Who first came up with the word: Trinity?
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, better known as Tertullian, lived circa 160 – 240 A.D. This Christian scholar and writer became famous for defending the early Christian faith against heretical attacks and for coining one of the most important theological terms in Christianity. Early in the 3rd century, a priest called Sabellius began teaching that God had three different forms or “modes” which he flipped between Father, Son, or Spirit. He described God as having three masks, which God selected, depending on what he was trying to reveal to mankind. This was a heroic attempt to explain why God is sometimes called the Father while at other times, the Son, and yet also the Holy Spirit. But this attempt by Sabellius didn’t sit right with Tertullian, who countered it with his own, more biblical, explanation. At that time there wasn’t even a word that existed for the three natures of God. So Tertullian made one up. He called his concept the Trinity. As I’m sure you realize… the nam