I would appreciate it if some of you learned history buffs would school me on the history of the Trinity.Not that I think I really qualify but here's my contribution. First an analogy and at first you may think you have the wrong thread...Have you heard any of those wonderful sermons about eagles? With... being renewed by sitting in the sunshine, a breaking up their nests to encourage the fledglings to leave home.... Well, let me give you a couple of Bible verses:Mic. 1:16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee. Matt. 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. The 'eagle' in the first reference is really bald (no head feathers) not just (pie-bald) like your American eagle. A characteristic feature of this 'eagle' is its feeding on carrion; it is a scavenger. In fact, it is very likely that that 'eagle' of the Bible is a 'soaring bird' and has features which link it not just to proper eagles and but soaring being in general and, in particular, the 'griffon vulture'. Not quite so noble but still a great symbol of soaring power. The problem is nomenclature; it is sometimes very difficult to know if the Bible writer is thinking in the same sets and subsets that our modern taxonomy has created. This problem reasserts itself whenever we have 'distinct' species where we don't have enough information to make a positive identification; precious stones and trees are examples of this.The purpose of this analogy is to assert that the ancients did not always use our modern 'boxes' for their thinking about key subjects. The nature of God was one of the things that it was always going to be difficult to fit into a 'box'. The relationship of the Father, Son and Spirit was, in some ways, more important that precise labels. It was only later when 'error' was being taught that the Christians were forced to say 'well, if x is not true, how would you explain it.' The consequent development of trinitarian theology is mostly 'reactive'; that is to say it was usually in reaction to some extreme statement that a counter claim was made, and often these counter claims corrected one error only to create another.The Bible revelation is not primarily theological but pragmatic. God revealed aspects of Himself not satisfy mental curiosity but to bring to bear His moral right to speak and be obeyed. The Bible, for example, never tries to prove the existence of God. It begins with that presumption. We might say the same about the nature of Christ and the Spirit. The words of Christ and of the Spirit carry all the authority of divinity; they are not viewed as agents, but as authorities within themselves, '...but I say unto you...' Consequently we ought not to expect to find 'trinitarian formulae' in the New Testament. Biblical theology is first extractions, then analysis, then assimilation, and finally desemination in acceptable forms. This is not how the Bible was written and in one sense we are working opposite to its 'wholeness' when we begin the process of 'theology'.It is usually accepted that the first historical use of the word 'trinity' was by Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicized as Tertullian, (ca. 155–230) was a church leader and prolific author during the early years of Christianity. He was born, lived, and died in Carthage, in what is today Tunisia. The word 'trinity' really means 'three-ness' and a better anglicism would have been 'tri-unity'. It is important to note that from their beginning as recorded in scripture the earliest Christian's have always believed in 'One God'; they have never believed in three Gods. This is such an axiom that it would not have been possible for Tertullian to have hidden the notion of 'three gods' in anything he wrote. Christians are monotheists; trinitarians are monotheists. This is the foundation of all the history that would follow.Tertullian was the first of a new breed; men who thought and spoke in Latin. He was deeply suspicious of Greek philosophy believing it to be the source of all heresy. Before Tertullian came the Apostolic Fathers; this is the gnereation following the apostles and the generation after that. There is some interesting stuff among their writings, although my own reaction is always disappointment (other than Clement's first letter and the Didache which give a fascinating glimpse into the generations that followed the apostles.) When the issue of circumcision arose in the early church one of the options was “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.” (Acts 15:1-6, KJVS) In some ways the most dangerous era was that when such a gathering was no longer possible.The Apostolic Fathers witness to the canonicity of the New Testament canon but their writings are really quite 'lightweight' when it comes to theology, although the seeds of compromise which resulted in the Roman Catholic church are evident from early times. Their writings date from approx AD 90 to and you can see translations here. Of these Louis Berkhof writes They testify to a common faith in God as the Creator and Ruler of the universe and in Jesus Christ, who was active in creation and throughout the old dispensation, and finally appeared in the flesh. While they use the scriptural designation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also speak of Christ as God and man, they do not testify to an awareness of the implications and problems involved.The History of Christian Doctrines: Louis BerkhofThe main heresies emerged shortly after this time and from then on the see-saw claim and counter claim pattern becomes pretty well established.That's enough for a start. Shall we go on?
