ould You Believe in the Trinity?More than two billion people profess to be Christian. Most belong to churches that teach the Trinity—the doctrine that the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit together form one God.How did the Trinity become anofficial doctrine? More important, is this teaching in harmony with the Bible?THE Bible was completed in thefirst century C.E. Teachings thatled to the development of theTrinity began to be officially formulated in 325 C.E.—more than two centuries later—at acouncil in the city of Nicaea in Asia Minor, now Iznik, Turkey.According to theNew Catholic Encyclopedia,the creed attributed to the Council of Nicaea set out the first official definition of ‘Christian orthodoxy,’ including the definition of God and Christ. Why, though, was it deemed necessary to define God and Christ centuries after the Biblewas completed? Is the Bible unclear on these important topics? IS JESUS GOD? When Constantine became soleruler of the Roman Empire,professed Christians were divided over the relationship between God and Christ. WasJ esus God? Or was he created by God? To settle the matter,Constantine summoned church leaders to Nicaea, not because he sought religious truth, but because he did not want religion to divide his empire.“To us there is but one God, theFather.”—1 Corinthians 8:6, King James Version Constantine asked the bishops,who may have numbered intothe hundreds, to come to aunanimous accord, but hisrequest was in vain. He then proposed that the council adopt the ambiguous notion that Jesuswas “of one substance” (homoousios) with the Father.This unbiblical Greek philosophical term laid the foundation for the Trinity doctrine as later set forth in the church creeds. Indeed, by theend of the fourth century, the Trinity had essentially taken the form it has today, including the so-called third part of the godhead, the holy spirit.WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? Jesus said that “the trueworshipers will worship theFather with . . . truth.” (John 4:23) That truth has been recorded inthe Bible. (John 17:17) Does the Bible teach that the Father, theSon, and the holy spirit are three persons in one God?For one thing, the Bible does not mention the word “Trinity.” For another, Jesus never claimed tobe equal to God. Instead, Jesus worshipped God. (Luke 22:41-44) A third line of evidence concerns Jesus’ relationship with his followers. Even after he was raised from the dead to the spirit realm, Jesus called his followers “my brothers.” (Matthew 28:10) Were theybrothers of Almighty God? Ofcourse not! But through theirfaith in Christ—God’spreeminent Son—they toobecame sons of the one Father. (Galatians 3:26) Compare someadditional scriptures with thefollowing statement from thecreed attributed to the Councilof Nicaea.What the Nicene Creed says:“We believe . . . in one Lord JesusChrist . . . that is of the substanceof the Father, God of God, Lightof Light, very God of very God.”What the Bible says:“My Father is greater than I [Jesus].”—John 14:28.*“I [Jesus] ascend untomy Father,and your Father, and tomy God,and your God.”—John 20:17.“To us there is butone God,theFather.”—1 Corinthians 8:6.“Blessed bethe God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ.”—1 Peter 1:3.“These things saith the Amen [Jesus], . . . the beginning of thecreation of God.”—Revelation 3:14.*QUICK FACTS:“The Nicene Creed is actually notthe product of the First Councilof Nicea (325) . . . but of the FirstCouncil of Constantinople (381),”saysThe New WestminsterDictionary of Church History.“The Council of Nicea in 325stated the crucial formula for [the yet future Trinity] doctrine in its confession that the Son is ‘of the same substance . . . as theFather.’”—EncyclopædiaBritannica.The first Council ofNicaea (artist’simpression) paved the way for theTrinity doctrine“The Christian Bible,including the NewTestament, has notrinitarian statementsor speculations concerning a trinitary deity.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.“The doctrine of the trinity . . . is not a product of the earliest Christian period, and we do not find it carefully expressed beforethe end of the second century.”—Library of Early Christianity—Gods and the One God.“In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the [Catholic] Church had to developher own terminology with thehelp of certain notions of philosophical origin.”—Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 19:51:04 +0000
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