Page 153 - Countering Trinitarian Arguments With Historical Reference

Western Civilization Second Edition Volume I published in 1998, written by Thomas F. X. Noble, University of Virginia, Barry S. Strauss Cornell University, Duane J. Osheim University of Virginia, Kristen B. Neuschel Duke University, and David D. Roberts University of Georgia. (University of Arkansas College History Book) Under: “Chapter seven The World of Late Antiquity ca. 300-600” On pages 234-235 we find the historical birth of so-called Christian two-god Arianism and three-god Trinitarianism.
“Constantine soon discovered that supporting the [Catholic] church could involve considerable risk and distractions. Many quarrels among Christians had gone almost unnoticed when the [Catholic] church and its members could not practice their faith publicly. The Edict of Milan changed all that. Christian heresies almost immediately came to the emperor’s attention. Heresy comes from a Greek word meaning “to choose”. Heretics are persons who choose teachings or practices that persons in positions of authority deem wrong. In Egypt first, but eventually in much of the [Roman] empire as well, a dispute arose that turned around the central mystery of [Catholic] Christianity itself: the divinity of Jesus Christ. [Catholic] Christian belief holds that God exists as three distinct but equal [Divine] persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A priest of Alexandria, [Egypt] Arius (ca. 250-ca. 336), began teaching that Jesus was the “first born of all creation”—that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of Mary, and was later than the Father in time. [Catholic] Christians had long been stung by the charge that their monotheism was a sham, that they really worshiped three gods. Arianism, as a faith of Arius and his followers is called, sought to preserve monotheism by making Jesus slightly subordinate to the Father. Arianism won many adherents.
Constantine dealt with religious controversies by summoning theologians to guide him and by assembling church councils to debate issues and promulgate solutions. In 325 at Nicaea, near Constantinople (see Map 7.2), the emperor convened a council of more than three hundred bishops, who condemned Arius and his teaching. The bishops maintained that Christ was “one in being with the Father,” as the words of the Nicene Creed still have it. Arianism did not die at Nicaea, however, and Late Antiquity was never free of doctrinal disputes. Constantine claimed to be the specially chosen agent of God.”
John F. Nash, 1999, Essay on “The Triune God” “Ancient Egypt produced the trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus; the Chaldeans, Anu, Ea and Bel; the Celts, Taulac, Fan and Mollac; and the Teutons, Odin, Frigg and Thor, or sometimes Odin, Thor and Vanir. Observing the three-dimensionality of the physical world, Aristotle argued that "we make further use of the number three in the worship of the Gods." A Roman trinity has been identified consisting of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, and one consisting of Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara and Mandjusri in Tibetan Buddhism. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva appear in Hinduism; the One, Spirit and Soul in the Neoplatonism of Plotinus; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Christianity; and Kether, Chokmah and Binah in the Kabbalah.”
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