Plato: God In No Way Can Be Described

One of the features of the early Christian movement was the fact that almost from its inception some of its basic tenets were challenged, and the Apostles had continually to be on their guard lest the variant ideas should take root. In Corinth the bodily resurrection was denied; in Colosse the unique position of Jesus in God's purpose was challenged, and throughout the Christian world the Judaisers were attempting to retain the new faith within the confines of the Law of Moses. The Apostles foresaw that such processes would intensify after their death and so gave many warnings to the flock to beware of departing from the truths they had been taught. Paul gave this warning to the Ephesians on his final visit to them: 'Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31). A few years later, in his letter to Timothy, his warnings became more emphatic: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1-3). About the same time Peter gave similar warnings: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1-3). As the guiding hand of the Apostles was gradually withdrawn, these predictions came to pass. In the closing years of the first century the very aged John had to write against those who were promulgating false views about the person of Christ (1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-8). In the final book of Scripture, in a message from Jesus himself, we learn of the false doctrines and evil practices that were already in his church (Revelation 2:14-16,20; 3:1-3). Paine (1900 AD): '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.' A critical History of the Evolution of Trinitarianism. In Judaism, Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD, is called the "Shema," which is the word for "hear." It is their fundamental declaration of faith. The also say that no where in the Torah will you find that God is comprised of a trinity. Finally they say this of the trinity: At the Council of Nicea of 325 AD, the doctrine of the Bianity became canonized, equating Jesus to the substance of G-d in Christian theology. The Council of Constantinople in 381 AD added the Holy Spirit to the Bianity and the Trinity was canonized. These councils contradicted the Torah of Moses. See Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32, (13:1) for instructions regarding changes to the Torah. Nouveau Dictionnaire Universal: "The Platonic trinity, itself merely a rearrangement of

older trinities dating back to earlier peoples, appears to be the rational philosophic trinity of attributes that gave birth to the three hypostases or divine persons taught by the Christian churches. . . . This Greek philosopher's conception of the divine trinity . . . can be found in all the ancient [pagan] religions." Volume 2, page 1467. The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Volume 14, page 299: "The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. . . . Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective."The Story of Civilization: Part III, page 595: "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. . . . From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity." Joan of Arc was burned to death in England in 1550. The Encyclopædia Britannica (1964): "She was condemned for open blasphemy in denying the Trinity, the one offense which all the church had regarded as unforgivable ever since the struggle with Arianism." The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: "The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the Trinitarian dogma. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective."-(1967), Vol. XIV, p. 299. In The Encyclopedia Americana we read: "Christianity derived from Judaism and Judaism was strictly Unitarian [believing that God is one person]. The road which led from Jerusalem to Nicea was scarcely a straight one. Fourth century Trinitarianism did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching."-(1956), Vol. XXVII, p. 294L. The Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel, "The Platonic trinity, itself merely a rearrangement of older trinities dating back to earlier peoples, appears to be the rational philosophic trinity of attributes that gave birth to the three hypostases or divine persons taught by the Christian churches. . . . This Greek philosopher's [Plato, fourth century B.C.E.] conception of the divine trinity . . . can be found in all the ancient [pagan] religions."-(Paris, 1865-1870), edited by M. Lachâtre, Vol. 2, p. 1467. The New Encyclopedia Britannica: "Taken as a whole the writings of the Apostolic Fathers are more valuable historically than any other Christian literature outside the New Testament." Dr. Neander (1850 AD): 'The Doctrine of the Trinity does not, it appears to me, belong strictly to the fundamentals of the Christian faith; as it appears from the fact that it is explicitly set forth in no one particular passage of the New Testament; for the only one in which this is done, the passage relating to the three that bear record (1 John 5) is undoubtedly spurious, and in its ungenuine shape testifies to the fact, how foreign such a collection is from the style of the New Testament writings. We find in the New Testament no other fundamental article besides that of which the apostle Paul says that other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, the preaching of Jesus Christ as the Messiah; and the foundation of His religion is designated by Christ himself as the faith in the only true God and in Jesus Christ whom He hath sent'. History of Christian Religion, vol.2, pg.286 The Didache. This work is attributed to the apostles and it contains this, "Two Ways"chapter 10: "We thank you, Holy Father, for your holy Name which you have made to dwell in our hearts; and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you have made known to us through Jesus your Servant. Glory to you forever! You, Almighty Master, created everything for your Name's sake . . . And to us you have graciously given spiritual food and drink, and life eternal through Jesus your Servant." The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity by Edwin Hatch. He says regarding this above passage: "In the original sphere of Christianity there does not appear to have been any great advance upon these simple conceptions. The doctrine upon which stress was laid was, that God is, that He is one, that He is almighty and everlasting, that He made the world, that His mercy is over all His works. There

was no taste for metaphysical discussion." Clement of Rome. (100 AD) Clement’s language is similar to Paul’s epistles. First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians: "Grace unto you, and peace, from Almighty God through Jesus Christ, be multiplied. ... The apostles have preached the Gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ has done so from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. ... May God, who seeth all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all fleshwho chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar people-grant to every soul that calleth upon His glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering. ... We will beg with earnest prayer and supplication that the Creator of the universe will keep intact the precise number of his elect in the whole world, through his beloved Child Jesus Christ. . . . We realize you [God] alone are 'highest among the highest' . . . You alone are the guardian of spirits and the God of all flesh. ... Let all the nations realize that you are the only God, that Jesus Christ is your Child." No where does Clement go beyond Paul in his theology. Ignatius. Many will point to this early church father as calling Jesus "god" ("God the Word") in his letters and this is true. In view of the above discussion on the Hebrew and Greek understanding of elohim and theos (gods/god) it should be clear they had a different view of the subject than modern Trinitarian scholars who are looking back through a revisionist history which would correspond to their triune view. In the Roman world a "god" may be an exalted person or a human elevated to this higher level. Actually, surrounded by multi-god worshipping Greeks and Romans it is almost a natural thing to address Jesus as "god." John does this, as we have seen above, in his Prologue. (John 1.1, 18) Paul may have done it though scholars disagree on Romans 9.5 and Titus 2.13 which are discussed later. However, on this matter of Ignatius, it s good to consider how he makes a clear distinction between the "one God" and the Son He revealed, even as Paul does. (Gal 1.15, 16) Ignatius writes of Almighty God "the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son," indicating a clear difference between The God and His Son. He writes of "God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. ... There is one God, the Almighty, who has manifested Himself by Jesus Christ His Son." Ignatius writes to the Magnesians (Ch. 8 & 13): "There is one God who manifested himself through Jesus Christ his Son, who is his Word which proceeded from silence and in every respect pleased him [God] who sent him. … Jesus Christ was subject to the Father." Regarding the Spirit he says in his letter to the Ephesians (Ch. 9): "The Holy Spirit does not speak His own things, but those of Christ, … even as the Lord also announced to us the things that He received from the Father. For, says He [the Son], 'the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's, who sent Me.' " So, though it is true, Ignatius calls the Son "God the Word" by using the word "God" for the Son he does not necessarily mean equality with Almighty God. The Bible also calls the Messiah-Son "mighty God" at Isaiah 9:6 and in the Greek of the LXX this may be "a mighty God" for in the next chapter Yahweh is described as "the Mighty God." The Ante-Nicene Fathers, (Volume I, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson): "It is now the universal opinion of critics, that the first eight of these professedly Ignatian letters are spurious. They bear in themselves indubitable proofs of being the production of a later age . . . and they are now by common consent set aside as forgeries. ... Of the seven Epistles which are acknowledged by Eusebius . . . ,

we possess two Greek recension's, a shorter and a longer. . . . Although the shorter form . . . had been generally accepted in preference to the longer, there was still a pretty prevalent opinion among scholars, that even it could not be regarded as absolutely free from interpolations, or as of undoubted authenticity."

Polycarp. (69-155 AD) He writes: "May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Son of God, . . . build you up in faith and truth. ... Peace from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour." His salutation echoes Paul’s manner. Hermas. (145AD) In his Shepherd: "Nor Holy Spirit speak, but it speaks only planted the vineyard, that is to say, Son; and the Son appointed His angels is older than all his creation."

when man wishes the spirit to speak does the when God wishes it to speak. . . . God He created the people, and gave them to His over them to keep them. ... The Son of God

J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines: "In a number of passages we read of an angel who is superior to the six angels forming God's inner council, and who is regularly described as 'most venerable', 'holy', and 'glorious'. This angel is given the name of Michael, and the conclusion is difficult to escape that Hermas saw in him the Son of God and equated him with the archangel Michael. ... There is evidence also . . . of attempts to interpret Christ as a sort of supreme angel . . . Of a doctrine of the Trinity in the strict sense there is of course no sign." Papias. (140 AD) Papias is also said to have known the apostle John. Likely he wrote early in the second century, but only fragments of his writings exist today. In them he says nothing about a Trinity doctrine. Irenaeus, Elder at Lyons. (170-200 AD) Irenaeus writes: "There is one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus, the son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation. ... Christ must be a man, like us, if he would redeem us from corruption and make us perfect. As sin and death came into the world by a man, so they could be blotted out legitimately and to our advantage only by a man; though, of course, not by one who should be a mere descendant of Adam, and thus himself stand in need of redemption, but by a second Adam, supernaturally begotten, a new progenitor of our race." Justin Martyr. (110-165 AD) Dr. H. R. Boer, A Short History of the Early Church: "Justin Martyr taught that before the creation of the world God was alone and that there was no Son. . . . When God desired to create the world, . . . he begot another divine being to create the world for him. This divine being was called . . . Son because he was born; he was called Logos because he was taken from the Reason or Mind of God. . . . Justin and the other Apologists therefore taught that the Son is a creature. He is a high creature, a creature powerful enough to create the world but, nevertheless, a creature. In theology this relationship of the Son to the Father is called subordinationism. The Son is subordinate, that is, secondary to, dependent upon, and caused by the Father. The Apologists were subordinationists." Justin Martyr taught that the Holy Spirit was an 'influence or mode of operation of the Deity'. Justin Martyr was the first recorded person to change the baptism formula of Acts 2:38. His version was as follows: "For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of the Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water." 140 AD by Justin Martyr Tertullian (160 to 230 AD) Henry Chadwick: Tertullian is the first to suggest God

is "one substance consisting in three persons." Consider Against Hermogenes: "We should not suppose that there is any other being than God alone who is unbegotten and uncreated. . . . How can it be that anything, except the Father, should be older, and on this account indeed nobler, than the Son of God, the only-begotten and first-begotten Word? . . . That [God] which did not require a Maker to give it existence, will be much more elevated in rank than that [the Son] which had an author to bring it into being." Against Praxeas: "The Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: 'My Father is greater than I.' . . . Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another." Justin Martyr, who died about 165 AD, called the prehuman Jesus a created angel who is "other than the God who made all things." He said that Jesus was inferior to God and "never did anything except what the Creator . . . willed him to do and say." Irenaeus, who died about 200 AD, said that the prehuman Jesus had a separate existence from God and was inferior to him. He showed that Jesus is not equal to the "One true and only God," who is "supreme over all, and besides whom there is no other." Clement of Alexandria, who died about 215 AD, called Jesus in his prehuman existence "a creature" but called God "the uncreated and imperishable and only true God." He said that the Son "is next to the only omnipotent Father" but not equal to him. Tertullian, who died about 230 AD, taught the supremacy of God. He observed: "The Father is different from the Son (another), as he is greater; as he who begets is different from him who is begotten; he who sends, different from him who is sent." He also said: "There was a time when the Son was not. . . . Before all things, God was alone." Hippolytus, who died about 235 AD, said that God is "the one God, the first and the only One, the Maker and Lord of all," who "had nothing co-equal (of equal age) with him . . . But he was One, alone by himself; who, willing it, called into being what had no being before," such as the created prehuman Jesus. Origen, who died about 250 AD, said that "the Father and Son are two substances . . . two things as to their essence," and that "compared with the Father, (the Son) is a very small light." Alvan Lamson says in The Church of the First Three Centuries: "The modern popular doctrine of the Trinity . . . derives no support from the language of Justin Martyr: and this observation may be extended to all the ante-Nicene Fathers; that is, to all Christian writers for three centuries after the birth of Christ. It is true, they speak of the Father, Son, and . . . holy Spirit, but not as co-equal, not as one numerical essence, not as Three in One, in any sense now admitted by Trinitarians. The very reverse is the fact." "There is no evidence that any sacred writer Trinity within the Godhead." -The Triune God However, the word 'Trinity' though accepted into the New Testament by any means; thus we Luke and John were not aware of this word or

even suspected the existence of a by the Church, could not find its way can safely affirm that Matthew, Mark, its connotation: nay, we still go

further and say that even Jesus himself did not believe in this doctrine. (Chishti, What is Christianity?, p. 25). The Athanasian Creed For most Christians, in the West at least, the one creed that defines the Trinity is the Athanasian Creed. With its formation, alongside the already establish Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the three major creeds of the Western Church were now in place. For full impact it is here given in its entirety: 'Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholick Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son: and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate: and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal: the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet there are not three eternals: but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated: but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty: and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet there are not three Almighties: but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods: but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord: and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord: So we are forbidden by the Catholick Religion to say: There be three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none: neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other: none is greater, or less than another: But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together: and co-equal. So that in all things, as it is aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved: must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world; Perfect God, and perfect Man: of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.

Who although He be God and Man: yet he is not two, but one Christ; One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking of the Manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance: but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man: so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation: Descended into hell', Rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty: From whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies: and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved'.... Unless all the Protestants return to the Catholics, as according to this creed, that both them and Catholics have both accepted as true. (They Protestants will be lost.) Not scripturally true, but their in their church doctrine as true. Could the Catholics been wrong or atleast incorrect in their views on God? History shows that many views that they had on God and secular things were incorrect. Did the sun revovle around the earth? Was the earth the center of the universe? But the Protestants are more than willing to take the Catholics words here as true and as their own. Can anyone prove the trinity? When I pray to Jesus are the other two jealous? Revelations 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. If the is only one throne in heaven, who occupies it? Do they take turns? Thomas Jefferson, former U.S. President, along with being one of the founding fathers, and U.S. Constitution writer, said the following on the trinity. "No historical fact is better established, than that the doctrine of one God, pure and uncompounded, was that of the early ages of Christianity . . . Nor was the unity of the Supreme Being ousted from the Christian creed by the force of reason, but by the sword of civil government, wielded at the will of the Athanasius. The hocus-pocus phantasm of a God like another Cerberus, with one body and three heads, had its birth and growth in the blood of thousands of martyrs . . . The Athanasian paradox that one is three, and three but one, is so incomprehensible to the human mind, that no candid man can say he has any idea of it, and how can he believe what presents no idea? He who thinks he does, only deceives himself. He proves, also, that man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such person, gullibility which they call faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason, and the mind becomes a wreck." Thomas Jefferson: Letter to James Smith, Dec. 8, 1822 "God can in no way be described." (427 BC-347 BC) Plato (Father of the pagan Trinity.)