Ah - so the 1st and 2nd tiers of society wre outside the church, according to yourself. Ok.
Augustine, writing in the 4th C, if I recall correctly, was saying that he did not buy into a literal interpretation of Genesis. So, I don't buy it either, that the founding fathers of the Christian faith were all ignorant of classical learning.
Although it is true that the Church bought into an alliance with Constantine, and became the state religion as a result, I still don't see trinitarianism springing from Constantine - there was a controversy going on before he became a Christian. Secular historians are wont to accuse him of doing so in order to cement his Empire together, and I would not say that tese claims were entirely groundless. However, the Nicean Creed was not exclusively about the Divinity of Christ. the Divinity of christ was setttled at Nicea, true, and was carried with only two votes against. It has been consistently upheld by the non-Roman Churches, like the Eastern Orthodox tradition , and also found its way into the Westminster Confession, written by a Church that came into being at odds with Rome.
it would therefore be wrong to assert that the trinity is merely a Roman doctrine, or is something that Rome brought about to establish its supremacy.
yes, it is true that once the Church acquired political power, it was won't to use it to suppress dissent. However, it would be wrong to say that Protestantism , especially among the free Churches = Unitarianism, or that Trinitarians do not know their own texts.
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Re: Luddite!
Date: 27/12/10 10:02 (UTC)Augustine, writing in the 4th C, if I recall correctly, was saying that he did not buy into a literal interpretation of Genesis. So, I don't buy it either, that the founding fathers of the Christian faith were all ignorant of classical learning.
Although it is true that the Church bought into an alliance with Constantine, and became the state religion as a result, I still don't see trinitarianism springing from Constantine - there was a controversy going on before he became a Christian. Secular historians are wont to accuse him of doing so in order to cement his Empire together, and I would not say that tese claims were entirely groundless. However, the Nicean Creed was not exclusively about the Divinity of Christ. the Divinity of christ was setttled at Nicea, true, and was carried with only two votes against. It has been consistently upheld by the non-Roman Churches, like the Eastern Orthodox tradition , and also found its way into the Westminster Confession, written by a Church that came into being at odds with Rome.
it would therefore be wrong to assert that the trinity is merely a Roman doctrine, or is something that Rome brought about to establish its supremacy.
yes, it is true that once the Church acquired political power, it was won't to use it to suppress dissent. However, it would be wrong to say that Protestantism , especially among the free Churches = Unitarianism, or that Trinitarians do not know their own texts.