Week Fifteen-Day One: Trinitarian

One of the arguments against the trinity (over the last two centuries especially) has been that this is not a Biblical idea, originating neither from Jesus nor from his followers. The case is sometimes made that the concept of the trinity evolved during the period between the third and the sixth centuries when all the creeds were being written. It was then imposed onto Christian thinking by the institutional church.

Against this argument we would offer not only the passages we discussed last week, but also a world of textual evidence from second and third generation Christian authors. We will offer here a representative sample. The year of the text is given, followed by the source, followed by the actual text and then a specific citation.

74 AD The Letter of Barnabas "And further, my brethren, if the Lord [Jesus] endured to suffer for our soul, he being the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, 'Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness,' understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hand of men." (Letter of Barnabas 5)

80 AD The Shepherd of Hermas "The Son of God is older than all his creation, so that he became the Father's adviser in his creation. Therefore also he is ancient." (The Shepherd 12)

140 AD Aristides "[Christians] are they who, above every people of the Earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit." (Apology 16)

150 AD Justin Martyr "The Father of the universe has a Son, who also being the first begotten Word of God, is even God." (Justin Martyr, First Apology, ch 63)

150 AD Justin Martyr "Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch, 36)

175 AD The Huleatt Manuscript "She poured it [the perfume] over his [Jesus'] hair when he sat at the table. But, when the disciples saw it, they were indignant. . . . God, aware of this, said to them: 'Why do you trouble this woman? She has done [a beautiful thing for me.] . . . Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, 'What will you give me for my work?' [Matt. 26:7-15]." (Huleatt fragments 1-3) 

Without question, the trinity is a hard concept to get your mind and heart around. These texts do not necessarily help with that, but they do help to counter the argument that the concept is foreign to Christianity. Many people reject the notion of the trinity. Both Jews and Muslims believe this is a dangerously heretical concept. You may struggle with it as well. But I hope it is clear to you that something like the concept of the trinity flows organically from the things that Jesus said about himself, and from what his first followers recognized in him. Obviously, the second generation of followers picked it up as well.

I hope you noticed the last text. It is an especially interesting case. This is a fragment of a text, really. It is a small part of Matthew’s biography of Jesus, namely Matthew 26:7-15. Perhaps you noticed the middle of the text where Jesus is incidentally called “God”. This is not in Matthew’s original version, but it had evidently become so widely accepted an idea that the copyist responsible for this text could insert it without even thinking.

Okay, I don’t expect that six random quotations from first and second century Christian sources that happen to refer to the nature of Jesus Christ will have stirred your heart this morning. This is hardly rich devotional material. But it does contribute to the strength of the argument for accepting the reality of the trinity. And that mind-blowing reality does provide rich devotional material.

I mean, when we come to this concept – no matter where we come from or what we bring to it – we have to end up agreeing with A. W. Tozer: “The doctrine of the Trinity is truth for the heart. Love and faith are at home in the mystery of the Godhead. Let reason kneel in reverence outside.”

BEFORE YOU START YOUR DAY

1. If you grew up going to a Christian church – Catholic or Protestant – you may be used to language like “worship Jesus”.But if you didn’t grow up in Christian environs then this will be an odd phrase for you.I honestly think that the oddness may give you an advantage.I think the thought of that was very odd for the first disciples.They had to grow into that idea over a long time.It took much exposure to the teaching and the actions of Jesus, especially the miracles, before they were ready to use that kind of language.But they ended up being willing to die for it.Think about what it would mean for you to “worship Jesus”.
   1. Now, if you grew up in church, don’t skate past that question.Dictionary.com defines worship as “reverent honor and homage paid to …” and “adoring reverence and regard”.What does it mean to give that to Jesus?
   2. What might that look like today?Think of some ways and some times that you could worship Jesus today.
   3. Spend a moment worshipping Jesus right now.