Oksident (Dec 2022)
Michael Servetus'un Teolojisinde Teslis/The Trinity in the Theology of Michael Servetus
Abstract
The holy trinity, which constitutes the most fundamental dogma of Christianity, expresses a triune conception of God represented as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In its current form, the trinity has been made the official belief basis of Christianity in accordance with the decisions taken in the councils, which occupy a very important place in the history of Christianity. In the most general terms, trinitarian belief is the belief that each of these three entities, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is God and that there is no superiority or difference between these three entities in terms of divinity, and the most basic condition for becoming a Christian is to have accepted this dogma. Nevertheless, it is a well-known fact that in the history of Christianity there have been some individuals and groups who rejected the Trinity despite identifying themselves as ‘‘Christians’’. For example, the most important of these names is Michael Servetus, who is also considered the founder of the movement known today as Unitarianism. Servetus authored some works in which he made serious criticisms about the Holy Trinity. Servetus claims that the concept of holy trinity is not mentioned in the Holy Bible and that this dogma has no place in the essence of Christianity. According to Servetus, the Trinity is a concept shaped by the influence of Greek philosophy and falsifies Christianity. These objections, which made an overwhelming impression in his time, greatly angered the Protestant and Catholic theologians of the time, and Servetus was burned to death in Geneva in 1553 as a result of Catholic and Protestant collaboration. In this study, the religious thought of Michael Servetus has been examined especially in the context of his view of the Holy Trinity and the criticisms brought by him to the traditional understanding of the Trinity have been analysed.
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