Subject: pagan influence? |
Bible Note: God was sure who he was - in the OT God tells us he is one. Deut 6:4 God (YHWH) descibes himself in Ex 34:5-7 The Jews of OT times believed he is one. ie. one person, who we today would call the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is the Father's power by which he is every where presant. The trinity as a teaching that started to develop in the 2nd century and was completed in the 4th century. This development was influenced by pagan ideas and ever since people have tried to prove the trinity from the Bible. The Bible is clear, it speaks of: 1. God the Father 2. Jesus as the Son of God, never 'God the Son' 3. Holy Spirit is constantly shown to be a power or force that the Father controls. It is His power, in Gen 1:2 it is 'the Spirit of God' that hovered over the waters. Never is the Holy Spirit called 'God the Holy Spirit'. In answer to your question, it is the Christians of the 2nd century that were influenced by pagan beliefs and they corrupted what the apostles taught the century before. The Apostle Paul taught.... 1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, |