The Validity for the Doctrine of the Trinity

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).

One of the most vital and also most confusing doctrines to correctly understand is concerning the Trinity. There have been various claims over the years that the doctrine of the Trinity is not in the Bible and the doctrine was not around until after the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. The “No creed but scripture” group of Christians will even claim that we shouldn’t use the word “Trinity” because it is not found in the Bible.

Theologians will invent vocabulary on a regular basis in order to tie together a set of ideas that are taught in Scripture. Theologians will use words like dispensation, concurrence, hermeneutics, and apologetics to quickly speak about a set of ideas without naming all of the ideas in every sentence. The Scriptures still teach on these ideas, but theology creates a taxonomy so we can systematize our beliefs. “Trinity” just happens to be the word theologians use to describe how a singular God, three Persons, and each Person being God, can be taught with logical coherence. 

The doctrine of the Trinity was adopted pretty quickly into the teachings of the church. Ignatius (died around A.D. 140) had Trinitarian language in his “Letter to the Magnesians” (13). Polycarp (died around A.D. 155), just before he is burned at the stake, is quoted with saying:

O Lord God Almighty, the Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of Thee, the God of angels and powers and of all creation and of the whole race of the righteous, who live in Thy presence; I bless Thee for that Thou hast granted me this day and hour, that I might receive a portion amongst the number of martyrs in the cup of [Thy] Christ unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. (Martyrdom of Polycarp, 14)

Later, apologists like Justin (died: A.D. 165; see First Apology 61) and Irenaeus (died: A.D. 202; see Against Heresies 4:20) continued to affirm the church’s Tinitarian confession. Theophilus (died about A.D. 185) is credited for being the first to use the word “Trinity” in his “Letter to Autocycus.” Tertullian (died A.D. 220; see Against Praxeas 23) and Gregory Thaumaturgus (died: A.D. 270; see Declaration of Faith) used the word “Trinity” in their writings.

All of the men mentioned above spoke on the Trinity long before the Edict of Milan (A.D. 314) or the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). While the First Council of Nicea discussed many things, its primary goal was to deal with the Arian controversy, which was later condemned as heresy. There was enough agreement amongst the other 200 bishops that an understanding of the Trinity was formulated enough to denounce such forms of heresy. 

In the coming weeks we will take the time to look at the three major components of the doctrine of the Trinity: 1) there is one God, 2) there are three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and 3) Each Person is God. As long as we keep each of these statements in balance with the others, we can maintain orthodoxy.