Where Did the Trinity Come From?

The idea of the Trinity - that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are different from each other and are all God, but there is only ONE God, is a central tenet of Christianity. But most Christians don't actually know what the doctrine really says, let alone where it came from (is it in the Bible?). In this episode we explain the factors that led to the formulation of the doctrine and see why it became so important to Christian thinking. But does it matter that the math doesn't work? (The three are one!) Or that it doesn't make logical sense?

-What exactly is the doctrine of the trinity?

-Does the idea of the Trinity appear anywhere in the Bible?

-The idea of the Trinity came about as an answer to a theological question - namely, if God e-plicitly states that he is the only god, how do we reconcile that with Jesus’ divinity and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Is that a fair understanding, or does it need nuancing?

-The Trinity was just one answer to this particular question - how did non-orthodo- Christian groups deal with this problem? Did they all see it as a problem?

-Are there other solutions that answer this question?

-What makes the Trinity different from polytheism?

-Who can we credit with the idea of the Trinity?

-How was it received at the time?

-How did it come to be orthodo- teaching, and how does it go from there being this really popular idea to just being the Trinity?

-What role did the Council of Nicea play?

[markdeboy]

This should be renamed "The Most Distracting Glasses Every Designed with Bart Ehrman."

[DJMarcO]

Megan's glasses are messing with my brain today. I love them, but could never wear a frame like that without going cross-eyed, lol.

[joejohnson]

The fact that according to Christian doctrine Jesus prayed to himself & begged himself to spare himself before he was crucified because it was his will that he be gruesomely murdered is just mind-blowing. 🥴

[BrianTylerComposer]

The trinity isn’t mysterious. It’s just nonsense. There is a difference.

[mojoman]

When you make up stories as you go along, you sometimes have to stretch to reconcile them.

[thewb]

Interesting how divine doctrine was made by human consensus.

[davidchess]

So... basically they couldn't figure out any way to resolve the obvious inconsistencies that had piled up in the doctrine, and threw up their hands and said "it's a divine mystery"?

[BanjaraHillbillies]

I'm a graduate of Anglican Seminary. Bart's lectures send me back in time. The difference? I stay awake during these videos!

[MasterSpade]

"Where did the Trinity come from?" = From the Imagination of a Human.

[teachpeace]

I love the point about Tertullian and how his writings came to be persevered because they just happened to fall in line with future consensus regarding the doctrine of the Trinity. Really makes you wonder what we lost to history from opposing viewpoints.

[marktravis]

Actually reading the Bible for what it says and what’s written is why I rejected the Trinity

[andybeans]

I think the Trinity is a prime example of design-by-committee 😉

[davidbackstrom]

The easiest way to explain Trinity is on the background of the Roman imperial cult where the dead Caesars was the fathers in the sky, the son being the word being the ruling emperor and the spirit being the genius of Rome which the emperor was supposed to be the incarnation of.

[yclept]

It made no sense in Sunday School and it makes no sense now.

[roberthawes]

There are serious logical and scriptural problems with the doctrine of the Trinity, but merely suggesting that it ought to be reconsidered is tantamount to blasphemy in most Christian circles. A couple of church councils met a long time ago and decided the matter, and, apparently, no one is allowed to question their assessment.

[kintyre]

Thanks, Megan and Bart for a good video. Your contributions to the debates concerning Christianity are always enlightening. We would have been much poorer - spiritually and intellectually without it.

[zilefn]

I just want to say how much I appreciate and love these podcasts. You guys are great together. (And Megan's glasses are nuts, but swimming lessons followed by day care and then teaching Sumarian is so cool, random sartorial excess doesn't matter.)

[papaarnie]

Bart and Megan explain the "mysteries" about Christianity in a coherent and logical fashion. As they turn out, religion is man-made and subject to the whims and guiles of their perpetrators who are masters in the art of mass psychology. Really, the paradigm is applicable to politics, economics, and all matters that concern humanity. Thank you, Bart and Megan, for such enlightening videos!

[TheOrthodoxMoor]

Love Megan's questions. Simple, direct, and to the point. Very well organized.

[eurech]

I wrote an essay about the Trinity when I was in high school, I used Bart as one of my main sources and I ended up getting an A. The course was called 'Religion - Specialization'. Thanks Bart!