A brief survey of anti-Trinitarianism

Vivificat! - A Catholic Blog of Commentary and Opinion ^ | 10 August 2006 | Teófilo

[Teófilo]

Folks, I've been leafing through volume 11 of the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism which I purchased second hand. The title of this volume is What is the Trinity? and also contains a study on The Holy Spirit. Bernard Piault wrote What is the Trinity, and indeed it's a very rich study on this most central question in Christian Theism. At the beginning of its fifth chapter I found three tables detailing the different kinds of Trinitarian heresies and their refutations. I'm going to try to reproduce these tables below for your information. All those spaces correspond roughly to those in the original tables.

I. Total Rejection of the Trinity

Heresy			Refutation
Year	Of Judaizing Origin	Of Philosophical Origin	Inspired Writers	Final Authority	Christian Teachers
50 100 150 200	Ebionites Cerinthus (96-100)	Simon Magus. Basilides. Valentine (Widespread Gnosticism)	St. Paul St. John	The Apostles' Creed	St. Clement of Rome (96-100) St. Ignatius of Antioch (+107) St. Justin (150) St. Ireneaus

II. Rejection of the Distinctions of Persons

Heresy			Refutation
Year	Adoptionism	Modalism	Teachers	Final Authority
200 250	Theodotus the Currier Theodotus the Banker Artemon Paul of Samosata (The Word lives in the man Jesus as in a Temple. Hence, Jesus is not the Son of God)	Praxeas Sabellius Noetus of Smyrna	Tertullian (213-18) Hyppolytus of Rome (c. 230-40)	The two Denises (265) The Three Councils of Antioch(263-8)

III. Rejection of Equality of Persons

Heresy			Refutation
Year	About the Word	About the Holy Spirit	Teachers	Final Authority
300 350 400	Arius Eusebius of Nicomedia Eusebius of Caesarea Anomeans Homoiousians Homoeans	Pneumatomachians Macedonius Marathon	St. Alexander of Alexandria (320) St. Athanasius St. Hilary St. Athanasius St. Basil of Caesarea St. Gregory of Nyssa St. Gregory Nazianzen	Nicea (325) Alexandria (362) 2nd Council of Constantinople (381

[JohnnyM]

John 2 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

For the non-trinitarian this verse is a problem, because how can Jesus raise Himself up, when Acts 2 states that it was God who did it. If Jesus is God, then not a problem, but if He wasn't then how do you explain it?

JM

[.30Carbine]

So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
Matthew 28:9

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.
Matthew 28:17

See everyone worshiping Jesus!

How could He permit this worship (I mean, check it out, He never once stopped it!),
seeing He had testified to Satan during His temptation in the wilderness:

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan!
For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
Luke 4:8, Matthew 4:10

Who Is this Jesus to give us commandments that we should serve and obey Him?

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;
as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
John 13:34

He is Elohim.

He is the King of Glory!

[.30Carbine]

If Jesus is God, then not a problem, but if He wasn't then how do you explain it?

Questions like this are worthy of contemplation, surely. Thank you!