Editing Christianity (section)

=== Trinity ===
{{Main|Trinity}}
[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|The [[Trinity]] is the belief that [[God in Christianity|God]] is one God in three persons: the [[God the Father|Father]], the [[God the Son|Son]] ([[Jesus]]), and the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]].<ref>Definition of the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] quoted in {{Cite CCC|2.1|253}}.</ref>]]
''Trinity'' refers to the teaching that the one God<ref>Christianity's status as monotheistic is affirmed in, among other sources, the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (article "[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10499a.htm Monotheism]"); [[William F. Albright]], ''From the Stone Age to Christianity''; [[H. Richard Niebuhr]]; Kirsch, ''God Against the Gods''; Woodhead, ''An Introduction to Christianity''; [[Columbia Encyclopedia|The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia]] [https://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0833762.html ''Monotheism'']; The New Dictionary of [[Cultural Literacy]], {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071212011435/https://www.bartleby.com/59/5/monotheism.html ''monotheism'']}}; New Dictionary of Theology, [https://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_NDCT_Paul.htm ''Paul''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720034723/http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_NDCT_Paul.htm |date=20 July 2016 }}, pp. 496–499; Meconi. "Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity". pp. 111ff.</ref> comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons: the ''[[God the Father|Father]]'', the ''Son'' (incarnate in Jesus Christ) and the ''[[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]]''. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the [[Godhead (Christianity)|Godhead]],<ref>Kelly. ''Early Christian Doctrines''. pp. 87–90.</ref><ref>Alexander. ''New Dictionary of Biblical Theology''. pp. 514ff.</ref><ref>McGrath. ''Historical Theology''. p. 61.</ref> although there is no single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead.<ref>Metzger/Coogan. ''Oxford Companion to the Bible''. p. 782.</ref> In the words of the [[Athanasian Creed]], an early statement of Christian belief, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God".<ref>Kelly. ''The Athanasian Creed''.</ref> They are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. While some Christians also believe that God appeared as the Father in the [[Old Testament]], it is agreed that he appeared as the Son in the [[New Testament]] and will still continue to manifest as the Holy Spirit in the present. But still, God still existed as three persons in each of these times.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowden |first=John Stephen |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch0000unse_u1l4/page/1206/mode/2up |title=Encyclopedia of Christianity |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=1207|others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-522393-4}}</ref> However, traditionally there is a belief that it was the Son who appeared in the Old Testament because, for example, when the [[Trinity#Art|Trinity is depicted in art]], the Son typically has the distinctive appearance, a [[cruciform halo]] identifying Christ, and in depictions of the [[Garden of Eden]], this looks forward to an Incarnation yet to occur. In some [[Early Christian art|Early Christian]] [[sarcophagi]], the Logos is distinguished with a beard, "which allows him to appear ancient, even pre-existent".<ref>Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal Carl Parsons, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=BmWpMKaDBVUC&pg=PA34 Interpreting Christian Art: Reflections on Christian art]'', Mercer University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0865548501}}, pp. 32–35.</ref>

The [[Trinity]] is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. From earlier than the times of the Nicene Creed (325) Christianity advocated<ref>''Examples of ante-Nicene statements'':{{blockquote|Hence all the power of magic became dissolved; and every bond of wickedness was destroyed, men's ignorance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life.|St. Ignatius of Antioch in ''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch.4, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation}}{{blockquote|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|St. Ignatius of Antioch in ''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch.7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation}}
{{blockquote|The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: ...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 manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all...|St. Irenaeus in ''Against Heresies'', ch.X, v.I, {{Citation | last = Donaldson| first = James|title = Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus | publisher =William B. Eerdmans | year = 1950| isbn = 978-0-8028-8087-1}}}}

{{blockquote|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|Justin Martyr in ''First Apology'', ch. LXI, {{Citation | last = Donaldson| first =James|title = Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans| year = 1950| isbn = 978-0-8028-8087-1}}}}</ref> the triune [[Holy Mystery|mystery]]-nature of [[God in Christianity|God]] as a normative profession of faith. According to [[Roger E. Olson]] and Christopher Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded "that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying this in ecumenical council at the end of the 4th century.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Roger E.|title=The Trinity|year=2002|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUAidAp8AgEC|isbn=978-0-8028-4827-7}}</ref><ref>Fowler. ''World Religions: An Introduction for Students''. p. 58.</ref><!-- ref supports entire paragraph -->

According to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God (see [[Perichoresis]]). The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being unbegotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in [[Western Christian]] theology) [[Filioque|from the Son]]. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three "persons" are each [[eternity|eternal]] and [[omnipotent]]. Other Christian religions including [[Unitarian Universalism]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and [[Mormonism]], do not share those views on the Trinity.

The Greek word ''trias''<ref>{{LSJ|tria/s1|τριάς|ref}}.</ref>{{refn|group=note|name=Trias-Trinitas|The Latin equivalent, from which English ''trinity'' is derived,<ref>{{OEtymD|trinity}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2020}} is ''trinitas''<ref name="Trinitas" /> though Latin also borrowed Greek ''trias'' verbatim.<ref>{{L&S|trias|ref}}</ref>}} is first seen in this sense in the works of [[Theophilus of Antioch]]; his text reads: "of the Trinity, of God, and of His Word, and of His Wisdom".<ref>{{cite book|series=[[Patrologiae Graecae]] Cursus Completus|volume=6|author=Theophilus of Antioch|title=Apologia ad Autolycum|chapter=Book II.15|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/PatrologiaGraeca/Patrologia%20Graeca%20Vol.%20006#page/n569|language=el, la|quote=Ὡσαύτως καὶ αἱ τρεῖς ἡμέραι τῶν φωστήρων γεγονυῖαι τύποι εἰσὶν τῆς Τριάδος, τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Λόγου αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς Σοφίας αὐτοῦ.}}</ref> The term may have been in use before this time; its Latin equivalent,{{refn|group=note|name=Trias-Trinitas}} ''trinitas'',<ref name="Trinitas">{{L&S|trinitas|ref}}</ref> appears afterwards with an explicit reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in [[Tertullian]].<ref>McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity''. p. 50.</ref><ref>{{citation|author=Tertullian|title=De Pudicitia|chapter=21|chapter-url=https://www.tertullian.org/latin/de_pudicitia.htm|language=la|quote=Nam et ipsa ecclesia proprie et principaliter ipse est spiritus, in quo est trinitas unius diuinitatis, Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus.}}.</ref> In the following century, the word was in general use. It is found in many passages of [[Origen]].<ref>McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'', p. 53.</ref>

==== Trinitarianism ====
{{Main|Trinitarianism}}
''Trinitarianism'' denotes Christians who believe in the concept of the [[Trinity]]. Almost all Christian denominations and churches hold Trinitarian beliefs. Although the words "Trinity" and "Triune" do not appear in the Bible, beginning in the 3rd century theologians developed the term and concept to facilitate [[apprehension (understanding)|apprehension]] of the New Testament teachings of God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Since that time, Christian theologians have been careful to emphasize that Trinity does not imply that there are three gods (the antitrinitarian heresy of [[Tritheism]]), nor that each hypostasis of the Trinity is one-third of an infinite God (partialism), nor that the Son and the Holy Spirit are beings created by and subordinate to the Father ([[Arianism]]). Rather, the Trinity is defined as one God in three persons.<ref>[[Jürgen Moltmann|Moltmann, Jürgen]]. ''The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God.'' Tr. from German. Fortress Press, 1993. {{ISBN|080062825X}}</ref>

==== Nontrinitarianism ====
{{Main|Nontrinitarianism}}
''Nontrinitarianism'' (or ''antitrinitarianism'') refers to theology that rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. Various nontrinitarian views, such as [[adoptionism]] or [[modalism]], existed in early Christianity, leading to disputes about [[Christology]].<ref>Harnack, ''[https://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/dogma1.ii.iii.iii.html History of Dogma]''.</ref> Nontrinitarianism reappeared in the [[Gnosticism]] of the [[Cathars]] between the 11th and 13th centuries, among groups with [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] theology in the [[Protestant Reformation]] of the 16th century,<ref>''Pocket Dictionary of Church History'' Nathan P. Feldmeth p. 135 "Unitarianism. Unitarians emerged from Protestant Christian beginnings in the sixteenth century with a central focus on the unity of God and subsequent denial of the doctrine of the Trinity"</ref> in the 18th-century [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], among [[Restorationism|Restorationist]] groups arising during the [[Second Great Awakening]] of the 19th century, and most recently, in [[Oneness Pentecostalism|Oneness Pentecostal]] churches.