When did theology discover the Holy Trinity?

Answer 1

A:The Blessed Trinity, or Holy Trinity, is understood as three persons in one God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is a concept the Church prefers to say was always part of Christian doctrine. However, the earliest known proponent of the Holy Trinity was Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the early third century.

The new concept gradually gained adherents throughout the third century but also faced opposition, particularly from Arius, a popular Libyan priest at the beginning of the fourth century. The Trinity was adopted as Christian doctrine at the Council of Nicaea in 325, but the Church remained divided until Emperor Theodosius made belief in the Trinity a requirement for all Christians, around 380 CE.

The Holy Trinity supposedly has scriptural support in the 'Johannine Comma', 1 John 5:7-8 ("For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."), but that passage was never in the early Greek manuscripts. It appeared in the Latin translation of the fifth century, after the Trinity doctrine had been accepted by the Council of Nicaea and long after the time of Tertullian.