Why was the doctrine of the Trinity unknown to the church until the fourth century?

Question

Why was the doctrine established by vote instead of by revelation? Why was the membership of the voting council loaded with Athanasians? Why was belief in this then-new doctrine made a condition for membership in the church? Why were Arians exiled and executed?

Answer 1

Because the main focus of all the debates was whether for them to follow the ways of the Jews (Torah) or to keep their own traditions and customs (pagan beliefs).

Constintine was anti-Jewish and so "fixed" the vote by excluding all who didn't agree and allowing only those who followed his program.

If one does a search on Constintine's role in the council of Nicea and the formation of the catholic church, these bits of information come out.

Answer 2

The Trinity developed out of a theological conundrum illustrated by Arianism. If Jesus is completely human, then there's nothing special about him. If he's solely divine, then his humanity is an illusion and he has nothing in common with us. And then there's this "son" of God business, which smacks of polytheism. The Arian solution was to make Jesus an intermediate creature, more than man, less than God. The Athanasian solution was to say Jesus was both human and divine. The polytheism angle was softened by the concept of three persons, one God.

There were bloody riots in cities across the Roman Empire over all this. It's one of the reasons Constantine legalized Christianity and called the Council of Nicaea, to resolve the issue and end the fighting in the streets. Since God chose not to directly reveal the solution to the puzzle, it was assumed that a solemn vote by the bishops of the world, in council, was the next best thing to revelation.

Athanasius won. The fighting stopped. Eventually. And that's what we have today. Not everybody is happy with it, but what would you have done?

Answer 3

Excellent series of questions and a few have already anwered quite well. The apostle Paul warned that after his death, thefalse teachers would take over and many already had ( Acts 20; 29 ) After the apostle John , there was no apostolic authority to hold back the apostacy so by the time of the first Nicene council, many Christians had already adopted new beleifs and had compromised on their neutality. The Arians became a minority along the the quarterdecimens or those who celebrated the fourteenth of Nisan as the Lord's evening meal. Jesus had predicted his flock would be tainted by his parable at Matthew 13; 37- 43. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

The word "trinity" was not used..but the concept sure is there. We find it in many areas of life too. Also remember just because a word is not in the Bible, does not invalidate it

The following is from carm.org (2nd link)

Some critics of the Trinity doctrine claim that since the word "trinity" is not found in the Bible, it isn't true. Furthermore, some assert that if God wanted us to believe in the Trinity He would have stated the doctrine clearly.
First of all, it is illogical to claim that since the word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible that its concept is not taught therein. This kind of objection usually demonstrates a prejudice against the teaching of the Trinity. Instead, the person should look to God's word to see if it is taught or not.
Second, there are many biblical concepts that people believe in that don't have a specific word describing them used in the Bible. For example, the word "bible" is not found in the Bible, but we use it anyway to describe the Bible. Likewise, the words "omniscience," which means "all knowing," "omnipotence," which means "all powerful," and "omnipresence," which means "present everywhere," are words not found in the Bible either, but we use them to describe the attributes of God. We don't have to see a specific word in the Bible in order for the concept it describes to be true.

There are scriptures that demonstrate a Trinitarian aspect.

Matt. 28:18, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
2 Cor. 13:14, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

Answer 5

I don't know where you got your information, but the Trinity was established through the teachings of Christ. It is possible that one sect of Christianity did not "adopt" it as doctrine until the fourth century; but the early Christians spoke of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from the beginning. Incidentally, they were not called the Trinity and Christians were not labeled as such until the early 1900's on the American frontier when the first Evangelists formed the United Christian Church of Christ. Until then, Christians were known by their particular denomination: Roman Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. Today, Christian simply indicates one who believes in Christ. Perhaps it was only the labels you refer to. I don't know, but the the Trinity and the practice of Christianity never required a vote. They have been since Jesus and they were prophesied by the early prophets.

Athanasius was a Bishop who wielded some power because of Alexandria. He did not discover the canons, nor did he invent the Trinity or Christianity. He compiled the lists leaving out Hebrews. He gained more power by forcing people to succumb to his will. He was supported by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Presbeterian Church. If there was a vote among them, it was as to the list he compiles from previiously circulated text and doctrine from the original writers of the Bible. As I said, his list omitted Hebrews and, for that reason, was later dismissed.

While churches were in early stages of development, there were many such divisions and alliances. These are the reason there are so many interpretations of the Bible. Many, many, many Christians would loose their lives, beheaded, to compile the Bible as it is today. For that reason, historians point to its authenticity. Christians, of course, know it is authentic because it is Divinly written.

I am happy that you are exploring Christian knowledge, but remember that assumptions in a little knowledge is worse than no knowledge at all. Thank you for the question. I hadn't thought about this stuff for awhile.

Answer 6

The only church council that wasn't in heresy was the first, the council at Jerusalem.

The doctrine of the trinity is best left to be discovered by the believer.

A sincere Bible student would arrive at the conclusion without the help of a "doctrine". Codifying the "trinity" into a "doctrine" only creates concrete minds against the further revelation of truth.
(a concrete mind is one that is thoroughly mixed up and permanently set)

There will be a further revelation as we near the end of this age. Did you really think the Bible would end having 66 books? You and I are writing volumes into the Book of Life with our lives.

Alright, let's look at the "doctrine of the trinity". God the father; . . . undisputably God. The Holy Spirit; . . . separate and distinct, but still God. The only begotten Son of God who was with God at the beginning and by whose word all things were made; . . . inescapably God who came in the flesh.

But wait ! ! ! Jesus was both God and man! Jesus is presently at the right hand of God. He was raised incorruptible!

Hold on, if he was incorruptible, why did Satan seek to tempt Him? Because in the flesh, he was uncorrupted, but not incorruptible.

Jesus is different now. A FOURTH manifestation of God ! ! !

My conclusion, therefore, is that the "doctrine of the trinity" is damaging because, like any "doctrine" which is "set in stone", it limits us from receiving further revelation from God.

We will see at the return of Jesus that he is not the humble servant who came to die 2,000 years ago. When he returns, our first glimpse of Him will be with a sword in his hand and blood on his garment. This time, it's not His blood, it's the blood of His enemies.

In light of these truths, shall we codify the "doctrine of the quadity", or perhaps we should remain yielded to God's Holy Spirit to lead us into "all truth".

Answer 7

shadowofears,
Okay, Ive been studying the Bible a lot lately, and have been a Christian for about 20 years. When I read the Bible, I come to the same conclusion, that there are 3 distinctions about God, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are 3 entities or whatever, within the same God. If you don't want to call that the Trinity, then call it sopmething else, I don't care. But that's the essence of what the Bible indicates.

You can read it for yourself. That's what I did.

Answer 8

By the second century onwards Christianity was suppressed by Romans.
By Third century onwards Roman catholics over threw Christianity with their paganism.
This might be the reason.

The word Trinity is not in the Holy Bible, but the Triune God could be in the Bible from the begining onwards.

The Word, God & Holy Spirit. The Word took Flesh and became Son. Son called God as Father and taught to call God as Father, and commanded to preach Gospel and Baptize in the name of Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

This Father, Son & Holy Spirit is what we call Trinity and NOT THREE GOD IN ONE GOD.

Answer 9

I'm not in to the arguement but this idea is faulty. The trininty not in name can be easily shown to those who have spirtual insight throughout scripture and was clearly In the teachings from the begining of time.from the time of the creation of man Genisis where man was created in the image of God to the time of Jesus who raised the dead and forgave sins. Who can save the world but he who created it if all of creation is fallable but Jesus was not and there is no God beside me as God said than who is Jesus if not apart of God.

Answer 10

By the Church, I assume you mean the Catholic Church--I refer to it that way, too.

Go to Catholic Encyclopedia's site, and read anything you need to know. It's actually very informative.