T
H
The events that happened to the
Christian World after the departure of
Jesus, had obviously contributed to
their beliefs these days. Some
Christians are heard reciting: “In the
Name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, One God, Ameen”. However,
this recitation arises from their belief
in the Trinity; One God, three
Persons. Some adopted the belief in
the Trinity whereas others did not.
Reasons given for rejecting the
doctrine of the Trinity include:
• It is not mentioned in the Bible
• It does not make philosophical
sense
• It is not compatible with
monotheism
• It is not necessary in order to
explain the "specialness" of Jesus
Reasons given for believing in the
Trinity include:
• It is taught indirectly in va rious
statements in the Bible
• It explains the divinity of Jesus and
the Holy Spirit while affirming
monotheism
• It would not be expected that the
nature of God would make sense to
human minds
• The early ecumenical councils
(primarily Nicaea) are authoritative
The doctrine of the Trinity took
centuries to develop, but its roots can
be seen from the first century.
The clearest early expression of the
concept came with Tertullian, a Latin
theologian who wrote in the early
third century. He was the first to coin
the words "Trinity" and "person" and
explained that the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit were "one in essence - not
one in Person."
38
E
S
T
R
A
I
G
H
T
P
About a century later, in 325, the
Council of Nicaea set out to officially
define the relationship of the Son to
the Father, in response to the
controversial teachings of Arius. The
council had a meeting on behalf of the
orders from the Emperor Constantine
the First, to study the differences in
the church of Alexandria between
Arius and his followers, and
Alexandros the First (the Pope of
Alexandria) and his followers from
another side regarding “the nature of
Jesus, is it the same as the nature of
God or the nature of humans?”
A
T
H
what the Jewish scholars and Herod
did to Jesus.
They named him as Heretical, and
burned all his books and manuscripts.
Moreover, they commanded by the
immediate execution of whoever had
any of the manuscripts of Arius.
Nicaea did not end the controversy,
however. Debate over how the creed
(especially the phrase "one
substance") ought to be interpreted
continued to rage for decades. One
group advocated the doctrine that
Christ was a "similar
substance" (homoiousios) as the
Arius affirmed the uniqueness of God
Father. But for the most part, the issue
and denied the complete divinity of
of the Trinity was settled at Nicaea.
the Son (Christ). He taught instead
that Christ was a created and
Although the novel by Dan
changeable being, who, while
Brown, called "The Da Vinci Code", is
superior to humans, is not of the same neither a scholarly nor a religious
order as the one God.
source but it has been widely read
and it claims to present numerous
Whereas Alexandros the First (the
“historical facts”. At one point in the
Pope of Alexandria) made it certain
novel, a learned character explains
that the nature of Jesus is the same as
that the Trinity was unheard of until
the nature of God. The opinion of
the Emperor Constantine enforced the
Alexandros the first (the Pope of
foreign idea of the divinity of Christ
Alexandria) predominated by voting
on Christendom. Brown writes, "until
and by rejecting Arius and two of the
that moment in history, Jesus was
priests by the insistence of signing.
viewed by His followers as a mortal
From there, they were exiled to Alira
Prophet … a great and powerful man,
(Balkan at the moment) and they
but a man nonetheless."
burnt the books of Arius, and his
doctrine was named as Arian Heresy,
and his followers are named, till this
day, as the enemies of Christianity.
***
The creed adopted by the council
described Christ as "God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one
substance (homoousios) with the
Father."
Arius was executed and a meeting
was held in his respect, which
included the scholars of the church
and the pagan Emperor Constantine
the Second. They did to him exactly