religious ideas

[lawlessbreed]

What is the concept of the trinity and why does it occur in so many religions?

[jno]

does it? Three is often seen as a sort of magic number; it's the first one that allows for shades of meaning (two implies dichotomy, black and white, yes and no, good and bad, binary code) and implies stability (stools work with three legs, not with two). See Wikipedia on three and on the trinity.

[Clanad]

I would expand on jno's implied question concerning the appearance of the concept of the Christian Trinity in other religions. Before Christianity, no religion ever believed in a single Deity consisting of three persons. Other religious concepts sometimes describe three seperate gods, yet these are clearly a triad of distinct pagan deities, not a trinity in the Christian sense. The concept of One God, yet three distinct personages is unique to Christianity and one of the major points of disagreement, especially with Islam and somewhat even with Judaism. (The S'hema says "Hear, O' Yisrael, the Lord is your God, the Lord is One")
Detractors claim that the Hindu "trimurti" - Brahma, Vishnu and Siva - was another model for the Christian Trinity. Yet scholars tell us that this "trimurti" only appears in Hinduism during the fourth century after Christ. Christians had been professing belief in One God in Three Persons for four centuries by then! If the Trinitarian concept predates the Hindu trimurti, the former could not have been copied from the latter. Christians...

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[heathfield]

I don't know that it occurs in many religions, but as to its concept you might look at:

http://home.inu.net/skeptic/trinity.html

[steve @ home]

I was going to post an answer but then I saw there were already three, so I decided not to.

Oh...

[CLOWN TICKLE]

I understood three religions believe in one god, christianity, islam and judaism

[Tillyella]

The early Christians never believed in a Trinity, indeed the word does not appear in the bible. The Trinity doctrine was not adopted until the fourth century because the Emporer Constantine at this time was unhappy with the fact that he had Christians and pagans in the land so he persuaded the two separate religions to sort of join their beliefs together, as triads of gods were common in pagan beliefs the Christian trinity doctrine was born. It is not scriptural God is one and Jesus is his son. The result of this joining of beliefs is the absolute confusion that we have now such as Easter with it's eggs and rabbits is steeped in paganism. If Jesus was to return now he would'nt recognize the christianity that exists to-day from the christianity he taught.

[pugwashjw]

The Trinity concept has been adopted from earlier religions whose deities were depicted as being " all seeing" and were shown with three faces. The concept is NOT supported by the Bible. The word 'Trinity' does not appear at all in the Bible. If it were true, surely Jesus' teachings would have been very clear on the point. John 1;18 No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.

In this scripture, Jesus is termed a god, a spiritual being, but not Almighty God, his Father.

John 3;16 �For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life".

John 4;34 Jesus said to them: �My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

John 5;19 Therefore, in answer, Jesus went on to say to them: �Most truly I say to YOU, The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner".

John 5;22 For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son,".

All these scriptures clearly separate Jesus from his Father.