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SATAN'S GREATEST HOAX or 226 questions PROVING the doctrine of the TRINITY to be UNSCRIPTURAL! Questions 211 through 217- The Christian Apologists- Compromisers. ((Justin Martyr (ca. 147 AD) - "We bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost." (1 Apol. 67)... "...we reasonably worship [Jesus Christ], having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third." (1 Apol. 13).)) ((Athenagoras (ca. 170) - "We affirm that God and His Word or Son and the Holy Spirit are one in power..." (Plea. 24)... "We believe in a God who made all things by His Word and holds them together by His Holy Spirit that comes from Him" (Plea. 6).)) A couple more Trinitarian / pagan philosophers for you! QUESTION #211) Can't you Trinitarians provide any early church "fathers" that believed in the Trinity but WEREN'T ALSO PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS? No, of course you can't! Because that's where the doctrine of the Trinity came from! Not from the apostles, not from the Jewish faith, but FROM BABYLON BY WAY OF PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS! "JUSTIN MARTYR... A pagan reared in a Jewish environment, Justin became a Christian, possibly at Ephesus, near modern Selcuk, Tur., where he studied Stoic and Platonic philosophy. Soon after 135 he BEGAN PROPAGATING HIS NEW RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY at Rome... Justin's distinctive contribution to Christian theology is his conception of a divine plan... the Old Testament and Greek philosophy MET TO FORM the single stream of Christianity... Justin's imprecision of thought and terminology, regarding 'person,' 'nature,' and 'logos,' however, GENERATED THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES THAT ENDURED FOR MORE THAN FOUR CENTURIES." The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. V., pp 645-646. "ATHENAGORAS (fl. 2nd century), Greek Christian philosopher and Apologist whose treatise Presebia peri Christianon (c.177; Embassy for the Christian) is the first known work to use Neoplatonic concepts to interpret Christian belief and worship... Athenagoras ADDUCED THE FIRST RATIONAL APOLOGETIC FOR God's simultaneous unity and TRINITY by SUGGESTING MULTIPLE PERSONS in a single nature and potency." "HUMANISTIC SCHOLARSHIP, HISTORY OF... the genealogical tree of knowledge passed from Moses through the Egyptians... to the Greeks, whose works could therefore be considered divinely inspired. Such was the claim of the Christian scholar Justin Martyr (died c. 165), who ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE WORD OF GOD COULD HAVE INSPIRED THE GREAT PAGAN AUTHORS. About the turn of the following century, Clement of Alexandria, the founder of Christian philosophy, asserted that pagan wisdom to the Greeks was equivalent of the Old Testament..." . The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 8., pg. 1173. "CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY... In patristic and medieval times, Christianity experienced a confrontation with Greek philosophy... Plato possessed a fragment torn from the eternal truth of the living Logos (Word). Justin Martyr was so impressed by the work of Plato that he ascribed his insights to an acquaintance with he teaching of Moses." The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 4, pg. 558. "PLATONISM AND NEOPLATONISM... The CHRISTIAN PLATONISTS gave primacy to revelation and REGARDED PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY AS THE BEST AVAILABLE INSTRUMENT for understanding and defending the teachings of Scripture and church tradition... THE FIRST CHRISTIAN TO USE GREEK PHILOSOPHY IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WAS JUSTIN MARTYR, whose passionate rejection of Greek polytheism, combined with AN OPEN AND POSITIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE ESSENTIALS OF PLATONIC RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY... was to remain characteristic of the Christian Platonic tradition. This was carried on in the Greek-speaking world by Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215), a persuasive Christian humanist, and by the greatest of the Alexandrian Christian teachers, Origen (c. 184-254)... The Greek philosophical theology that DEVELOPED during the Trinitarian controversies over the relationships among the persons of the Godhead, which were settled at the ecumenical councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381), owed a great deal to Origen... It's greatest representatives on the orthodox side were the three Christian Platonist theologians of Cappadocia, Basil of Caesarea (c. 330-379), Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 330-390), and Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa (died 394). Of these Gregory of Nyssa was the most powerful and original thinker (and the closest to Origen). He was... at once VERY PLATONIC and profoundly Christian..." The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 14, pg. 558. "PATRISTIC LITERATURE... Justin's attitude to pagan philosophy was positive... Tatian's (Justin's pupil)... contemporary Athenagoras of Athens, ... is as FRIENDLY as Justin TO GREEK CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY... They strove to vindicate the Christian understanding of God... In so doing, most of them EXPLOITED CURRENT PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS, IN PARTICULAR THAT OF THE LOGOS (word), or rational principle underlying and permeating reality, which they regarded as the divine reason, become incarnate in Jesus. They have been accused of Hellenizing Christianity (making it Greek in form and method)..." The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974, vol. 13, pg. 1080. QUESTION #212) What does the Bible say about mixing Christianity with pagan philosophy? Col 2:6 "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 BEWARE LEST ANY MAN SPOIL YOU THROUGH PHILOSOPHY AND VAIN DECEIT, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: QUESTION #213) If philosophy is likened to VAIN DECEIT in scripture, WHY ARE TRINITARIANS SO PROUD AND CONFIDENT OF THEIR EARLY CHURCH FATHERS WHO WERE FORCED TO RESORT TO PLATO TO DEFINE CONCEPTS THEY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND, AND THAT WERE NEVER STATED IN SCRIPTURE??? 1 Ti 1:3 "As I besought thee... that thou mightest charge some that they TEACH NO OTHER DOCTRINE... 6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; 7 DESIRING TO BE TEACHERS OF THE LAW; UNDERSTANDING NEITHER WHAT THEY SAY, NOR WHEREOF THEY AFFIRM." QUESTION #214) Did not God specifically warn us in His word what would happen by mixing pagan philosophy with His commandments and concepts (words)? Rev 2:14 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou... eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication... 16 REPENT; OR ELSE I WILL come unto thee quickly, and will FIGHT AGAINST THEM WITH THE SWORD OF MY MOUTH... 18 ...These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass... 2:20 ...I HAVE A FEW THINGS AGAINST THEE, BECAUSE THOU... TEACH AND... SEDUCE MY SERVANTS TO COMMIT FORNICATION, AND TO EAT THINGS SACRIFICED UNTO IDOLS. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast... them that commit adultery... into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children (Protestants!) with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." Jdg 2:17 "And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but THEY WENT A WHORING AFTER OTHER GODS, and bowed themselves unto THEM: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so." Mar 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord" Deu 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD... 14 YE SHALL NOT GO AFTER OTHER GODS, OF THE GODS OF THE PEOPLE WHICH ARE ROUND ABOUT YOU; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." Deu 13:6 "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, LET US GO AND SERVE OTHER GODS, WHICH THOU HAST NOT KNOWN, THOU, NOR THY FATHERS; 7 NAMELY, OF THE GODS OF THE PEOPLE WHICH ARE ROUND ABOUT YOU, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 THOU SHALT NOT CONSENT UNTO HIM, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, NEITHER SHALT THOU CONCEAL HIM" QUESTION #215) So where, dear Pilgrim, amidst all these stern warnings, where did our fathers the Hebrews, or our fathers the Apostles, or those who immediately followed the apostles, or even our Father Jesus Christ, EVER SPECIFICALLY SAY OR COMMAND US TO BELIEVE THAT THE GODHEAD IS A TRINITY OF PERSONS??? QUESTION #216) And why, oh why, dear Pilgrim, if God was so set AGAINST the gods of the pagans, why is it that the pagan gods of a trinity of persons is now to be so highly honored by such as yourself??? QUESTION #217) Can you possibly deny the extent of historical facts linking the doctrine of the trinity NOT to the early church of Jewish descent, but to it's pagan influences? "The Trinity doctrine... traces it's history to a rebellious extremist named Tertullian" -After The Way Called Heresy, by Thomas Weisser, Pg. 21 "And it is not improbable that the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, which formed no part of the original Jewish Christianity, may be traced to Egyptian influence; as the whole of the OLDER EGYPTIAN THEOLOGY WAS PERMEATED WITH THE IDEA OF TRIPLE DIVINITY, as seen by both in the triads of gods which the various cities worshipped, and in the threefold names, representing three differing aspects of the same personality, under which each god might be addressed." -Joseph Crafton Milne, "A History of Egypt, pg 155. Vol. 5. as quoted in After The Way Called Heresy, by Thomas Weisser, pg 21. "The Cappodicians, theologians who reconciled the faith of Athanasius with the current philosophy, and apprehended it abstractly, did not retain his teaching pure and simple... They boldly characterized the plurality of Hypostases, e.g., AS A PHASE OF TRUTH PRESERVED IN GREEK POLYTHEISM" -Adolf von Harnack, "History of Dogma", pg 142-143. "It is a solution by HARMONIZATION, an attempt to combine, as Gregory of Nyssa characterizes it, the monotheism of the Jews AND THE POLYTHEISM OF THE GREEKS. The method of harmonization used by them was TO THIN DOWN THE JEWISH MONOTHEISM AS A CONCESSION to Greek polytheism." -Wolfson, Harry A. "The Philosophy of the Church Fathers", pg 578-579, as quoted in After The Way Called Heresy, by Thomas Weisser, page 32. "In the Trimurti, Brahma... The Lord God, though one without a second, assumes the three forms respectively of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva... though three in form, are one entity... It may, however be noted that, whereas THE TRINITY is presented in Scholastic philosophy as a mystery, IT IS A FUNDAMENTAL DEFINITION OF HINDU RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY!" -Edward Rice, Eastern Definitions, pg 387. as quoted in After The Way Called Heresy, by Thomas Weisser, Page 34. "The ancient BABYLONIANS, just as the modern Romans, RECOGNIZED IN WORDS the unity of the Godhead; and, while worshipping innumerable minor deities, as possessed of certain influence on human affairs, they distinctly acknowledged that there was One infinite and Almighty Creator, supreme over all... IN THE UNITY OF THAT ONE ONLY GOD OF THE BABYLONIANS, THERE WERE THREE PERSONS, and to symbolize that doctrine of the Trinity, they employed, as the discoveries of Layard prove, the equilateral triangle, just as it is well known the Romish Church does at this very day... The Papacy has in some of its churches, as, for instance, in the monastery of the so-called Trinitarians of Madrid, an image of the Triune God, with three heads on one body. the Babylonians had something of the same. Mr. Layard, in his last work, has given a specimen of such a triune divinity, worshipped in ancient Assyria... of such another divinity, worshipped among the Pagans of Siberia..." -Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pages 16-17. "The worship of the goddess-mother with the child in her arms continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity entered... AT THE COUNCIL OF NICE... THE MELCHITE SECTION - THAT IS, THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SO-CALLED CHRISTIANITY OF EGYPT - HELD THAT THERE WERE THREE PERSONS IN THE TRINITY - THE FATHER, THE VIRGIN MARY, AND MESSIAH THEIR SON... Thus, there was a wonder in Heaven; a throne was seen far above all created powers, mediatorial, intercessory... Such is Popery... bold and unblushing in its blasphemies; that in Lisbon, a church was to be seen with these words engraven on its front, 'To the virgin goddess of Loretto, the Italian race, devoted to her DIVINITY, have dedicated this temple.'... This, however, is just the exact reproduction of the doctrine of ancient Babylon in regard to the great goddess-mother. The Madonna of Rome, then, is just the Madonna of Babylon. The 'Queen of Heaven' in the one system is the same as the 'Queen of Heaven' in the other. The goddess worshipped in Babylon and Egypt as the 'Tabernacle' or Habitation of God, is identical with her who, under the name of Mary, is called by Rome 'the House consecrated to God,' 'the awful Dwelling-place,' 'the Mansion of God,' 'the Tabernacle of the Holy Ghost,' 'Temple of the Trinity.'" -Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pages 82-83. Question 218- Nicene Council- Christian? or Pagan Philosophy? QUESTION #218) Are you still proud to call the Nicene council a Christian council Pilgrim, and a forerunner to your own religion? "The definition of the Christian faith as contained in the creeds of the ecumenical synods of the early church indicate that UNBIBLICAL CATEGORIES OF NEOPLATONIC PHILOSOPHY WERE USED IN THE FORMULATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, as well as in Christology and the doctrine of man..." --Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, 1984, Vol. 4, page 476. "The Holy Trinity- the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity... The question as to how to reconcile the encounter with God in this threefold figure (The Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit) with faith in THE ONENESS OF GOD, WHICH WAS THE JEWS' AND CHRISTIANS' CHARACTERISTIC MARK OF DISTINCTION OVER AGAINST PAGANISM, agitated the piety of ancient Christendom in the deepest way... THIS QUESTION WAS ANSWERED IN THE NEOPLATONIC METAPHYSICS of being... In Neoplatonic philosophy both the nous and the idea of the world are designated the hypostases (essences, or natures) of the transcendent God. Christian theology took the Neoplatonic metaphysics of substance as well as its doctrine of hypostases as THE DEPARTURE POINT for interpreting the relationship of the 'Father' to the 'Son' in terms of the Neoplatonic hypostases doctrine... The Neoplatonic concept of substance... was foreign to the New Testament itself... The dispute on the basis of the metaphysics of substance... led to concepts that have no foundation in the New Testament." -Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, 1984, Vol. 4, page 485. "TRINITY. The term 'Trinity' (Greek troas) was first used by Theophilus of Antioch (fl.c. 180 AD)... Judaism emerged...as the purest form of monotheism in the ancient world... "THE FULL DEVELOPMENT OF TRINITARIANISM TOOK PLACE IN THE WEST, IN THE SCHOLASTICISM OF THE MIDDLE AGES, WHEN AN EXPLANATION WAS UNDERTAKEN IN TERMS OF PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY, especially of the recovered Aristotlianism of the 13th century. The classical exposition is found in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose views on this subject have dominated most of later Christian theology, BOTH ROMAN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT." -Encyclopedia Americana, 1983 Question 219- Know them by their fruits- The Trinity. "A second verbal clash or confrontation took place in about 180 AD between Noetus and the presbyters in Smyrna... Noetus asked one final question, which has come down through the centuries of time unanswered, 'WHAT EVIL, THEN, AM I DOING IN GLORIFYING CHRIST?' the presbyters could not answer that... "Noetus knew only one god, and taught that this one God was none other than Jesus Christ: '...There exists one and the same Being, called Father and Son, not one derived from the other, but himself from himself, nominally called Father and Son according to the changing of the times; and that this One is He that appeared to the patriarchs, and submitted to birth from a virgin, and conversed as man among men. On account of His birth that had taken place, He confessed Himself to be the Son to those who saw Him, while to those who could receive it, He did not hide the fact that He was the Father.' (Noetus)... "Hippolytus gives us many of the scriptures quoted by the Noetians of the period. 'Now they seek to exhibit the foundation for their dogma by citing the word in the law: Exodus 3:6, Exodus 20:3, Isaiah 44:6. Thus they say they prove that God is one. And they answer in this manner: 'If therefore I acknowledge Christ to be God, He is the Father Himself, if He is indeed God; and Christ suffered, being Himself God; and consequently the Father suffered, for He was the Father Himself.' (Hippolytus)... "Ignatius taught that He became passable (able to suffer) for our sakes (Polycarp 1:15). But the Platonic philosopher taught that God the Father remained forever impassable. THIS DICTATED THAT ONE COULD NEVER SUFFER, BUT SENT ANOTHER WHO DID. THE NOETIANS RIGHTLY SAID THAT THIS WAS DITHEISM... Noetus and his followers quoted such scriptures as John 2:19, John 10:30, john 14:9 and Romans 9:5. They also used Isaiah 45:14. Note the heavy reliance upon the gospel of John in this particular case. Contrary to Trinitarian historians, those against the (Trinitarian) doctrine, the Alogi or MONARCHIANS (as Noetus here), MADE GREAT USE OF JOHN TO REFUTE THE FALSE LOGOS TEACHING... "Larson unwittingly, perhaps, got to the root of the carnal minds rejection of Jesus Christ as truly being God, when he made this comment about the Trinitarian reaction to Noetus' teaching: 'THE HORROR AROUSED AMONG THE ORTHODOX BY THE THOUGHT THAT GOD THE FATHER HAD BEEN NAILED TO A TREE, APPROACHED HYSTERIA: AND THIS, WE BELIEVE, RESULTED FROM THE FACT THAT NO ONE EVER QUITE ACCEPTED THE DOCTRINE THAT JESUS WAS TRULY GOD. FOR WERE HE ACTUALLY SO, WHY WAS IT LESS HORRIBLE FOR HIM TO SUFFER CRUCIFIXION?'... "Noetus on the other hand, followed the apostles, and taught that Jesus Christ was truly God the Father manifested in the flesh: 'I am under necessity, since one God is acknowledged, to make this one the subject of suffering. For Christ was God, and suffered on account of us, being Himself the Father, that He might be able to save us.'... "Clement of Rome had warned earlier in his second epistle of putting Christ in second place" 'Brethren, we must think of Jesus Christ as of God.'... Hippolytus himself was a man... who also wrote on chronology, magic, and astrology, not to mention philosophy. But overall in the Roman church, the teaching of Noetus was highly popular at this time. Trinitarians still represented a minority faction... It was only at the beginning of the fourth century that the Trinitarians gained the upper hand by forming an alliance with Caeser so that they might drive the Oneness Christians underground." -William Chalfant, Ancient Champions of Oneness, pages 39-48. "This (Trinity)- let loose a fury among mankind that has rarely been paralleled. MILLIONS SUFFERED VIOLENCE OR DEATH IN THE PURSUANT WARS AND PERSECUTIONS. Hundreds of bishops were exiled or murdered at the command of other bishops who, when the tide turned, visited the same treatment upon their rivals." The Story of Christian Origins, M.A. Larson, New Republic Book, p572. The killing did not stop at the council of Nicea, nor with the Roman Catholic Church. Through history, many Protestant Trinitarians continued the violence begun by their mother church. Martin Luther condemned Oneness groups with these words- "The Second Person in the Godhead... alone became true man... that neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit became true man, AS CERTAIN HERETICS HAVE TAUGHT" -Luther's Works 37, R. Fischer and H. Lehmann, eds., fortress Press, p.361. And what kind of fruits did Martin Luther display by which "Ye shall know them by their fruits"? Well, to Prince John Fredrick, after Luther's break with the Catholic Church, advising on how to handle revolting peasants, Martin Luther answered- "Smite, stab, slay and kill" -Christian Attitudes toward War and Peace, R.H. Bainton, Abingdon Press, p. 140. John Calvin (1509-1564) openly and unabashedly physically violently opposed Oneness proponents. A contemporary of Calvin's, a Oneness preacher by the name of Michael Servetus taught- "I do not separate Christ from God any more than a voice from the speaker or a ray from the sun... An amazing mystery it is that God can thus be conjoined with man and man with God. A great wonder that God has taken to himself the body of Christ that it should be his peculiar dwelling place..." -Quoted in Hunted Heretic, R. Bainton, Beacon Press, p. 49. "Calvin became so angry over the writings of Michael Servetus (1511-1556 AD), who taught against the Trinity, and taught One God, that HE HAD SERVETUS BURNED AT THE STAKE in Geneva... Although Calvin must bear the primary guilt of the murder of Servetus, many other Catholics and Protestants were in favor of it." -Ancient Champions of Oneness, W.B. Chalfant, Word Aflame Press, p. 153. "The false and wicked doctrine of the troublesome Spaniard (Servetus) goes far to do away with the whole of Christian religion... Therefore do everything possible that such dreadful blasphemy get no further wind to the detriment of Christianity" -Ulrich Zwingli, quoted in Ancient Champions of Oneness, W.B. Chalfant, Word Aflame Press, p. 153. If you wish to continue clinging to your bloody Roman Catholic / Protestant roots- KNOW that Jesus said- "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" -Revelation 18:4. THE HISTORY OF THE TRINITY DOCTRINE IS AS BLOODY A HISTORY AS MAN HAS EVER SEEN! THE CHURCH OF CHRIST (THE TRUE AND THE FALSE) HAS KNOWN NO PEACE SINCE IT'S INCEPTION. QUESTION #219) Is this the history of Christ's church, that since the formulation of the Nicene Creed proclaiming a Separation of Persons in the Godhead, such bloodshed, war and persecutions should plague Christ's church? Can that truly be Christ's church? Questions 220 through 221- Know them by their fruits- Oneness. "Do not think, however, that Oneness Christians used force or physical violence AT ANY TIME" -Ancient Champions of Oneness, W.B. Chalfant, Word Aflame Press, p. 138. QUESTION #220) WHAT OTHER CHRISTIAN SECT CAN MAKE THIS CLAIM, WHO HAVE NOT VIOLATED THEMSELVES THROUGH PHYSICAL FORCE OR VIOLENCE WHATSOEVER SINCE THE BEGINNING OF JESUS CHRIST'S CHURCH ON EARTH, who can also trace their progenitors right back to the apostles themselves? QUESTION #221) WHERE IS FOUND ANY HISTORICALLY ACCURATE EVIDENCE AGAINST ANY PROPONENT AND FOLLOWER THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE "ONENESS OF GOD IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST" THAT THEY SO PERSECUTED TRINITARIANS IN RETURN? Gal 4:29 "But as then HE THAT WAS BORN AFTER THE FLESH PERSECUTED HIM THAT WAS BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Please continue with the 226 questions disproving the doctrine of the Trinity. QUESTION 222 Return to the Table of Contents for the 226 questions Return to the preface for the studies on the doctrine of the Oneness of God in the name of Jesus Christ. Read real conversations on the topic of Oneness vs. Trinity. |