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His Holiness Pope Tawadros II · My Faith · 24

Faith Q&A › My Faith

Is it true that the concept of the Christian Trinity is derived from the Ancient Egyptian Triad?

The answer

There is not the least bit of a relationship, for the Ancient Egyptian Triad speaks of three gods: A father god whose name is Osiris, who married a mother god whose name is Isis, and they begat a son god whose name is Horus. There were also other children who warred and feuded with one other.

Thus, they are not a trinity but a family, and this all took place by way of natural reproduction, which is the result of marriage and mating.

Christianity is opposed to this pagan triad, because of its dissimilarity to the Christian Trinity. It (the pagan triad) has femininity, natural birth, marriage, and a son whose age is younger than the father and who is his successor. There was also a time when it did not exist, in addition to the son’s generation being a separation from the parents, and all of this is nonexistent in the Christian Trinity.

As for the Christian Trinity, we say that He is “One God in Three Hypostases,” which is utterly different from the flesh, marriage, birth, and reproduction.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II

Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 29–30.

The pages in the book (29–30)Page 29 of the bookPage 30 of the book

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed. Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Cairo; printed at Saint Mena Monastery Press, Maryut, Egypt. ISBN 978-977-344-149-7.