From: bv8bv8bv8@gmail.com   
      
   Who Invented the Trinity?   
      
   1-How the concept of the Trinity was introduced into the Christian doctrine.   
   2-How the injected doctrine of the trinity remained part of the beliefs of the   
   Christians and how Islam defines God.   
      
       
   What is the source of the Christian concept of the Trinity?   
   The three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - all   
   purport to share one fundamental concept: belief in God as the Supreme Being,   
   the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.  Known as "tawhid" in Islam, this   
   concept of the Oneness of    
   God was stressed by Moses in a Biblical passage known as the "Shema", or the   
   Jewish creed of faith:   
      
   "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4)   
      
   It was repeated word-for-word approximately 1500 years later by Jesus, when he   
   said:   
      
   "...The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is   
   one Lord." (Mark 12:29)   
      
   Muhammad came along approximately 600 years later, bringing the same message   
   again:   
      
   "And your God is One God: there is no God but He..." (Quran 2:163)   
      
   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.  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.  Simply put, the   
   Christian doctrine of the Trinity states that God is the union of three divine   
   persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - in one divine being.   
      
   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:   
      
   "...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..." (excerpts   
   from the Athanasian Creed)   
      
   Let's 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?  Is this English or is this gibberish?   
      
   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.   
      
   How did such a confusing doctrine get its start?   
      
   Trinity in the Bible   
   References in the Bible to a Trinity of divine beings are vague, at best.   
      
   In Matthew 28:19, we find Jesus telling his disciples to go out and preach to   
   all nations.  While this "Great Commission" does make mention of the three   
   persons who later become components of the Trinity, the phrase "...baptizing   
   them in the name of the    
   Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" is quite clearly an addition to   
   Biblical text - that is, not the actual words of Jesus - as can be seen by two   
   factors:   
      
   1)    baptism in the early Church, as discussed by Paul in his letters, was   
   done only in the name of Jesus; and   
      
   2)    the "Great Commission" was found in the first gospel written, that of   
   Mark, bears no mention of Father, Son and/or Holy Ghost - see Mark 16:15.   
      
   The only other reference in the Bible to a Trinity can be found in the Epistle   
   of 1 John 5:7.  Biblical scholars of today, however, have admitted that the   
   phrase:   
      
   "...there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the   
   Holy Ghost: and these three are one"   
      
   ...is definitely a "later addition" to Biblical text, and it is not found in   
   any of today's versions of the Bible.   
      
   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.  This doctrine,   
   now subscribed to by Christians all over the world, is entirely man-made in   
   origin.   
      
   The Doctrine Takes Shape   
   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.  He did, however, lay the groundwork for such when   
   he put forth the idea of    
   Jesus being a "divine Son".  After all, a Son does need a Father, and what   
   about a vehicle for God's revelations to man?  In essence, Paul named the   
   principal players, but it was the later Church people who put the matter   
   together.   
      
   Tertullian, a lawyer and presbyter of the third-century Church in Carthage,   
   was the first to use the word "Trinity" 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.   
      
   A Formal Doctrine is Drawn Up   
   When controversy over the matter of the Trinity blew up in 318 between two   
   church men from Alexandria - Arius, the deacon, and Alexander, his bishop -   
   Emperor Constantine stepped into the fray.   
      
   Although Christian dogma was a complete mystery to him, he did realize that a   
   unified church was necessary for a strong kingdom.  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.   
      
   Six weeks after the 300 bishops first gathered at Nicea in 325, the doctrine   
   of the Trinity was hammered out.  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.   
      
   The Church Puts its Foot Down   
   The matter was far from settled, however, despite high hopes for such on the   
   part of Constantine.  Arius and the new bishop of Alexandria, a man named   
   Athanasius, began arguing over the matter even as the Nicene Creed was being   
   signed; "Arianism" became    
   a catch-word from that time onward for anyone who didn't hold to the doctrine   
   of the Trinity.   
      
   It wasn't until 451, at the Council of Chalcedon that, with the approval of   
   the Pope, the Nicene/Constantinople Creed was set as authoritative.  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.    
   Christians now turned on Christians, maiming and slaughtering thousands   
   because of a difference of opinion.   
      
   Debate Continues   
   Brutal punishments and even death did not stop the controversy over the   
   doctrine of the Trinity, however, and the said controversy continues even   
   today.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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