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Decepto-Meter

Deceptive Quote: Trinitarian

It is deceptive to deliberately misrepresent Newman to say that trinity is pagan origin, when in the same breath Newman also says that incarnation, angles, demons, divine kingdom and new birth are also of pagan origin. In Fact Newman doesn't believe any of these things originated with Pagans!

Newman, John Henry: Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

What Anti-Trinitarians quote:

"Let us allow that the whole circle of doctrines, of which our Lord is the subject, was consistently and uniformly confessed by the Primitive Church . . . But it surely is otherwise with the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity. I do not see in what sense it can be said that there is a consensus of primitive [church authorities] in its favour . . . The Creeds of that early day make no mention . . . of the [Trinity] at all. They make mention indeed of a Three; but that there is any mystery in the doctrine, that the Three are One, that They are coequal, co-eternal, all increate, all omnipotent, all incomprehensible, is not stated, and never could be gathered from them." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p40, as quoted by anti-Trinitarians)

What they fail to tell the same article also says:

  • Of course the doctrine of our Lord's divinity itself partly implies and partly recommends the doctrine of the Trinity ... First, the Creeds of that early day make no mention in their letter of the Catholic doctrine at all. They make mention indeed of a Three; but that there is any mystery in the doctrine, that the Three are One, that They are coequal, co-eternal, all increate, all omnipotent, all incomprehensible, is not stated and never could be gathered from them. Of course we believe that they imply it, or rather intend it. (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p40-42)
  • "Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil ... feeling also that these usages had originally come from primitive revelations and from the instinct of nature, though they had been corrupted ... and that they were moreover possessed of the very archetypes, of which paganism attempted the shadows; the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated class." ... "are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p351-353)
  • so the philosophies and religions of men have their life in certain true ideas, though they are not directly divine." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p358)
  • "The phenomenon, admitted on all hands, is this: That great portion of what is generally received as Christian truth is, in its rudiments or in its separate parts, to be found in heathen philosophies and religions. For instance, the doctrine of a Trinity is found both in the East and in the West; so is the ceremony of washing; so is the rite of sacrifice. The doctrine of the Divine Word is Platonic; the doctrine of the Incarnation is Indian; of a divine kingdom is Judaic; of Angels and demons is Magian; the connexion of sin with the body is Gnostic; celibacy is known to Bonze and Talapoin; a sacerdotal order is Egyptian; the idea of a new birth is Chinese and Eleusinian; belief in sacramental virtue is Pythagorean; and honours to the dead are a polytheism. Such is the general nature of the fact before us; Mr. Milman argues from it 'These things are in heathenism, therefore they are not Christian'. We, on the contrary, prefer to say, 'these things are in Christianity, therefore they are not heathen! ... so the philosophies and religions of men have their life in certain true ideas, though they are not directly divine." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p358)
  • we find this method of interpretation to be the very basis of the proof of the Catholic doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Whether we betake ourselves to the Antenicene writers or the Nicene, certain texts will meet us, which do not obviously refer to that doctrine, yet are put forward as palmary proofs of it. Such are, in respect of our Lord's divinity (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p326)

Our comment

  1. Newman never says that the Christian teachings actually originated from paganism, but rather than early Christians employed pagan concepts to describe or imitate true Divinely revealed doctrines or practices. Newman, being Catholic, surely goes too far in some of the things he THINKS are in the Bible, but are not.
  2. However in the list of things that Newman says were of pagan origin and not in early Christian practice, we not that Newman errs in not recognizing that the items in the list originate from divine revelation of the Mosaic system: "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church." (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Newman, a cardinal by Pope Leo III in 1879, 1878, p351-353) Almost all of these things the Catholics borrowed not from the pagans, but the Jews! Newman, being Catholic, would readily admit this if brought to his attention. This leads us to point out that what Newman appears to be saying my be misunderstood. But under no circumstance, would Newman say that an element of Christian doctrine was actually adopted from the pagans WITHOUT divine approval of some type or shadow in scripture.
  3. Newman not only states that trinity is similar to what is taught in paganism, but also incarnation, angles, demons, divine kingdom and new birth. Remember Newman is indicating similarities, not origin.
  4. Newman's main point regarding the similarities between Christianity and Paganism is that the pagans do have some truth in them that they learned from the "instinct of human nature". Newman says: "feeling also that these usages had originally come from primitive revelations and from the instinct of nature, though they had been corrupted" So Newman believes that when there is truth in the pagan religions, the pagans borrowed it from the patriarchs or from instinct! Whether or not we agree with Newman on this, it is surely dishonest to misrepresent Newman as saying that trinity, incarnation, new birth, etc, is not ultimately the result of divine revelation.

Deception Exposed:

  1. It is deceptive to deliberately misrepresent Newman to say that trinity is pagan origin, when in the same breath Newman also says that incarnation, angles, demons, divine kingdom and new birth are also of pagan origin. Anti-Trinitarians are dishonest for not telling the reader all that Newman says.
  2. If anti-Trinitarians maintain that Newman states that trinity is pagan in origin, then we will simply reply, "then Newman is a modernist and a Bible hater for he also says that incarnation, angles, demons, divine kingdom and new birth are also of pagan origin." But in fact Newman is not a modernist or a Bible hater, for he believes all these things are taught in the Bible, but share these divinely approved doctrines with pagan religions.

Full Texts:

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Written By Steve Rudd, Used by permission at: www.bible.ca

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