Do you believe the doctrines of the earliest form of Christianity was not Trinitarian ?

Question

All nontrinitarians take the position that the doctrine of the earliest form of Christianity was not Trinitarian. Typically, nontrinitarians explain that Christianity was altered as a direct and indirect consequence of the edicts of Constantine the Great, which resulted in the eventual adoption of Trinitarian Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Because it was at this time of a dramatic shift in Christianity's status that the doctrine of the Trinity attained its definitive development, nontrinitarians typically find the doctrine questionable. It is in this light that the Nicene Creed is seen by nontrinitarians as an essentially political document, resulting from the subordination of true doctrine to State interests by the leaders of Catholic Church, so that the church became, in their view, an extension of the Roman Empire.

Although Nontrinitarian beliefs continued to multiply, and among some people (such as the Lombards in the West) it was dominant for hundreds of years afterward, the Trinitarians gained the immense power of the Roman Empire. Nontrinitarians typically argue that the primitive beliefs of the Christianity were systematically suppressed (often to the point of death), and that the historical record, perhaps also including the Scriptures of the New Testament, was altered as a consequence.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontrinitarianism


…..

Thanks for the super link !!

.

Answer 1

Yes.
It is very clear that in the Old Testament there is an emphasis on one and only god plus the pagan influence with the number three. Unfortunately there are so many contradictions there will never be any way to know.

I have left that link for many people. It is quite interesting isn't it?

Answer 2

I encourage you to read the book "Faith of the Early Fathers", which contains the writings of the earliest founders of the church beginning from about the 80s/90s up to and including the time of the Nicene Creed. It is written from a Catholic point of view (the commentary that is, not the actual writings), but even as a Protestant myself, I've gotten a lot out of it.

I can tell you without a doubt that the Trinitarian doctrine was evident (though not to say uncontested) from the very beginning of the church. In fact, it seems as if that was the "hot issue" of the time period, as homosexuality might now be considered, for example. The Nicene Creed was written as a culmination of that debate, in order to articulate what the church's "official" doctrine would be--but as I said, the words and concepts of the Nicene Creed are found in many of the earlier writings. The Creed was most definitely (as far as I can tell anyway) not a political document.

Hope this helps,
In Christ,
Christine

Answer 3

The earliest form of Christianity was promoted by the apostles ... some of of whom were present at Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, when both the Father and the Holy Spirit were first manifest.

Jesus routinely prayed to his Father, and he gave us the Lord's Prayer, so we could too.

Then Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit ... and on Pentecost, he most certainly did.

From this, it became evident to all that the one God consisted of three distinct and divine persons who shared the same godly essence, and who were united in some mysterious way, from all eternity.

Since the official birthday of the Christian church is considered to be Pentecost, then it is clear that the understanding of a triune God was clearly revealed by God himself, explained at length by Jesus, and reinforced personally by the Holy Spirit ... all before 35 AD.

The bible wasn't even compiled until the end of the 4th century, so those who claim it was changed are wackos.

It just took the people of the church a while to make sense of it all, and to get to the point where it could be properly explained ... and this happened almost immediately, once the church was able to finally operate publicly, and out in the open.

Constantine wasn't nearly enough of a theologian to have anything at all to say about the matter ... and it's very unlikely that he would have even cared about such things.

As the emperor of Rome, he had many other things, and more important stuff to worry about.

Answer 4

Regardless of the alleged history of this, there are two reasons why I believe there is a Trinitarian God.

1) Most importantly the Bible says so (many passages that the father, son, and holy spirit are all God)
2) A non-trinitarian God implies one of two things - either a plurality of God with some lesser existance (for example, if God is something, what is he? If he is one, one what?) or a non-singular God, as in three distinct gods. In that case you basically have Hinduism and then there are all kinds of questions like who is superior? There is a more complete explanation of this that I don't have enough space to write.

We do not get biblical truth from doctrines that were believed at one time - we get them from scripture.

Answer 5

I believe the corruption of Christ's teachings began immediately after His death and Resurrection. Even the Apostles wrote about how people took liberties with their teachings. I can only imagine it got worse after they were all killed/exiled.
The Nicene Creed just gathered the pieces of doctrine from different sects and combined what was wanted and discarded the rest. These doctrines were corrupt but held some truth to make it sound good. Isn't that how Satan works?
So no I do not believe the doctrine of the Trinity was taught by Christ or His Apostles.

Answer 6

the subject after the Council of Jerusalem (50 advert) became that there became many Christian sects, each physique had their own ideals. The Bishops of those diverse Christian sects got here jointly to unify the Church into one physique of ideals. it incredibly is how they formulated their doctrines upon the Scripture which they compiled and Apostolic Traditions. that's how the Nicean Creed, the Trinitarian Doctrine originated. So after the 1st Council of Necia (325 advert) the Bishops desperate what became excepted Church doctrines and what became heretical teachings. The Emperor had no place formulating the Church doctrines. The Ecumenical councils are gatherings of Bishops, no longer Emperors. so which you spot the Catholic Church which became no longer divided have been the unique Christians. And the Catholic Church does date back to the 1st century. I must additionally state that the Roman Church for the duration of Emperor Constantine i became no longer the capital of the Roman Empire it became Constantinople. The Pope even nonetheless became nonetheless the top of the Church, many medical doctors of the Church who have been Patriarchs to the different church homes could testify to the authority of the successor of St. Peter. (St. Athanasius of Constantinople, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. John Chrysostom of Constantinople, St. Cyril of Alexandria).

Answer 7

The Bible does not use the word Trinity or Rapture but it teaches both.
Then God said "Let US create man in OUR image..."
John 1 says "In the beginning was the WORD(Jesus) and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God...the same was in the BEGINNING with God."
How much more plain do you want it?
Collosians 1 and Hebrews 1 both state that Jesus created everything with God,the worlds and all that are in them.
I'd say that was pretty damn good evidence.
Peter says in Acts 5 to Ananias"You have lied to the Holy Spirit,you have not lied to man but to God".
God is a triune God ,One God ,three persons like 1x1x1=1 God.One what,three whos.Of course being that we use 10% of our brain this concept is difficult.No human can completely understand it. But that is what 's taught.
By the way I Thessalonians 4 :14- 18 is the Rapture of the Church.
Get over it and deal with it.

Answer 8

Nonsense. Jesus Himself commanded his disciples to baptize in the name of the Trinity. That was pretty early Christianity, wouldn't you say? Also, "Trinitarianism" isn't a "form" of Christianity. The Trinity is a core belief of Christianity. If you don't hold that belief, then what you do believe may have similarities to Christianity but it isn't Christianity.

Answer 9

The trinity is an explanation for the fact that the various names given in the Bible: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are each described with the same qualities and attributes. Each of the three is described as omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, Lord, God, Almighty, being involved in creation, the truth, sanctifying and giving life, giving eternal life, raising the dead and inspiring the prophets. They are describing one being - God. Different names for the same personality.

Answer 10

I believe the Word of God.

Mt 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” niv