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document updated 15 years ago, on Feb 23, 2009

The "Trinity" concept is inherently flawed. It's polytheism (even if strenuously suggested otherwise), scripture doesn't support it, it has obvious logical contradictions, and it has spawned endless arguments.
- Jesus's physical incarnation creates even more issues. It raises the question "was Jesus fully diety or fully human (or somehow both)?". And if you arbitrarily answer that question, two more pop up in its place:
  - Did Jesus exist before he was born? (Jesus is a deity, and the other Christian deities are eternal)
  - Did Jesus exist after he was killed?
    Granted, deicide exists. However, in most mythology, mortals can't kill immortals.
  - point of comparison: other religions do have mixed diety/mortals, but this only occurs in polytheistic religions
- One theory for why Islam was created was specifically because of these objections. While that's a controversial proposal, it is widely recognized that Muslims consider the phrase "Son of God" to be a key mistake and fundamental misunderstanding. Moreover, besides that issue, Muslims believe nearly everything else about Jesus to be true, including his ascension and that he'll return as the Messiah.
Jews and Muslims consider Jesus to be a prophet who appeared to have been crucified, but either was not resurrected, or survived the crucifiction attempt. (see "hypotheses") I have sympathies with this position, particularly since it would align Jesus with the other "primary holy prophets" of other monotheistic religions.
- Moses, the most important non-deity in Judaism
- Muhammad, the most important non-deity in Islam
- Granted, Christianity has the twelve apostles, but they don't seem directly comparable to the above (though Peter is held to be the most important, so he might come close?)
One could go further and suggest that Moses, Jesus, and Muhammed were theologians who created their own religions, but Jesus went one step further and tried to paint himself as a god, i.e. he got too greedy.
The veneration of saints is Christianity's further flirting with polytheism. (see also intercession, relics, levitation, icons/iconoclasm/idolatry, calendar)
- angels and demons go some way towards this too, but it seems like some people spend more time on saints than on angels or demons
- saints are sometimes involved in folk Christianity/syncretism