Simon Brown.

Proverbs 8:34-36 Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts. For whoever finds me finds life, and will obtain favor from Yahweh. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.” Psalm 84: 11 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly. 12 Yahweh of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you. 1 John 5:5 Now who is the one overcoming the world, except the one believing that Jesus is the Son of God?

Wednesday 7 December 2016

DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CREATE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY? Research By Simon Brown.

DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CREATE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY?

We do not need to be a scientist to understand a simple fact, and that simple fact is very easy to see, read and understand that it is well documented in history how the Trinity faith was established.

If one is seeking for the truth, then we will not always find the truth if we read BIASED books and articles written by prejudices people, who often warp and twist  the truth to make it fit with what they believe.

This is why I often use a NONE BIASED web site like the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Notice it is also FREE and a click away, and no one is making money out of you by selling their BIASED books which are often written by prejudices people.

As the Trinity doctrine teach there are THREE in the Trinity,
I am going to show you THREE important facts, regarding the Trinity.

Note, history proves the form of a Trinity is not a Catholic invention, but that the Catholics adopted the Trinitarian concept “tritheism’ from Egypt and other pagans.

1. Was there a doctrine of the Trinity in the time of Jesus and His disciples?

2. When was the doctrine of the Trinity established?

3. DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CREATE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY?

Lets SEEK out the TRUTH, and look at the facts.
By a simple click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity (Trinity) we come to the info below. 

1.  Was there a doctrine of the Trinity in the time of Jesus and His disciples?

Answer.
The simplest outline of the doctrine was formulated in the 4th century, largely in terms of rejection of what was considered not to be consonant with general Christian belief. Further elaboration continued in the succeeding centuries.[10]

Scripture contains neither the word Trinity,[11] nor an expressly formulated doctrine of the Trinity. Rather, according to the Christian theology, it "bears witness to" the activity of a God who can only be understood in Trinitarian terms.[12] The doctrine did not take its definitive shape until late in the fourth century.[13] During the intervening period, various tentative solutions, some more and some less satisfactory, were proposed.
10.  "Trinity, doctrine of" in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3)
11.  Matt Slick, "The word Trinity is not found in the Bible"
12.  McGrath Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction Blackwell, Oxford (2001) p.321
13.  McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction Blackwell, Oxford (2001) p.324

The above info answers both, the first 2 questions.
There was NO OFFICIAL Trinity doctrine in the time of Jesus and His disciples, because as we have clearly read.  The Trinity doctrine did not take its definitive shape until 300 years later in the 4th century, 

3. DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CREATE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY?

Everywhere I research on the doctrine of the trinity, always seems to lead back to Catholicism.

Did you know Great defenders of Trinitarian faith were popes?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicaea to East-West Schism (325–1054)
The Edict of Milan in 313 granted freedom to all religions in the Roman Empire,[50] beginning the Peace of the Church. In 325, the First Council of Nicaea condemned Arianism, declaring trinitarianism dogmatic, and in its sixth canon recognized the special role of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch.[51] Great defenders of Trinitarian faith included the popes, especially Pope Liberius, who was exiled to Berea by Constantius II for his Trinitarian faith,[52] Damasus I, and several other bishops.[53]

In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica declared Nicene Christianity to be the state religion of the empire, with the name "Catholic Christians" reserved for those who accepted that faith.[54][55] While the civil power in the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the church, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the capital, wielded much power,[56] in the Western Roman Empire, the Bishops of Rome were able to consolidate the influence and power they already possessed.[56] After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, barbarian tribes were converted to Arian Christianity or Catholicism;[57] Clovis I, king of the Franks, was the first important barbarian ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than Arianism, allying himself with the papacy. Other tribes, such as the Visigoths, later abandoned Arianism in favour of Catholicism.[57] FULL ARTICLE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope#Early_Christianity_.28c._30.E2.80.93325.29

It is also very interesting to read and see a Great defender of the Trinitarian faith was Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.
And as we see below He was a POPE.

 Great defender of the Trinitarian faith was Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.
Click on image to enlarge.



367 Athanasius’s Festal Letter lists COMPLETE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (27 books) FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Historian Cornelius Clifford said in his account: "Athanasius was THE GREATEST CHAMPION OF CATHOLIC BELIEF ON the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of "Father of Orthodoxy", by which he has been distinguished ever since." [1]
Clifford, Cornelius. "St. Athanasius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 4 Aug. 2014

Athanasius is counted as one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 3] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is labeled as the "Father of Orthodoxy". Some Protestants label him as "Father of the Canon".

Chapman, John. "Doctors of the Church." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 December 2015

Here it is very interesting to read what history’s greatest scientists, Greek and Hebrew Bible scholar, Sir Isaac Newton, had to say about Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.
Isaac Newton

In an article called What Is Messiah? Jewish Messiah or Christian God by Rick Richardson, he writes:
In his article Cosmic Codebreaker, Pious Heretic, about Sir Isaac Newton (for Christian History Magazine), Karl Giberson writes: "Newton began a sustained reflection on the Christian doctrines and decided that the Anglican status quo was a thorough corruption of the true, original Christianity.
These considerations led him to write over a million words on theology and biblical studies—more than he wrote on any other subject. 

Neil Degrasse Tyson on Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton

Was one of history’s greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton correct in saying; Trinitarians were mistaken and misguided in its true interpretation of Christianity?


Did you know one of the history's greatest scientists Sir Isaac Newton (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a Arian who believed God the Father and the Son of God did not always exist together eternally, and Jesus was the first ever created by God.
He sited Proverbs 8:23 and John 14:28 confirming his faith of Jesus being the firstborn, and Jesus Father was greater then He.

He has many sayings like:
The word God is nowhere in the scriptures used to signify more than one of the three persons at once.

I just read Sir Isaac Newton believed the Roman Catholic Church was misguided in its interpretation of Christianity, and had returned to idolatry. Reff Newton’s Arian beliefs 
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/Newton_Arian.html

Newton felt that belief in the holy trinity was a flagrant violation of the First of the Ten Commandments.

Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, in his book "Science and Biblical Faith," 1993, (distributed by CRS Books) has two chapters on Newton. He says, on p. 44, "Newton was perhaps the greatest biblical scholar of his age."

Barnes explains,

In 1669 Newton became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, one of the most honored professorships in the scientific world. 
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But what evidence is there that the Trinity doctrine was FIRST established by the:
CATHOLIC CHURCH?

Another simple click here Nicene Creed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed  reveals yet again another simple fact.
 Nicene Creed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed
Click on image to enlarge.
As we have seen. The Creeds of Christendom were created by the Council of Nicea. And whoever did not follow the NEW DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, were condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.

Trinitarins tell me the CATHOLIC CHURCH was not established at this stage, and yet as we clearly see it was written in the Creeds of Christendom that the holy CATHOLIC and apostolic CHURCH condemned people who were in conflict and were opposing the NEW Trinity doctrine.

I recently found the articles below.

The New Bible Dictionary, 2nd edition by J.D. Douglas, page 1221, admits that the doctrine of the trinity does not come from the Scriptures, but from philosophy influenced by paganism.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropedia Volume 11, page 928, gives us the following facts about the trinity.

Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Hebrew Scriptures: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The Religions of Ancient Greece and Babylonia, by A. H. Sayce. pages 229-230, clearly tells us that the Greek philosophical ideas were developed in Alexandria, Egypt from the pagan mystery religions.


List of Catholic Doctrines.

1.   TRINITY  --- “The mystery (see Rev. 17:5) of the Trinity is the central doctrine of the catholic church. https://sites.google.com/site/christourtruth/list-of-catholic-doctrines

Are Trinitarians believing and following a group of monks at the  First Council of Nicaea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea Instead of: THE ONE TRUE GOD, and His literal SON.


IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’”  MATTHEW 15:9.


The Cathecism of the Catholic Church admits the Church (not the Bible) had to come up with terms of "philosophical" (pagan/Greek) origin to explain it::

251 In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop its own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origin: "substance," "person," or "hypostasis," "relation" and so on (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 74).

Here is what it is recorded that a one-time Catholic bishop named Marcellus of Ancyra wrote, around the middle of the fourth century, where certain aspects of trinitarianism came from--paganism:


Now with the heresy of the Ariomaniacs, which has corrupted the Church of God...These then teach three hypostases, just as Valentinus the heresiarch first invented in the book entitled by him 'On the Three Natures'.  For he was the first to invent three hypostases and three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is discovered to have filched this from Hermes and Plato (Source: Logan A. Marcellus of Ancyra (Pseudo-Anthimus), 'On the Holy Church': Text, Translation and Commentary. Verses 8-9.  Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Volume 51, Pt. 1, April 2000, p.95 ).


   Dean Matthews, DD, D. Litt.:
         
         “It must be admitted by everyone who has the rudiments of an historical sense that the doctrine of the Trinity formed no part of the original message. St. Paul did not know it, and would have been unable to understand the meaning of the terms used in the theological formula on which the Church ultimately agreed” (God in Christian Experience, p. 180).

“The evolution of the Trinity: No responsible NT scholar would claim that the doctrine of the Trinity was taught by Jesus or preached by the earliest Christians or consciously held by any writer of the NT. It was in fact slowly worked out in the course of the first few centuries in an attempt to give an intelligible doctrine of God” (The Image of the Invisible God,  SCM Press, 1982, Dr. A. T Hanson, Professor of Theology University of Hull)

         It might tend to moderation and in the end agreement, if we were industrious on all occasions to represent our own  doctrine (the Trinity) as wholly unintelligible (Dr. Hey, Lectures in Divinity, 2, 235


         The Trinity is a contradiction, indeed, and not merely a verbal contradiction, but an incompatibility in the human ideas conveyed. We can scarcely make a nearer approach to an exact enunciation of it, than of saying that one thing is two things. (Sadler’s Gloria Patri, p. 39, A. H. Newman).


As I continued with my next research for the truth, I decided to do some more research on Constantine.

I wanted to know if he was a catholic or a pope, but there are different peoples views and this in itself is another debate.

Did he believe in the trinity or not. He certainly passed it as a new doctrine.
A Trinitarian told me he did not believe in the trinity, but just passed it through to keep the peace.

The fact remains, the trinity never came directly from GOD or His SON or His disciples.

The Creed was amended to a new version by the First Council of Constantinople in 381. Reff, wikk.

This makes around a 348-year gap from the death and resurrection of Jesus before the trinity faith was finely made as a doctrine.

And it does seem that Constantine was the person who had much to do with establishing the trinity faith, by the fact he passed it as a doctrine. Why would Constantine pass something if he did not agree?

It also seems true that Constantine was a PAGAN sun worshipper.
And a fact that cannot be denied is what can be seen at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was built by Constantine and is worshipped by Catholics. 

And please look at what is above the so called tomb of Jesus.


Notice the dome above the so-called Catholic tomb of Jesus. Its appearance is identical to the SUN, That's interesting because Constantine was a PAGAN sun worshipper.

Now look at the Catholck “Shield of the Trinity” diagram's bellow?


The PAGAN gods and The Catholic TRINITY.



“Shield of the Trinity" diagram bellow?

And now the all seeing eye?
The Eye of Providence can be seen on the reverse of the  Great Seal of the United States, seen here on the US $1 bill.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollarnote_siegel_hq.jpg By de:Benutzer:Verwüstung (de:Bild:Dollarnote_siegel_hq.jpg) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Eye of Providence can be seen on the reverse of the  Great Seal of the United States, seen here on the US $1 bill.  

Ask a none Catholic Christian what they believe this:
 All seeing eye represents?

Well, thats what I did with an old Trinitarian friend and Bible teacher here in Hastings, and he told me the all seeing eye is demonic, and I told him it apparently represent your Catholic  “Shield of the Trinity” diagram, and the Catholics admit on their website, the all seeing eye is the TRINITY.

My old Trinitarian friend, didn’t give me any answers, but instead stood there scratching his head.
I am always learning, and I just learnt how most Trinitarians have no clue in what they know, understand or believe, when it comes to the most important part of ones faith. Most have never, ever done any research on the foundations of their own faith, and simply believe what they have been taught, which they will tell you is good enough for them, who are not in anyway interested in hearing what others have to say, no matter what Biblical facts are presented.
Jesus talked about how unbelievers would not believe Him in Matthew 13:14.
What next?

Now look at the Catholic “Shield of the Trinity” diagram bellow?
“Shield of the Trinity" diagram bellow?



St Paul always taught there is ONE person who is GOD, and clearly defines He is GOD the Father who is GOD alone.
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 1 Corinthians 8:6
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Romans 3:30
Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Galatians 3:20
CONTRADICTING, and contrary, to what Trinitarian teachers believe, and teach, who teach in one hand, there is ONE GOD; in their other hand, there are THREE GODS.

THREE GODS side by side is clearly shown by their own Catholic image below. which they themselves reveal what they teach and believe who demonstrate there are THREE SEPARATE beings which clearly EQUALS THREE GODS, and not ONE, and yet say there is ONE GOD while still teaching Jesus and the Spirit are SEPARATE and GOD.

Notice in the Catholic TRINITY diagram? What we clearly see with the TRINITY faith is how they prove with their own hands how they do not follow true Christianity, which emerged from Judaism, which is a monotheistic religion where GOD always declared He is ONE person and GOD ALONE. But instead follow a FALSE man made religion that teaches the Trinitarian concept of a "tritheism" (three Gods), which is called POLYTHEISM.

Notice in the Catholic TRINITY diagram?
What we clearly see with the TRINITY faith is how they prove with their own hands how they do not follow true Christianity, which emerged from Judaism, which is a monotheistic religion where GOD always declared He is ONE person and GOD ALONE. 
But instead follow a FALSE man made religion that teaches the Trinitarian concept of a "tritheism" (three Gods), which is called POLYTHEISM.


Catholic diagram of the TRINITY.

The Trinity Doctrin is found in most pagan religions.

The Trinity Doctrin is found in most pagan religions.


The Trinity Doctrin is found in most pagan religions.

PAGAN gods and the trinity.


The concept of the TRINITY (one god as three) was worship by PAGANS from Babylon and Egypt and other PAGANS, which was CONDEMNED, prohibited and forbidden, by THE ONE TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the GOD of Israel, the ONLY Almighty GOD alone.

PAGAN gods and the trinity.


Polytheism is precisely what we see in the image, and is the belief in or worship of more than one god. And notice what the Catholic TRINITY diagram prove and draw with their own hands? We do not need glasses to see ONE God and yet there is a “tritheism” (three Gods) SIDE by SIDE, at yet TRINITARIANS aggressively, and continually DENY what they themselves prove with their own hands and say there is ONE GOD, but display what they believe and teach in the Catholic TRINITY diagram.

St Peter said in 2 Peter 2:2, that MANY would follow a FALSE faith, and because of them the TRUTH would be BLASPHEMED.
And that they would be exploited with FALSE WORDS FROM LONG AGO.

Peter’s statement sounds identical to what happened at the Council of Nicaea, (325), followed by the First Council of Constantinople in (381). 
Oddly, MOST Trinitarian’s have no clue about how their faith was established, and the fact that there was NO OFFICIAL TRINITY doctrine until 300 years after Christ, which seem’s to be mostly kept QUIET, hence, that’s WHY most Trinitarians do not know anything about how the TRINITY was made by man into a doctrine, which also agrees with what St Peter said: But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1.

SUN god of BABYLON.

Oddly enough, Jesus said: A tree is known by its fruit.


The slab in my video here The Tomb of Jesus you see the person kissing is where they believe Jesus was laid and prepared for His tomb. However the slab was imported from far away and was not there at the time of Jesus.

I find it surprising how all Trinitarins do not believe this CATHOLIC site and Tomb is the tomb of Jesus, as they believe and follow the same CATHOLIC Trinity doctrine.

Below is an interesting film which shows us the TRINITY faith does NOT come directly from the ONE TRUE GOD, but approved by Constantine, with other POPES who adopted the PAGAN gods and then used it to create the false trinity.

The Deception of Constantine. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY1_sYnr0gE
Video reads:
Published on 22 Mar 2014
I have entitled this youtube vid The Deception of Constantine:The beginnings Romanism. I recommend this vid for you to watch to understand how Constantine was used during the early 4th Century to create a New One World Religion based on Nimrod's Mystery Occult Babylonian Religion but Roman version populary know as MITHRAISM and mixing Judeo-Christian faith, which would give us an idea where Romanism really started. This is an excellent documentary roughly 45 minutes long documentary about Constantine based on archaelogical evidences and ancient writings portraying on how Constantine pretended to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. This documentary will take us to the true identity of Constantine, including what really is the spirit behind his fabrication of a New Roman Religion. Historical writings tells us that Constantine and Licinius issued the EDICT of MILAN that legalized Christianity and became the Offical Religion of the Roman Empire, hence Constantine became the First Emperor (First POPE?) of the Roman Catholic Empire and was also given honorary title and office of a bishop. more... http://ow.ly/i/4YjrU
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How the Church Fathers pronounced the creed of Jesus to be Heresy and Error!

Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Church Fathers, pp 361-363

The Church Fathers’ conception  of the Trinity was a combination of Jewish monotheism and pagan polytheism, except that to them this combination was a good combination.. In fact, it was to them an ideal combination of what is best in Jewish monotheism and of what is best in pagan polytheism, and consequently they gloried in it and pointed to it as evidence of their belief. We have on this the testimony of Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great figures in the history of the philosophic formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity. His words are repeated by John of Damascus—the last of the Church Fathers. The Christian conception of God, argues Gregory of Nyssa, is neither the polytheism of the Greeks nor the monotheism of the Jews, and consequently it must be true. “For the Truth passes in the mean between these two conceptions, destroying each heresy, and yet, accepting what is useful to it from each. The Jewish dogma is destroyed by the acceptance of the Word and by belief in the Spirit, while the polytheistic error of the Greek school is made to vanish by the unity of the nature abrogating this imagination of plurality” (Oration Catechetica, 3)
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TRUE BORN AGAIN Christians are those who follow and believe in Jesus Christ as the LITERAL SON of the ONE TRUE GOD which encompass ALL sects, which is the REQUIREMENT for Salvation.
This ONE scripture below on its own proves and makes this perfectly clear:
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the SON of God?
1 John 5:5.

There is NOT ONE single teaching or doctrine by GOD ALMIGHTY or His divine SON, that we are to believe in the Trinity, or that Jesus is THE GOD. If you know of ONE, please do send it to me on my email here: mrsimonbrown@aol.com as I would like to remind you, I am a human being, and capable of making mistakes. If you believe I am wrong, don't let it go, but please be kind and let me know. Thank you.


That truth on its own proves the oneness Pentecostal faith is FALSE, as the TRINITY faith is FALSE.

When I was  Trinitarian for about 10 years, I was constantly sent articles from my Trinitarian friends about the Catholic faith telling me to run a 100 miles from that faith.

Yet again another MASSIVE Trinitarian CONTRADICTION.
Yet in the other hand, Trinitarians teach and preach to the GULLIBLE unlearned truth seekers to believe and make the man made pagan Catholic trinity doctrine their main and most important doctrine, and should be the FOUNDATION of one's faith to be saved, preaching and saying if we do not believe in the Catholic trinity’s most important teaching, we are on are way to HELL.
And yet there is not a single scripture teaching the Trinity is a issue of salvation that one must believe.

Here is an interesting article.
List of Catholic Doctrines.
1.      TRINITY  --- “The mystery (see Rev. 17:5) of the Trinity is the central doctrine of the catholic church.  Upon it are based all the teachings of the church” [Handbook for Todays Catholic Page 11.Think about that! The Trinity is the CENTRAL DOCTRINE of the Catholic church and ALL their OTHER doctrines are based upon the TRINITY!  https://sites.google.com/site/christourtruth/list-of-catholic-doctrines

The MASSIVE deception in most of the churches today becomes very clear and easy to understand why Jesus said: For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14.

 The staggering amount of MASSIVE Trinitarian CONTRADICTIONS is evidence the Trinity faith is completely FALSE. 
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:20 

Friends, thank you for reading my research. I have done my best to present the truth, even though I believe this is only a fraction of the truth. I understand you may not agree, and when that's the case, I hope I have done some good, by encouraging you to do your own research, and remember Jesus words, when He said: seek and you will find. Matthew 7:7.

To you it was shown,
 that you might know that the LORD is God;
 there is no other besides him.
Deuteronomy 4:35.
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RELATED ARTICLES
DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD, AS MOST CHRISTIANS BELIEVE?

‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said,
 ‘I am the SON OF GOD’? 
John 10:36.

Videos: 

Later controversy

Notwithstanding the force of the arguments we have just summarised, a vigorous controversy has been carried on from the end of the seventeenth century to the present day regarding the Trinitarian doctrine of the ante-Nicene Fathers. The Socinian writers of the seventeenth century (e.g. Sand, "Nucleus historiae ecclesiastic", Amsterdam, 1668) asserted that the language of the early Fathers in many passages of their works shows that they agreed not with Athanasius, but with Arius. Petavius, who was at that period engaged on his great theological work, was convinced by their arguments, and allowed that at least some of these Fathers had fallen into grave errors. On the other hand, their orthodoxy was vigorously defended by the Anglican divine Dr. George Bull ("Defensio Fidei Nicaean", Oxford, 1685) and subsequently by Bossuet, Thomassinus, and other Catholic theologians. Those who take the less favourable view assert that they teach the following points inconsistent with the post-Nicene belief of the Church:

That the Son even as regards His Divine Nature is inferior and not equal to the Father;
that the Son alone appeared in the theophanies of the Old Testament, inasmuchas the Father is essentially invisible, the Son, however, not so;
that the Son is a created being;
that the generation of the Son is not eternal, but took place in time.
We shall examine these four points in order. APA citation. Joyce, G. (1912). The Blessed Trinity. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved December 26, 2016 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm

UPDATE Jan 3/01/2017.

The oldest surviving manuscript of any part of the New Testament is a papyrus fragment containing verses from John 18; scholars estimate it was written about 125.

We may have sayings of Jesus that are not recorded in the four Gospels. They come from books that never made it into the New Testament but which nonetheless contain some reliable historical information. Extra-biblical sayings that might be from the lips of Jesus: “The one who is near me is near the fire; the one who is far from me is far from the kingdom”; “THERE SHALL BE DIVISIONS AND HERESIES”; “No one can obtain the kingdom of heaven who has not passed through temptation.”
How We Got Our Bible: Did You Know?
Little-known and remarkable facts about the history of the Bible

How interesting, only 300 years later we read: divisions and heresies occurred called: The Nicene Creed (Greek: Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας or, τῆς πίστεως, Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum) is a Symbol of faith widely used in Christian liturgy.

It is called Nicene /ˈnaɪsiːn/ because it was originally adopted in the city of Nicaea (present day Iznik, Turkey) by the First Council of Nicaea in 325.[1] In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople, and the amended form is referred to as the Nicene or the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.

(i)            Readings in the History of Christian Theology by William Carl Placher 1988 ISBN 0-664-24057-7 pages 52–53

Codex Sinaiticus.

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book. [Find out more about Codex Sinaiticus.]

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UP DATE 15/FEB/2018.

"The time was ripe for a reconciliation of state and church, each of which needed the other. It was a stroke of genius in Constantine to realize this and act upon it. He offered peace to the church, provided that she would recognize the state and support the imperial power."
Michael I. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, (Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1926), p. 456.
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