“We believe in one God the Father…one Lord Jesus Christ…and the Holy Spirit.” Do these words from the fourth century Nicene Creed describe one single God or three separate Gods? Christian theologians reject the suggestion that the Trinity is in any way polytheistic. Much of the jargon describing the Holy Trinity as “one God” is specifically written to counter accusations of polytheism. Yet popularly, many Christians see the Holy Trinity as three separate Gods and find it difficult to conceptualize it in any other way. In this post, I will argue that culturally (if not theologically), the Holy Trinity represents a mystical fusion of monotheism and polytheism and combines the best of both views. I will then discuss how 4th century Trinitarian theology gradually emerged out of the chaos of first century philosophies and religious ideas.
???Bread for God??? or Halloween? All in all, it???s the candies that matter!
On November 1st, 1755, around 9:00 a.m., the city of Lisbon was hit by an earthquake, followed by a huge tsunami, wildfires and looting,…