Hebrews 1:3

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Indeed.

I know Marx tends to get a rough ride in this forum (and will earn me a few thumbs down) but I actually find this quote from him quite profound and moving:

'Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness ...[text shortened]... ligion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.'

@deepthought said
There's quite a lot of practical psychology in religion, embedded in a way that humans can internalize. We don't cope so well with rationalistic arguments, we might agree with them at a cognitive level, but don't really internalize them. So I don't think a world without religion would work. We sort of need it - otherwise it wouldn't exist.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Yep as I said, 'I think highly intelligent creatures 'need' a God.' (For multiple reasons).

@kellyjay said
Me too by design.

@kellyjay said
I don't know what you think I said; I did not say I didn't want to look something up! I said, the word Trinity isn't in the Bible, so it isn't something, I or anyone can look up, it isn't there. It isn't the word that is important, and it is the doctrine, the explanation of God as God has revealed Himself to us. Three persons in one being, God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spir ...[text shortened]... y those who accept it as truth.

Genesis 1:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

@ghost-of-a-duke said
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

Voltaire

@kellyjay said
Not too shabby he understood the necessity, even while denying God

@fmf said
Voltaire was a deist.

@kellyjay said
My bad

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia acknowledges that “'trinity' is a second-century term found nowhere in the Bible, and the Scriptures present no finished trinitarian statement.” — (1988, Vol. 4, “Trinity,” p. 914). It further states that “church fathers crystallized the doctrine in succeeding centuries”—long after the apostles had passed from the scene.

Martin Luther who was the German priest who initiated the Protestant Reformation said, “It is indeed true that the name 'Trinity' is nowhere to be found in the Holy Scriptures, but has been conceived and invented by man.” — (reproduced in The Sermons of Martin Luther, John Lenker, editor, Vol. 3, 1988, p. 406)

Historian and science fiction writer H.G. Wells in his noted work The Outline of History stated, “There is no evidence that the apostles of Jesus ever heard of the trinity—at any rate from him.” — (1920, Vol. 2, p. 499)

The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism says, “Today, however, scholars generally agree that there is no doctrine of the Trinity as such in either the OT or the NT ... It would go far beyond the intention and thought-forms of the OT to suppose that a late-fourth-century or thirteenth-century Christian doctrine can be found there ... Likewise, the NT does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity.” — (Richard McBrien, general editor, 1995, “God,” pp. 564, 565)

And the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary states, “The formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the NT.” — (Paul Achtemeier, editor, 1996, “Trinity&rdquo😉

Professor Charles Ryrie wrote, “Many doctrines are accepted by evangelicals as being clearly taught in the Scripture for which there are no proof texts. The doctrine of the Trinity furnishes the best example of this. It is fair to say that the Bible does not clearly teach the doctrine of the Trinity . . . In fact, there is not even one proof text, if by proof text we mean a verse or passage that 'clearly' states that there is one God who exists in three persons.” — (Basic Theology, p. 89)

He goes on to say, “The above illustrations prove the fallacy of concluding that if something is not proof texted in the Bible we cannot clearly teach the results . . . If that were so, I could never teach the doctrine of the Trinity.” — (lbid, p. 90)

Shirley Guthrie, professor of theology at Columbia Theological Seminary wrote, “The Bible does not teach the doctrine of the Trinity. Neither the word 'trinity' itself nor such language as 'one-in-three,' 'three-in-one,' one 'essence' (or 'substance'😉, and three 'persons,' is biblical language. The language of the doctrine is the language of the ancient church taken from classical Greek philosophy.” — (Christian Doctrine, 1994, pp. 76, 77)

Millard Erickson who is a research professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary writes that the Trinity “is not clearly or explicitly taught anywhere in Scripture, yet it is widely regarded as a central doctrine, indispensable to the Christian faith. In this regard, it goes contrary to what is virtually an axiom of biblical doctrine, namely, that there is a direct correlation between the scriptural clarity of a doctrine and its cruciality to the faith and life of the church.
In view of the difficulty of the subject and the great amount of effort expended to maintain this doctrine, we may well ask ourselves what might justify all this trouble.” — (God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity, p. 12)

He further states that the Trinity teaching “is not present in biblical thought, but arose when biblical thought was pressed into this foreign mold [of Greek concepts]. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity goes beyond and even distorts what the Bible says about God.” — (lbid, p. 20)

Since the trinity is not found in the Bible as so many scholars and theologians admit, then how did it come to be viewed as such an important teaching? Theology professors Roger Olson and Christopher Hall explain part of the puzzle in their book The Trinity, “It is understandable that the importance placed on this doctrine is perplexing to many lay Christians and students. Nowhere is it clearly and unequivocally stated in Scripture ... How can it be so important if it is not explicitly stated in Scripture? ...
The doctrine of the Trinity developed gradually after the completion of the New Testament in the heat of controversy, but the church fathers who developed it believed they were simply exegeting [explaining] divine revelation and not at all speculating or inventing new ideas. The full-blown doctrine of the Trinity was spelled out in the fourth century at two great ecumenical (universal) councils: Nicea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople (381 A.D.).” — (2002, pp. 1, 2)

Plagiarised sand.

“The trinity got its start in Ancient Babylon with Nimrod - Tammuz - and Semiramis. Semiramis demanded worship for both her husband and her son as well as herself. She claimed that her son, was both the father and the son. Yes, he was “god the father” and “god the son” - The first divine incomprehensible trinity.” — (The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, p. 51)