From the Ante-Nicene Fathers to NicaeaEdit
While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the
New Testament, it was first formulated as early Christians attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions.
[8] The New Testament possesses a "triadic" understanding of God
[6] and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas.
[7] The
Ante-Nicene Fathers asserted Christ's deity and spoke of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit", even though their language is not that of the traditional doctrine as formalized in the fourth century. Trinitarians view these as elements of the codified doctrine. An early Trinitarian formula appears towards the end of the first century, where
Clement of Rome rhetorically asks in his
epistle as to why corruption exists among some in the Christian community; "Do we not have one God, and one Christ, and one gracious Spirit that has been poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ?"
[13] Ignatius of Antioch provides early support for the Trinity around 110, exhorting obedience to "Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit".
[14] The pseudonymous
Ascension of Isaiah, written sometime between the end of the first century and the beginning of the third century, possesses a "proto-trinitarian" view, such as in its narrative of how the inhabitants of the sixth heaven sing praises to "the primal Father and his Beloved Christ, and the Holy Spirit".
[15] Justin Martyr (AD 100–c. 165) also writes, "in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit".
[16] The first of the early church fathers to be recorded using the word "Trinity" was
Theophilus of Antioch writing in the late 2nd century. He defines the Trinity as God, His Word (
Logos) and His Wisdom (
Sophia)
[17] in the context of a discussion of the first three days of creation, following the early Christian practice of identifying the Holy Spirit as the Wisdom of God.
[18] The first defense of the doctrine of the Trinity was in the early 3rd century by the early church father
Tertullian. He explicitly defined the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and defended his theology against "
Praxeas",
[19] though he noted that the majority of the believers in his day found issue with his doctrine.
[20] St. Justin and Clement of Alexandria used the Trinity in their
doxologies and
St. Basil likewise, in the evening lighting of lamps.
[21] Origen of Alexandria (AD 185-c. 253) has often been interpreted as
Subordinationist, but some modern researchers have argued that Origen might have actually been anti-Subordinationist.
[22][23]
