Page 8 - Countering Trinitarian Arguments With Historical Reference

Origin and Evolution of Religion by E. Washburn Hopkins, Ph. D. LL.D., Professor of Theology and Church History Yale University 1924, page 338. “In general it may be said that early [Catholic] Christian theology was a mixture of [Pagan] Stoic, Gnostic, and Platonic elements incongruously welded upon the old Jewish idea of a Spirit of God or Wisdom of God working in the Son of God, interpreted as Jesus Christ. But the first [Apostolic] Christian theology was given in the words “I and my Father are one” and the plain faith of the early Church members who were not doctrinaires [Catholic Theologians or Philosophers] was just this and nothing more. Jesus is God. So proclaimed the first hymns, sung by the early Church. Such [One-God Jesus is God] hymns are attested by Pliny the Younger. So Ignatius, who has as yet no trinitarian formula, proclaimed, “One God Jesus Christ” and spoke of Deacons as “Servants of God Christ.”
Origin and Evolution of Religion By E. Washburn Hopkins, Ph. D. LL.D., Professor of Theology and Church History Yale University, 1924, page 336. “As among the common people, so among the thinkers of the [Catholic] Church, pagan influence was inevitable...[Professor Hopkins estimates that Catholic Trinity hypothesis began around 100 AD and was not a part of the original early Church teachings.]...To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the Trinity was apparently unknown; at any rate, they say nothing about it. The word Trinity is not used before 180-200 AD, in Greek and Latin form.”
Holman Bible Handbook, General Editor David S. Dockey 1992, page 141. Makes a very true and profound statement about Jesus’ Divinity. “In Jesus’ use of “I AM” (ego eimi), He claimed to be Yahweh (God), (The “EHYEH ASHER EHYEH”) in the flesh (John 8:58).”
The Encyclopedia Americana Vol. 27, 1957, page 294, states “Christianity derived from Judaism and Judaism was strictly Unitarian [Monotheist believing in only one God]. The road which led from Jerusalem [33 AD] to Nicea [325 AD] was scarcely a straight one. Fourth century Trinitarians did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching.”
A Critical History of the Evolution of Trinitarians, by Professor L.L. Paine, 1902, page 4. “The Old Testament is strictly monotheistic. God is a single personal being. The idea that a Trinity is to be found there or even in any way shadowed forth, is an assumption that has long held sway in theology, but is utterly without foundation. The Jews, as a people, under its teachings became stern opponents of all polytheistic tendencies, and they have remained unflinching monotheists to this day. On this point there is no break between the Old Testament Scriptures and the New. The monotheistic tradition is continued. Jesus was a Jew, trained by Jewish parents in the Old Testament Scriptures. His teaching was Jewish [monotheistic] to the core; a new [Acts 2:38] gospel indeed, but not a new [Trinity] theology.”
The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 15, page 54, 1987. “Development of Trinitarian Doctrine. Exegetes and theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity, even though it was customary in past dogmatic tract
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