What 'Unorthodox' doctrine has come into the church?

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The Learner

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I made a copy of it, reviewed it, and have seen many of the same positions taken by others. I do give credit to the writer of this one for tenaciously also giving reasons for not believing it. I have studied this issue for a long time. I've also studied the history of "the church" to include the ECF. They are the initial cause of the church's fall away from the Apostle's orthodoxy. What we have now is nowhere close to the true orthodoxy. (And the Didache has had revision done to it, so it is not original either.)

The arguments presented here are a great example of having a Biblical Law Degree. Seeing that "the church" has spent 1600 years trying to perfect its argument to persuade followers of Christ to accept the trinity, it should have a well-worded document that is still, sadly, inconclusive. After all, these trinitarians threatened, tortured, and even killed those who would not accept it. I have found that, from all I've seen, the last person killed over this disagreement was in the 17th century when John Calvin has a man name Severus burned at the stake for refusing this doctrine. (Great testimony for Calvinism, right?) I guess that is evidence of how well scripture show it, right? Either we accept what scripture says or, like in this case, we make it say something else through assumptions. Of course, today in our English translations, words used in translation have been substituted, punctuated, or capitalized in order to support the doctrine. I know that our bibles would be a little different today had not the ECF caused this doctrine.

I have asked Yahweh many times to let me go back to being a trinitarian and life changes once churches start thinking only trinitarians can be saved. I know better, but it definitely effected my being in community which I sorely miss.

I depend on God to give me truth. Many people make that claim, but in discussions with them, I find that they can offer no evidence for the reason they believe. They simply parrot the things that they have been taught. Sadly, many cannot accept that my beliefs do not affect theirs and also doesn't make me their enemy. They get very emotional when I point out passages that they should study and see how true their beliefs are.

If Yahweh wanted us to believe His "only begotten Son" is also Yahweh, He would have made it plain. After all, that would be a major deal,, right? Nobody would have to be threatened, tortured, or killed to accept it.
"However, this is not the only source for the book. It is mentioned by Eusebius in about 324 AD. It is called by him the Book of the Twelve Apostles. Eusebius seems to be aware that some considered the book to be sub-canonical, but he rejects its status. The Didache is also mentioned by Athanasius (367) and Rufinus (380 AD). Both deny its part in the canon of the New Testament, but the very fact that they mention it shows that the book was held in high regard by the early church–in fact it shows that some considered it inspired or sub-inspired. Surely this moves the Didache to the very early second century at the latest. It became part of the Ethiopian/Coptic list of sub-canonical books. It is the consensus of scholars that the Didache is probably a late first century catechism, although some put it in the very early second century. I believe this is very likely a correct date for this book.
A number of early church fathers quote from the Didache. Clement of Alexandria, Origen quote from it and Polycarp and Ignatius appear to use the Didache. The similarity of their quotes to the text from the eleventh century tells us that the manuscript we have is at least a reasonable facsimile of the original Didache. Obviously, we cannot do anywhere nearly as good a textual criticism of this book as we can with the Greek text of the New Testament with so few manuscripts, but we can reasonably conclude that the Didache we have is fairly close to the original. "

Looks like there is only one Latin manuscript for the Didache, thus there is no evidence of it being rewritten, friend.
 

The Learner

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I made a copy of it, reviewed it, and have seen many of the same positions taken by others. I do give credit to the writer of this one for tenaciously also giving reasons for not believing it. I have studied this issue for a long time. I've also studied the history of "the church" to include the ECF. They are the initial cause of the church's fall away from the Apostle's orthodoxy. What we have now is nowhere close to the true orthodoxy. (And the Didache has had revision done to it, so it is not original either.)

The arguments presented here are a great example of having a Biblical Law Degree. Seeing that "the church" has spent 1600 years trying to perfect its argument to persuade followers of Christ to accept the trinity, it should have a well-worded document that is still, sadly, inconclusive. After all, these trinitarians threatened, tortured, and even killed those who would not accept it. I have found that, from all I've seen, the last person killed over this disagreement was in the 17th century when John Calvin has a man name Severus burned at the stake for refusing this doctrine. (Great testimony for Calvinism, right?) I guess that is evidence of how well scripture show it, right? Either we accept what scripture says or, like in this case, we make it say something else through assumptions. Of course, today in our English translations, words used in translation have been substituted, punctuated, or capitalized in order to support the doctrine. I know that our bibles would be a little different today had not the ECF caused this doctrine.

I have asked Yahweh many times to let me go back to being a trinitarian and life changes once churches start thinking only trinitarians can be saved. I know better, but it definitely effected my being in community which I sorely miss.

I depend on God to give me truth. Many people make that claim, but in discussions with them, I find that they can offer no evidence for the reason they believe. They simply parrot the things that they have been taught. Sadly, many cannot accept that my beliefs do not affect theirs and also doesn't make me their enemy. They get very emotional when I point out passages that they should study and see how true their beliefs are.

If Yahweh wanted us to believe His "only begotten Son" is also Yahweh, He would have made it plain. After all, that would be a major deal,, right? Nobody would have to be threatened, tortured, or killed to accept it.
What is a Biblical Law Degree? Where does it say one must believe in the Trinity to be saved? If your study is from the books of David K. Bernard, he has many misqoutes concerning History. I have one of many Master's Degrees in Church History. When I read a book, I follow the footnotes to primary sources to read quotes in context. You can do that at newadvent.org

Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism. And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.


Baptism in the name of Jesus, refers to by who's authority.
 

The Learner

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  1. Matthew 21:9
    Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. They all shouted, “Praise to the Son of David! ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the nameof the Lord!’ Praise to God in heaven!”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  2. Matthew 23:39
    I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the nameof the Lord.’”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  3. Matthew 28:19
    So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the nameof the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  4. Mark 11:9
    Some of them were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. Everyone shouted, “‘Praise Him!’ ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the nameof the Lord!’
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  5. Luke 13:35
    Now your home will be left completely empty. I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the nameof the Lord.’”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  6. Luke 19:38
    They said, “‘Welcome! God bless the king who comes in the nameof the Lord.’ Peace in heaven and glory to God!”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  7. John 12:13
    They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted, “‘Praise Him!’ ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the nameof the Lord!’ God bless the King of Israel!”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  8. Acts 2:38
    Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the nameof Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  9. Acts 4:18
    So the Jewish leaders called Peter and John in again. They told the apostles not to say anything or to teach anything in the nameof Jesus.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  10. Acts 8:16
    These people had been baptized in the nameof the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them. This is why Peter and John prayed.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  11. Acts 10:48
    So Peter told them to baptize Cornelius and his relatives and friends in the nameof Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  12. Acts 19:5
    When these followers heard this, they were baptized in the nameof the Lord Jesus.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  13. 1 Corinthians 5:4
    Come together in the nameof our Lord Jesus. I will be with you in spirit, and you will have the power of our Lord Jesus with you.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  14. 1 Corinthians 6:11
    In the past some of you were like that. But you were washed clean, you were made holy, and you were made right with God in the nameof the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  15. Ephesians 5:20
    Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the nameof our Lord Jesus Christ.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  16. James 5:14
    Are you sick? Ask the elders of the church to come and rub oil on you in the nameof the Lord and pray for you.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
 

The Learner

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  1. Genesis 42:15
    But I will let you prove that you are telling the truth. In the nameof Pharaoh, I swear that I will not let you go until your youngest brother comes here.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  2. Deuteronomy 18:7
    And this Levite may serve in the nameof the Lord his God, the same as all his brother Levites who are on duty before the Lord.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  3. Deuteronomy 21:5
    The priests, the descendants of Levi, must also go there. (The Lord your God has chosen these priests to serve him and to bless people in the nameof the Lord. The priests will decide who is right in every lawsuit and whenever someone is hurt.)
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  4. 1 Samuel 17:45
    David said to the Philistine, “You come to me using sword, spear, and javelin. But I come to you in the nameof the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel. You have said bad things about him.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  5. 2 Samuel 6:18
    After David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the nameof the Lord All-Powerful.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  6. 2 Chronicles 33:18
    Everything else Manasseh did, his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are all written in the book, The Official Records of the Kings of Israel.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  7. Ezra 5:1
    At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo began to prophesy in the nameof God. They encouraged the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  8. Psalm 118:26
    Welcome to the one who comes in the nameof the Lord.” The priests answer, “We welcome you to the Lord’s house!
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  9. Psalm 129:8
    May no one walking by those wicked people ever say, “May the Lord bless you! We bless you in the nameof the Lord.”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  10. Isaiah 8:21
    When the enemy comes, there will be hard times and hunger. And when he becomes hungry, he will become angry. He will say curses in the nameof his king and his gods. Then he will lift his head upwards like a roaring lion.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  11. Jeremiah 2:8
    “The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ The people who know the law did not want to know me. The leaders of the people of Israel turned against me. The prophets spoke in the nameof the false god Baal. They worshiped worthless idols.”
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  12. Jeremiah 11:21
    The Lord said to me, “Those people from Anathoth are planning to take your life. They are telling you not to prophesy in the nameof the Lord or they will kill you. This is what I have to say about them:
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  13. Jeremiah 23:13
    “I saw the prophets of Samaria doing wrong things. I saw them prophesy in the nameof the false god Baal. They led the people of Israel away from me.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  14. Jeremiah 26:9
    How dare you say such a thing in the nameof the Lord! How dare you say that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert with no one living in it!” All the people gathered around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
  15. Zechariah 13:3
    Whoever continues to prophesy will be punished. Even their parents, their own mother and father, will say to them, ‘You have spoken lies in the nameof the Lord, so you must die!’ Their own mother and father will stab them for prophesying.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
 

The Learner

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Sorry, the Latin Manuscript is a translation of the church father.

Here is from the Greek Manuscript:

VII​
1. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, οὕτω βαπτίσατε· ταῦτα πάντα πρειπόντες, βαπτίσατε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν ὕδατι ζῶντι. 2. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἔχῃς ὕδωρ ζῶν, εἰς ἄλλο ὕδωρ βάπτισον· εἰ δ’ οὐ δύνασαι ἐν ψυχρῷ, ἐν θερμῷ. 3. ἐὰν δὲ ἀμφότερα μὴ ἔχῃς, ἔκχεον εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν τρὶς ὕδωρ εἰς ὄνομα πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος. 4. πρὸ δὲ τοῦ βαπτίσμος προνηστευσάτω ὁ βαπτίζων καὶ ὁ βαπτιζόμενος καὶ εἴ τινες ἄλλοι δύναται· κελεύεις δὲ νηστεῦσαι τὸν βαπτιζόμενον πρὸ μιᾶς ἢ δύο.
 

The Learner

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Ezekiel 36:25-27
King James Version
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Agree's with the Didache.

Ezekiel 36:25-27
King James Version
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism. And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.

Didache. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (translation Roberts-Donaldson).
Didache. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (translation Roberts-Donaldson). On Early Christian Writings.
www.earlychristianwritings.com
 

The Learner

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Ezekiel 36:25-27
King James Version
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Agree's with the Didache.
Ezekiel 36:25-27
King James Version
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism. And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.

Didache. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (translation Roberts-Donaldson).
Didache. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (translation Roberts-Donaldson). On Early Christian Writings.
www.earlychristianwritings.com
 

The Learner

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7:1 But concerning baptism, thus shall ye baptize.
7:2 Having first recited all these things, baptize {in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit} in living (running) water.
7:3 But if thou hast not living water, then baptize in other water;
7:4 and if thou art not able in cold, then in warm.
7:5 But if thou hast neither, then pour water on the head thrice in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
7:6 But before the baptism let him that baptizeth and him that is baptized fast, and any others also who are able;
7:7 and thou shalt order him that is baptized to fast a day or two before.

CHAPTER 7
7:1 But concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: having first recited all these precepts, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water;

7:2 but if thou hast not running water, baptize in some other water, and if thou canst not baptize in cold, in warm water;

7:3 but if thou hast neither, pour water three times on the head, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

7:4 But before the baptism, let him who baptizeth and him who is baptized fast previously, and any others who may be able. And thou shalt command him who is baptized to fast one or two days before.

CHAPTER 7
Baptism

1 Concerning baptism, baptise thus: Having first rehearsed all these things, "baptise, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," in running water; 2 but if thou hast no running water, baptise in other water, and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm. 3 But if thou hast neither, pour water three times on the head "in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." 4 And before the baptism let the baptiser and him who is to be baptised fast, and any others who are able. And thou shalt bid him who is to be baptised to fast one or two days before.

Matthew 28:19

Easy-to-Read Version

19 So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In short, Jesus tells us the correct Baptism Formula, All the "In Jesus Name" simply speaks by the Authory of, Referring to Rabbi Jesus.
 

The Learner

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Back and Fouth Didache

"
A. D. Howell-Smith writes about the Didache (Jesus Not a Myth, p. 120):



The simple Christology of Acts confronts us again in the so-called Teaching of the Apostles, a composite work, of which the first six chapters seem to be a Christian redaction of a Jewish document entitled The Two Ways, while the rest is the work of several Christian writers, the earliest belonging to the first century and the latest perhaps to the fourth. The Jesus mentioned in this book's account of the celebration of the Eucharist is just the "Servant" (Παις) of God, who has made known the "holy vine" of God's "Servant" David; nothing is said of the bread and wine being the body and blood of Jesus. The formula of baptism in the name of the Trinity, which is given in Chap. VII, must come from a later hand, though possibly earlier than Justin Martyr, who is familiar with it."
 

The Learner

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Other Histotorical Sources:

 

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CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book IV (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XV (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Holy Trinity (Gregory of Nyssa)
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Philip of the Blessed Trinity
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VIII (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: A Fragment from On the Trinity (Gregory ...
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book V (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book X (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book IV (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XI (Hilary of Poitiers)
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Blessed Trinity
SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The knowledge of the divine persons (Prima ...
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book II (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XII (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book I (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity (Novatian)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book IX (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XIII (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VIII (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VI (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book II (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VII (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XIV (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XI (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book III (St. Augustine)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book I (Hilary of Poitiers)
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Trinity College
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book XII (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VII (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book X (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book III (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book V (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book IX (Hilary of Poitiers)
CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book VI (Hilary of Poitiers)



NO doubt, there is duplication in the above List.
 

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Ignatius a.d. 30–107​

Since, also, there is but one unbegotten Being, God, even the Father; and one only-begotten Son, God, the Word and man; and one Comforter, the Spirit of truth; and also one preaching, and one faith, and one baptism;
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians Chapter IV
But the Holy Spirit does not speak His own things, but those of Christ, and that not from himself, but from the Lord; even as the Lord also announced to us the things that He received from the Father. For, says He, “the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father’s, who sent Me.” And says He of the Holy Spirit, “He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever things He shall hear from Me.” And He says of Himself to the Father, “I have,” says He, “glorified Thee upon the earth; I have finished the work which, Thou gavest Me; I have manifested Thy name to men.” And of the Holy Ghost, “He shall glorify Me, for He receives of Mine.”
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians Chapter IX
For if there is one God of the universe, the Father of Christ, “of whom are all things;” and one Lord Jesus Christ, our [Lord], “by whom are all things;” and also one Holy Spirit, who wrought in Moses, and in the prophets and apostles;
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians Chapter I

Justin Martyr a.d. 110–165​

For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water.
The First Apology Chapter LXI

Ireneaus a.d. 120–202​

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” . . .
Against Heresies Book I Chapter X
The rule of truth which we hold, is, that there is one God Almighty, who made all things by His Word, and fashioned and formed, out of that which had no existence, all things which exist. Thus saith the Scripture, to that effect “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all the might of them, by the spirit of His mouth.” And again, “All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” There is no exception or deduction stated; but the Father made all things by Him, whether visible or invisible, objects of sense or of intelligence, temporal, on account of a certain character given them, or eternal; and these eternal things He did not make by angels, or by any powers separated from His Ennœa.
For God needs none of all these things, but is He who, by His Word and Spirit, makes, and disposes, and governs all things, and commands all things into existence,—He who formed the world (for the world is of all),—He who fashioned man,—He [who] is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, above whom there is no other God, nor initial principle, nor power, nor pleroma,—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we shall prove.
Book I Chapter XXII
Therefore neither would the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles, have ever named as God, definitely and absolutely, him who was not God, unless he were truly God; nor would they have named any one in his own person Lord, except God the Father ruling over all, and His Son who has received dominion from His Father over all creation, as this passage has it: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.” Here the [Scripture] represents to us the Father addressing the Son; He who gave Him the inheritance of the heathen, and subjected to Him all His enemies. Since, therefore, the Father is truly Lord, and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Spirit has fitly designated them by the title of Lord.
Against Heresies Book III Chapter VI
For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, “Let Us make man after Our image and likeness;” He taking from Himself the substance of the creatures [formed], and the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world.
Against Heresies Book IV Chapter XX

 

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Clement of Alexandria a.d. 153–217​

O mystic marvel! The universal Father is one, and one the universal Word; and the Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere, . . .
The Instructor. Book I Chapter VI

Tertullian a.d. 145–220​

In the course of time, then, the Father forsooth was born, and the Father suffered, God Himself, the Lord Almighty, whom in their preaching they declare to be Jesus Christ. We, however, as we indeed always have done (and more especially since we have been better instructed by the Paraclete, who leads men indeed into all truth), believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation, or οἰκονομία , as it is called, that this one only God has also a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. Him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the Virgin, and to have been born of her—being both Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ; we believe Him to have suffered, died, and been buried, according to the Scriptures, and, after He had been raised again by the Father and taken back to heaven, to be sitting at the right hand of the Father, and that He will come to judge the quick and the dead; who sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise, the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost.
But keeping this prescriptive rule inviolate, still some opportunity must be given for reviewing (the statements of heretics), with a view to the instruction and protection of divers persons; were it only that it may not seem that each perversion of the truth is condemned without examination, and simply prejudged; especially in the case of this heresy, which supposes itself to possess the pure truth, in thinking that one cannot believe in One Only God in any other way than by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the very selfsame Person. As if in this way also one were not All, in that All are of One, by unity (that is) of substance; while the mystery of the dispensation is still guarded, which distributes the Unity into a Trinity, placing in their order the three Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: three, however, not in condition, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in aspect; yet of one substance, and of one condition, and of one power, inasmuch as He is one God, from whom these degrees and forms and aspects are reckoned, under the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. How they are susceptible of number without division, will be shown as our treatise proceeds.
Against Praxeas Chapter II
The simple, indeed, (I will not call them unwise and unlearned,) who always constitute the majority of believers, are startled at the dispensation (of the Three in One), on the ground that their very rule of faith withdraws them from the world’s plurality of gods to the one only true God; not understanding that, although He is the one only God, He must yet be believed in with His own οἰκονομία . The numerical order and distribution of the Trinity they assume to be a division of the Unity; whereas the Unity which derives the Trinity out of its own self is so far from being destroyed, that it is actually supported by it. They are constantly throwing out against us that we are preachers of two gods and three gods, while they take to themselves pre-eminently the credit of being worshippers of the One God; just as if the Unity itself with irrational deductions did not produce heresy, and the Trinity rationally considered constitute the truth.
Against Praxeas Chapter III
But as for me, who derive the Son from no other source but from the substance of the Father, and (represent Him) as doing nothing without the Father’s will, and as having received all power from the Father, how can I be possibly destroying the Monarchy from the faith, when I preserve it in the Son just as it was committed to Him by the Father? The same remark (I wish also to be formally) made by me with respect to the third degree in the Godhead, because I believe the Spirit to proceed from no other source than from the Father through the Son.
Against Praxeas Chapter IV
 

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Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said. Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other. This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit.
I am, moreover, obliged to say this, when (extolling the Monarchy at the expense of the Economy) they contend for the identity of the Father and Son and Spirit, that it is not by way of diversity that the Son differs from the Father, but by distribution: it is not by division that He is different, but by distinction; because the Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I.” In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being “a little lower than the angels.” Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another.
Happily the Lord Himself employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit), so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead); for He says, “I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter…even the Spirit of truth,” thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself, even as we say that the Son is also distinct from the Father; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the Son, by reason of the order observed in the Economy. Besides, does not the very fact that they have the distinct names of Father and Son amount to a declaration that they are distinct in personality? For, of course, all things will be what their names represent them to be; and what they are and ever will be, that will they be called; and the distinction indicated by the names does not at all admit of any confusion, because there is none in the things which they designate. “Yes is yes, and no is no; for what is more than these, cometh of evil.”
Against Praxeas Chapter IX

Origen a.d. 185–254​

From all which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit was of such authority and dignity, that saving baptism was not complete except by the authority of the most excellent Trinity of them all, i.e., by the naming of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by joining to the unbegotten God the Father, and to His only-begotten Son, the name also of the Holy Spirit.
. . .
Nevertheless it seems proper to inquire what is the reason why he who is regenerated by God unto salvation has to do both with Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and does not obtain salvation unless with the co-operation of the entire Trinity; and why it is impossible to become partaker of the Father or the Son without the Holy Spirit.
Origen De Principiis. Book I Chapter III
But in our desire to show the divine benefits bestowed upon us by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which Trinity is the fountain of all holiness, we have fallen, in what we have said, into a digression, having considered that the subject of the soul, which accidentally came before us, should be touched on, although cursorily, seeing we were discussing a cognate topic relating to our rational nature. We shall, however, with the permission of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, more conveniently consider in the proper place the subject of all rational beings, which are distinguished into three genera and species.
Origen De Principiis. Book I Chapter IV
 

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For the end is always like the beginning: and, therefore, as there is one end to all things, so ought we to understand that there was one beginning; and as there is one end to many things, so there spring from one beginning many differences and varieties, which again, through the goodness of God, and by subjection to Christ, and through the unity of the Holy Spirit, are recalled to one end, which is like unto the beginning: all those, viz., who, bending the knee at the name of Jesus, make known by so doing their subjection to Him: and these are they who are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: by which three classes the whole universe of things is pointed out, those, viz., who from that one beginning were arranged, each according to the diversity of his conduct, among the different orders, in accordance with their desert; for there was no goodness in them by essential being, as in God and His Christ, and in the Holy Spirit. For in the Trinity alone, which is the author of all things, does goodness exist in virtue of essential being; while others possess it as an accidental and perishable quality, and only then enjoy blessedness, when they participate in holiness and wisdom, and in divinity itself.
Origen De Principiis. Book I Chapter VI
After these points, now, we proved to the best of our power in the preceding pages that all things which exist were made by God, and that there was nothing which was not made, save the nature of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that God, who is by nature good, desiring to have those upon whom He might confer benefits, and who might rejoice in receiving His benefits, created creatures worthy (of this), i.e., who were capable of receiving Him in a worthy manner, who, He says, are also begotten by Him as his sons. He made all things, moreover, by number and measure. For there is nothing before God without either limit or measure. For by His power He comprehends all things, and He Himself is comprehended by the strength of no created thing, because that nature is known to itself alone. For the Father alone knoweth the Son, and the Son alone knoweth the Father, and the Holy Spirit alone searcheth even the deep things of God.
Origen De Principiis. Book IV Chapter I.35
If the heavenly virtues, then, partake of intellectual light, i.e., of divine nature, because they participate in wisdom and holiness, and if human souls, have partaken of the same light and wisdom, and thus are mutually of one nature and of one essence,—then, since the heavenly virtues are incorruptible and immortal, the essence of the human soul will also be immortal and incorruptible. And not only so, but because the nature of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, whose intellectual light alone all created things have a share, is incorruptible and eternal, it is altogether consistent and necessary that every substance which partakes of that eternal nature should last for ever, and be incorruptible and eternal, so that the eternity of divine goodness may be understood also in this respect, that they who obtain its benefits are also eternal. But as, in the instances referred to, a diversity in the participation of the light was observed, when the glance of the beholder was described as being duller or more acute, so also a diversity is to be noted in the participation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, varying with the degree of zeal or capacity of mind.
Origen De Principiis. Book IV Chapter I.36
 

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Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria a.d. 200–265​

The individual names uttered by me can neither be separated from one another, nor parted. I spoke of the Father, and before I made mention of the Son I already signified Him in the Father. I added the Son; and the Father, even although I had not previously named Him, had already been absolutely comprehended in the Son. I added the Holy Spirit; but, at the same time, I conveyed under the name whence and by whom He proceeded. But they are ignorant that neither the Father, in that He is Father, can be separated from the Son, for that name is the evident ground of coherence and conjunction; nor can the Son be separated from the Father, for this word Father indicates association between them. And there is, moreover, evident a Spirit who can neither be disjoined from Him who sends, nor from Him who brings Him. How, then, should I who use such names think that these are absolutely divided and separated the one from the other?
(After a few words he adds:—)
Thus, indeed, we expand the indivisible Unity into a Trinity; and again we contract the Trinity, which cannot be diminished, into a Unity.
(From the Same Second Book.)
In the beginning was the Word. But that was not the Word which produced the Word. For “the Word was with God.” The Lord is Wisdom; it was not therefore Wisdom that produced Wisdom; for “I was that” says He, “wherein He delighted.” Christ is truth; but “blessed,” says He, “is the God of truth.”
(The Conclusion of the Entire Treatise.)
In accordance with all these things, the form, moreover, and rule being received from the elders who have lived before us, we also, with a voice in accordance with them, will both acquit ourselves of thanks to you, and of the letter which we are now writing. And to God the Father, and His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The Works of Dionysius. Extant Fragments. Part I Chapter IV

Cyprian a.d. 200–258​

Finally, when, after the resurrection, the apostles are sent by the Lord to the heathens, they are bidden to baptize the Gentiles “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” How, then, do some say, that a Gentile baptized without, outside the Church, yea, and in opposition to the Church, so that it be only in the name of Jesus Christ, everywhere, and in whatever manner, can obtain remission of sin, when Christ Himself commands the heathen to be baptized in the full and united Trinity?
Epistle LXXII.5.18

Novatian a.d. 210–280​

And now, indeed, concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let it be sufficient to have briefly said thus much, and to have laid down these points concisely, without carrying them out in a lengthened argument. For they could be presented more diffusely and continued in a more expanded disputation, since the whole of the Old and New Testaments might be adduced in testimony that thus the true faith stands. But because heretics, ever struggling against the truth, are accustomed to prolong the controversy of pure tradition and Catholic faith, being offended against Christ; because He is, moreover, asserted to be God by the Scriptures also, and this is believed to be so by us; we must rightly—that every heretical calumny may be removed from our faith—contend, concerning the fact that Christ is God also, in such a way as that it may not militate against the truth of Scripture; nor yet against our faith, how there is declared to be one God by the Scriptures, and how it is held and believed by us.
A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity. Chapter XXX.

Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria a.d. 273–326​

Therefore, when the holy prophets, and all, as I have said, who righteously and justly walked in the law of the Lord, together with the entire people, celebrated a typical and shadowy Passover, the Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them, according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, . .
Epistles on the Arian Heresy And the Deposition of Arius. Chapter I.7
Therefore to the unbegotten Father, indeed, we ought to preserve His proper dignity, in confessing that no one is the cause of His being; but to the Son must be allotted His fitting honour, in assigning to Him, as we have said, a generation from the Father without beginning, and allotting adoration to Him, so as only piously and properly to use the words, “He was,” and “always,” and “before all worlds,” with respect to Him; by no means rejecting His Godhead, but ascribing to Him a similitude which exactly answers in every respect to the Image and Exemplar of the Father. But we must say that to the Father alone belongs the property of being unbegotten, for the Saviour Himself said, “My Father is greater than I.” And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit, as the divine Scriptures teach us; who hath inaugurated both the holy men of the Old Testament, and the divine teachers of that which is called the New.
Epistles on the Arian Heresy And the Deposition of Arius. Chapter I.12
 

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Augustine of Hippo a.d. 354–430​

Those holy angels come to the knowledge of God not by audible words, but by the presence to their souls of immutable truth, i.e., of the only-begotten Word of God; and they know this Word Himself, and the Father, and their Holy Spirit, and that this Trinity is indivisible, and that the three persons of it are one substance, and that there are not three Gods but one God; and this they so know that it is better understood by them than we are by ourselves.
Augustine The City of God Book 11 Chapter 29
The true objects of enjoyment, then, are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the Trinity, one Being, supreme above all, and common to all who enjoy Him, if He is an object, and not rather the cause of all objects, or indeed even if He is the cause of all. For it is not easy to find a name that will suitably express so great excellence, unless it is better to speak in this way: The Trinity, one God, of whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things. Thus the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by Himself, is God, and at the same time they are all one God; and each of them by Himself is a complete substance, and yet they are all one substance. The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son: but the Father is only Father, the Son is only Son, and the Holy Spirit is only Holy Spirit. To all three belong the same eternity, the same unchangeableness, the same majesty, the same power. In the Father is unity, in the Son equality, in the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality; and these three attributes are all one because of the Father, all equal because of the Son, and all harmonious because of the Holy Spirit.
On Christian Doctrine Book I. Chapter 5.5
Wherefore, our Lord God helping, we will undertake to render, as far as we are able, that very account which they so importunately demand: viz., that the Trinity is the one and only and true God, and also how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are rightly said, believed, understood, to be of one and the same substance or essence; in such wise that they may not fancy themselves mocked by excuses on our part, but may find by actual trial, both that the highest good is that which is discerned by the most purified minds, and that for this reason it cannot be discerned or understood by themselves, because the eye of the human mind, being weak, is dazzled in that so transcendent light, unless it be invigorated by the nourishment of the righteousness of faith.
On the Trinity Book I. Chapter 2.4
 

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And I would make this pious and safe agreement, in the presence of our Lord God, with all who read my writings, as well in all other cases as, above all, in the case of those which inquire into the unity of the Trinity, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; because in no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.
On the Trinity Book I. Chapter 3.5
All those Catholic expounders of the divine Scriptures, both Old and New, whom I have been able to read, who have written before me concerning the Trinity, Who is God, have purposed to teach, according to the Scriptures, this doctrine, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit intimate a divine unity of one and the same substance in an indivisible equality; and therefore that they are not three Gods, but one God: although the Father hath begotten the Son, and so He who is the Father is not the Son; and the Son is begotten by the Father, and so He who is the Son is not the Father; and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but only the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, Himself also co-equal with the Father and the Son, and pertaining to the unity of the Trinity. Yet not that this Trinity was born of the Virgin Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, but only the Son. Nor, again, that this Trinity descended in the form of a dove upon Jesus when He was baptized; nor that, on the day of Pentecost, after the ascension of the Lord, when “there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,” the same Trinity “sat upon each of them with cloven tongues like as of fire,” but only the Holy Spirit. Nor yet that this Trinity said from heaven, “Thou art my Son,” whether when He was baptized by John, or when the three disciples were with Him in the mount, or when the voice sounded, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again;” but that it was a word of the Father only, spoken to the Son; although the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as they are indivisible, so work indivisibly. This is also my faith, since it is the Catholic faith.
On the Trinity Book I. Chapter 4.7
Some persons, however, find a difficulty in this faith; when they hear that the Father is God, and the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God, and yet that this Trinity is not three Gods, but one God; and they ask how they are to understand this: especially when it is said that the Trinity works indivisibly in everything that God works, and yet that a certain voice of the Father spoke, which is not the voice of the Son; and that none except the Son was born in the flesh, and suffered, and rose again, and ascended into heaven; and that none except the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove. They wish to understand how the Trinity uttered that voice which was only of the Father; and how the same Trinity created that flesh in which the Son only was born of the Virgin; and how the very same Trinity itself wrought that form of a dove, in which the Holy Spirit only appeared. Yet, otherwise, the Trinity does not work indivisibly, but the Father does some things, the Son other things, and the Holy Spirit yet others: or else, if they do some things together, some severally, then the Trinity is not indivisible. It is a difficulty, too, to them, in what manner the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity, whom neither the Father nor the Son, nor both, have begotten, although He is the Spirit both of the Father and of the Son.
On the Trinity Book I. Chapter 5.8.
 

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Polycarp (70-155/160). Bishop of Smyrna. Disciple of John the Apostle.

“O Lord God almighty . . . I bless you and glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever” (n. 14, ed. Funk; PG 5.1040).

Justin Martyr (100?-165?). He was a Christian apologist and martyr.

“For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water” (First Apol., LXI).

Ignatius of Antioch (died 98/117). Bishop of Antioch. He wrote much in defense of Christianity.

“In Christ Jesus our Lord, by whom and with whom be glory and power to the Father with the Holy Spirit for ever” (n. 7; PG 5.988).
“We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word was made flesh.’ Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.” (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt., Vol. 1, p. 52, Ephesians 7.)