The Road to Nicea: The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Part One (Sessions 1 & 2) Instructor: Kenneth J Howell

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Road to Nicea: The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Part One (Sessions 1 & 2) Instructor: Kenneth J Howell"

Lora Alisha Burke
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Road to Nicea: The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Part One (Sessions 1 & 2) Instructor: Kenneth J Howell The word Trinity does not occur in the Bible but we encounter this term very early in Christian history. In this webinar, we explore the biblical roots of the Trinity and follow its development from the first century to the Council of Nicea (325). After watching how this foundational doctrine developed over time, we conclude by peering deeply into the inner life of the Holy Trinity. Questions and Themes: 1) Was there any development in the doctrine of the Trinity from the NT to Nicea? Is it development in terminology only or in actual content of the doctrine? 2) As the debates about the Trinity show, the Scriptures were subject to different interpretations. How did they arrive at an orthodox interpretation of Scripture? 3) At Nicea, the Church made the crucial distinction between person and nature i.e. God is Three persons on One divine nature. Since this distinction is nowhere to be found in Scripture, where did this distinction come from? 4) How is the doctrine of the Trinity related to the creation? 5) What are the implications of the Trinity for our spiritual life? Terminology and Concepts: Arius and Arianism Circumincessio/ Perichoresis (περιχωρησις) Coeternal Consubstantial Homoousia (ομοουσια) Homoiousia (ομοιουσια) Hypostasis Modalism or Sabellianism Nature Person Perichoresis (περιχωρησις)/ Circumincessio Semi-Arianism Simplicity (of God) i.e. God has no parts. Subordinationism Substantia Uniqueness of God (contra Polytheism) Unity of God (contra e.g. Manicheanism)

2 Overview of the Four Sessions Session 1: The Biblical Roots of the Trinity The OT background: Gen 1:26; Deut 6:4 The NT groundwork: Mt 28:18-20; 2 Cor 13:13; Mt 3:13-17; John 1:1-18; John 17:1-5; John 14:25-28; John 15: 26-27; John 16:4-11. Session 2: The Trinity in the Fathers of the Second Century The Didache Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Epistle of Diognetus The Martyrdom of Polycarp Justin Martyr Tertullian Adversus Praxeas Clement of Alexandria Session 3: The Trinity in the Fathers of the Third Century Irenaeus of Lyons Cyprian of Carthage The Novatian Controversy Novatian on the Trinity Session 4: Nicea and its Aftermath Arius and Arianism Homoousia and Homoiousia Athanasius Defense The Trinity and the Mystical Life Modern Adaptations and Applications

3 Session 1: The Biblical Roots of the Trinity The Old Testament Background: Gen 1:26 Let us make Royal We or Trinitarian hint? Deut 6:4 Israel s Creed ש מ ע,י ש ר א ל: י הו ה א לה ינ ו,י הו ה א ח ד Hear, O Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord is One The Lord our God is One. The Lord our God is the Lord Alone the special covenantal name of God in the OT י הו ה 1) The Uniqueness of the Lord (no other like him) 2) The Numerical Oneness of the Lord Isaiah 6:1-6 Holy, Holy, Holy The Superlative? Another hint? The New Testament Groundwork: Mt 3:13-17 The manifestation of God as Three at the Baptism of Jesus Mt 28:18-20 The Trinitarian baptismal formula 2 Cor 13:13 The Trinitarian Benediction John 1:1-18 The Most Profound Theodicy in History John 17:1-5 The Mutual Indwelling of the Son and the Father (Circumincessio) John 14:25-28 The Father sends the Holy Spirit as Paraclete (Παρακλητος) John 15: I will send the Holy Spirit. John 16:4-11 The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

4 Session 2: The Trinity in the Fathers of the Second Century The Didache Chapter 7 (Late 1 st century or early 2 nd ) (1) Concerning baptism, baptize in this way. When you have said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit in living water. If you don t have running water, baptize in another water. If you cannot do so in cold [water], do so in warm. If you have neither, pour out [water] on their head into the name Spirit of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit Clement of Rome Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 58 (late 1 st century) (2) Receive our counsel and you will regret nothing. For God lives and our Lord Jesus Christ lives and the Holy Spirit [lives], the faith and hope of the elect, because the one who has practiced the requirements and commands given by God in humility with an intense virtue will be in good order and enrolled among the number of the saved through Jesus Christ, through whom is glory to him [the Father] forever and ever. Amen. Ignatius of Antioch Letter to the Magnesians chapter 13 (early 2 nd century) So be diligent to be confirmed in the teachings of the Lord and of the apostles that whatever you do, you be prospered in flesh and spirit, in faith and love, in the Son and the Father and the Spirit, in the beginning and at the end. This all is with your worthy bishop and presbytery that is worthy of the woven crown and the godly deacons. (2) Be subject to your bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ in the flesh is to the Father and the apostles to Christ, the Father, and the Spirit. The result is that your unity will be both physical and spiritual. Epistle of Diognetus ch. 7 (2 nd century) Truly God himself has sent from heaven and placed among men the truth and the holy and incomprehensible Word and has firmly established him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, angel, ruler, or anyone of those who bear sway over earthly things but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things by whom he made the heavens. The Martyrdom of Polycarp chapter 14 (events narrated happened in mid-2 nd century) (3) For this reason, I praise you for all things; I bless you; I glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ your child. Through him and with him in the Holy Spirit be glory to you now and forevermore. Amen. Justin Martyr First Apology 5:4 to 6:1 5:4 For not only among the Greeks were these things condemned by reason (λογος ) via Socrates, but also even among the Barbarians were they condemned by the Logos (λογος) Himself, who was formed into a man, called Jesus Christ. It is him we obey and we do not affirm that the gods who do such things are not only not right but that they are evil and noxious demons. Their deeds are not even like those of men who long for virtue.

5 6:1 For all this we are called atheists. We confess that we are atheists with respect to those who are thought to be gods in this way, but not with respect to the truest Father of righteousness, wisdom, and other virtues. This God is untainted by evil. 2. Rather, we venerate and worship Him and the Son that came from him when he came and taught us these things and the prophetic Spirit (πνευμα) And the army of good angels which escort him and are like him. We honor them with reason and truth. 67:1 And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things we are supplied with, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Ghost. Dialogue with Trypho the Jew God begat before all creatures a Beginning, a certain rational power from himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit the glory of the Lord, then the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos. He was begotten of the Father by an act of will, just as we see happening among ourselves. For when we give out some word, we beget the word; yet not by cutting off so as to lessen the word in us just as we see happening in the case of a fire, which is not lessened when it has kindled [another], but remains the same. And that which has been kindled by it likewise appears to exist by itself, not diminishing that from which it was kindled. (ibid.) (ch. 61) Tertullian Against Praxeas (Adversus Praxeas) Chapter Two In the course of time, then, the Father was born, and the Father suffered, God himself, the Lord Almighty, whom in their preaching they declare to be Jesus Christ. We, however, as we indeed always have done (and more especially since we have been better instructed by the Paraclete), who leads men indeed into all truth, believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation, or οἰκονομία, as it is called, that this one only God has also a Son, his Word, who proceeded from himself, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the Virgin, and to have been born of her being both Man and God the Son of Man and the Son of God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ; we believe him to have suffered, died, and been buried, according to the Scriptures, and, after he had been raised again by the Father and taken back to heaven, to be sitting at the right hand of the Father, and that he will come to judge the quick and the dead; who sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise, the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. That this rule of faith has come down to us from the beginning of the gospel, even before any of the older heretics, much more before Praxeas, a pretender of yesterday, will be apparent both from the lateness of date which marks all heresies, and also from the absolutely novel character of our new-fangled Praxeas. Modalism: identifies the members of the Trinity as one persona, not one nature.

Nicene and Apostles Creed

Nicene and Apostles Creed St Teresa of Avila RCIA September 28, 2017 Creed Credo: I Believe Definitive statement of Christian belief and orthodoxy Also known as Profession of Faith and Symbols of Faith