“The challenge of insisting
that Jesus (and in later debates, the Holy Spirit) is divine and distinct without there being two (or three)
gods was one of the main conceptual difficulties in the whole debate, and remains so today.”12
Other factions concentrated on the differences between the Father and the Son, i.e. the Father
unbegotten and the Son begotten. This group was led by Eunomius who apparently employed relentless
logic, his opponents arguing that the Godhead was beyond reason and invoking the “it’s a mystery”
argument. It is interesting that during this time a pagan emperor came to power and had this to say
regarding the controversy: “No wild beasts are such enemies to mankind as are most of the Christians in
their deadly hatred of each other.”13 One Christian apologist who I know sympathizes with this picture
and says “Give me a good atheist any day. It is the Bible clutching types I have trouble with.”
The Thought Police
I am most grateful to Charles Freeman for the vastness of his research and for the passion for Truth
displayed by his analysis. His ferreting out of historical facts that give us answers to the origin of this
doctrine is to be applauded. As Pascal’s wise proverb says, it is only the concealing of the origin of this
doctrine that keeps it alive. I feel that our present day reality is not quite as sunny as Freeman seems to
think. This doctrine has such a hold on the system that it is not going down without a tremendous battle.
What a paradox that it becomes the test of Christianity when its own origin and history are filled with
such violence, bloodshed, destruction, and hatred. I would argue that freedom of thought has not
occurred in the Bible Belt. The trinity is the one thing that cannot be questioned without one’s own
salvation being in question. We have followed men who sound like monsters and creeds that sound like
nonsense, all the while ignoring Jesus’ own creed. As to Freeman’s subtitle, The Dawn of the
Monotheistic State – I am certainly looking forward to it but it is not here yet. Surely there is
movie/documentary material here! What a blessed challenge to be a part of the revealing of the origin of
this doctrine! And it would have so much more substance then the DaVinci Code!
May I conclude with the words of Michael Servetus who was murdered by John Calvin on this
theological issue and serves as yet another reason why we should be concerned/passionate about it: “To
me not only the syllables but all the letters and the mouths of babes and sucklings, even the very stones
themselves, cry out there is one God the Father and [as a separate being] his Christ, the Lord Jesus...Not
one word is found in the whole Bible about the Trinity nor about its persons, nor about the essence nor the
unity of substance nor of the one nature of the several beings nor about any of the rest of their ravings and
logic chopping.”26
Good quote-from Charles Freeman, A.D. 381
@Matthias
J.