Is the Trinity Pagan?

by Clete Hux –

In the first few centuries after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, church leaders gradually fleshed out (often in the midst of great controversy) their understanding of the nature of God and his incarnation in the Person of Jesus Christ. The orthodox doctrine was written down and summarized in the great ecumenical creeds of the church—the Apostles’, Nicene, Chalcedonian, and Athanasian creeds. Together these creeds tell us that God is the almighty creator of the universe and that he is a trinity (tri-unity) of three equally divine and eternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What’s more, the Second Person of this trinity—the Son of God—took on human flesh in space and time, thus becoming forever the God-Man, Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine.

However, various sectarian groups such as the Latter Day Saints and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have challenged the biblical foundations of the doctrine of the trinity—the doctrine, that is, that there is one God in three persons—along with the church’s traditional commitment to the full deity and humanity of Christ. The charge was that these doctrines were logically absurd and that they find their origins in pagan religion. In other words, it was claimed that the church fathers who developed the doctrines of the trinity and the incarnation got these ideas, not from the Bible, but from paganism.
In this article, I will respond specifically to the charge that the trinitarian God that Christians have believed in—the God of the church’s creeds—is a borrowed pagan deity. On the contrary, this God is the God of the Holy Scriptures.

Pagan Connections?
As noted above, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others deny the biblical trinity, accusing Christians of borrowing it from pagan sources. They claim that the concept of the trinity was formulated centuries after the biblical era by the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). Before that time, the claim goes, the church did not have a trinitarian view of God. To support this charge, it is argued that there are similarities between the Christian trinity and certain pagan “trinities” of other cultures. For example, under the heading “Historical Development of the Trinity Doctrine,” the Watchtower Society states, “History confirms that the Trinity was borrowed from pagans and existed centuries before Jesus came to the earth. Long after his death, it was promoted by those who had been influenced by pagan philosophies and who had apostatized from the true worship of God as taught by Jesus and the apostles.”1

Also, in their Should You Believe in the Trinity magazine, the Watchtower pictures sculptures of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Hindu gods of past centuries along with pictures of Trinitarian figures in more recent centuries to bolster their claims.2 Let’s examine these so-called “trinities” to see if they are parallels to the biblical trinity.

THE OTHER “TRINITIES”
1. The Egyptian Triad
Prior to Christianity, there was no religion that believed in a single deity which consisted of three persons. However, detractors will sometimes say the triad of the Osiris-Isis-Horus family of ancient Egyptian mythology served as a “model” for the Christian Trinity. However, there is no similarity here to Christian monotheism that teaches that the triune God is three persons yet one God. Pagans, including ancient Egyptians, were polytheists who believed in many gods. Osiris, Isis, and Horus form a triad of distinct pagan deities and not a trinity in the Christian sense. This Egyptian triad was actually part of a larger family of gods that consisted of Seb (father) and Nut (mother) and their children Set, Nedphthys, Isis, and Osiris. Osiris married his sister, Isis, and begat Horus and Seth. There were other divinities as well (such as the sun god, Ra), but the so-called triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus was never considered by the Egyptians to be three persons in one God, but as two separate gods and a goddess.3 Obviously, this is not the Christian monotheistic concept of the one and only triune God.

2. The Babylonian Triad
The Babylonians had a pantheon of gods, among which were the triad of Anu, Bel, and Ea. These represented heaven, earth, and sea, respectively. Actually, the pantheon is an amalgam of Semitic and Sumerian ideas, and many times the supremacy of a deity depended on the political predominance of the city where a particular deity was worshipped. Supposedly, Anu and Ea were originally Sumerian gods. Ea was the god of Eridu, a city on the Persian Gulf, and was seen as the giver of learning and wisdom. He was the ocean god who embodied the mysteries of the distant waters. Bel is also known as Baal or Lord, since the Semites conceived the deity as Lord or king. As “Lord” of the City of Nippur he took the characteristics of its Sumerian city-god Enlil, a storm or wind god, and was gradually transmuted into the lord of the earth and the lord of mankind. Anu was the most ancient of all the Babylonian gods; the word means “heaven” and was perhaps used for a purer concept of the deity before the religion degraded to a kind of political polytheism.4
Some have also mentioned the triad of Ishtar, Sin, and Shamosh that dates back to around 2000 B.C. as being a forerunner to the biblical trinity. But what do gods and fertility goddesses having offspring have to do with Christianity? Indeed, how can anyone see any connection between these crude Babylonian fancies and the Christian trinity? There is none! It would be just as easy to claim that Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury or Zeus, Ares, and Hermes were prototypes for God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Incredible!

3. The Hindu Triad
There are others who believe that the Hindu “trimurti” of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva was another model for the Christian Trinity. However, it is to be noted that this “trimurti” is a late development, only appearing in Hinduism during the 4th – 7th centuries A.D.5 As such, it doesn’t belong to the ancient Indian or Aryan religion, and by the time it came along the Christian understanding of the holy trinity was well established. Given the fact of Hinduism’s tendency to absorb concepts from other religions, and the fact that Christianity had reached India in the first century, it is likely that the Hindus developed the trimurti by borrowing concepts from the Christian trinity.

Further, Hindus do not believe Brahma, Vishna, and Siva to be three persons in one God. Rather, they believe these are three manifestations or aspects of Brahman, the impersonal Absolute. At best, the trimurti could represent a variation on the heretical view called modalism (i.e., the view that there is one God who appears in three different forms at different times), not the doctrine of the trinity which teaches that the persons of the trinity are distinct. But, the trimurti is really pantheism in the guise of polytheism and not the Christian Trinity. Moreover, some add a fourth god, Ishvara, and claim that he is the antecedent to the other three.6 Also, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva each have a goddess consortSarasvati, Lakshmi and Saki respectively. Isn’t that six and not three? If we add Ishvara and his consort, Maheshvari, there would be eight primary manifestations of Brahman!

The Biblical and Historical Foundations of the Trinity
So what is the origin of the Christian doctrine of the trinity? It is true that it was not officially formulated until the fourth century. However, this does not mean that the Church did not hold to a trinitarian pattern of belief prior to that time. Indeed, the trinity is a clear biblical teaching. It is based on three clear and undeniable biblical facts: (1) There is only one God (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 44:6; John 17:3; 1 Tim. 2:5), (2) there are three persons who are called God (1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 1:8; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor. 6:11), and (3) the three-in-one pattern of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the New Testament record (Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 12:4-6).7
In addition to this biblical pattern for the trinity, there is considerable evidence that the early Christian Church held such a view immediately after the New Testament period. For example, in his first letter, Clement of Rome used a threefold trinitarian pattern of language as he spoke of “God’s will. . . the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “the confidence of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Clement 2242:2-3). The same can be discerned in Ignatius’ letters. He states how “…Our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan, both from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit.” (To the Ephesians 18:2). In writing to the Magnesians, he encourages them to prosper “in the Son and Father and Spirit” (To the Magnesians 13:2).8
It was only when the church was challenged by the heresy of Arianism in the fourth century that serious debate about the Godhead really began. Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, denied the eternality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Logos (Word). He held that deity could not appear substantially on the earth. So, for Arius, Christ had to be a created being. He asserted that Christ was not of the same substance (homoousia) with the Father, but of similar substance (homoiousio).9 This view was condemned at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325.
Prior to this challenge from Arius, the early church never had to contend with such a formidable attack. The truth is that the Church had to have already believed in the deity of Christ (and the trinity) before it could be attacked. His deity was always believed by the Church but it was officially declared at the Council of Nicea in response to the Arian controversy.
Therefore, simply calling something pagan doesn’t make it pagan. Nor does some vague resemblance between Christian beliefs and paganism. Walter Martin wrote,

In order to find out if the doctrine of the Trinity is true, we do not look to see if it resembles paganism, but to the Bible, to see if God teaches it in his word. Pagans also believe in the concept of God. Does this mean that God must not be true? Pagans sleep. Does that mean sleeping is wrong? We must not dismiss an idea merely because it is held in common with those whom we may not approve.10

Instead of Christianity borrowing the trinity from paganism, it seems much more plausible that just the opposite took place. In regard to the Watchtower’s Should You Believe in the Trinity?, it is noted that

Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hindu, and Buddhist triads, as well as Platonism, are all claimed as influencing the development of the Trinity. But,. . .most of these alleged influences were either far too early or far too late, or far too removed geographically to have any significant influence. Artwork picturing Egyptian and Babylonian triads are reproduced, despite the fact that the art dated from about two thousand years before the witnesses claim the trinity originated! Other artwork depicting Hindu and Buddhist triads from the seventh and twelfth centuries are shown, despite the fact that these were done centuries after the trinity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire!11

Also, another author points out that pagans taught the concept of a great flood that killed much of humankind. Pagans also taught the idea of a messiah-like figure named Tammuz who was resurrected. So, if anti-Trinitarians were consistent, in regards to paganism, they would have to reject the flood, the Messiah, and his resurrection as pagan doctrines.12

In light of this, it seems more apparent that paganism borrowed the concept of the trinity from Christianity and got it wrong. It has been said that the pagan triads are residuary fragments of their lost knowledge of God, not different stages in a process of evolution, but evidence of a moral and spiritual degradation.13 The triune God of the Bible is unique, neither polytheistic nor tri-theistic. He is one in nature and yet consists of three distinct eternal persons.

Clete Hux is the Counter-cult specialist for the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama.

Notes
1 Should You Believe in the Trinity? (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988), 18.
2 bid., 11.
3 See http://homepage.nt/world.com/robin.brace/I THEGODHEAD.html.
4 See http:www.catholic.com/this rock/1992/9207clas.asp.
5 See http://homepage.nt/world.com/robin.brace/ITHEGODHEAD.html.
6 Ibid.
7 For a more thorough treatment of the biblical evidence for the trinity see Ron Rhodes, “Defending the Deity of Christ and the Trinity against the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Areopagus JournalAreopagus Journal 28.
8 See http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/jwtrinl.htm.
9 Phillip Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd ed., vol. 1. (Toronto, New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894), s.v. “Arius.”
10 Walter Martin, The New Cults (Santa Ana: Vision House Publisher, 1980), 49.
11 See http://www.4witness.org/jwysbt/ysbt_ch3.php.
12 See Ron Rhodes, “Defending The Deity of Christ and the Trinity Against the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” 27.
13 See http://www.letusreason.org/Trin8.htm.