Tritheism is the belief that there are three distinct, powerful gods, who form a triad. Generally three gods are envisaged as having separate powers and separate supreme beings or spheres of influence but working together. In this respect tritheism differs from
dualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two" . The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages.-Moral...
, which typically envisages two opposed Divine powers in conflict with one another.
There is no group that claims to believe in or teach tritheism; the term is solely used as an accusation against others, somewhat similar to the usage of the word
cultCult may popularly refer to a religious group with relatively few adherents whose beliefs or practices are regarded by others as strange or sinister.The term "cult" was originally used to denote a system of ritual practices...
, in accusing a group of holding an alternate or distorted view of the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
doctrine of
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being. Each of the persons is understood as having the one...
.
Tritheism is the belief that there are three distinct, powerful gods, who form a triad. Generally three gods are envisaged as having separate powers and separate supreme beings or spheres of influence but working together. In this respect tritheism differs from
dualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two" . The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages.-Moral...
, which typically envisages two opposed Divine powers in conflict with one another.
There is no group that claims to believe in or teach tritheism; the term is solely used as an accusation against others, somewhat similar to the usage of the word
cultCult may popularly refer to a religious group with relatively few adherents whose beliefs or practices are regarded by others as strange or sinister.The term "cult" was originally used to denote a system of ritual practices...
, in accusing a group of holding an alternate or distorted view of the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
doctrine of
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being. Each of the persons is understood as having the one...
. The main branches consider tritheism heretical.
Monistic tritheism
The Hindu Trinity of Brahma the creator,
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God...
the preserver and
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
the destroyer has also been said to constitute a Tritheistic belief system. Like the Christian Trinity, these beings are understood to work ultimately in harmony with one another, but this Hindu trinity does not have doctrinal status as in trinitarian Christianity, but is posited as simply one of many ways in which the Divine order of the universe may be understood. Ultimately, however, the Universal Spirit, the Param-atman, the
BrahmanIn the Hindu religion, Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different...
(not to be confused with
brahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
, a social class / caste), or Bhagvan reigns supreme, as one divine entity, in Hindu theology.
Monotheistic tritheism
MuslimsIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
,
JewsJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
,
UnitariansUnitarianism as a theology is the belief in the single personality of God, in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity ....
and other
nontrinitariansNontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that reject as non-scriptural, wholly or partly, the doctrine of the Trinity—the doctrine that the God of the Bible is three distinct persons in one being, and that these three persons are eternal and equal in nature, authority, and...
claim that the orthodox trinitarian
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
doctrine of the
Holy TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being. Each of the persons is understood as having the one...
of
FatherIn many monotheist religions, God is given the title and attributions of Father. In the Israelite religion and its closest modern relative, Talmudic Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, law-giver, and protector...
,
SonJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
and
Holy SpiritIn Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. In mainstream Christian beliefs he is the third person of the Trinity. As part of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and with God the Son....
constitutes Tritheism, since these distinct "personalities" seem to act independently of one another, though not in conflict.
Proponents of trinitarianism claim that the three persons of the Trinity do not have separate powers, since they are omnipotent, and do not have separate spheres of influence, since their sphere of influence is unlimited. They argue that the persons of the Trinity have one divine essence and are indivisible, whereas Tritheism appears to suggest three separate gods. Athanasius (b. 298 A.D.) already attempted to distinguish Trinitarianism from Tritheism and Modalism.
Historical uses of the term in Christianity
The following tritheistic tendencies have been condemned as heretical by mainstream theology.
At various times in the
history of ChristianityThe history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion and the Christian Church, from the ministry of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles and the Great Commission, to contemporary times and denominations. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion. It differs most significantly from the others in the...
, various theologians were accused by the church of tritheism, which the church treated as
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
.
- Those who are usually meant by the name were a section of the Monophysites, who had great influence in the second half of the sixth century, but have left no traces save a few scanty notices in John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus was a leader of the non-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking Church in the sixth century, and one of the earliest and most important of historians who wrote in Syriac.-Life:...
, Photius, Leontius etc. Their founder is said to be a certain John Ascunages, head of a Sophist school at AntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River...
. The principal writer was John PhiloponusJohn Philoponus , also known as John the Grammarian or John of Alexandria, was a Christian and Aristotelian commentator and the author of a considerable number of philosophical treatises and theological works...
, the great Aristotelean commentator; the leaders were two bishops, Conon of Tarsus and Eugenius of Seleucia in IsauriaIsauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering much of what is now Konya/Bozkir province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains...
, who were deposed by their comprovincials and took refuge at Constantinople where they found a powerful convert and protector in Athanasius the Monk, a grandson of the Empress Theodora. Philoponus dedicated to him a book on the Trinity. The old philosopher pleaded his infirmities when he was summoned by the Emperor Justinian to the Court to give an account of his teaching. But Conon and Eugenius had to dispute in the reign of Justin IIFlavius Iustinus Augustus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 to 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I, and husband of Sophia, the niece of the late empress Theodora, and therefore member of the Justinian Dynasty...
(565-78) in the presence of the Catholic patriarch John ScholasticusJohn Scholasticus was the 32nd patriarch of Constantinople from April 12, 565 until his death in 577. He is also regarded as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church....
(565-77), with two champions of the moderate Monophysite party, Stephen and Paul, the latter afterwards Patriarch of Antioch. The Tritheist bishops refused to anathematize Philoponus, and brought proofs that he agreed with Severus and Theodosius. They were banished to PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
, and Philoponus wrote a book against John Scholasticus, who had given his verdict in favour of his adversaries. But he developed a theory of his own as to the ResurrectionThe resurrection of dead humans is a central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It may refer either to the resurrection of particular individuals, or a general resurrection of humanity....
(see EutychianismEutychianism refers to a set of Christian theological doctrines derived from the ideas of Eutyches of Constantinople . Eutychianism is a specific understanding of how the human and divine relate within the person of Jesus Christ...
) on account of which Conon and Eugenius wrote a treatise against him in collaboration with Themistus, the founder of the Agnoctae, in which they declared his views to be altogether unchristian. These two bishops and a deprived bishop named Theonas proceeded to consecrate bishops for their sect, which they established in CorinthCorinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...
and AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, Rome, Northern Africa and the Western Patriarchate, while in the east agents travelled through Syria and CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
, IsauriaIsauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering much of what is now Konya/Bozkir province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains...
and CappadociaCappadocia is a region in central Turkey, largely in Nevşehir Province ....
, converting whole districts and ordaining priests and deacons in cities villages and monasteries. Eugenius died in PamphyliaIn ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...
; Conon returned to Constantinople. Leontius assures that the Aristoteleanism of Philoponus made him teach that there are in the Holy Trinity three partial substances (merikai ousiai, ikikai theotetes, idiai physeis) and one common. The genesis of the doctrine has been explained (for the first time) under MONOPHYSITES, where an account of Philoponus's writings and those of Stephen Gobarus, another member of the sect, will be found.
- John Philoponus
John Philoponus , also known as John the Grammarian or John of Alexandria, was a Christian and Aristotelian commentator and the author of a considerable number of philosophical treatises and theological works...
, an AristotelianAristotelian matters may refer to:* Aristotle * Aristotelianism, the philosophical tradition begun by Aristotle...
and monophysite in Alexandria about the middle of the sixth century, was charged with tritheism because he saw in the Trinity as separated three natures, substances and deities, according to the number of divine persons. He sought to justify this view by the Aristotelian categories of genus, species and individuum.
- In the Middle Ages Roscellin of Compiegne, the founder of Nominalism
Nominalism is a metaphysical view in philosophy according to which general or abstract terms and predicates exist, while universals or abstract objects, which are sometimes thought to correspond to these terms, do not exist. Thus, there are at least two main versions of nominalism...
, who argued like Philoponus that unless the Three Persons are tres res, the whole Trinity must have been incarnate, was refuted by St. Anselm.
- Among Catholic writers, Pierre Faydit, who was expelled from the Oratory
In Christianity, an oratory is a room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is for all intents and purposes another word for what is commonly called a chapel...
at Paris in 1671 for disobedience and died in 1709, practiced a form of Tritheism in his Eclaireissements sur la doctrine et Phistoire ecclésiastiqes des deux premiers siecles (Paris, 1696), in which he tried to make out that the earliest Fathers were Tritheists. He was replied to by the PremonstratensianThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
Abbot Louis-Charles Hugo (Apologie du système des Saints Pères sur la Trinité, Luxemburg, 1699).
- A prominent ideologue of Russian Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers became separated after 1666-1667 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon...
and a writer AvvakumAvvakum Petrov was a Russian protopope of Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church...
(died 1682) was accused by official Orthodox Church and by fellow Old Believers in tritheism, based on some passages in his letters.
- A Catholic canon of Trier named Oembs, influenced by the doctrines of the "Enlightenment", similarly attributed to the Fathers his own view of three similar natures in the Trinity, calling the numerical unity of God an invention of the Scholastics. His book Opuscula de Deo Uno et Trino(Mainz, 1789), was condemned by Pius VII in a Brief of 14 July, 1804.
- The Bohemian Jesuit philosopher Anton Günther
Anton Günther was an Austrian Roman Catholic philosopher whose work was condemned by the church as heretical tritheism.-Biography:...
was also accused of Tritheism, leading to his work ending up on the Index librorum.
- Among Protestants, Heinrich Nicolai (d. 1660), a professor at Dantzig
Dantzig is the Dutch term for, as well as an older German spelling variant of Danzig . It is also French for "Danzig" , although the name Gdańsk is now used in French as the city name.- People :...
and at ElbingElbing may refer to:* German name of Elbląg, a city in northern Poland which until 1945 was a German city in the province of East Prussia* objects named after that city:** SMS Elbing, light cruiser of the Imperial Germany Navy** Elbing class torpedo boat...
(not to be confounded with the founder of the Familisten), is cited.
- The best known in the Anglican Church is William Sherlock, Dean of St. Paul's, whose "Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy and ever Blessed Trinity" (London, 1690) against the Socinians, maintaining that with the exception of a mutual consciousness of each other, which no created spirits can have, the three divine persons are "three distinct infinite minds" or "three intelligent beings.", was attacked by Robert South in "Animadversions on Dr. Sherlock's Vindication" (1693). Sherlock's work is said to have made William Manning
William Manning was a British merchant, politician, and Governor of the Bank of England between 1812 and 1814....
a Socinian and Thomas EmlynThomas Emlyn , English nonconformist divine, was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire.He served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, and then to Sir Robert Rich, afterwards becoming colleague to Joseph Boyse, presbyterian minister in Dublin...
an Arian, and the dispute was ridiculed in a skit entitled "The Battle Royal", attributed to William Pittis (1694?), which was translated into Latin at Cambridge.
- Joseph Bingham
Joseph Bingham , English scholar and divine, was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire.He was educated at University College, Oxford, of which he was made fellow in 1689 and tutor in 1691...
, author of the "Antiquities", preached at Oxford in 1695 a sermon which was considered to represent the Fathers as Tritheists, and it was condemned by the Hebdomadal Council as falsa, impia et haeretica, the scholar being driven from Oxford.
- More recently Mormonism
Mormonism comprises the religious, institutional, and cultural elements of the early Latter Day Saint movement and its modern denominations deriving from the leadership of Brigham Young...
is described as tritheistic or polytheistic, by the standard of the trinitarianism of the ecumenical and catholic tradition, because it posits that the "Godhead" is a council of three distinct deities unified in purpose and mission, but nevertheless separate and distinct individuals. In contrast, mainstream Christianity views God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost as three "manifestations" of the same being. Mormons draw their understanding of the Godhead primarily from the First Vision of Joseph Smith, Jr., who claimed to have actually seen God the Father and Jesus Christ and recounted seeing "two personages," one of which referred to the other as His "Beloved Son." Mormons also cite Biblical script to support their position that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are actually three distinct beings. See Matt 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 17, John 20:17, Acts 7:55-56.