Sorry, I don't agree with one here.
Isn't Western Atheism/Humanism a bye-product of (unreasonable and in reaction to) Trinity of Pauline-Christianity, please?
Regards
I am not going to presume any evil basis. In my experience people of all kinds can be evil or good. The inside is hidden from us. We are impressed by roofs and beautiful fences, because that is what we see. The inside we cannot see.
If Paul maintained that Jesus retained his individuality after death then I'd be more pressed to consider his ideas to be pagan; but I think Paul is simply misunderstood (by you and others). Obviously if Jesus retains his individuality then the trinity does seem contradictory, however that is a misunderstanding of Paul and of trinity, too.
Paul does not ever use the term trinity. I have obtained some information about the development of trinity from a book by the late Panagiotes K. Chrestou in his book
Greek Orthodox Patrology. From what I understand the Trinity is discovered in 2nd century and is never mentioned by Paul who dies before that.
Trinity depends upon the dissolution of the individual who becomes nothing but a vessel. The original concept from Paul is, I think, that Jesus the man becomes divine by his obedience to the Father, partly through giving up his human life, becoming nothing. There is nothing left of the original man born of woman, except for that spirit that comes from God in the first place. The trinity, then, is not about three people but one spirit and is about humanity joining the father through obedience. The individual is dissolved and the will of God performed instead. It is about us submitting to God, pretty much, and it is the lesson that we become nothing in the process. Obviously it is not a popular message.
So since it is not popular it does not do well, but that doesn't mean Paul is an idolater. Rather, it is people who think god owes us an eternal afterlife. The way it seems is that we appear, spend the life given to us, and then we shrink giving way to God. Accepting this idea present in the gospels does leave room people to believe in secular humanism.