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The doctrine of the Trinity was understood by the church and began to be articulated in writing as early as 100A.D.

"In the Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome confessed the deity of Jesus Christ, saying, "Our Lord Jesus Christ [is] the Sceptre of the majesty of God." He did recognize a distinction between the Father and Son. He wrote, "Have we not (all) one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us?", an apparent allusion to Ephesians 4:6."

"Ignatius’ writings are somewhat difficult to decipher simply because of the many obvious interpolations to his texts by later copyists. It is believed that the original versions are found in a Syriac translation. Ignatius also confessed the deity of Christ in a profound manner. Jesus is none other than the eternal God made manifest in the flesh: "Look for Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes." Not only was Jesus said to have been the preexistent God, but He is also said to have suffered for us: "The passion of my God."

(150-225) "Tertullian was the first to speak of God as a trinity, and as three persons in one substance. God is "the ‘Trinity,’ which consists of ‘three persons…. God is ‘one only substance in three coherent and inseparable (Persons)’. … The Father and the Son are ‘two separate Persons;, ‘two different Beings’, and ‘distinct but not separate’. The Son is ‘another’ from the Father ‘on the ground of Personality, not of Substance-in the way of distinction, not of division’."

"Tertullian was so insistent on the distinction between the persons that he even ranked them according to order, saying, "…how comes it to pass that God should be thought to suffer division and severance in the Son and in the Holy Ghost, who have the second and the third places assigned to them, and who are so closely joined with the Father in His substance…." When "Father" was used alongside of "Son," Tertullian would only call the former "God," while the latter would be called "Lord." Only when the Son was spoken of separately could He be referred to as "God."

"He spoke of the three Persons as parts of the whole Godhead: "The Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole. … The Father is…greater than the Son." The Son of God is "a portion of the whole Godhead."

There is a voluntary economic subordination in the Godhead whereby to carry out the eternal purposes the Son and Spirit subordinated themselves to the Father. Genesis 1:26 "Let us make men...." demonstrates that the Godhead is plural. Jesus said In John's Gospel that if they had known Him they would have known the Father and that He and the Father are one. The early church had no problem with this concept until Greek philosophy and the mystery religions began to infiltrate and interpret the scriptures. Then the doctrines and ultimately the canon had to be articulated for the churches to keep them from error.