Plato's Legacy: The Christian Trinity

The trinity in Christianity is a blending of neo-Platonism with theology; the Jewish philosopher and theologian Philo is credited as being the one that merged Platos concepts of the Demiurge with biblical concepts of God. In this section, I have oversimplified Platonism and Neo-Platonism so that the reader wont get bogged down in the ridiculous rhetoric of Greek philosophy. Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, didnt espouse faith in any particular deity, but he said all created things came from the demiurge. According to his bizarre and secular explanation of the origin of earth, Plato (a known pedophile) said this mysterious force called Demiurge acted as a sort of subordinate workman employed in the creation of the world. In Plato's dialogue Timaeus, the Demiurge was the creator of the world, the builder of the material universe. In later Neo-Platonic and Gnostic philosophies, the Demiurge was still considered the architect of the world, but an entity distinct from and inferior to the supreme God. Exactly WHOM the Demiurge was subordinate to, Plato failed to give reasonable explanation. He was like many ministers that teach the trinity; if questioned as to its veracity, they say it can only be apprehended but it cannot be comprehended. Go figure. New Age religions today are very much aligned with Platonic dogma because they depersonalize God as a force within (weird huh?). Plato lived at a time when Greece was at its zenith as a ruling power, and even after its eventual decline as a world government, its cultural influence continued in the Roman Empire, including Greek language and philosophy. Alexandria Egypt was home to most major universities of the day, and in secular and Jewish schools alike, Platos philosophy was extensively taught, and often blended into the theology of various Jewish sects by socalled learned men, (aka sages and luminaries), posing as theologians. Neo-Platonism refers to the philosophical and religious doctrines of a diverse school of speculative thinkers who sought to develop and amalgamate the metaphysical ideas of Plato. Such synthesis occurred especially in Alexandria and included Hellenistic Judaism, as exemplified by the Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo Judaeus (aka Philo) of Alexandria, as well as other outlooks. The doctrine kept its essentially Greek character, however. Hebrew teachers, such as the revered Gamaliel and others, all incorporated at least some form of Neo-Platonic philosophy in their theological rhetoric. The result was the widespread misuse by application of Platos description of logos (reasoning), sophia (wisdom), gnosis (knowledge), morphe (form or substance), and intelligence

(nous). Plato said that matter was unimportant in life; the only thing of value was reason, intellect, knowledge and wisdom. Reasoning (logos) was the creative use of knowledge (gnosis), and said it was generated from wisdom (sophia). He also taught that things on earth were merely reflections or copies of things in the heavens; however, it must be understood, Plato did not view heaven as the realm where God exists. Neo-Platonism is a form of impractical monism in which the ultimate reality of the universe is held to be an infinite, unknowable, perfect One. From this One emanates nous (pure intelligence), whence in turn is derived the world soul, the creative activity of which engenders the lesser souls of human beings. The world soul is conceived as an image of the nous, even as the nous is an image of the One; both the nous and the world soul, despite their differentiation, are thus consubstantial with the One. This stuff is so nonsensical and confusing, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it, yet it was the philosophical building block for the doctrine of the trinity, and the doctrine of the PreIncarnate Christ. Plato claimed to be strictly secular, and elevated human reason (Greek word = logos) above any so-called Greek deity. While his claims to secularism are historical record, there is something diabolically spiritual about his philosophy. Gaining momentum among Greeces intellectuals, Plato was viewed as a threat to the well being of the Greek pantheon. His words were his downfall, and along with his insatiable lust for sex with young boys, Plato spawned enough resentment among Greek citizens to warrant his eventual execution. His mortal life ended in a cocktail of wine and deadly hemlock poison; unfortunately, his philosophical ideas live on. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., theologians decided the Old Testament God (Elohim) was the same as Platos One or Demiurge. Because Platonism downplays the importance of matter, which includes human flesh, in building their theology, these wicked men said that Jesus flesh was the only part of him that was created by Elohim. Philo, who was actually a contemporary of Christ, but not a disciple of Jesus, incorporated Neo-Platonism into Jewish religious tradition and his own interpretation of the Pentateuch. He taught that Elohim (the Hebrew word in the OT for God) was a lesser deity, subordinate to Yahweh (or YHWH, the Tetragrammaton). This is ridiculous of course, because Yahweh IS Elohims name! Philo was trying to make the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible) fit together with his Neo-Platonic philosophy. Philo said Elohim was a subordinate workman employed in the creation of the world. This theology paved the way for God being divided into three equal parts, unified into what the ancients called the hypostasis. A hypostatic union is simply defined as the merging of three persons (including their substance) into and constituting one distinct personal substance.

Fast forward to the 2nd century A.D.; all the apostles are dead, but their writings have been loosely compiled into a canon (collection of books or writings) known as the New Testament. During the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. all the true Christians are hiding in underground churches to avoid the barbaric persecution of Roman rulers. Meanwhile, the compromising and the politically correct Christian theologians (aka the church fathers) are tolerated by Rome and avoid persecution because they are not true disciples of Jesus Christ. Among the early so-called Christian theologians Tertullian [a pagan who turned Catholic] is one name stands out because his writings incorporate the non-biblical use of the Latin word Trinity. Trinity is a transliteration of the Latin trinitas; from tres (three) and unus, or unitas, (one, unity). In theology, Trinity is the union of three persons in one Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Tertullians theology is a blend of pagan tritheism and Biblical theology. In the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries A.D., non-Christian men pose as church theologians, distancing their theology further and further away from the simplicity of the scriptures. They use a perverse mixture of Greek philosophy and contemporary thought, and as a result, many prolific debates heat up concerning two principal ideas: 1. Who is Christ; is he God or is he man? 2. Is Christ a created being, or has he always existed? Instead of using the scriptures to answer these questions, theologians and philosophers wrangled with words, and eventually came up with an eclectic blend of neo-Platonism, Philonic theology, pagan tritheism and the Bible. The apostles Paul, Peter and John saw this influence upon the church, and included warnings about it in their letters to the churches: Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men's ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding the teachings of Christ the Messiah. AMP 2 Peter 3:15-17 And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world is salvation, that which is conducive to the soul's safety, even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual

insight given him, 16 Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those epistles of Paul that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as they distort and misinterpret the rest of the Scriptures. 17 Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked persons and fall from your own present firm condition your own steadfastness of mind. AMP 1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy, guard and keep the deposit entrusted to you! Turn away from the irreverent babble and godless chatter, with the vain and empty and worldly phrases, and the subtleties and the contradictions in what is falsely called knowledge and spiritual illumination. 21 For by making such profession some have erred & missed the mark as regards the faith. AMP 2 Timothy 2:14-18 Remind the people of these facts and solemnly charge them in the presence of the Lord to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good but upsets and undermines the faith of the hearers. 15 Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved; tested by trial, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing; rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth. 16 But avoid all empty, vain, useless, idle talk, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness. 17 And their teaching will devour; it will eat its way like cancer or spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have missed the mark and swerved from the truth by arguing that the resurrection has already taken place. They are undermining the faith of some. AMP 2 Timothy 3:13-17 But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves. 14 But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learned them, 15 and how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every Scripture is God-breathed; given by His inspiration and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness; in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action, 17 so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. AMP Additional scriptures regarding the influences of Greek philosophy on the teachings of Christ are found in: 1 Corinthians 1:19-23; 3:18-19; 2 Corinthians 10:5-6; Acts 20:28-30; Matthew 10:16-17; 15:2-9; Mark 7:3-13; Galatians 1:13-14; 4:3; Colossians 1:22; 2:1819; Philippians 3:1-2; Romans 16:17-20; Ephesians 5:5-7; Hebrews 13:8-9. Although today many believe in a trinity, I would challenge any sincere believer to find it within the word of God. They will, if they are honest about it, admit that it's not there in any shape or form. We are told to live by every word of God in Matthew 4:4. If Christians would do this, then many would come to the saving knowledge of the truth and be set free from sin and Satan.