That controversies existed among believers in the early Church cannot be denied. Not only did disputes arise between Jewish believers, those first to follow the Jewish Christ, but they also occurred between Jewish believers and Gentiles who had converted to the Way. [1]
The types of controversies and conflicts recorded in the Bible vary in nature and degree. For example:
The apostles argued among themselves as to who was the greatest. [2]
Hellenistic Jewish Christians contended with Hebraic Jewish Christians for neglecting their widows in the daily distribution of food. [3]
Jewish Christians criticized Peter for eating with uncircumcised Gentiles and sharing the message of salvation with them. [4]
Christians in Corinth were divided over which teacher, and therefore, which followers, were to be more esteemed. [5]
Believers in Corinth sued one another over disputes.[6]
Some Corinthians caused strife by abusing the Lord’s Supper, eating and drinking to excess, while their brothers and sisters in Christ went hungry. [7]
A contentious man named Diotrephes unjustly and maliciously accused John the apostle and others, and even kicked some men out of the church. [8]
The Greatest Controversy
While these and other conflicts negatively impacted the first-century Church, there was a controversy so great that it threatened the very heart of the gospel message.
In Antioch, Jewish Christians insisted that their Gentile counterparts keep the law of circumcision to be saved. The exchange became so contentious that they travelled to Jerusalem so the council of apostles and elders could arbitrate.
Acts 15:1-2, 4-11(NASB) Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with them, the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue… 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (emphasis added)
James, the Lord’s brother and a leader in the Jerusalem church, then offered his wise counsel on the matter, namely that the Gentiles who were turning to God did not have to follow the Law. But to preserve unity among the brethren, they should “abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood.” [9] His counsel “seemed good to the Holy Spirit” and was accepted by the apostles, elders, and the whole church. They sent a letter, along with a delegation from Jerusalem, to communicate the decision to those in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. [10]
So widespread was the controversy surrounding the push for Gentile converts to observe the Law that Paul was still addressing the matter fifteen years [11] after the decision at the Jerusalem Council was made. In his letter to Titus, Paul instructed the younger bishop stationed at Crete:
Titus 3:9-11 (NASB) But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless. 10Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, 11knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned. (emphasis added)
What’s the Big Deal?
It may be hard for us to fully grasp the magnitude of this crisis in the early Church, but it helps to recall that the Jewish people had been living under the law of Moses for almost 1,500 years. Until the time of Jesus, they knew no other way, and thus, insisted that Gentile converts also keep the Law if they wanted to be found acceptable to God. [12] Their demand created a sharp division among believers because it cast a difficult, if not impossible, burden on Gentiles. And most importantly, it threatened the gospel message of grace. The resolution handed down by the council at Jerusalem declared that all are saved through “the grace of the Lord Jesus,” that is, the undeserved gift of salvation through faith in Jesus as the Christ of God, and not by keeping the Jewish laws or by performing good works. [13]
Lack of Controversy Regarding the Trinity
The controversy regarding Gentile converts and the Law of Moses was so pervasive that New Testament authors spent either portions of or the entirety of at least fifteen chapters addressing the issue. [14] So, as important as the issue was, of greater importance to the Jews was their belief that God is one. The conviction formed the very foundation of their faith and was exemplified in their creedal statement called the Shema: [15] “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God; the LORD is one!” [16]
Since the time of their deliverance from Egyptian captivity, the Jews had been taught that God, who is the Father, is one singular god. Indeed, the first two commandments given to them at Mt. Sinai had to do with God’s uniqueness. [17] The command to acknowledge and worship one God was in stark contrast to the Egyptians and other cultures who worshipped multiple deities. Thus, if the Jews, who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, had been told that he and the Father were both God, there would have been a tremendous outcry because of their fierce monotheism. One would fully expect the controversy to manifest every time the gospel of a dual-headed God was preached to a Jewish audience. The confusion and clamor would have increased all the more had they been told that the one God of Israel included, not only God the Father and an incarnated God-man, but also a third person, the Holy Spirit. The repulsion to the doctrine would have far exceeded the trouble caused by controversy regarding the Gentiles and the Law of Moses. Thus, it should cause us great wonder and consternation that there is no record of questioning, conflict, or resistance to the doctrine of the Trinity [18] in Scripture.
Why the Lack of Controversy?
What then is the reason for the glaring lack of controversy regarding the highly contentious doctrine that opposes the very core of the Jewish monotheistic faith? The answer is simply because first-century Christians were never taught the dogma. Indeed, the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of the deity of Christ are post-Biblical doctrines that evolved over time. To be sure, it was not until the mid-fifth century that the doctrine of a triune God reached its full form as recited today in the Church creeds.
Some posit that the lack of controversy is because Christians were united in a belief that God exists in three persons. But such a stance is wishful thinking since the Bible nowhere speaks of or teaches that the one God of Israel, the God of their forefathers, and now the God of the Gentiles, is a three-person God. On the contrary, the Bible clearly refers to God the Father as God Almighty, the one true God. For example:
Isaiah 45:5-6 and 18 (NASB) “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other…For thus says the LORD, who created the heaven (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else. (emphasis added)
John 5:44 (NASB) [Jesus speaking] “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (emphasis added)
John 8:41 (NASB) “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” (emphasis added)
John 8:54 (NASB) Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’ (emphasis added)
1 Corinthians 8:6 (NASB) yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (emphasis added)
Galatians 3:20 (NASB) Now a mediator is not for one party; whereas God is only one. (emphasis added)
Ephesians 4:6 (NASB) one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (emphasis added)
1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (emphasis added)
Even Jesus, the supposed second member of a triune God, refutes the doctrine:
John 17:1 and 3 (NASB) Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You…3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (emphasis added)
Despite the ubiquitous declarations throughout the Bible that God is one person, there is no record of resistance, Biblically or historically, to the doctrine of the deity of Christ or the Trinity in the first century Church.
Frederic Farrar, former chaplain to the Queen of England and professor at Trinity College at Cambridge, plainly speaks of the lack of controversy regarding the Trinity and the reason for it:
“The first teachers of Christianity were never charged by the Jews (who unquestionably believed in the strict unity of God), with introducing any new theory of the Godhead. Many foolish and false charges were made against Christ; but this was never alleged against him or any of his disciples. When this doctrine of three persons in one God was introduced into the Church, by new converts to Christianity, it caused immense excitement for many years. Referring to this, Mosheim writes, under the fourth century, “The subject of this fatal controversy, which kindled such deplorable divisions throughout the Christian world, was the doctrine of the Three Persons in the Godhead; a doctrine which in the three preceding centuries had happily escaped the vain curiosity of human researches, and had been left undefined and undetermined by any particular set of ideas.” Would there not have been some similar commotion among the Jewish people in the time of Christ, if such a view of the Godhead had been offered to their notice, and if they had been told that without belief in this, they ‘would perish everlastingly’?[19] (emphasis added)
Author Robert A. Wagoner likewise raises the same question regarding the absence of any kind of argument in the New Testament regarding the introduction of the doctrine of the Trinity to a decidedly Jewish audience.
The Bible has many verses which “teach” justification, “teach” repentance, “teach” baptism, “teach” the resurrection, but not one verse in the entire Bible “teaches” the doctrine of the Trinity. No verse describes it, explains it, or defines it. And no verse tells us to believe it. When one considers just how different the Trinitarian view is from the traditional Jewish view of God, you have to ask yourself, where are all the arguments to get the Jew to change his view? Why, when the Apostle Paul spends entire chapters getting the Jew to change his view of the law, isn’t there just one text to get the Jew to change his view of God? This vital, but missing piece, is the Trinity’s single biggest flaw.
The more I looked at the Trinity, the more I saw a doctrine rich in tradition, and passionately defended by brilliant and sincere people, but severely weak in reason and badly wanting in Biblical support. [20] (emphasis added)
The lack of controversy in the New Testament regarding the doctrine of the Trinity testifies to its absence in the early Church, an absence that should sound an alarm among those who hold fast to Sola Scriptura. [21] Instead, the only outcry heard from the halls of orthodoxy is whenever the doctrine’s absence is pointed out. The protest is often accompanied with the proverbial “gnashing of teeth” and “rending of garments,” and the claim that unless one believes in the Trinity, one cannot be saved. Nevertheless, the truth rings clearer: mainstream Christianity holds to a doctrine that is not taught in Scripture.
What Shall We Do?
What, then, shall we do? How should we respond to the absence of fundamental orthodox doctrines from Scripture? First, we should pray, as Paul did, that God would give us all the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.[22] Second, we should study the Scriptures with diligence and be prepared to give a defense of the one God of the Bible. Third, we should act and speak with humility and gentleness towards all, especially when discussing this very controversial matter [23], and remember, cognitive biases can affect people’s theology.
May God open our eyes and our hearts to the truth of His word.
[1] Christ-followers were described as belonging to “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14). Once established in Antioch, they began to be referred to as “Christians” (Acts 11:26).
[2] Mark 9:33-37; Luke 22:24-27.
[4] Acts 10 and 11.
[11] The Jerusalem Council occurred c. 49 or 50 AD. Paul’s letter to Titus was c. 63-66 AD. Thus, there was a period of 13 to 17 years between the two events.
[12] That God would accept Gentiles was a mystery until the time of Christ. See Ephesians 3:4-6; Colossians 1:26-27; Romans 11; etc.
[13] Ephesians 2:8-10; Galatians 2:21, etc.
[14] Acts 15; Galatians 2, 3, 4, and 5; Romans 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14; Colossians 2; Ephesians 2 and 3; Hebrews 8, 9, and 10. See also Titus 3:9-11.
[15] Shema is the transliteration of the Hebrew word listen or hear, which is the first word of the faith statement.
[18] By the mid-fifth century, the doctrine of the Trinity was essentially defined as the belief that God exists as one being in three co-eternal, co-equal, and consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Consubstantial means Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share one divine nature or essence and yet are three distinct persons. None of these aspects of the doctrine are ever taught in Scripture.
[19] Frederic William Farrar, Early Days of Christianity, Vol. I (Boston, Massachusetts: DeWolfe, Fiske & Company, 1882), p. 55.
[20] Robert A. Wagoner, The Great Debate Regarding the Father, Son & Holy Spirit (Santa Ana, 1997), p. 88-89.
[21] Sola Scriptura is, basically, the belief that Scripture alone is sufficient for establishing doctrines in the Church.
[22] Ephesians 1:15-18 (NASB) For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
[23] Colossians 3:12-15.
