CHRISTIANITY through the lens of CHRISTIAN & MUSLIM SCHOLARS Part One

4.1 The Church Invented the Trinity and Incarnation

Muslim scholars believe that “The Doctrine of the Trinity” is a late footnote to Jesus teachings, invented by later churchmen such as Theophilus of Antioch (d.180 C.E) who is reputed to have been the first to apply the word Trinity to God the Almighty and North African theologian Tertullian (d.220 C.E) who explained it in a legalistic manner.

Concerning Tertullian, Professor Clyde L. Manshreck, President, American Society of Church History states that:

“Tertullian is remembered for his legalistic explanation of the Trinity, being first to apply that term to the three Divine Persons…”[1]

If the Trinity were true, it should be clearly and consistently presented in the Bible. But, as far as the New Testament is concerned, one does not find in it an actual doctrine of the Trinity. Jesuit priest Edmund Fortman in his book “The Triune God” admits:

“The New Testament writers…give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons…Nowhere do we find any Trinitarian doctrine of three distinct subjects of divine life and activity in the same Godhead.”[2]

Furthermore, There is no documentary evidence for attributing the Trinity to Jesus. Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed:

“To Jesus… the doctrine of the Trinity was apparently unknown; he says nothing about it.”[3]

Historian Arthur Weigall notes:

“Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon…the idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord.”[4]

After Tertullian, rulings by Church Councils such as The Council of Nicaea (325 C.E) Constantinople (381 C.E), Ephesus (431 C.E) and Chalcedon (451 C.E) finally formulated and legalized the Doctrine of the Trinity and also that of the Incarnation. Of all the Church Councils mentioned, The Council of Nicaea, was the most important, where a total 2048 presbyters, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes and exorcists gathered to decide what Christianity was, what it would be, what writings were to be used and who was to be its God.[5] The Council, presided surprisingly by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine[6] was the first to assert on the Divinity of Christ, which afterwards laid the foundation for later Trinitarian and Incarnation theology. Thus, it took centuries from the time of Christ for the Doctrine of the Trinity and Incarnation to become widely accepted in Christendom. And what guided the decisions? Was it the Word of God, or was it clerical and political considerations? In “Origin and Evolution of Religion”, E. W. Hopkins answers:

“The final orthodox definition of the Trinity was largely a matter of church politics.”[7]

Professor Clyde L. Manschreck, President of American Society of Church History:

“The Creed was significantly amended, probably at the suggestion of the emperor…”[8]

Emperor Constantine role was crucial at the Council of Nicaea. This pagan politician intervened and decided in favor of those who said that Jesus was God. He himself actively guiding the discussions, and personally proposing the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the Council. F. E Peters, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, History, Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University has produced the statement made by Eusebius of Caesarea, the Church’s famous and Celebrated bishop and historian, where according to Eusebius:

“On this (statement of) faith being publicly put forth by us…our Most Pious Emperor testified before anyone else that it was most orthodox. He confessed, moreover, that such were his own sentiments, and he advised all present to agree to it and to subscribe to its articles and to assent them, with the insertion of the single word “consubstantial” which, moreover, he interpreted himself saying that the Son is consubstantial (with the Father)…and that the Son subsisted from the Father…and our most wise and religious Emperor reasoned but they (that is the assembled bishops) drew up the following formulary…”[9]

Overawed by the Emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them much against their inclination”[10]Karen Armstrong, in her “A History of God” says:

“…With the emperor breathing down their necks, only Arius[11] and two of his brave companions refused to sign the Creed. This made creation ex nihilo an official Christian doctrine for the first time, insisting that Christ was no mere creature or aeon. The Creator and Redeemer were one.”[12]

Most important of all, the Council of Nicaea decided, by vote, that Jesus was God. The author of “The Messianic Legacy” confesses this by saying:

“At Nicaea, Jesus’s divinity…were established by means of a vote.”[13]

According to the surviving records of the Council, so bitter was the debate in deciding whether Jesus is God or not, that Constantine forcibly dismissed out of the 2048 participants, 1730 credulous, and blundering, passionate and one-sided presbyters, acolytes and exorcists from the Council proceedings. After a long and bitter debate, a vote was finally taken and it was with a majority show of hands that Jesus Christ became God – 161 votes to 157.[14]

[1] A History Of Christianity In The World: from persecution to uncertainty, 54

[2] Should You Believe In the Trinity? , 6

[3] Should You Believe In the Trinity? , 6 (adapted in part)

[4] Should You believe In the Trinity?, 6

[5] Bushby, Tony, The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ (The Pacific Blue Group Inc, Hong Kong), 2001, 212

[6] According to the author of “Should You Believe In the Trinity”, Constantine was not a Christian at the time of the Council of Nicaea. Supposedly, he converted later in life, but he was not baptized until he lay dying (pg 8)

[7] Should You Believe In The Trinity?, 9

[8] A History Of Christianity In the World: from persecution to uncertainty, 74

[9] Judaism, Christianity And Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation: Volume 2, 335-336

[10] Should You Believe In the Trinity?, 8

[11] Arius (d.350 C.E), a charismatic Libyan presbyter from Alexandria. He was a man of acknowledged learning and he and his supporters argued violently against the move of deifying Jesus Christ. Arius argued that it was blasphemous to think that Jesus was divine by nature as Jesus had specifically said that “The Father, who is greater than I am” (John 14:28, NLT). Arius knew the Scriptures well, and he produce an armory of texts to support his claim that Christ could only be creature like ourselves. A key passage was the description in Proverbs 8:22, NLT which stated explicitly that God had created “the Word” from the very beginning. “The Lord formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else”. This comment of Arius angered other presbyters especially Athanasius and he was later poisoned. (The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ, 210-14; A History of God, 107-109).

[12] A History Of God, 110

[13] The Messianic Legacy, 58

[14] The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ,214