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"1. Theophilus of Antioch*(169-181 AD)
The Catholic Encyclopedia says: “In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word*trias*(of which the Latin*trinitas*is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His word and His Wisdom.” (To Autolycus II.15).*(Catholic Encyclopedia - The Blessed Trinity)
So Theophilus’ triad was made up of “God, and His Word, and His wisdom”—hardly the Trinity Doctrine! So the least that can be said is that he had in mind something quite different from the doctrine of the coeternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. The Epistle of Mathetes*(130 AD)
In this letter to Diognetus, the following terms are not mentioned: trinity, triune, three, godhead, equal or equality. There is no mention of any of the concepts of the Trinity Doctrine. (Epistle to Diognetus (Mathetes))
It is interesting that in his letter’s final chapter entitled “The importance of knowledge to true spiritual life” he writes about what is important. He writes about gaining true knowledge being the way to life. This lines up with what the apostle John wrote at John 17:3 And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ.” - New Catholic Bible
The following are the final words of his letter: “...the Word rejoices in teaching the saints — by whom the Father is glorified: to whom be glory forever. Amen.”
3. Polycarp*(150 AD)
There is nothing in Polycarp’s writing that would indicate a Trinity. There is no mention of it. What he says is consistent with what Jesus and his disciples and apostles taught. For instance, in his Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Polycarp stated: “May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Son of God, . . . build you up in faith and truth.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume I, page 35).
Note that Polycarp does not speak of a Trinitarian “Father” and “Son” relationship of equals in a godhead. Instead, he speaks of “the God and Father” of Jesus, not just ‘the Father of Jesus.’ So he separates God from Jesus, just as the Bible writers repeatedly do. Paul says at 2 Corinthians 1
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He does not just say, ‘Blessed be the Father of Jesus’ but, “Blessed be the God and Father” of Jesus.
Also, Polycarp says: “Peace from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume I, page 33). Here again, Jesus is distinct from Almighty God, not one person of an equal triune Godhead.
4. Tation the Syrian*(170 AD)
Under “Tatian” in the Catholic Encyclopedia (CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Tatian) there is no mention of his believing or teaching the concept of the Trinity.
Under the Wikipedia entry “Tatian” it says this: “The starting-point of Tatian's theology is a strict monotheism which becomes the source of the moral life.” and later it says that he said of God that “he was alone before the creation”.
5. Melito of Sardis*(160-177AD)
Trinitarian. “According to Melito, Jesus Christ was both entirely human and entirely divine.” - wikipedia
A Victim of Apostasy? After the death of the apostles, a foretold apostasy made its way into true Christianity. (Acts 20:29, 30) Clearly, this affected Melito. The elaborate style of his writings seems to reflect the writings of Greek philosophy and the Roman world. Maybe that is why Melito called Christianity “our philosophy.” He also considered the integration of so-called Christianity with the Roman Empire “the greatest proof . . . for good.”
Melito certainly did not take to heart the apostle Paul’s counsel: “Look out: perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.” Therefore, while Melito defended Bible truths to a limited extent, in many respects he abandoned them.—Colossians 2:8.
6. Clement of Alexandria*190AD,
Clement of Alexandria calls the Son “God.” He even calls him “Creator,” a term never used in the Bible with reference to Jesus. Did he mean that the Son was equal in all ways to the almighty Creator? No. Clement was evidently referring to John 1:3, where it says of the Son: “All things came into existence through him.” -*The Ante-Nicene Fathers,*Volume II, page 234) God used the Son as an agent in His creative works.—Colossians 1:15-17.
Clement calls the Supreme God “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus” and says that “the Lord is the Son of the Creator.” He also says: “The God of all is only one good, just Creator, and the Son [is] in the Father.” So he wrote that the Son has a God above him.
Clement speaks of God as the “first and only dispenser of eternal life, which the Son, who received it of Him [God], gives to us.” The original Giver of eternal life is clearly superior to the one who, as it were, passes it along. Thus, Clement says that God “is first, and highest.” Further, he says that the Son “is nearest to Him who is alone the Almighty One” and that the Son “orders all things in accordance with the Father’s will.” Time and again Clement shows Almighty God’s supremacy over the Son.
Regarding Clement of Alexandria, we read in*The Church of the First Three Centuries:*“We might quote numerous passages from Clement in which the inferiority of the Son is distinctly asserted. . . . “We are astonished that any one can read Clement with ordinary attention, and imagine for a single moment that he regarded the Son as numerically identical—one—with the Father. His dependent and inferior nature, as it seems to us, is everywhere recognized. Clement believed God and the Son to be numerically distinct; in other words, two beings,—the one supreme, the other subordinate.” (The Church of the First Three Centuries,*pages 124-5)
Further, it may again be said: Even if Clement sometimes appears to go beyond what the Bible says about Jesus, nowhere does he speak of a Trinity composed of three equal persons in one God. Apologists such as Tatian, Theophilus, and Athenagoras, who lived between the time of Justin and that of Clement, had similar views. Lamson says that they “were no better Trinitarians than Justin himself; that is, they believed in no undivided, coequal Three, but taught a doctrine wholly irreconcilable with this belief.” (The Church of the First Three Centuries,*page 95)
7. Tertullian
The Catholic Encyclopedia also comments: “In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word τρίας [triʹas] (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A. D. 180. . . . Shortly afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian.”
However, this is no proof in itself that Tertullian taught the Trinity. The Catholic work Trinitas—A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity, for example, notes that some of Tertullian’s words were later used by others to describe the Trinity. Then it cautions: “But hasty conclusions cannot be drawn from usage, for he does not apply the words to Trinitarian theology.”
As to Tertullian, the The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that “his Trinitarian teaching is inconsistent,” among other things because he held that “there was a time when there was no Son.” So the least that can be said is that this person had in mind something quite different from the doctrine of the coeternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
8. Ignatius
Ignatius, a bishop of Antioch, lived from about the middle of the first century C.E. to early in the second century. Assuming that all the writings attributed to him were authentic, in none of them is there an equality of Father, Son, and holy spirit.
Even if Ignatius had said that the Son was equal to the Father in eternity, power, position, and wisdom, it would still not be a Trinity, for nowhere did he say that the holy spirit was equal to God in those ways. But Ignatius did not say that the Son was equal to God the Father in such ways or in any other. Instead, he showed that the Son is in subjection to the One who is superior, Almighty God.
Ignatius calls Almighty God “the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son,” showing the distinction between God and His Son.
He speaks of “God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” And he declares: “There is one God, the Almighty, who has manifested Himself by Jesus Christ His Son.” Ignatius shows that the Son was not eternal as a person but was created, for he has the Son saying: “The Lord [Almighty God] created Me, the beginning of His ways.” Similarly, Ignatius said: “There is one God of the universe, the Father of Christ, ‘of whom are all things;’ and one Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, ‘by whom are all things.’”
Reference:*The Ante-Nicene Fathers,*Volume I, pages 52, 58, 62, 108, 116