Trinitarians like to pretend the doctrine of the Trinity was a doctrine believed by the very first Christians. Unfortunately, this necessarily means the Triune God was completely forgotten. Yes, the most central doctrine of the faith somehow got lost through the decades that immediately followed the pages of the Bible. Not only did anyone forget to mention this three person God in the Bible, a large segment of the entire early church seems to have simply forgotten about this God too.

When the Modalists later showed up in the second century, many Christians had simply forgotten about the Triune God. Indeed, there were church leaders who thought the Modalist model of God was a pretty doggone good way to describe God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Other Christians who rejected the Modalist model didn't seem to know anything about the Trinity doctrine that was allegedly taught by the apostles and handed down to their successors. If the church had always had this doctrine of the Trinity they could have roundly refuted the Modalist position by simply pointing out that Christians had always believed in the doctrine of the Trinity since the time of the Apostles. But that is not what happened because no such concept existed in the early church.

For the next 200 years after Modalism erupted, men within the church argued about the nature of Jesus and his relationship to God. Did anyone stand up and try to refute all challenges by simply pointing out the church had always believed in the doctrine of the Trinity, three persons in one God? No, that did not happen because no such thing existed. Such a doctrine did not exist until around the end of the fourth century.

The historical facts show the doctrine of the Trinity was a developed concept over two centuries of debating the issue. This reveals quite plainly to thinking people that this teaching was not something handed down by the apostles. This plain fact is devastating to Trinitarian claims. And so, for Trinitarians, these historical facts are quite simply..... denied. An imaginary account of history is much more congenial to their doctrine: Revisionist History.

Trinitarians feel much better pretending to themselves, and to others, that the doctrine of the Trinity was something believed and taught by the apostles and henceforth passed on to the Christians who lived immediately thereafter and so on and so on. Even though they have absolutely no proof that this is the case, and even though the facts indicate otherwise, this is what they want to believe. And that is what they need to believe. Because if that is not the case, their doctrine is found to be a fairy tale developed by wayward men of the fourth century. Unfortunately for them, the facts of history reveal otherwise. And that is something which calls for outright denial of the historical facts on the part of Trinitarians. They simply must deny that their three person God was forgotten by the early church if indeed this teaching has been taught by the Apostles.

Last Updated: March 25, 2011