Where does the trinity doctrine originate?

TRIADS OF DIVINITIES OCCUR IN NEARLY ALL POLYTHEISTIC RELIGIONS -- THE

EGYPTIAN TRIAD OF SIRIS, ISIS, AND HORUS: THE HINDU TRIAD OF BRAHMA, VISHNU, OR SHIVA, ETC. IT WAS NO MORE THAN WAS TO BE ANTICIPATED THAT ONE OR MORE OF THESE TRIADS SHOULD NOW AND AGAIN BE POINTED TO AS THE ORIGINAL OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.

A=Apostolic

B=Believer

I=In

O=One

G=God

JESUS

In 325 A.D. the Catholic Church discerned the Holy Spirit's voice when it formed the doctrine of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three person's in one). Yup, the "Trinity" is a Catholic doctrine that predates the Evangelical community by 1200 years. That word isn't even in the Bible. The Catholic Church protected Christianity from the Arian heresy that almost gutted Christianity in the 4th century when many began to believe Jesus wasn't "fully God" and "fully human."

Many characteristics of Jesus, which Christians today believe in, are undeniably similar or identical to religious trends and beliefs that preceded Christianity. There are tens of accounts of pagan gods of many different cultures who were said to have the same attributes as those that Christians claim Jesus had.

Trinity―Trinities were popular in pagan sects before Christianity was introduced to the world. Some of the more well known trinity gods included Mithra-Vohu Mana-Rashnu, Amen-Mut-Khonsu, and Osiris-Isis-Horus.

Virgin Birth―Among the pagan cultures that preceded Christianity, virgin birth stories abounded. The long list of pagan gods born of virgins includes: Romulus and Remus, Zoroaster, Buddha, Mithras, Chrishna, Osiris-Aion, Agdistis, Attis, Tammuz, Adonis, Korybas, Perseus, and Dionysus.

Trinitarian scholar Alexander Hislop asserts that - the Babylonians worshiped one God in three persons and used the equilateral triangle as a symbol of this trinity. In his book, Hislop shows pictures used in ancient Assyria and in Siberia to represent triune divinities. He also finds trinitarian ideas in the Babylonian cult of the father, mother, and child, saying that the Babylonian trinity was "the Eternal Father, the Spirit of God incarnate in a human mother, and a Divine Son, the fruit of that incarnation."

Historian Will Durant describes the trinity in ancient Egypt. "Ra, Amon, and another god, Ptah, were combined as three embodiments or aspects of one supreme and triune deity." Egypt also had a divine trinity of father, mother, and son in Osiris, Isis, and Horus.

Trinities exist in other important pagan religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Hinduism has had a supreme trinity from ancient times: Brahma the Creator, Shiva the Destroyer, and Vishnu the Preserver. One scholar described the belief: "Brahman-Atman, the impersonal ultimate reality achieves a religiously significant threefold manifestation or trimurti [triad of gods] through the three personal deities who represent the divine functions of creation, destruction, and preservation respectively." This trinity is sometimes represented by a statue of one god with three heads.

Buddhism also has a trinity of sorts. The Mahayana (northern) school of Buddhism has the doctrine of a "triple body" or Trikaya. According to this belief there are three "bodies" of the Buddha-reality. The first is the eternal, cosmical reality, the second is the heavenly manifestation of the first, and the third is the earthly manifestation of the second. Furthermore, many Buddhists worship three-headed statues of Buddha.

Taoism, the ancient mystical religion of China, has an official trinity of supreme gods - the Jade Emperor, Lao Tzu, and Ling Pao - called the Three Purities.

A philosophic trinity appears in Plato and becomes very significant in Neo-Platonism. Of course, Greek philosophy, particularly Platonic and Neo-Platonic thought, had a major influence on the theology of the ancient church. For example, the trinitarian Logos doctrine stems from the Neo-Platonic philosopher Philo. Thus, we can see that the idea of a trinity did not originate with Christendom. It was a significant feature of pagan religions and philosophies before the Christian era, and its existence today in various forms suggests an ancient, pagan origin.

The incorrect doctrine of the trinity was pieced together by individuals who claimed to learned men between the 2nd and 4th century AD.

This false belief was finally formalised in the document we know as The Nicene Creed.

This Creed was formulated under the guidance of Christian Roman Churchmen of the time. Who were trying to integrate the Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek along with other mythologies and religious beliefs, so that Christianity became acceptable to heathen people there armies had subdued.

God is the Father of Jesus.

Jesus is the son of God.

The Holy Spirit is the power by which God does things.

They are 3 separate entities, with 2 of them having a Father Son relationship.

The origins of the trinity can be found in the Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek cultures.

Only God of the Babylonians there were three persons, and to symbolize [sic] that doctrine of the Trinity, they employed... the equilateral triangle, just as it is well known the Romish Church does at this day’

Egypt also believed in a ‘transcendental, above creation, and preexisting’ one, the god Amun. Amun was really three gods in one. Re was his face, Ptah his body, and Amun his hidden identity. The well-known historian Will Durant concurs that Ra, Amon, and Ptah were ‘combined as three embodiments or aspects of one supreme and triune deity’. Additionally, a hymn to Amun written in the 14th century BC defines the Egyptian trinity: ‘All Gods are three: Amun, Re, Ptah; they have no equal. His name is hidden as Amun, he is Re... before [men], and his body is Ptah’.

These were not the only trinities early Christians were exposed to. The historical lecturer, Jesse Benedict Carter, tells us of the Etruscans. As they slowly passed from Babylon through Greece and went on to Rome, they brought with them their trinity of Tinia, Uni, and Menerva. This trinity was a ‘new idea to the Romans,’ and yet it became so ‘typical of Rome’ that it quickly spread throughout Italy. Even the names of the Roman trinity: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, reflect the ancestry. That Christianity was not ashamed to borrow from pagan culture is amply shown by Durant: ‘Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it’.

These influences were brought together between 300 and 400 AD. in the Creed of Nicaea which the Roman Catholic Church confirmed as being a correct doctrine.

This doctrine can only be proved from Bible quotations carefully selected. If the whole of the Old and New Testament are consulted the supposed proof does not exist.

The Trinity got here from the holy scriptures. Are you that unpracticed on your faith which you have self assurance the Catholic Church has consistently existed? To i aint comprehend, easily, Christians do no longer predate different sects. Judaism replaced into the 1st faith. After the arriving of Jesus Jews and Christians split because of the fact Jews have not got self assurance that Jesus replaced into the son of God.

It started when man decided to try and explain God....instead of just accepting Him as He is .

Man is always trying to figure something out and then say its a fact when its just a thought and trying to make an explanation.

All it takes is simply READING what Gods Word states.......it speaks of No Trinity...in Fact in the OT and the NT it testifies simply that God is ONE throughout....even coming and taking on a Fleshly Body to be sacrificed for mans downfall.....it started back in the OT and we READ where He states that " I " make an Atonement on the Altar....that it is ONLY the Blood that Atones for the Soul !!

WE see the example of God when Abraham was going to offer up Isaac and Abraham told Isaac when he asked where's the sacrifice, Abraham said GOD WILL PROVIDE......in the Thicket(thorns held the Sacrifices head) Much like the Crown of Thorns held the Head of Jesus (whom God is )........Again ALL it takes is READING and accepting what GODS WORD says.....and stop trying to explain what God has already said with a feeble attempt to explain it away with man made doctrines !!!

ALL of mankind has done that...instead of simply accepting Truth as it is and WHO it is !!!

Here are some words you won't see in the bible

trinity

christmas

three wise men

rapture and so on; You have to study the bible in order to understand it's truths

There are so many references to the Father, son and Holy Spirit ( like when Jesus was baptized and the Spirit came on him like a dove) and the Father's voice from heaven etc:

Christmas is man made from paganism and greed, but we know Jesus was born at the time of census;

there were wise men from the east but they had a long way to travel and were not at the birth, it was two years before they got to where Jesus lived (by then he was in a house)

When Jesus comes in the clouds we will be caught up but it isn't referred to as rapture (although it will be glorious)

So study and learn and see how we have had so many teachings by tradition, ceremony and so forth we have to go to God and ask him to teach us truth and learn the way it really is;

We get so caught up in the literal and miss the message by arguing endless geneologies which gender strife

It has nothing to do with other theologies. Jesus didn't talk much about his "nature" or detail his relationship with the Father. Early Christians assumed the Second Coming was very imminent, so such concerns were of low priority. But as time dragged on, they began to think about it. Christians had written about their beliefs in the meantime and these writings began to be considered as divinely inspired by many Christians.

The problem was, they tended to contradict each other. In one gospel, Jesus is praying in public to his Father. In another, he states that "I and the Father are One". There was no easy way to reconcile some of the statements of different authors and accounts. But some people began formulating doctrines about Jesus and God based on specific passages and the understandings of their communities.

Some said Jesus was simply a good man, adopted by God. Others said he was purely divine, merely impersonating a human being. Still others said he was two persons in one body, or a divine being who temporarily took over the body of the man Jesus. One group, led by a priest named Arius, said Jesus was a special creation, more than a man, less than God. Arius had a lot of followers, but he also had a lot of opponents.

One of his greatest opponents was Athanasius, who insisted that Jesus had to be both God and man in order for his sacrifice to have meaning as a reconciliation between God and humanity. He was a proponent of Christ's dual nature, two natures in one person. Arians and orthodox Christians argued, and even fought in the streets over the doctrine of Christ's nature.

They also fought about Jesus' relationship to God. Athanasius saw the dangers of "special" creation, an endless population of the heavens with various levels of beings, including multiple "gods". He determined that if Jesus was God, he had to be the one God as much as the Father was. Furthermore, the events of Pentecost and later inspirations indicated that there was a third, mysterious person that was also God. Jesus had said he would send an "advocate" to guide his church. Paul wrote that this "Spirit" could communicate with the Father on behalf of the people. Clearly it has a consciousness distinguishable from both the Father and the Son.

Athanasius drew the conclusion that the Father, Son and Spirit had to be one and the same God, but somehow distinct in person. Not aspects, not moods, but "persons". It was the only way to reconcile all the respected Christian writings without making Christianity hopelessly complicated (ala the Roman Pantheon). He wasn't copying Hindus, Babylonians or Egyptians. He was solving a Christian problem, to save monotheism while making sense of the New Testament. During the councils of the Fourth Century CE, his views were adopted and Arius was condemned as a heretic.

This answer was taken directly from the November 2009 Watchtower. It answers this and five other myths that Christianity has brought in that do not belong there. Myths that have kept people from really understanding what the Bible says. The Bible is clear in all these things. Some people just decide that their "view"/"understanding"/"interpretation" of the Bible is better that what the Bible itself explains. That is sad... sad for those who wish to interpret it their way...

MYTH 4: GOD IS A TRINITY

What is the origin of the myth? "The im¬pression could arise that the Trinitarian dogma is in the last analysis a late 4th-century invention. In a sense, this is true ... The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century."—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Volume 14, page 299.

"The Council of Nicaea met on May 20, 325 [C.E.]. Constantine himself presided, ac¬tively guiding the discussions, and personal¬ly proposed ... the crucial formula express¬ing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, 'of one substance with the Father.' . . . Overawed by the emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them much against their inclination."—Encyclopaedia Britannica (1970), Volume 6, page 386.

What does the Bible say? "Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. 'Look! I can see heaven thrown open,' he said, 'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.' "—Acts 7; 55, 56, The New Jerusalem Bible.

What did this vision reveal? Filled with God's active force, Stephen saw Jesus "standing at God's right hand." Clearly then, Jesus did not become God again aftei his resurrection to heaven but, rather, a dis¬tinct spiritual being. There is no mention oi a third person next to God in this account. Despite attempts to find passages of Scrip¬ture to support the Trinity dogma, Domini¬can priest Marie-Emile Boismard wrote in his book A I'aube du christianisme—La nais-sance des dogmes (At the Dawn of Christian¬ity—The Birth of Dogmas): "The statement that there are three persons in the one God ... cannot be read anywhere in the New Tes¬tament."

The dogma that Constantine champi¬oned was intended to put an end to dissen¬sions within the fourth-century Church. However, it actually raised another issue: Was Mary, the woman who bore Jesus, "the Mother of God"?

Compare these Bible verses: Matthew 26:39; John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:27, 28; Colossians 1:15, 16

The Trinitarian dogma is a late fourth-century invention

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If you would like to know more about this and other themes, next time Jehovah's Witness come to your door, ask them for a free Bible study at your convenience. You will never regret all the knowledge you will acquire and remember that what you do with that knowledge is your choice.

Knowledge + Application = Wisdom

Genesis 1:26