The Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel, "The Platonic trinity, itself merely a rearrangement of older trinities dating back to earlier peoples, appears to be the rational philosophic trinity of attributes that gave birth to the three hypostases or divine persons taught by the Christian churches . . . This Greek philosopher's [Plato, fourth century B.C.E.] conception of the divine trinity . . . can be found in all the ancient [pagan] religions." -- (Paris, 1865-1870), edited by M. Lachatre, Vol. 2, p. 1467.
Understanding the root origin of the doctrine of the trinity helps one to see through the fog of the false trinity theory. Greek philosophy, inspired by Satan, was an attempt to rob the church of the knowledge of the son of God.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Messiah.
by United Church of God Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Many historians and religious scholars, some quoted in this publication, attest to the influence of Greek or Platonic philosophy in the development and acceptance of the Trinity doctrine in the fourth century. But what did such philosophy entail, and how did it come to affect the doctrine of the Trinity?
Such metaphysical thinking was common among the intelligentsia of the Greek world and carried over into the thinking of the Roman world of the New Testament period and succeeding centuries. As the last of the apostles began to die off, some of this metaphysical thinking began to affect and infiltrate the early Church—primarily through those who had already begun to compromise with paganism. As Bible scholars John McClintock and James Strong explain: “Towards the end of the 1st century, and during the 2d, many learned men came over both from Judaism and paganism to Christianity. These brought with them into the Christian schools of theology their Platonic ideas and phraseology” ( Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 1891, Vol. 10, “Trinity,” p. 553).
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| List of ancient Greek Philosophers |
The true Church largely resisted such infiltration and held firm to the teaching of the apostles, drawing their doctrine from the writings of the apostles and “the Holy Scriptures [the books of the Old Testament] which are able to make you wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). Two distinct threads of Christianity split and developed separately—one true to the plain and simple teachings of the Bible and the other increasingly compromised with pagan thought and practices adopted from the Greco-Roman world.
Thus, as debate swelled over the nature of God in the fourth century leading to the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, it was no longer a debate between biblical truth and error. Both sides in the debate had been seriously compromised by their acceptance of unbiblical philosophical ideas. Many of the church leaders who formulated the doctrine of the Trinity were steeped in Greek and Platonic philosophy, and this influenced their religious views and teaching. The language they used in describing and defining the Trinity is, in fact, taken directly from Platonic and Greek philosophy. The word trinity itself is neither biblical nor Christian. Rather, the Platonic term trias, from the word for three, was Latinized as trinitas— the latter giving us the English word trinity.
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| Athanasius of Alexandria |
“The doctrines of the Logos [i.e., the “Word,” a designation for Christ in John 1] and the Trinity received their shape from Greek Fathers, who . . . were much influenced, directly or indirectly, by the Platonic philosophy . . . That errors and corruptions crept into the Church from this source can not be denied” ( The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Samuel Macauley Jackson, editor, 1911, Vol. 9, p. 91).
The preface to historian Edward Gibbons’ History of Christianity sums up the Greek influence on the adoption of the Trinity doctrine by stating: “If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism [basic religion, in this context] of the first Christians … was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief” (1883, p. xvi). (See “How Ancient Trinitarian Gods Influenced Adoption of the Trinity,” beginning on page 18.) The link between Plato’s teachings and the Trinity as adopted by the Catholic Church centuries later is so strong that Edward Gibbon, in his masterwork The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, referred to Plato as “the Athenian sage, who had thus marvelously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation” —the Trinity (1890, Vol. 1, p. 574).
Thus we see that the doctrine of the Trinity owes far less to the Bible than it does to the metaphysical speculations of Plato and other pagan Greek philosophers. No wonder the apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Messiah.
Is the trinity doctrine true of false ?
The word trinity is derived from the Latin word trinitas, which came from the Platonic term trias meaning three. Thus it is philosophical in origin.
The word trinity was introduced by Tertullian (160-225 AD) who was a pagan turned Catholic theologian and one of the early Church fathers who wrote in the early third century to define the teaching concerning the Godhead. His conclusion was that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were one substance, but not one in person. He also did not see the Son as being co-eternal with the Father.
There are many unanswered questions about the trinity doctrine and the most obvious is where in the Bible is it explained? Scholars throughout history have acknowledged that it is not found in the Bible. Many will respond that the trinity doctrine is found in 1 John 5:7. But the italicized part of this verse that says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one,” does not exist in the earliest manuscripts!
It was about a century after Tertullian when Arianism began causing so many disputes that Constantine convened the first ecumenical Council in Church history to settle them. Arius was an elder in the Alexandrian Church in the early fourth century that taught Christ truly is the begotten Son of God and why God is called His Father to state the obvious. A real Father and Son in other words. Opposing the teachings of Arius was Athanasius, a deacon also from Alexandria. His view was an early form of Trinitarianism where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are said to be all the same one god but distinct from each other making it impossible for them to be a real Father and Son. His view was a further but worsening change to what Tertullian believed with the Holy Spirit not yet claimed to be a literal being. That came later. Mainstream history states Arius taught Christ was created, but the Church burnt what Arius believed and some historians claim they altered records and falsely rumoured that he taught Christ was created in order to discredit him. The Catholic Church is known for creating false historical records to their interpretation of events to hide the real truth at times. Consider the following for instance.
The view of Athanasius was highly influenced by Origen who was a Greek philosopher and theologian who reinterpreted Christian doctrine through the philosophy of Neoplatonism. His work was later condemned as unorthodox. Origen taught the doctrine of Purgatory, transubstantiation, transmigration and reincarnation of the soul, the Holy Spirit was a feminine force, Jesus was only a created being, there would be no physical resurrection, the creation account in Genesis is a fictitious story and is known to have publicly castrated himself based on Matthew 19. Arius on the other hand was a pupil of Lucian of Antioch. Lucian was responsible for the work that gave us what is known as the Textus Receptus which was completed by Erasmus, and is what gave us the trusted New Testament of the KJV Bible. These and other facts reveal that Athanasius was influenced by Greek philosophy and that Arius probably taught Biblical truth despite mainstream history.
Many of the Bishops who formulated the doctrine of the Trinity were steeped in Greek and Platonic philosophy, which influenced their religious views. In fact the language they used in defining the trinity is taken directly from Platonic and Greek philosophy. The Platonic term trias, meaning three, was Latinized as trinitas, which gave us the English word trinity which is neither biblical nor Christian. As Bible scholars John McClintock and James Strong (wrote the famous Strong's Concordance) explain, “Towards the end of the 1st century, and during the 2nd, many learned men came over both from Judaism and paganism to Christianity. These brought with them into the Christian schools of theology their Platonic ideas and phraseology.” — (Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 1891, Vol. 10, “Trinity,” p. 553)
So the Trinity was not derived from scripture, but was conceived in philosophy. Greek philosophers were greatly influenced by Plato (427-347 BC) who was considered the greatest of all Greek philosophers. Plato was ingrained with Trinitarian thought and knew that all the ancient religions had triad deities, and so he desired to come up with a better definition to define God above all the deities of Greek mythology. Plato's definition of God was, (1) The “first God,” who was the Supreme Being in the universe; (2) the “second God,” whom Plato described as the “soul of the universe”; and (3) the “third God,” defined as the “spirit.” The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (15 BC-AD 50) who followed Greek philosophy was influenced by Plato's version and saw God as, (1) Father, who created all things (Philo named him “the Demiurge”), (2) Mother, who was Knowledge the Maker possessed and (3) the Beloved Son was the world. Supposedly the union of demiurge and knowledge produced man's world. This esoteric type of thinking is what led to the birth and development of the trinity.
Greek Philosophy & The Trinity
by bible answers
The doctrine of the Trinity, with it’s teaching on the Pre-Incarnate Christ (i.e. that Jesus existed as God the Son for all eternity), originated from Greek philosophy, and not the scriptures. Prominent Greek philosophers which pre-date Christ had the most influence in the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. The most notable of all philosophers in this regard was Plato.
One aspect of the doctrine of the Trinity is its influence on defining Jesus as the “Word” (from the Greek word “logos”) in John 1:1-3:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim.The same was in the beginning with Elohim.All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
While the text does not define the Word as Jesus Christ, Christian theologians have assumed this is what the “Word” is. The reason for such an assumption is their presupposition that Jesus is God the Son, the second member of the Triune God. As such, they say, Jesus existed forever; that is, Jesus had no actual day of beginning. While such theologians admit Jesus’ day of birth, their admission boils down to the fact that the birth refers to the day in which “God” the son was made into human form, or human flesh.
This belief in the pre-existence of Jesus as a “God” comes from the influence seen in Catholic Creeds, particularly the Athanasian Creed and the Nicean Creed. It is the purpose of this study to show how these creeds were developed from integrating the philosophical teachings of Greeks such as Plato, Aristotle, Philo, and others, with theological concepts.
The Scriptures teach that Jesus is, and was a man. Jesus was called “the son of God” not “God the son.” Jesus was called, “the son of man,” not, “perfect God and perfect man...made into one Christ,” as the creeds teach.
The Jewish philosopher Philo used his mix of theology and Platonic philosophy to develop an elaborate teaching, which in many ways prefigures the language of 3rd century Catholic creeds espousing Christology, and defining the Godhead. Some of the terms Philo used were later incorporated by the so-called ‘church fathers, such as Augustine, Eusebius, and many others.’
Palestinian Judaism prior to, and contemporary with Christ, believed in a divine union of God and man. They referred to this divine union with humanity as the “hypostasis,” or that which referred to a person’s essential nature. They believed human beings were pre-existent as sparks of divine life (each divine spark varying in degrees of illumination), who were incarnated (entering bodies of material flesh) at a particular point in time.
The post-exilic Jews used their interpretation of the Talmud, and their oral traditions received (later known as kabbalism), to develop their theology. By combining the ideas contained within these Jewish writings, with ideas from Greek philosophical writings, they personified “wisdom.” To them, “wisdom” was God’s “creative function.” They believed that this “creative function” of “wisdom” could best be observed in the sages of their day (e.g. philosophers, mystic teachers, etc.). The called these so-called wise men divine sparks of the One God. Like the Greeks, who worshipped their multiple pagan deities (e.g. Zeus, Hermes, etc.) in human form, so too, the Talmudic Jews worshipped their one God in the form of wise men who were “wisdom” and who acted as God’s “creative function” on earth.
The Talmudic Jews used other writings such as the books of Judith, Tobias, Enoch, and others, from which they would draw their concepts. The book of Enoch was especially influential, using language like, ‘God said, “Let us make man in our own image.” They interpreted this to mean that certain wise men or women were actually God personified as “wisdom.”
The post-exilic Judaism that existed in Alexandria, Egypt united Greek ideas and Hellenistic culture with theology. This took place in universities and forums established there. Philo, a Jewish mystic philosopher (30 BC - AD 45) was enamored with the philosophical teachings of Plato. Plato made a distinction between the material world (which he taught was essentially useless), and the “intelligence” of man (which was the only enduring element of man’s existence). Philo embraced this philosophy, and mingled it with theology. Philo’s favorite theological study came from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). He wrote many volumes of commentary on the Pentateuch, allegorizing its contents into a mystical interpretation.
Philo believed the mysterious truths he had discovered within the Pentateuch were identical to the ideas and concepts taught in the writings of the Greek philosophers. He taught that a person should look for hidden meanings. In so doing, he believed those truly ‘enlightened’ individuals would discover the same meanings in scripture that had been transmitted by the Greek philosophers. Of course this is a nonsensical notion, but Philo’s influence would shape the destiny of Christian theology for the next several centuries.
The Logos
The proper use of Logos
Philo and the Logos
Philo and the Demiurge
Pagan deities & origins of of the trinity
Early development of a triue 'God'
The influence of Plato
The influence of Aristotle
The influence of the Stoics
The influence of middle -platonism
Neo-platonic influence
Gnostic influence
Conclusion
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