Barnabas and the Early Christians 69Some of his enemies had also spread the rumour that Jesus was
the'son' of God,hopingtoarousetheorthodoxJew'sangeragainst
him for associating himself with God. Thus, even before Jesus dis
appeared, there had been a tendency to obscure his true nature
and attributes, and to ascribe Godhood to Jesus. This imaginary
figure of Christ, who apparently had the power to annul what Je
sus had previously taught, was clearly no ordinary mortal, and,
inevitably, became simultaneously confused by many both with
Jesus and with God. Itdid not take very long before this imaginary
super-human figure became an object of worship, and was associ
ated with God.
This shift of emphasis from Jesus as a man to the new image of
Christ, who was divine, enabled the intellectuals in Greece and
Rome to assimilate into their own philosophy what Paul and those
who followed him were preaching. Their view of existence was a
tripartite one, and, with the Pauline Church's talk of 'God the Fa
ther' and the 'Son of God', it only needed the inclusion of the 'Holy
Ghost' to have a Trinity which matched theirs. With the passage of
time, these twopicturesmergedintoone, and thedoctrineof Trin
ity was born.
Not only the philosophical ideas prevalent in Greece at that time
coloured Paul's teaching, but also the very language of Greece it
self influenced the expression of that teaching, trapping and limit
ing its meaning. Greek could contain the philosophy of the Greeks,
but was neither vast nor supple enough to carry the entire mean
ing of what Jesus had taught. Thus, even a true follower of Jesus
who spoke fluent Greek couId not have expressed the totality of
[esus's teaching in this language. It had to be re-worded - and in
the process changes were inevitably made. When the time came to
translate the Hebrew Gospels into Greek, these limitations were
made permanent, and finally sealed, when nearly aIl the Gospels
in Hebrew were subsequently destroyed.
Although Paul never actually preached the divinity of Jesus,
nor the doctrine ofTrinity,hismannerof expression and the changes
he made opened the door to both these misconceptions, and pre
pared the way for their becoming established doctrines in Europe.
It was these doctrines which eventually lead to Mary being put in
the impossible position of being regarded as the 'mother' of God
even though most Christians in every age who have been heard
repeating,'HailMary,motherof God!' in onebreathhave also been
equally willing to emphasise that God has no beginning and no
ending - and no mother - in another breath.