Nontrinitarianism (or antitrinitarianism) refers to monotheistic belief systems, primarily within Christianity, which reject the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one being or ousia.
According to churches that consider ecumenical council decisions final, trinitarianism was infallibly defined at the 4th-century ecumenical councils,[1][2][3] that of First Council of Nicaea, which declared the full divinity of the Son,[4] and the First Council of Constantinople, which declared the divinity of the Holy Spirit.[5] Some councils later than that of Nicaea (325) but earlier than that of Constantinople (381), such as the Council of Rimini (359), which has been described as "the crowning victory of Arianism",[6]
disagreed with the Trinitarian formula of the Council of Nicaea.
Nontrinitarians disagree with the findings of the Trinitarian Councils
for various reasons, including the belief that the writings of the Bible
take precedence over creeds
(a view shared by the mainline Protestant churches, which on the
contrary uphold the doctrine of the Trinity) or that there was a Great Apostasy prior to the Council. Church and State in Europe and the Middle East suppressed nontrinitarian belief as heresy from the 4th to 18th century, notably with regard to Arianism,[7][8] the teaching of Michael Servetus[9] and Catharism.[10] Today nontrinitarians represent a minority of professed Christians.
Nontrinitarian views differ widely on the nature of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Various nontrinitarian views, such as Adoptionism, Monarchianism, and Subordinationism existed prior to the formal definition of the Trinity doctrine in A.D. 325, 360, and 431, at the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus.[11] Nontrinitarianism was later renewed in the Gnosticism of the Cathars in the 11th through 13th centuries, in the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, and in some groups arising during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century.
Modern nontrinitarian Christian groups or denominations include Christadelphians, Christian Scientists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dawn Bible Students, Friends General Conference, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, Living Church of God, Oneness Pentecostals, Members Church of God International, Unitarian Universalist Christians, The Way International, The Church of God, International and the United Church of God. Also, all branches of Judaism are non-trinitarian, and consider the God of the Hebrew Scriptures to be one singular Person, with no divisions, or multi-persons within. Islam considers Jesus to be a prophet but not divine.[12]
It has been described as anti-Trinitarian when compared to
Christianity, or in books written for a Western audience: Islam teaches
the absolute indivisibility of a supremely sovereign and transcendent god (see God in Islam),[13] and is further distinctly antitrinitarian as several verses of the Qur'an teach that the doctrine of Trinity is blasphemous.[14]
Contents
- 1 Forms
- 2 History
- 3 Points of dissent
- 4 Purported pagan origins
- 5 Christian groups
- 6 People
- 7 See also
- 8 Notes
- 9 External links
