The New Encyclopædia Britannica declares trinity is falsehood. If it is falsehood, christianity is rootless?

Question

The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old Testament: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deut. 6:4). . . . The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies. . . . By the end of the 4th century . . . the doctrine of the Trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since.”—(1976), Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126.

Answer 1

it was a way of incorporating Christ into the previous Jewish belief system.

and may well have had its antecedents in the Hindu trinity

Answer 2

I don't think that passage is saying that the trinity is a falsehood. It is saying that it is a doctrine that developed. Modern Christianity is much different from what the biblical authors were talking about. They didn't map out doctrine and canon, people did. For instance, most people would agree that Paul had the greatest influence on most Christian theologies. Paul was just a guy who believed Jesus' teachings and wrote to people who were experiencing and participating in something completely outside of their knowledge base. So that's why Paul instructs a lot. Then people take what Paul (and others) said and interpret it and created theological ideas.Just because the mystery of the trinity, and the concept of trinity is is a development doesn't make it a falsehood, it is simply not an idea that is specifically articulated in the bible. And btw I'm not Christian or athiest.

Answer 3

Thank you for posting this question.

I always wondered how people could ignore such a simple statement.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “The formulation ‘one God in three Persons’ was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the Trinitarian dogma. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective.”—(1967), Vol. XIV, p. 299.

It is interesting that the Catholic Church is at least honest enough to reveal that the Apostolic Fathers had nothing in their teachings even remotely approaching such a thought.

(2 Corinthians 4:4) 4 among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.. . 

If a person believes Jesus is more than an image, or less than an image,

Then they have been blinded by Satan.

Most of your answers agree with Paul.

Answer 4

Because it is true. The worse thing about the trinity doctrine is that it actually was absorbed from Pagan beliefs when the Catholic Church became a state religion under Constantine. Supposedly he started venerating the cross also after putting it on his warrior's shields before a battle and then winning the battle. Those that ignore this information are lining themselves up with the Sadducees and Pharisees who were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ because they honored "Traditions of men." over the truth. Renata: I think you other "so called" Christians are the ones that are "brainwashed." Look at verse 9 of the scripture you quoted. It says: Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?...Spirit here is shown as belonging to the Lord, not a seperate entity. You seem very sincere in your belief and I am sure you are but you need to open your eyes to the truth and read all of the bible, not just what your religion tells you to read.

Answer 5

The fact that the doctrine of the trinity was created at the Council of Nicea does not put me off. Jesus' words are the basis of Christianity (Matthew, Mark, & Luke). These three individuals were alive at the same time Jesus was and they did not add to what he said. Sure, the trinity doesn't make a lot of sense, but of the three most popular forms of Western monotheism, Christianity is the one that speaks to me.

Answer 6

John 14:15-21
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you."

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Jesus Christ was God in the Flesh.
John 14:6-7
John 10:30
John 8:58
John 1:1
John 1:14
Genesis 1:1
Psalms 23:1
John 10:11
Psalms 27:1
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 60:19
John 17:5
John 20:28
Philippians 2:9-11
Colossians 1:15-23 The Supremacy of Christ
Titus 1:3
Revelation 1:8

Answer 7

This one is difficult, and would have thrown me off not one week ago. It's true the word "Trinity" is not found anywhere in the bible. But that in itself doesn't make it evil or wrong.

God is one. God is three. God is the Father. God is the Holy Spirit. God is Jesus. We view people (and therefore God) as needing definition. You see a physical person, they have a personality, and a soul. It's definable, it's understandable. God is not. God is all of these things. He is not held back by being one thing, or being definable.

The doctrine of the trinity came about by people's attempt to understand God. We read that God is one. But we read that Jesus is God. Both can be true. The idea of the Trinity is to help define God and help people to understand that God is one person, but three at the same time.

Personally, I'm not a fan....but that's only because it always makes me think of the tri-force from Zelda....

Answer 8

The article is merely commenting upon the theological development of the Trinity in response to heresies that were arising.

The doctrine of the Trinity took centuries to develop, but the roots of the doctrine can be seen from the first century.

The word "Trinity" is not found in the New Testament, nor is the doctrine explicitly taught there. However, foundations of the concept of the Trinity can be seen in the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John, one of the latest and most theologically developed of the New Testament books. (Matthew 28:19; John 1:1)

Hints of Trinitarian beliefs can also be seen in the teachings of extra-biblical writers as early as the end of the first century. [Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Ante-Nicene Fathers 1.58); The Martyrdom of Polycarp 14 (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1.42)]

However, the clearest early expression of the concept came with Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the early third century. Tertullian coined the words "Trinity" and "person" and explained that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were "one in essence - not one in Person." (ANF 3.621; c. 213 AD)

About a century later, in 325, the Council of Nicea set out to officially define the relationship of the Son to the Father, in response to the controversial teachings of Arius. Led by bishop Athanasius, the council established the doctrine of the Trinity as orthodoxy and condemned Arius' teaching that Christ was the first creation of God. The creed adopted by the council described Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father." (William Placher, Readings in the History of Christian Theology, 53)

Nicea did not end the controversy, however. Debate over how the creed (especially the phrase "one substance") ought to be interpreted continued to rage for decades. One group advocated the doctrine that Christ was a "similar substance" (homoiousios) as the Father. But for the most part, the issue of the Trinity was settled at Nicea and, by the fifth century, never again became a focus of serious controversy.

Most post-Nicene theological discussion of the Trinity consisted of attempts to understand and explain such a unique concept. Gregory of Nyssa, in his treatise, “That There are Not Three Gods”, compared the divinity shared by the three persons of the Trinity to the common "humanness," or human nature, that is shared by individual human beings. (Ironically, this initially promising explanation has been seen by some to yield a conclusion quite opposite than the title of his work.)

Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of the early church, described the Trinity as comparable to the three parts of an individual human being: mind, spirit, and will. They are three distinct aspects, yet they are inseparable and together constitute one unified human being.

There are many differences in doctrine between various Christian denominations, but the Trinity is not one of them. Non-Christian cults dispute the Trinitarian doctrine.

Answer 9

It does not say that trinity is falsehood. It merely says that the concept is not explicitly stated in the Bible. An idea is not necessarily wrong because the Bible doesn't specifically say it is right. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that all men are equal but I don't hear many Christians asking for a return to the days of slaves or serfs.

Answer 10

Awonderful bit of distorting waht that article says. Granted, the specific term/concept of the Trinity is not in the Bible. But the Three Persons/aspects of God ARE. And nowhere in the article does it say--or imply--that the doctrine is false.

Saying other wise IS false--in other words, a lie.

Answer 11

The data presented is valid, but the presumed conclusion does not follow. It is not an essential part of the Christian theology to believe in the trinity; the necessary elements include original sin, the need for redemption, and something involving Christ (details differ) to obtain it.