Thanks u/Plemethrock
We can have a discussion on whether or not free will exists. Discuss if every action we do is already predetermined by how our brain is wired, with the environment around us being the inputs.
We can also have a discussion on whether or not humans have souls and analyze the evidence for and against us just being our bodies
(I made an error and had to repost, apologies)
"the Byzantines"? Are those supposed to be some of the Epstein islands? Sure, buddy. Did the clockwork elves tell you that? I was about to explain how the Trinity is conceived of in Christian theology but I see now it's a waste of time and you obviously are very knowledgeable about it all. Call me when you're back from lala land.
So, you are totally clueless. Maybe this will help. The Byzantine religion was based on Christianity, which became the defining feature of Byzantine culture. The Church was headed by the Patriarch or bishop of Constantinople, who was appointed or removed by the emperor. The doctrine of the Trinity was not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament, but it was implicit in John, and the New Testament possessed a triadic understanding of God and contained a number of Trinitarian formulas.
The Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic Church even has a website: https://www.byzcath.org/HolyTrinity/
I won't call or ever reply to you again. It would be a waste of my time.
Dude, do you think I, an Orthodox Christian, coming from that region don't know about the Byzantine Empire? I laughed at you calling it the Byzantines and the bizarre claim that early Christians were unitarian (there were such heretical sects, but why do you assume they are the "true Christians" and not the majority ones who held to the teachings of the apostolic Church?)
No, the Orthodox Church was always synodal and decentralized. The Empire was ruled according to the dual-headed eagle principle of symphonia - joint governance of Church and state working in harmony in their respective roles. The Church took care of spiritual matters and the state - of civil matters. The Emperor was crowned and anointed by the Church and he held a minor clerical order (diakonos). Yes, some emperors overstepped their boundaries and meddled into Church matters but that's not how the system was set up. Namely, this system is distinct from the Western Catholic system which came to be defined by a geopolitical struggle between the secularized Papacy greedy for political supremacy (owning a bank, a standing army and militarized orders etc.) and the God-Emperor kings who sought to rule all by themselves, getting rid of the RC Church (culminating in Henry VIII who made his own church where he's the head and later Napoleon who notoriously crowned himself in a self-worshipping ceremony).
The Trinity is present both in the New and the Old Testament and that has been the traditional teaching of the Church as evident from the early Church fathers. The Rublev icon that shows up at the link you posted depicts the Trinity as seen by Abraham in Genesis 18.
You shouldn't be debating history and especially early Church history if you haven't red a lot on the topic. Reading some wacko's book or watching zeitgeist and tiktok reels about it won't do the job.
Obviously you don't know anything. Only the lies you have been told all your life, called brainwashing. For starters you have no idea the first Christian state was not Catholic Rome, but a Gnostic one, Osroene, with its capital at Edessa in modern Turkey. The Gnostic teacher, Bardesanes was able to convert the king of Edessa, Abgar IX, who established Bardesanes' version of Christianity as the state religion, which ended when Edessa was conquered by the Roman Emperor Caracalla in 216. Bardesanes also known as Bar-Daisan, was a Gnostic Christian writer and poet. He was born in the Syrian city-state of Edessa (now called Urfa, or Sanliurfa, in southern Turkey), where he later became a missionary after his conversion in 179. He was credited by church fathers with inventing the Christian hymn and wrote 150 songs that were popular for generations. The most famous is the “Hymn of the Pearl”.
What happened next, Christianity began to spread carried by devoted followers who risked their lives to share their faith. The message of Jesus resonated with many offering hope and redemption in a time of great turmoil. Over time the movement grew stronger eventually gaining the attention of the Roman Empire. By the early 4th Century emperor Constantine embraced Christianity leading to its widespread acceptance and the eventual establishment of the church as a dominant religious force. As Christianity evolved different interpretations of its core messages emerged giving rise to diverse and often conflicting beliefs.
How do you know all this secret knowledge and how did you confirm it's not made up? Why do you trust the gnostic account (as if there's a single one) and not the Church?