Introduction
Since the beginning of Christianity, the Christian Church had survived many controversies. However, in the early fourth century the Arian Controversy questioned the divinity of Jesus and placed the unity of the Church at risk. The Controversy was sponsored by Arius a presbyter presiding under the guidance of Alexander the Bishop of Alexandria. Arius believed in the divinity of Jesus but He did not believe Jesus was eternal. In other words, Arius believed Jesus was lower than God was. On the other hand, Arius and Alexander disagreed and they argued whether the Logos, the Word of God, was co-eternal with God. In response to the controversy the First Ecumenical, (universal) Council was called by Emperor Constantine. The Council was held at Nicea in 325 AD. The Emperor believed the bishops could resolve the dispute concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. According to Alister E. McGrath, “The question focused on whether Jesus Christ may legitimately be described as God.” The debates at the council concerned what the church believed about Jesus and the Trinity.
Origen’s Christology and Trinitarian Beliefs
Origen a biblical scholar of the Alexandrian school believed that the Father is the source of the Trinity and therefore He is the absolute God or unbegotten God. Origen taught that the Son manifest attributes of God the Father. He also believed that The Word and Wisdom of God was “eternally generated” by the Father. Although Origen loved God and God’s people his views on the pre-existence of the human soul prior to human birth was condemned as heresy. Origen believed that the human soul is incarnated into a body reflecting the degree of pre-existent obedience or disobedience to God. According to Origen’...
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...we know that Jesus is God and that He is fully God and fully human. The questions and responses that were debated by the early Christian Fathers proved Jesus humanity and His divinity. They referenced the scriptures in their debates and their decisions were guided by the Holy Spirit. The creed that resulted from the Council of Nicea is still used in many churches today. The creed unified the Christian beliefs and defined the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It states that as Christians we believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similar to the Word of God the beliefs in the creed have not changed since it was endorsed by the Council at Nicea. Although there are churches that do not recite the creed, it is accepted by most conventional churches. Today most Christians share the same beliefs that were shared by the early Christians.
In this first chapter of Jesus and the Disinherited , the author Howard Thurman describes
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
"The elements of the Person of Christ are to be established; the faith which accompanies the theoretic process always presupposes their unity; this is for faith immediately certain, though not as yet narrowly defined, not as yet mediately cognised through the knowledge of the distinct elements, which
We should live by this truth and meditate on it day and night. The Creed is based on Scripture. The One who the truth points to is the Almighty God. God is omnipotent and He does whatsoever He rightly and justly will. He created us in His image. Yet we fell into sin and corrupted our lives. The wages of sin is death. Because of this, God sent His Perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us as a way to pay all our debt. The Father and the Son both have divine nature. Both are God, and both are Holy. There is only one God, and He is a Triune God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God in one Divine Nature. God does not change, He does not grow or learn, He is almighty and never-changing. Jesus Christ became humble and low by becoming human. He came down to earth and exemplified servant hood. He suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried for sinners. Nevertheless, the eternal son of God has always existed, similar to the eternal Father. There was no beginning to God. Augustine explained that Jesus showed us in the cross what we have to endure, and He showed us in the resurrection what we have to hope. Job teaches us that God will give and take away. God is the ultimate leader of our lives and we, as humans, are sinful followers of Him. Sometimes God causes us to learn through suffering, trials and tribulations. We should be very thankful because Jesus died for us, which allows
Three equals one. Out of all of the statements made by the Christian faith, perhaps none is more confusing. The Doctrine of the Trinity has been questioned for decades and many Christians do not even understand it. Colin E. Gunton argues that this does not have to be so. Instead, he calls the Western Church to learn from Eastern Orthodoxy and allow Trinitarian thinking to permeate every aspect of the church. It is when the Western Church embarrasses “The Forgotten Trinity” (the name of the chapter) in thinking and in worship, that we not only learn the nature of God, but how we should live in light of it.
The first major part of the creed is the recognition that God the Almighty created the heavens and the earth, anything that is, is made by God the Father. The second major part of the Creed is that Jesus Christ is the one and only begotten Son of God. The key word being that Jesus is begotten by God, not created like the universe or humankind. Jesus being begotten by God, is one with God and is God. Like God the Father, through Jesus all things were made. Being begotten by the Father and one with Him, Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is what forgives us of our
Throughout the first 400 years that Christianity was present in the world it changed dramatically. It started small in an area near the eastern Mediterranean area but within these 400 years, it grew to encompass the whole of the Mediterranean and its surrounding. Throughout this time of growth, there was also much change within the beliefs of Christianity with the main belief centering around Jesus Christ. While Christianity grew and made it to new areas it was introduced to new people that interpreted the different scriptures and preaching of what it meant to be a Christian. Some of the most influential writings in these years came from Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century writer, Christian, theologian, and bishop. He expressed his beliefs of what made a Christian a Christian within his writing. One of his most famous writings, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, highlights the idea of the Holy Trinity and the Rule of Faith in the interpretation of the bible. Irenaeus believed that the Rule of Faith was ultimately necessary and required when reading and interpreting the word of Christianity saying, in the words of Isaiah, “If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand” (paragraph 3). In the eyes of Irenaeus, the Rule of Faith is one of the main things that makes a Christian a Christian.
The answer can be found in God’s Word. Colossians 1:13¬¬–20 explains all that humanity needs to know in order to begin understanding the Deity of Christ, who He is and how He and God are One. This passage talks of Christ being the Firstborn over all Creation (Colossians 1:15) and how in Him, everything has come into being (Colossians 1:16). Jesus Christ, being on earth as God incarnate dwelt amongst the people claiming to be God. Colossians 1:18 (NIV) says “He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that God is Spirit (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:15,16), He is not a man (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9; Romans 1:22, 23), and has always (eternally) existed as God — all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present (Psalm 90:2; 139:7-10; Isaiah 40:28; Luke 1:37).
One of the earliest trends in Christianity was the need for Councils to settle disagreements on the religion. There have been many times where Christians had disagreements on what to consider as the base concepts of Christianity. Some
The history of Christianity is one that can be traced from the beginning of time. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 English Standard Version). The foundation of this religion is build upon the birth, life, death, and resurrection of a man named Jesus. Many Christians believe that he is the Son of God. Further, most additionally would agree that he is the second person in the trinity.
Arianism and Apollinarianism fall under the controversy surrounding the Christ being fully divine and fully human. Arianism is the teaching of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, and his supporters. Arius denied the full divinity of Christ. He taught that the Son of God was not of the same substance as the father and that he was created “...
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.
The creed begins with the most general statement in the Christian rule book, the affirmation of God himself, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” (Apostles’). In the book of Genesis, it is found in the first verse that “…In the beginning…God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis). As stated, it says “I believe”, not “I think” or “I was told”. There is a clear distinction in maturity of a Christian: youth, adolescence, and adulthood. As a young child, Christians are introduced to the entity of God. In adolescent years, Christians are analyzing God through a scope of skepticism. But in adulthood, Christians take in the glory of God and find that he governs all, which is why they assert the most powerful words of the creed, “I believe”. In the following lines of the creed, the Holy Trinity is presented and briefly identified the role they play, “…and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit…” (Apostles’). The placement of the Holy Trinity is without a doubt in close proximity. After the triad, the life of Jesus, from birth to sacrifice, to resurrection and ascension, is addressed, “…born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended
...t recurring argument against his Christology. “It was man’s rational soul, with its power of choice, which was the seat of sin”; if the word is un-united with a human rational soul then the salvation of mankind is not achieved.