The Trinity in Ancient Paganism

The Trinity in Ancient Paganism

 

Not only did Christians take the belief of Jesus’ divinity and God’s incarnation from the idolatrous, but they also took their belief in the Trinity.

 

To prove that, we will review the ancient pagan nations’ history that was before the time of Jesus (PBUH). History proves that many of the idolatrous believed in the Trinity before Christians, and what the Christians say about the Trinity was taken from these nations with little alteration in the Trinity hypostasis, by changing the names of the idolatrous Trinity.

 

 

The belief of the triple god existed four thousand years before the birth of Christ (PBUH). The Babylonians believed in it, when they divided the gods into three groups, (the god of sky, the god of earth, and the god of sea).

 

 

Then, the Trinity developed as it is now in Christianity, in the tenth century before Christ. The Indians believe that their Trinity consists of Brahma, Fishna, and Seva,  and these three are one.

 

 

Mentioned in the pious Atnis prayers, “oh, three gods know that I believe in one god. Tell me, which of you is the real god, to pray for and present my vow? Then the three gods appeared and said to him: you, the worshipper, know that there is no difference between us, the three you see is in the shape and the sameness, but there is only one divine person in the three”.

 

Found in Indian remains, was an idol with three heads and one body, indicating the Trinity.  

 

The Trinity was known by the ancient pagans, such as the Egyptian Trinity (Ozirous, Izes, and Hoars), the Persian Trinity (Ormizd, Mitras, and Ahraman), the Scandinavian Trinity (Aowen, Tora, and Freie), and the Mexican Trinity (Tzikliboka, Ahotzlipo Shtiki, and Tlakoma). The Greek philosophers, whose belief was similar to the Christians’, also believed in their Trinity (existence, knowledge, life), and many others, which will take too long to mention.[1]   

Even the Nicene Creed, which the Nicene Council produced, was from old religions. The historian Malver quoted from the Indian books about their belief, saying, “we believe in Bsafstri (the sun), the controller of all, who created heavens and the earth, and in his only son “Ani” (the fire), light from light, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, was incarnated by Faya (the spirit) of the virgin Maya. We believe in Fayo, the spirit who proceeded from the Father and the son, who is the father, and the son glorifies and kneels to him.”

 

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica mentions that, “the concept of the Trinity is of Greek origin, with Jewish input and is a strange mixture made by Christians, because the religious concepts are taken from the Holy Bible, but they are filled with foreign philosophies. 

 

The concepts (The father, the son, and the Holy Spirit) come from the Jews, and the last concept (The Holy Spirit) was rarely used by Jesus. 

 

Leon Joteh says, “Christianity absorbed many ideas and concepts from Greek philosophy. Christian theology is taken from the same source, which is Platonism, and that is why we find many similarities between them”.

 

Greek philosophy spread through Alexandria, where Plato the Alexandrian was (207C.E). He believed in the treble (God, mind, spirit). Thus, the Alexandrian saints were the first to believe in the Trinity and defend it.  

 

Will Durant and others said, that paganism spread through Rome. Will Durant also said, “When Christianity conquered Rome, the new religion was influenced by the old pagan rituals, such as the titles, the great cardinal, and the worshipping of the great mother.”

 

In his book “Christian Paganism”, Robertson supports this idea; he believes that those beliefs arrived in Rome, brought by the Persians, in the year 70 B.C.E. 

Others believe that those beliefs spread by the ancient Pharaohs ideology passed to Christianity because of their close proximity.  

 

Other scholars believe that the spread of these concepts was from Torsos, which had great schools of Greek literature, and was where Paul grew up and was influenced by these concepts.[2]

 

The spread of paganism into Christianity is a clear fact, which made some honest and brave writers confess.

 

Among them, the archeologist Garslafe Creny, in his book “Ancient Egyptian Religion”, he said, “The Trinity was added to the real Christianity, and it was taken from the pagan Pharaohs’ belief”.

 

In his book, “Christian Paganism” the prominent scholar Robertson talked in detail about Christian adoption of paganism. He said, “It is a pleasure to say, that among those who criticized my book, no one disagreed with the facts that I mentioned in it, and this convinced me that most Christian beliefs are taken from paganism.”  

 

The authors of the book, “The Myth of God’s Incarnation”, mentioned the same; “The belief that Jesus is God, the son of God, or God incarnated in him, is no more than pagan myth and legend.” [3]

 

From that, I can say that the Trinity is a pagan adoption, which led away from natural instinct, strayed from the prophets’ guidance, and worshipped other than Allah (S.W), the greatest.

 

Allah the Greatest tells us, about the origin of Christian disbelief, He says, “The Jews call 'Uzair a son of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!”(Holy Quran 9:30). 

 

 

 

 

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[1]- Paganism in Christianity, Mohammad Taher Attenneer, pp 13-23, Christianity, Ahmad Shalaby, pp 118-120, A Study on the Torah and The Gospel, Kamel Saafan, pp 81, 228

[2]- Paganism in Christianity, Mohammad Taher Attenneer, pp 173, Christianity, Ahmad Shalaby, pp 150, Judaism and Christianity, Mohammad Diaurahman Al Aathamy, 282, 299, 414-415  

[3]- Frank Discussion Between the Servant of Allah and the Servant of Christ, Abdul Wadoud Shalaby, pp 67-73, Christianity, Ahmad Shalaby, pp 152, The True Christianity That Christ Taught, Alaa Abu Bakr, pp 139, Christ in the Quran, the Torah and the Gospel, Abdul Kareem El Khateeb, pp 137, Monotheistic Christian Creeds Between Islam and Christianity, Husni Al Ateer, pp 19-20