( PART 3 ) DID THE EARLIEST POST-BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN WRITERS TEACH CHRISTENDOM'S OFFICIAL DOCTRINE OF THE TRI{3}NITY? = CLEMENT OF ROME – LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

January 23, 2012

( PART 3 ) DID THE EARLIEST POST-BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN WRITERS TEACH CHRISTENDOM'S OFFICIAL DOCTRINE OF THE TRI{3}NITY? = CLEMENT OF ROME – LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS – PROLOGUE SUMMARY

So from what we have looked at in Clements introduction or prologue and Irenaeus' information - who would you say is:

Gk., ( Παντοκράτορος Θεοῦ )

“...GOD ALL-MIGHTY...”

Namur or Morin

Ltn., ( Omnipotente Deo ):

“...ALL-MIGHTY GOD...”

Rufinus of Aquileia

Ltn., ( Omnipotente Deo )

“...ALL-MIGHTY GOD...”

IRENAEUS OF LYONS (circa. 130-200 C.E.): “...et annuntians quam in recenti ab Apostolis acceperat Traditionem, annuntianem unum Deum omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, plasmatorem hominis,[...] Hunc Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi ab Ecclesiis annuntiari, ex ipsa ( Scriptura ), qui velint, discere possunt, et Apostolicam Ecclesiae Traditionem intelligere...” - (Pages 6-7, Book III, Chapter 3, Section 3, Subheading: “Taught not as the Heretics teach,” THE THIRD BOOK OF AGAINST HERESIES BY ST. IRENAEUS, Bishop of Lyons With Short Notes, And A Glossary, by Henry Deane, B. D. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, M DCCC LXXIV.)

http://www.archive.org/stream/thirdbookstirena00irenuoft#page/n13/mode/1up

Ltn., ( unum Deum )

“...ONE GOD...”

Ltn., ( Omnipotentem )

“...THE ALMIGHTY...”

Ltn., ( Factorem coeli et terrae )

“...MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH...”

Ltn., ( Plasmatorem hominis )

“...THE FORMER OF MAN...”

“...THE FASHIONER OF MAN...”

“...THE CREATOR OF MAN...”

Ltn., ( Hunc Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi ab Ecclesiis annuntiari )

“...THIS WAS - ( THE FATHER ) - ( OF ) - OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

[THAT WAS] ANNOUNCED TO THE CONGREGATION(S)...”

IRENAEUS OF LYONS (circa. 130-200 C.E.): “...THAT - ( HE ), - THE FATHER - ( OF ) - OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WAS PREACHED BY THE CHURCHES...” - (Book III, Chapter 3, Section 3, Translated by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut. 1885.)

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.iv.iv.html

IRENAEUS OF LYONS (circa. 130-200 C.E.): “...THAT - ( HE ), - THE FATHER ( OF ) - OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WAS PROCLAIMED BY THE CHURCHE(S)...” - (Pages 85-86, Book III, Chapter 3, Section 3, “AGAINST THE HERESIES,” Translation by F. R. Montgomery Hitchcock, 1916.)

http://www.archive.org/stream/treatiseofiren01iren#page/85/mode/1up

Lets compare this with some important statements in the Bible:

ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ 1:3 Greek NT: Westcott/Hort with Diacritics

“...ἵνα ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης, δώῃ ὑμῖν πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως ἐν ἐπιγνώσει αὐτοῦ...”

The text would look something similar to this in the Unicial MSS:

ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ 1:3

EPHESIANS 1:17: “...that THE GOD - ( OF ) - the Lord of us Jesus Anointed, THE FATHER OF THE GLORY, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in full knowledge of him...” - (The Emphatic Diaglott (Interlinear Text) by Benjamin Wilson 1865.)

EPHESIANS 1:17: "...THE GLORIOUS FATHER WHO IS - THE GOD - ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ to give you the spiritual gifts of wisdom and insight as you come to know him..." - (The Translators New Testament (TTNT) by the British Foreign Bible Society 1973.)

Other versions are a lot more blunt and to the point:

EPHESIANS 1:17: “...That THE GOD - ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ, THE FATHER OF GLORY, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him...” - (Douay-Rheims Bible)

EPHESIANS 1:17: “...that THE GOD - ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ, THE FATHER OF GLORY, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him...” - (New American Standard Bible 1995.)

And even the venerable old King James 1611:

EPHESIANS 1:17: “...That THE GOD- ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ, THE FATHER OF GLORY, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him...” - (King James Bible 1611.)

BRUCE M. METZEGER (circa. 1914-2007 C.E.): “...Certain internal features of the letter [...] have led many commentators to suggest that this letter was intended as an encyclical, copies being sent to various churches, of which that at Ephesus was the chief...” - (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament 3rd Edition, United Bible Societies, 1975, Page 601.)

http://www.barnabasministry.com/seminary-passages-eph117.html

ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 8:4 Greek NT: Westcott/Hort with Diacritics
“...Περὶ [4.] τῆς βρώσεως οὖν τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ, καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς Θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς. [5.] καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶν λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς ὥσπερ εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί, [6.] ἀλλ’ ἡμῖν εἷς Θεὸς ὁ Πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ...”

1ST CORINTHIANS 8:4-6: “...Therefore, concerning the act of eating things that have been sacrificed to idols, we know positively that an idol is a nonentity in the world and THAT THERE IS NO - ( GOD ) - BUT - ( ONE ). For, indeed, assuming that there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, even as there are gods many and lords many, YET TO - ( US ) - THERE IS - ( ONE GOD ), - ( THE FATHER ), - OUT FROM WHOM AS A SOURCE ARE ALL THINGS and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whose intermediate agency all things exist and we through Him...” - (Weust's Expanded New Testament 1961.)

ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ 4:6 Greek NT: Westcott/Hort with Diacritics
“...εἷς Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ πάντων, ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων καὶ διὰ πάντων, καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν...”

EPHESIANS 4:6: “...( ONE GOD ) - AND - ( FATHER ) - OF ALL, WHO RULES - ( OVER ) - ALL, acts through all, and dwells in all...” - (Weymouth New Testament.)

EPHESIANS 4:6: “...( ONE GOD ) - AND - ( FATHER ) - OF ALL, WHO IS - ( OVER ) - ALL, and through all, and in you all..” - (Young's Literal Translation.)

MALACHI 2:2-10 ( LXX ): “...ἐὰν [2.] μὴ ἀκούσητε καὶ ἐὰν μὴ θῆσθε εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ὑμῶν τοῦ δοῦναι δόξαν τῷ ὀνόματί μου λέγει Κύριος Παντοκράτωρ καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐφ' ὑμᾶς τὴν κατάραν καὶ ἐπικαταράσομαι τὴν εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν καὶ καταράσομαι αὐτήν καὶ διασκεδάσω τὴν εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν ὅτι ὑμεῖς οὐ τίθεσθε εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ὑμῶν […] [10.] οὐχὶ Θεὸς εἷς ἔκτισεν ὑμᾶς οὐχὶ Πατὴρ εἷς πάντων ὑμῶν τί ὅτι ἐγκατελίπετε ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ βεβηλῶσαι τὴν διαθήκην τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν...” - (Malachi 2:2 Greek OT: Septuagint with Diacritics.)

MALACHI 2:2-10 ( LXX ): “...If [2.] you will not listen and IF YOU WILL NOT PLACE IT IN YOUR HEART TO GIVE GLORY TO - ( MY NAME ), - SAYS - ( THE LORD ALMIGHTY ), - then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessing ; indeed I will curse it. And I will scatter your blessing, and it shall not be among you, because you did not place it in your heart. [...] [10.] DID NOT - ( ONE GOD ) - CREATE US? IS THERE NOT - ( ONE FATHER ) - OF US ALL? Why then did each of you forsake his brother, to profane the covenant of your our fathers?...” - (NETS – A New English Translation Of The Septuagint 2007.)

The Bibles teaching is pretty clear as to who the True God really is when we consider the following testimony:

TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

"...THE GOD - ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Eph 1:17).

ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ 1:3 Greek NT: Westcott/Hort with Diacritics

“...ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ Πατὴρ τῆς δόξης...”

The Emphatic Diaglott Interlinear Text by Benjamin Wilson 1865

“...the God of the Lord of us Jesus Anointed, the Father of the glory...”

"...THE GOD - AND FATHER - ( OF ) - our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Rom 15:6).

ΠΡΟΣ ΡΩΜΑΙΟΥΣ 15:5 Greek NT: Westcott/Hort with Diacritics

τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.