Tape 9 Hour 1

Question 1

How and through whom did the trend towards binitarianism develop in the second century?

Answer 1

Philo, some of the Greek apologists began to view the Logos as a separate person from the Father. This was not trinitarianism, however, but a form of binitarianism, and one that subordinated the Logos to the Father. To them the Father alone was the real God and the Logos was a created divine being of second rank

Question 2

Who introduced the basic language of trinitarianism to Christianity and what was his basic teaching on the Godhead?

Answer 2

Tertullian was the first person recorded by history to use the words trinity, substan, and person in relation to God. He was the first to speak of three persons in one substance

Question 3

What key concept did Origen contribute to trinitarian doctrine?

Answer 3

The doctrine of the eternal Son. He taught that the Son or Logos was a separate person from all eternity, and that the Son was begotten from all eternity and is eternally being begotten