Athanasian Creed and the Trinity

The Athanasian Creed is a well-known Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology [1]. The Athanasian Creed speaks against the heresy of Tritheism. However, there is one sentence (sentence 20) in this creed that disagrees with the scriptures. The Athanasian Creed forbids using plurals to refer to The Trinity.

So we (Christians) are forbidden by the true church; to say, There are three Gods, or three Lords.

There are over a thousand instances of Elohim (Gods) referring to Yahveh in the Old Testament. Besides the instances of Elohim, there are other Hebrew plurals referring to Yahveh – it has been discussed throughout this blog. Christians can discuss the fact that the literal translations of plural forms referring to Yahveh are plural without subscribing to polytheism (more specifically Tritheism).

Footnote:

1. The creeds of Christendom: with a history and critical notes, Volume 1 By Philip Schaff