Did the early Church invent the Trinity at the Council of Nicaea?

In this teaching, we trace the historical development of Trinitarian doctrine from its biblical foundations through the early Church Fathers and the major councils of Nicaea in AD 325 and Constantinople in AD 381.

Christianity emerged from Jewish monotheism, yet the earliest Christians also confessed Jesus as divine and spoke of the Holy Spirit in ways that could not easily be reduced to an impersonal power. The challenge was not simply deciding whether God is one. Christians already believed that. The challenge was explaining how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could be distinguished while remaining within the identity of the one God.

We examine the contributions of Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Theophilus of Antioch, and Tertullian, pay ...