Christian business owners . . .

[Kidlicious]

I didn't say they did, I said they were surrounded by pagans who believed in the trinity and it crept into their theology in spite of their monotheistic efforts

The Catholic Church did not invent the trinity, they adopted it from pagans

Like I said, and you agreed, the Sumerian gods had conflicts with each other, so that's something else

It's true they were surrounded by pagans and they were very concerned about not being influenced by them, and worshipping their gods, which they considered idols.

Then comes Jesus saying he and the Father are one, and a Holy Spirit will come that will instruct Christians of Wisdom etc... That's when they came up with the doctrine of the Trinity. And of course, many did not believe in the Trinity precisely because the Jewish teaching is that there is only one god, not three.

[Berzerker]

the unity of the trinity is the Catholic version, that doesn't change the fact pagans had already been observing a trinity for thousands of years

[Kidlicious]

the unity of the trinity is the Catholic version, that doesn't change the fact pagans had already been observing a trinity for thousands of years

They didn't adopt pagan beliefs really. They had a problem with there only being one God. The Trinity is the solution. Personally I see no problem.

You seem to be saying that they adopted pagan beliefs to make Christianity more tolerable to pagans. That's only part right, as one very important pagan preferred the Trinity version.