<\/p>\n
Who Invented the Trinity?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n www.islamreligion.com website<\/p>\n The three monotheistic religions \u2013 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam \u2013 all purport to share one fundamental concept: belief in God as the Supreme Being, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.\u00a0 Known as \u201ctawhid\u201d in Islam, this concept of the Oneness of God was stressed by Moses in a Biblical passage known as the \u201cShema\u201d, or the Jewish creed of faith:<\/p>\n \u201cHear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:4)<\/p>\n It was repeated word-for-word approximately 1500 years later by Jesus, when he said:<\/p>\n \u201c…The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.\u201d (Mark 12:29)<\/p>\n Muhammad came along approximately 600 years later, bringing the same message again:<\/p>\n \u201cAnd your God is One God: there is no God but He…\u201d (Quran 2:163)<\/p>\n Christianity has digressed from the concept of the Oneness of God, however, into a vague and mysterious doctrine that was formulated during the fourth century.\u00a0 This doctrine, which continues to be a source of controversy both within and outside the Christian religion, is known as the Doctrine of the Trinity.\u00a0 Simply put, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity states that God is the union of three divine persons \u2013 the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit \u2013 in one divine being.<\/p>\n If that concept, put in basic terms, sounds confusing, the flowery language in the actual text of the doctrine lends even more mystery to the matter:<\/p>\n \u201c…we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity… for there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost is all one… they are not three gods, but one God… the whole three persons are co-eternal and co-equal… he therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity…\u201d (excerpts from the Athanasian Creed)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put this together in a different form: one person, God the Father, plus one person, God the Son, plus one person, God the Holy Ghost, equals one person, God the What? \u00a0Is this English or is this gibberish?<\/p>\n It is said that Athanasius, the bishop who formulated this doctrine, confessed that the more he wrote on the matter, the less capable he was of clearly expressing his thoughts regarding it.<\/p>\n How did such a confusing doctrine get its start?<\/p>\n References in the Bible to a Trinity of divine beings are vague, at best.<\/p>\n In Matthew 28:19, we find Jesus telling his disciples to go out and preach to all nations.\u00a0 While this \u201cGreat Commission\u201d does make mention of the three persons who later become components of the Trinity, the phrase \u201c…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost\u201d is quite clearly an addition to Biblical text \u2013 that is, not the actual words of Jesus \u2013 as can be seen by two factors:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 baptism in the early Church, as discussed by Paul in his letters, was done only in the name of Jesus; and<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the \u201cGreat Commission\u201d was found in the first gospel written, that of Mark, bears no mention of Father, Son and\/or Holy Ghost \u2013 see Mark 16:15.<\/p>\n The only other reference in the Bible to a Trinity can be found in the Epistle of 1 John 5:7.\u00a0 Biblical scholars of today, however, have admitted that the phrase:<\/p>\n \u201c…there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one\u201d<\/p>\n \u2026is definitely a \u201clater addition\u201d to Biblical text, and it is not found in any of today\u2019s versions of the Bible.<\/p>\n It can, therefore, be seen that the concept of a Trinity of divine beings was not an idea put forth by Jesus or any other prophet of God.\u00a0 This doctrine, now subscribed to by Christians all over the world, is entirely man-made in origin.<\/p>\n While Paul of Tarsus, the man who could rightfully be considered the true founder of Christianity, did formulate many of its doctrines, that of the Trinity was not among them.\u00a0 He did, however, lay the groundwork for such when he put forth the idea of Jesus being a \u201cdivine Son\u201d.\u00a0 After all, a Son does need a Father, and what about a vehicle for God\u2019s revelations to man? \u00a0In essence, Paul named the principal players, but it was the later Church people who put the matter together.<\/p>\n Tertullian, a lawyer and presbyter of the third-century Church in Carthage, was the first to use the word \u201cTrinity\u201d when he put forth the theory that the Son and the Spirit participate in the being of God, but all are of one being of substance with the Father.<\/p>\n When controversy over the matter of the Trinity blew up in 318 between two church men from Alexandria \u2013 Arius, the deacon, and Alexander, his bishop \u2013 Emperor Constantine stepped into the fray.<\/p>\n Although Christian dogma was a complete mystery to him, he did realize that a unified church was necessary for a strong kingdom.\u00a0 When negotiation failed to settle the dispute, Constantine called for the first ecumenical council in Church history in order to settle the matter once and for all.<\/p>\n Six weeks after the 300 bishops first gathered at Nicea in 325, the doctrine of the Trinity was hammered out.\u00a0 The God of the Christians was now seen as having three essences, or natures, in the form of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n The matter was far from settled, however, despite high hopes for such on the part of Constantine.\u00a0 Arius and the new bishop of Alexandria, a man named Athanasius, began arguing over the matter even as the Nicene Creed was being signed; \u201cArianism\u201d became a catch-word from that time onward for anyone who didn\u2019t hold to the doctrine of the Trinity.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until 451, at the Council of Chalcedon that, with the approval of the Pope, the Nicene\/Constantinople Creed was set as authoritative.\u00a0 Debate on the matter was no longer tolerated; to speak out against the Trinity was now considered blasphemy, and such earned stiff sentences that ranged from mutilation to death.\u00a0 Christians now turned on Christians, maiming and slaughtering thousands because of a difference of opinion.<\/p>\n Brutal punishments and even death did not stop the controversy over the doctrine of the Trinity, however, and the said controversy continues even today.<\/p>\n The majority of Christians, when asked to explain this fundamental doctrine of their faith, can offer nothing more than \u201cI believe it because I was told to do so.\u201d It is explained away as \u201cmystery\u201d \u2013 yet the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33 that:<\/p>\n \u201c… God is not the author of confusion …\u201d<\/p>\n The Unitarian denomination of Christianity has kept alive the teachings of Arius in saying that God is one; they do not believe in the Trinity.\u00a0 As a result, mainstream Christians abhor them, and the National Council of Churches has refused their admittance.\u00a0 In Unitarianism, the hope is kept alive that Christians will someday return to the preachings of Jesus:<\/p>\n \u201c… Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.\u201d (Luke 4:8)<\/p>\n While Christianity may have a problem defining the essence of God, such is not the case in Islam:<\/p>\n \u201cThey do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for there is no god except One God\u201d (Quran 5:73)<\/p>\n It is worth noting that the Arabic language Bible uses the name \u201cAllah\u201d as the name of God.<\/p>\n Suzanne Haneef, in her book What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims (Library of Islam, 1985), puts the matter quite succinctly when she says:<\/p>\n \u201cBut God is not like a pie or an apple which can be divided into three thirds which form one whole; if God is three persons or possesses three parts, He is assuredly not the Single, Unique, Indivisible Being which God is and which Christianity professes to believe in.\u201d [1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Looking at it from another angle, the Trinity designates God as being three separate entities \u2013 the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 If God is the Father and also the Son, He would then be the Father of Himself because He is His own Son.\u00a0 This is not exactly logical.<\/p>\n Christianity claims to be a monotheistic religion.\u00a0 Monotheism, however, has as its fundamental belief that God is One; the Christian doctrine of the Trinity \u2013 God being Three-in-One \u2013 is seen by Islam as a form of polytheism.\u00a0 Christians don\u2019t revere just One God, they revere three.<\/p>\n This is a charge not taken lightly by Christians, however.\u00a0 They, in turn, accuse the Muslims of not even knowing what the Trinity is, pointing out that the Quran sets it up as Allah the Father, Jesus the Son, and Mary his mother.\u00a0 While veneration of Mary has been a figment of the Catholic Church since 431 when she was given the title \u201cMother of God\u201d by the Council of Ephesus, a closer examination of the verses in the Quran most often cited by Christians in support of their accusation, shows that the designation of Mary by the Quran as a \u201cmember\u201d of the Trinity, is simply not true.<\/p>\n While the Quran does condemn both Trinitarianism (the Quran 4:171; 5:73) [2]<\/a><\/sup> and the worship of Jesus and his mother Mary (the Quran 5:116) [3]<\/a><\/sup>, nowhere does it identify the actual three components of the Christian Trinity.\u00a0 The position of the Quran is that WHO or WHAT comprises this doctrine is not important; what is important is that the very notion of a Trinity is an affront against the concept of One God.<\/p>\n In conclusion, we see that the doctrine of the Trinity is a concept conceived entirely by man; there is no sanction whatsoever from God to be found regarding the matter simply because the whole idea of a Trinity of divine beings has no place in monotheism.\u00a0 In the Quran, God\u2019s Final Revelation to mankind, we find His stand quite clearly stated in a number of eloquent passages:<\/p>\n \u201c… your God is One God: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.\u201d (Quran 18:110)<\/p>\n \u201c… take not, with God, another object of worship, lest you should be thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected.\u201d (Quran 17:39)<\/p>\n \u2013 because, as God tells us over and over again in a Message that is echoed throughout ALL His Revealed Scriptures:<\/p>\n \u201c… I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore, serve Me (and no other) …\u201d (Quran 21:92)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims (Library of Islam, 1985) (pp. 183-184)<\/p>\nWhat is the source of the Christian concept of the Trinity?<\/h2>\n
Trinity in the Bible<\/h2>\n
The Doctrine Takes Shape<\/h2>\n
A Formal Doctrine is Drawn Up<\/h2>\n
The Church Puts its Foot Down<\/h2>\n
Debate Continues<\/h2>\n
Islam and the Matter of the Trinity<\/h2>\n