Formation of the doctrine of the Trinity

[Craig]

Could someone link me some websites/articles surrounding the whole formation of the doctrine of the Trinity?

I was discussing it a bit with friends last night...my classes from several years back are fuzzy, but I seem to remember a little. One of my friends tried to say that Constantine "cast the deciding vote" on this doctrine and that it was a minority view...dissention came from the Jewish Church...which, my friend said, probably reveals to an extent anti-semetic underpinnings with this doctrine.

From what I remember, Constantine told the church to hammer out their decision and he would go with whatever they decided. He wasn't actually involved with the Council's end decision, was he?

 

[alwaysreforming]

Craig,
This site has a lot of good JW information on it, part of which is a lot of good info on the Trinity. I learned a TON about the Trinity here, and its stuff I never found anywhere else. Let me know what you think.

And keep searching around this site. There is Trinity information scattered all over in different parts.

http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-frames-start-page-SYBTT.htm

 

[Puritan Sailor]

There's a book out by James White called The Forgotten Trinity. I've heard it was good. It is an often neglected doctrine, even among those who profess it. How few can defend it....

 

[biblelighthouse]

Originally posted by alwaysreforming
Craig,
This site has a lot of good JW information on it, part of which is a lot of good info on the Trinity. . . .
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-frames-start-page-SYBTT.htm

On this same site, here is some specific info about Constantine's role in the Council of Nicea (which took a major role in hammering out the doctrine of the Trinity):

http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-history-constantine.htm

 

[biblelighthouse]

Originally posted by Craig
Could someone link me some websites/articles surrounding the whole formation of the doctrine of the Trinity?

I was discussing it a bit with friends last night...my classes from several years back are fuzzy, but I seem to remember a little. One of my friends tried to say that Constantine "cast the deciding vote" on this doctrine and that it was a minority view...dissention came from the Jewish Church...which, my friend said, probably reveals to an extent anti-semetic underpinnings with this doctrine.

From what I remember, Constantine told the church to hammer out their decision and he would go with whatever they decided. He wasn't actually involved with the Council's end decision, was he?

Very briefly:

Constantine's major contribution to the council was the suggestion of the the word "homoousios" to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son. ("Homoousios" means "of the same substance".) And even here, Constantine was not the one to come up with the idea; his adviser, Ossius, was the one to recommend the term to him.

Initially, the use of the term "homoousios" was the minority view in the council. However, this was NOT because a majority of the council disbelieved Christ's deity. On the contrary, they were concerned about the word "homoousios" itself, because it had been used a century earlier in connection with the Sabellianism (Modalism) heresy. Thus, a large number of those who believed in Christ's deity wanted to use the word "homoiousios" instead, which means "of similar substance". But thankfully, "homoousios" finally won out. (God made sure of it!)

But the number of people who actually sided with Arius in denying the deity of Christ were very few indeed. Out of the 318 members of the council, you could count the Arians on one hand. The debate was over the *word* to be used to describe Christ's deity . . . the debate was not over Christ's deity itself.

 

[Craig]

Thanks for the help, guys. I have made a short first blog on the doctrine of the Trinity.

I've read the Forgotten Trinity about 4 years ago...I have rummaged through most of it again. It is probably the best introduction to the doctrine available. It is short but provides a TON of biblical support and important quotes from saints of old.

 

[Philip A]

Craig,

I am preparing a series of adult Sunday School lessons on the doctrine of the Trinity for the month of December in my church. Amidst Calvin, Turretin, Owen, Hodge, and Berkhof for methodology and definition of the doctrine, I would recommend Robert Letham on the Trinity for an excellent historical narrative of the development of the doctrine.

Basically, to think of Nicea as the defining the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is to over-simplify. The Nicene council was called together to combat Arianism and unify the church, but in fact it opened the door for a half century of discussion and debate as the church developed and defined its terminology. It was actually at the Council of Constantinople in 381 that the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity was clearly defined. In fact, what is commonly called the Nicene Creed is actually the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. The creed of Nicea was shorter, and did not fully address the person of the Holy Spirit, except to say "we believe in the Holy Spirit".