Conclusion As shown above, the Trinity Doctrine did not begin to develop until Greek philosophy was applied to Christianity. The Apostolic Fathers had no conception of the Trinity. When the Greek philosophy of Plato was applied to the Scriptures, then the Trinity Doctrine began to develop. Logos ceased meaning the spoken word and became God’s reason, a second God, the Son. Thus, the Logos-doctrine, which is the foundation on which the Trinity Doctrine is built, entered Christianity. Next came the thought of a trinity and the notion of the eternal existence of the Logos, the Son. This was followed by the Son having both a divine and human nature with a rational human soul. Also, the possibility of the Son’s eternal generation began to occur. …show more content…
When Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria began teaching more oneness of the Father and Son, Arius accused him of Sabellianism — thus, began the Arian controversy. Although Arius thought that he was defending the doctrine of the Trinity as it existed then, Alexander and others disagreed. Arius had stripped the Trinity of its Platonic metaphysics. The Arian controversy peaked with the Council of Nicaea, which issued the Nicene Creed. Among other things, the creed declared the Father and the Son to be one substance. The Nicene Creed was as close to, if not closer to, Sabellianism, which the church had condemned, as it was the orthodoxy doctrine of the Trinity that existed before its …show more content…
They believed that the Son had a beginning, that is, he is not eternal. Moreover, the Son was inferior to the Father. (Based on the criteria that Alford sets out in his manual on the Trinity [Alford, pp. 98-101], all the Fathers discussed above, with the possible exception of Dionysius of Rome, were unitarians, strictly speaking. Furthermore, nearly all, if not all, other ante-Nicene Fathers were also unitarians. Moreover, based on their writings, the Trinity Doctrine, and Alford’s criteria, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul appear to be heretics and probably
This essay will examine the effect of the early Christian heresies, Gnosticism and Arianism, on the construction of the orthodox Christian position on the nature of Jesus. Firstly, it will discuss the merits of each heresy, why they were popular in their respective time periods, and their weaknesses. Secondly, it will examine the similarities and differences between each heresy and the orthodox position. Lastly, it will evaluate how each heresy contributed to the development of the orthodox Christian position, that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human.
The medieval theologian Julian of Norwich was a mystic, writer, anchoress and spiritual director for her time. She is gaining in popularity for our time as she provides a spiritual template for contemplative prayer and practice in her compilation of writings found in Revelations of Divine Love. The insightful meditations provide the backdrop and basis for her Trinitarian theology’s embrace of God’s Motherhood found in the Trinity. Her representative approach of the all-encompassing unconditional love of a mother who nurtures, depicts Christ as our Mother ascending to the placement of Second hood within the Trinity while giving voice to the duality of God.
The direction now of my research is to begin investigating the context of the debate. To achieve this aim I will need to be consulting books of both secular and church history for the time of Jesus and the Council.
Hildebrand, S. M. (2007). The Trinitarian Theology of Basil of Caesarea a synthesis of Greek thought and biblical truth. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.
Nowadays, majority of Christians believe in Trinity, (God’s three forms of Father, Son, Holy Ghost). Christianity adopted the idea of Trinity until the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. Even now Christian Unitarian churches are there who do not admit Trinity. Distinguished Rationalist Unitarians entail thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens in literature, scientists like Isaac Newton, Frank Lloyd Wright in architecture and famous figures like Florence Nightingale in humanitarianism and
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1: 14. The verse that has inspired and bewildered Christians for centuries. Since its occurrence, church members and theologians have marveled at the principle of the Incarnation. How could God, perfect, sinless, unable to suffer, become sinful, corruptible flesh, and suffer ultimate punishment for the sins of man? This is the same question that puzzled many early church fathers, and the one that most potently effected Cyril, bishop of Alexandria. It led to intense church controversy, leaving Cyril a legacy and a reputation still impressed upon him today, and leaving another church leader disgraced in the depths of heresy. But before studying Cyril’s main theological conflict, one must first understand the circumstances and experiences that lead him to that point.
Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction, author Bryan Liftin introduces this book to an extensive audience rather than just seminary students. This is a reliable guide to understanding the early Church Fathers rather than assuming knowledge toward this group. This book seems unproblematic to the author as he acknowledges that many evangelicals know very little about Early Church Fathers. As he points out in his introduction, all too often the patristic writers are dismissed because of one of three major misconceptions: 1) the church fathers lacked biblical authority; 2) the church fathers were Roman Catholic (noting the difference in “‘lowercase-c’ catholic Christianity” and “‘capital-C’ Roman Catholic Christianity”); 3) the church fathers are a representation of the fall of Christianity into the Middle Ages.1 However, Liftin looks to “introduce you in a more personal way to some of your spiritual ancestors.” 2The reader is immediately confronted with the knowledge that these Church Fathers were
Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 5 vols. The Christian literature company, 1890.
...tween God and Jesus. Arius was a leader of a congregation that believed, “Christians worshiped Jesus, but at the same time came from monotheistic Jewish tradition, in which God alone is worshiped (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In other words, Arius believed Jesus did not have the same status as God because he was a human. Others believed that “Jesus is properly worshiped as the incarnation of God” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In order to resolve this issue, Constantine formed a general council, called the Nicene Council. They debated the issue for decades and they finally dismissed Arius’s beliefs and created the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed states that the Father came down from heaven as the Holy Spirit and he was made man through the Virgin Mary. This creed is a “profession of faith for many Christians dominations” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320) and has helped unify all Christians.
Christian Orthodoxy, although confidently and definitively proclaimed by millions of Christians on a weekly basis, has not always maintained the substantiated structure and sound doctrinal assertions needed to support the professions of the Nicene Creed. Terms such as “consubstantial,” and “begotten”, imbedded in many foundational Christian statements, contain links back to the earliest developments and controversies in the formation of Christianity. One such religious polemic is known as the Arian Controversy and is held by many theologians and historians to be the climax of ancient church history. This period of theologically-fueled upheaval, lasting for a greater part of the fourth century, dealt with the question of the divinity of Jesus
The Council of Nicea upheld the doctrine of Christ’s true divinity, rejecting Arius’s heresy. The council did not invent this doctrine. Rather, it only recognised what the Bible already taught. In many ways, Nicea marked a starting point for the church as it began to more fully explain and clarify its belief about the three persons of the trinity and their relation to one
These were a few out of many Orthodox Christians among others who were against Gnosticism. Gnosticism is not around today because of how the opponents made sure to fight against these mythological ideas and stories of what they thought was not the truth and how people should not live to follow these ideas which they believed as heresies. The Gnostics ideas were not strong enough to overcome those of Christian beliefs.
The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This concept is what many Catholics believe in, but other worldwide religions believe in other beliefs. Out of all the three Divine Persons, “Jesus is the most qualified to bring the renewal of creation because it was through him that creation came into being” (Pohle February 7th). We as humans will have to face the consequences for actions that we have done in the past, present and future. Jesus has come into the world as a human to show his dignity and save us from sin; he was the world and of all creation. As we come to read more about Jesus we get to know Jesus more, we learn about what he did, how he did it and why he had to do these saving actions.
Four movements, now heresies, of the past each adopted one of these four views mentioned previously. They are: Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Apollinarianism, and Arianism. Nestorianism and Eutychianism fall under the controversy of the relationship between the two natures. The controversy of Nestorianism arose over the propriety of the term theotokos (“God-bearing”) as a description of Mary. At the Council of Chalcedon in 428 Nestorius gave his view of theotokos to which he held and overly dividing view of the two natures of Christ. Nestorius felt that the term was of doubtful propriety unless the term anthropotokos (“human-bearing”) was also used. Nestorius was later condemned when Cyril of Alexandria; who held the belief in Christ having one nature got involved. Nestorius’ pronouncement towards the birth of Christ caused Cyril to oppose him. Nestorius said that God cannot have a mother; no woman can give birth to God. Cyril of Alexandria suggested that Nestorius was proposing that Jesus has two natures joined in a purely moral union. After Nestorianism came Eutychianism. Eutyches who was repeatedly summoned to the standing Synod of Constantinople in 448, finally appeared and stated his position whereas Christ has two natures before the incarnation, that was but one afterwards. The result of the Synod was the Eutyches was deposed and excommunicated and the one- nature doctrine rejected.
The Creeds of the church were key parts of the origins of the church. They lay the foundation for the first years of the church in order to accomplish the mission given to the Apostles by Jesus. Two of these creeds were the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. Culture during that time period was key to the layout of these creeds and the messages they set. A creed was an early statement of Christian beliefs, and a symbol for others to follow by. There were numerous cultures and needs that led to the ultimate development and writing of the creeds, which are still used for their original purpose today. One of these needs was for the church to have a basic statement of beliefs, which was accomplished by the Apostles creed. Early Christians knew that people needed to have an understanding of what they believed in that wasn’t requiring a lot of research. Cultures of the people and the time period also had a great influence on the creation of these creeds. They needed a way to spread the word of Christ to all people, in a time period where we didn’t have the technology and communication options that we have today. A combination of the churches basic needs for success and the fact that the word needed to be spread were two of the leading causes in the creations of these creeds.