The daily motto (lot) of the Moravian Brethren in Isaiah 43:11 speaks well to me because it is simple and clear:
אנכי אנכי יהוה
ואין מבלעדי מושיע
anochi anochi YAHWEH wine mibal’adai moschia
“I really am JAHWEH!
And there is none, except Me, who saves! “(own translation)
For me, this self-declaration by JAHWEH is like a shining counterpoint to the complicated trinity dogma, where three people are supposed to make up one person.
“Do Christians have three gods?” Is Helmut Fischer’s question about his book of the same name on the origins and understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. On the back-cover page the author writes: “Few people can associate something concrete with the word “Trinity”, a key term in the ecumenical community. Many understand it to be a kind of polytheism. The author shows how the Christian belief in God had to gradually develop its profile when dealing with the religious and philosophical currents of the first centuries. He shows how in this process the thought model of the ‘divine trinity’ came about, what it expresses and what distinguishes the Christian understanding of God from others. ”
As I read it, it became clear to me that Christians were looking for their place in the polyglot world of the Greeks and found it with the dogma of the Trinity.
The dogma of the Trinity has caused much calamity in church history. I think of all the pogroms against the Jews up to and including the Shoah. On May 28, 2013 I wrote in my diary that the dogma of the Trinity is the greatest heresy of Christianity according to my belief. It is hard to believe what effect this construction has and is still having. Miguel Serveto (Michael Servetus) was born in Spain around 500 years ago; a multi-talented person who had exposed the Trinity as a false teaching. He paid for his conviction with his life. Calvin finally put him at the stake in Geneva. The Reformation had not distanced itself sufficiently from Catholicism. A dark chapter.
May this promise soon be fulfilled!