The answer
There were many triads that were known in the pagan religions, such as the Egyptian triad, the Hindu triad, and the Brahman triad.9 In the seventh century A.D. 10, there appeared also an erroneous theory that attributed to the Christians the claim that Christ is the third of three gods, and that God the Father conjoined with Mary so that she bore Christ. This was known as the Marian heresy.
This erroneous concept, however, has no relation whatsoever with what we proclaim about the All-Holy Trinity, and we have been refuting it prior to the seventh century A.D. and after.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
Notes
9 Translator’s note: The Hindu and the Brahman triads are one in the same. They are otherwise known as Trimurti (Sanskrit: tri ‘three’ + murti ‘form’), which is a grouping of Brahama the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.
10 There were roots for this heresy since the 3rd century.
Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 30–31.
The pages in the book (30–31)
