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When Trinitarianism was born, in the beginning of the third century, it began with the concept that Jesus was a subordinate deity to God the Father. Its two main founders, Tertullian and Origin, held to that belief. It was later on, in the fourth century, that trinitarians tried to fix this error, with little success, by teaching the coequality, coeternity, and consubstantiality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, not only the Greek Apologists but also the early trinitarians refused to believe any statement in the Bible and the writers of the Post-Apostolic Age that Jesus is God Himself. Out of all the theologians, it was Tertullian who developed the basics of the Trinity doctrine. Surprisingly, he accomplished this while being a member of a group that was separated from the primary church. He presented the terms "Trinity, three Persons, one substance" to the discussion about God. He did not refer to the Didache that is probably a corruption, but he did state that Matthew 28:19 was the only way for one to be baptized. Also, Tertullian taught that the Trinity was not permanent, that there was a beginning and will also have an ending. Furthermore, he placed into a lower position the Son and Spirit to the Father. So, with regard to the orthodox trinitarian doctrine that each Person in the Godhead is equal in every way or fashion, he only taught that the three Persons in the Trinity consisted of consubstantiality, but did not teach that the Godhead was made of coeternity and coequality. Yet, Tertullian added an unusual twist to his belief in consubstantiality because it was of his opinion that the angels also participated in the one divine substance. Now Origin was excommunicated and also condemned for heresy. However, he contributed greatly to the cause of Trinitarianism by teaching his beliefs that the Son was eternal and also of His eternal generation. Both Origin and Tertullian were the two most important supporters of Trinitarianism. Origin positioned the Son and the Spirit as the second and third Person in the Godhead. He also taught the the Persons were coeternal, but They were not equal to each other. A few of his statements indicates that he supports the belief of consubstantiality, yet other things that he has taught clearly reveals that he rejects it. Not including Commodian, but the writers of the Old Catholic Age began to lean more toward the belief of Trinitarianism. They wrote that the Son and Spirit were both inferior to the Father and did not fully understand exactly who was the Holy Spirit. Novatian, another individual who was not in complete harmony with the church or what it believed, contributed greatly to the development of Trinitarianism by teaching the difference of Persons and that the Holy Spirit is a third Person, and at the same time he continue to believe in subordinationism. However, out of all the writers that existed in this age, you will discover that it was only Dionysius of Rome and possibly Gregory Thaumaturgus who seemed to describe Trinitarianism in a way that was in agreement with futuristic orthodoxy. Particularly, the debate between Dionysius of Rome and Dionysius of Alexandria paved the way for the conclusion at the Council of Nicea. In closing, it was in the Old Catholic Age that the very first trinitarians can be seen whose first conflict was with the monarchians, especially the modalists, and then the Arians were next. At the end of this age, the concept of Trinitarianism and trinitarian baptism was practiced in Christendom, however, it took just about the entire fourth century to put together and institute orthodox Trinitarianism.
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Hello, my name is Dr. Lee Miller. I am married to a beautiful woman named Elizabeth. We have four wonderful children and three fantastic grandchildren. I have a Doctorate in Theology and a Ph.D in Religion. I have been in the ministry for 31 years and a pastor for ten years. I enjoy writing christian articles centered around Biblical research. Author Link: Personal Website: www.millerdoctorofphilosophy.com
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