Note (56.) to "History of the 'Christian' Trinity - HIST"

56. The French Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel (New Universal Dictionary) speaks about Plato's trinity of the 4th and 5th centuries before Christ:

"The Platonic trinity, itself merely a rearrangement of older trinities dating back to earlier peoples, appears to be the rational philosophical trinity of attributes that gave birth to the 3 hypostases or divine persons taught by the Christian churches.... This Greek philosopher's conception of the divine trinity ... can be found in all the ancient [pagan] religions." - (as quoted in ti-E, p. 11. Also found in the Dictionnaire Lachatre as quoted in 8/1/84 WT.)

56a. Even the highly acclaimed (and very trinitarian, of course) The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, John McManners (ed.), admits that Plato's teaching of "the divine triad" is "so close to the now known truth" of the much more modern `Christian' trinity doctrine! - p. 47, Oxford University Press, 1992.


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