29 verses · KJV · every verse read aloud
Early Christian writings strongly affirm Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together while also guarding the oneness of God. Writers like Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, Novatian, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius of Rome, and the early liturgies speak of three persons or hypostases and one Godhead, and they connect this to baptism and worship. The most direct Bible passages used are Matthew 28:19, John 1:1, John 1:14, Matthew 3:16-17, and 1 Corinthians 8:6, with later writers often citing them as the basic pattern. The evidence is broad and early, though some texts use different terms like substance, hypostases, or persons, so the wording is mixed even when the core teaching is consistent. A few entries are typological or background rather than direct doctrinal statements, so the strongest case comes from the direct confessional and baptismal passages.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Three heavenly witnesses text
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 John 5:7
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Bible passage for one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Ephesians 4:5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Core Bible passage for the Word with God and as God.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 1:1
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Bible passage for the Word becoming flesh.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 1:14
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Hebrews 4:12
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Baptismal scene with Son, Spirit, and Father.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Luke 3:22
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Three that bear witness on earth
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 John 5:8
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Bible passage for one God and Father of all.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Ephesians 4:6
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Primary Bible passage for triune baptism.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Matthew 28:19
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Spirit of the Son sent by God.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Galatians 4:6
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Strong Old Testament unity passage.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Deuteronomy 6:4
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Timothy 3:16
The same was in the beginning with God.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 1:2
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 3:35
I and my Father are one.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 10:30
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
Bible passage for the Son as exact imprint and word of power.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Hebrews 1:3
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Father's voice identifying the Son.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Matthew 3:17
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Word of God title.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Revelation 19:13
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Son and Father inseparable in confession
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 John 2:23
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Direct Bible passage for one God and one Lord.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Corinthians 8:6
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Thessalonians 2:13
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 10:35
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Corinthians 12:13
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Peter 3:21
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 Corinthians 1:15
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Spirit descending on Jesus at baptism.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about Matthew 3:16
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
Spirit testifies with Jesus Christ.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 John 5:6
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about John 17:21
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Scripture passage attached to the early Christian evidence page.
Also in NKJV · ESV What the early church said about 1 John 5:1
Easy to memorize, to write in a card, or to send to a friend.
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism,”
Ephesians 4:5 KJV · 6 words
Listen“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”
Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV · 10 words
Listen“The same was in the beginning with God.”
John 1:2 KJV · 8 words
Listen“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
John 3:35 KJV · 13 words
Listen“I and my Father are one.”
John 10:30 KJV · 6 words
Listen“Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.”
1 Corinthians 1:15 KJV · 12 words
ListenExact words from our library of the early church writers. Each one opens at the place it was written.
“But some treat the Holy Trinity in an awful manner when they confidently assert that there are not three persons, and introduce the idea of a person devoid of subsistence. Therefore we clear ourselves of Sabellius, who says that the Father and the Son are the same. For he holds that the Father is He who speaks, and th…”
“I see in all three essentials: substance, genus, and name. We speak of man, servant, and curator. Man, because of substance. Servant, because of genus or condition. Curator, because of denomination. We also speak of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, these are not names that only came later, but they are subsisten…”
“For it is one and the same thing to have a share in the Holy Spirit, which is (the Spirit) of the Father and the Son, since the nature of the Trinity is one and incorporeal.”
“II Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, the triune light of the Godhead, which is unity subsisting in trinity, divided, yet indivisible: for the Trinity is the one God Almighty, whose glory the heavens declare, and the earth His dominion, and the sea His might, and every sentient and intellectu…”
“Novatian, with the View of Treating of the Trinity, Sets Forth from the Rule of Faith that We Should First of All Believe in God the Father and Lord Omnipotent, the Absolute Founder of All Things.”
“For these indeed rightly know that the Trinity is declared in the divine Scripture, but that the doctrine that there are three gods is neither taught in the Old nor in the New Testament.”
More on what the early Christians believed about The Trinity →
Every verse, read aloud
