The following article is about the term Trinity as used in Christianity. For other uses please see: Trinity - other uses of the term
The Christian Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as established by the Nicene Creed. It is the three parts that make up the one God, all co-equal, and all forming one God. Although it is never made explicit in the Bible, the concept of the Trinity is embraced by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and nearly all Protestant denominations.
Denials
The Arians of the 4th century denied the Trinity. They were condemned as heretics and they died out, but Arian ideas appeared in Europe after 1500. Isaac Newton was secretly an Arian. By the mid-18th century Unitarianism had emerged in England, and it spread to the U.S. by 1800. It dominated schools like Harvard College by 1820.
In the 20th century Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, and see it as contradicting the commandment to have no god but the one God.[1]
Some liberal Christians also, wishing to impose a naturalistic reading on Scripture, deny the Trinity in part by denying that I John 5:7-8 (KJV) (the so-called "Johannine Comma") is properly part of the Bible. However, some argue that the Johannine Comma is indeed properly part of Scripture.[2][3] Nevertheless, many Bibles, such as the NIV, omit the Johannine Comma (I John 5:7-8 (NIV)), and other evangelicals believe that the Comma should not be there and that the Trinity is apparent from other passages anyway.[4]
Misconceptions of the Trinity
Islam has taught that the Trinity is Father, Son, and Mother (the Virgin Mary); however, this is not Biblical, but is taught in the Koran.
See also
References
- ↑ Watchtower, July 2008
- ↑ Defense of the Johannine Comma
- ↑ Is is true that 1 John 5:7 ... ?
- ↑ Holding, James Patrick, Comma Toss
The Godhead |
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God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit |