Commentary on what the early Christians believed about the Trinity:

Apostolic Fathers, Apologists, Nicene Era, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen

Apostolic Fathers

Apologists

Nicene Era

Ignatius

"We have seen that the Watchtower has been dishonest in dealing with the issue of authenticity with regards to Ignatius' writings. We have seen that the author of this article *never* cites the actual writings of Ignatius, but relies solely on materials that his sources clearly indicate are later writings. Further, the writer passes over in silence citation after citation that deals a death blow to his entire thesis, compounding his error by misleading his readers into thinking that Ignatius but once identifies the Lord as "God the Word." It is obvious to any semi-impartial reader that the Watchtower is not the least bit interested in what Ignatius *actually* believed about Jesus Christ. It is their purpose to make Ignatius into one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Just as the Watchtower Society has smuggled their doctrines into the Bible by mistranslating numerous passages (John 1:1, 8:58, Colossians 1:16-17, 2:9, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, Revelation 3:14, etc. and etc.), so they show a willingness to grossly misrepresent an early Father of the Christian Church regarding his belief in the deity of Christ. We cannot possibly accept any excuses for this kind of deceptive writing--poor scholarship is one thing, but this goes far beyond simply poor scholarship. This article shows definite, pre-meditated deception. It's purpose is to misrepresent Ignatius' beliefs, and in so doing confirm millions of Jehovah's Witnesses world-wide in their beliefs. When we think of the fact that the vast majority of those individuals do not have recourse to Ignatius' actual writings, so as to discover the truth for themselves, the grave responsibility that lies upon the shoulders of the Watchtower Society for this deception becomes clear. The venerable bishop of Antioch at the turn of the first century of the Christian era believed heartily in the deity of Jesus Christ. As he often confessed Christ to be His God, he was but following the Apostolic example seen in Thomas (John 20:28), John (John 1:1), Paul (Titus 2:13) and Peter (2 Peter 1:1). No amount of misrepresentation can hide the truth of the Christian belief summarized so well by Paul, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of Deity in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). (Historical Dishonesty and the Watchtower Society, A Review of the Watchtower's Comments Concerning the View of Ignatius of Antioch and the Deity of Christ, By James White)

Irenaeus

Justin Martyr

Tertullian

Origen

 By Steve Rudd

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