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Revision as of 21:18, 22 June 2006 by 67.68.218.191 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Tritheism is the belief that there are three equally powerful gods who form a triad. The gods are envisaged as having separate powers and separate supreme beings or spheres of influence but working together. In this respect tritheism differs from dualism, which typically envisages two opposed Divine powers in conflict with one another. Ironically, 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 "cult". Moreover, it is used specifically in accusing a group of holding a distorted view of the Christian doctrine of Trinity.
Muslims, Unitarians and other nontrinitarians claim the orthodox trinitarian Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as 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.) attempted to distinguish Trinitarianism from Tritheism and Modalism.
At various times in the history of Christianity, various theologians were accused by the church of tritheism, which the church treated as heresy. John Philoponus, an Aristotelian 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 persons. He sought to justify this view by the Aristotelian categories of genus, species, and individuum.
Tritheism was revived in the Anglican Church in 1690 by Dean Sherlock in his work, "Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy and ever Blessed Trinity." He maintained 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." He was widely opposed by trinitarians. More recently Mormonism 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 beings unified in purpose, who like all other angels and men are eternally existent, but whose relationship to one another is unique; consequently there is no distinction between God's being (solitary, transcendent and eternal) in contrast to created being, as there is in traditional Christianity.
The Hindu Trinity of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer has also been said to constitute a Tritheistic belief system. Like the Chistian Trinity, these beings are understood to work ultimately in harmony with one another. However, 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.
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