +0000
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