Doctrine: God as Trinity

Transcription

1 EXPLORING FAITH Theology for Life Doctrine: God as Trinity Level 5 Year A Term 2 Module Code: REL502

2 Material developed for Exploring Faith by the St Seiriol's Centre Cover image "Reaching for the light" (c) Rev Dr R Hainsworth 2012

3 INTRODUCTION Aims and Content of the Module Module Aims: To enable students to examine ways in which the Christian scriptures and creedal statements reveal the nature and purposes of God To enable students to explore how understandings about the nature and purposes of God are encountered today in worship, prayer and hymnody To enable students to reflect critically on their own understanding of the nature and purposes of God. Outline of the Module This module aims to help candidates engage with the study of the emergence and development of Christian Doctrine, in order to equip them to explore and communicate the Christian Faith today. The course is concerned both with the substance of Christian belief (what is believed) and with the process of belief (how it came to be believed). The Seminar Day will look at how the Creeds came into being and at what we can learn from that about statements of faith in the twenty-first century. Sessions 1 to 4 will explore the theology of the Creeds (and other articulations of belief), focusing on belief in God the Father, in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. Session 5 will consider how the emergence of the doctrine of the Trinity took place alongside that of the Creeds. Then in Sessions 6, the question of salvation will be pursued, as different perspectives on the atoning death of Jesus Christ are pondered. In Session 7 we will examine the work and witness of the Church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic and Session 8 will provide the opportunity to reflect on what has been learnt about the ways in which faith is debated, agreed and communicated, and the implications of this for disciples and ministers today. This reflection will be focused by looking at the question of how God takes responsibility for suffering. At each stage the development of Christian doctrine will be set in its historical and cultural context, in order to help candidates understand how to engage with their culture and time. Further, each session will provide the opportunity to reflect on the interaction between questions of faith in the early church and questions raised today. Intended Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the module, students will be able to: 1. demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the ways in which the Christian scriptures reveal the nature of God 2. describe and critically reflect on the growth of creedal formularies in the early centuries of the Christian church 3. identify and critically evaluate the central Christian creedal beliefs 4. discuss in an informed manner how worship, prayer and hymnody reveal and support patterns of belief 5. critically reflect on how their own developing beliefs may creatively engage with the church s creedal statements and formulations. Content Each session contains preparatory work. Candidates will be asked to read a chapter from Young s classic book, The Making of the Creeds, and /or chapters from the Reading Block. The sessions themselves include space to reflect on the introductory material and additional project work. The aim is to enable candidates to reflect as individuals and with the members of their group. This mirrors the way in which belief has been explored in every generation of the church, drawing on the imagination of individuals, but also working together as a community. No doubt there will also be disagreements and 1

4 differences of opinion, as has always been the case! However, the hope is that this will be creative, contributing to their growth in understanding, in faith and as disciples and ministers. Assignment questions are provided at the back of this handbook and a bibliography of additional recommended sources is below. Worship and Prayer Please surround each session with worship and prayer. Provision is made for worship at the beginning of each session and for prayer at the end. Please be imaginative and creative. Companion Text. BOOK LIST Young F The Making of the Creeds London: SCM (1991) Additional Reading. Ashwin- Early Christian Doctrines and the Creeds Siejkowski P London: SCM (2010) C of E Doctrine The Mystery of Salvation Commission London: Church House Publishing (1996) Higton M Holloway R Lorenzen LF Marriage A MacCulloch D *McGrath A McGrath A (ed) Sykes S Christian Doctrine London: SCM (2008) Dancing on the Edge London: Fount (1997) Introduction to the Trinity Minnesota: The Liturgical Press (1999) The People of God, a royal priesthood London: DLT (1995) Groundwork of Christian History London: Epworth (1987) Christian Theology: An Introduction (5th Edition) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell (2011) The Christian Theology Reader (4th Edition) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell (2011) The Story of Atonement London: DLT (1997) *If you would like to invest in a book that will further support the work of the course and be a helpful companion into the future, this is highly recommended 2

5 Seminar Day DOCTRINE: GOD AS TRINITY For the Seminar Day Study the Introduction to the Seminar Day. 3

6 SEMINAR DAY Doctrine: God as Trinity INTRODUCTION The Creeds occupy a particular place within Anglicanism. When clergy are licensed to new posts they traditionally affirm and declare their belief in the faith which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds. This reflects our history and our approach to theology. It reflects our history, in that the eventual outcome of the Reformation was a church which was both catholic and reformed. The Anglican Church was and is concerned to respond to new challenges and discover new ways of enabling people to grow in faith and participate in the life of the church. At the same time it valued, and values, the tradition to which it belongs. This is reflected in the decision to retain the creeds as key statements of belief, and as part of the liturgy. It is also reflected in the retaining of a threefold order of ordained ministry (bishop, priest and deacon). Such an approach is also a way of doing theology which might best be described as apostolic, given the double meaning of that word. We are an apostolic church because we trace our history back through the centuries to the time of the apostles, and we believe that the foundation of our faith is the revelation that they received in Jesus Christ, and proclaimed. We are also an apostolic church in that we believe that we are called to proclaim the faith today, to be apostles in our generation. And we know that this requires us to explore and articulate our faith in new ways. We do this in continuity with past generations of the body of Christ, who wrote and drew together the New Testament, who produced the creeds, who drew up the historic formularies of our church. Like them we face questions arising out of our situation about what it means to believe in God and in his Son, Jesus Christ. We are able to learn from them so that we can take responsibility for finding answers for our day. The study of the creeds and the subsequent history of the development of Christian doctrine is, therefore, a vital part of our life as a disciple and hugely significant if we are preparing for ministry. We must grapple with what the creeds say the particular beliefs that are to be found there. But we must also explore how the creeds came about, so that we can understand the process of articulating a new and deeper understanding of the Christian faith. The Emergence of the Creeds So how did we come to have such things as creeds? There are a number of questions here: Why declare your belief in this way? Why add such statements to the various scriptures that were becoming the New Testament? Why have more than one creed? What was the setting of the creeds what part did they play in the life of the church? There are of course some statements in the New Testament that look a bit like prototypes of the sort of phrases used in the creeds: declarations of faith by Peter (Mk. 8.29), Martha (Jn ) and Thomas (Jn.20.28); the phrase, Jesus is Lord (1 Cor.12.3); statements about God raising Jesus (Acts 2.32). A key passage, which indicates the significance of such passages, is 1 Cor : For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to 4

7 What this makes clear is that there were statements in the New Testament that expressed a new found belief in Jesus, which centred on his death and resurrection, his being the Messiah (or Christ) and the salvation to be found in him. Further, such statements were to be handed on, in order to evoke and confirm the faith of others. These new beliefs were the mark of Christianity, as it emerged in the first century, first as a movement within Judaism and then as a separate faith. But these responses to the encounter with Jesus, or with those who preached about him, because of their newness raised profound questions for those who became Christians: What does belief in Jesus say about God - are we dealing with a new God? Would Christianity continue within the Jewish monotheistic framework? Such questions gave rise to the development of the creeds in the post-new Testament period. This development took place in the context of cultural diversity. Christianity was growing in many areas round the Mediterranean. Especially from the second century onwards, the Jewish heritage of the first Christians interacted with the Graeco-Roman culture of new Christians. These new Christians were both Jews dispersed through, and embedded in the Roman Empire, and increasingly Gentiles who had little or no understanding of Judaism. The meeting of Hebrew and Greek thought resulted in creative theology, but also in not a few tensions and disagreements. Disagreements came too for other reasons, as we shall see in various sessions of this course. The emergence of the creeds (and other statements of faith) often had its political dimension. There were tensions between the Latin-speaking West and Greek-speaking East, and between different parts of the Roman Empire. And all this was in addition to the sometimes fierce commitment to a particular way of believing! The First Creeds It is against the background of this cultural inter-action that we see first the development of statements of belief that went beyond the New Testament prototypes. These focused on who Jesus was and summarised what was believed about him. So, in the early second century Ignatius of Antioch writes: "There is one physician, fleshly and spiritual, begotten and unbegotten, God in man, true life in death, both of Mary and of God, first passible then impassible, Jesus Christ our Lord." (Bettenson H (ed) Documents of the Christian Church OUP (1963) p29). In the late second and early third century we observe the development of what is known as The Rule of Faith. Francis Young gives examples from Irenaeus, Tertullian and Origen in The Making of the Creeds (SCM 1991) pp These represent summaries of faith that people could turn to in a variety of situations. They are authoritative; and they are 'apostolic' representing faith that can be traced back to the time of the apostles. They could be used against those who seemed to mainstream Christians to be departing from this apostolic faith. They are clearly an expansion of the church s understanding of its belief in Jesus Christ, which is at the same time related to belief in the one God, who created heaven and earth. The Holy Spirit was also mentioned in at least some. On the other hand, there is an important development in relation to baptism. Here is a particular setting in which a recognised statement of belief became necessary, as something which expressed the belief of the church that the person was joining, and to which they were required to accede. From the early third century we have evidence of threefold questions at baptism, which presented the Christian faith to catechumens in the form: Do you believe in. The questions related to belief in God the Father, in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, the Church and resurrection. This third century practice is found embedded in fourth century Lent lectures, which form commentaries on such threefold creeds, which were addressed to those preparing for baptism. Such creeds were local statements of belief, an example being the Old Roman creed. But despite local variations in wording, they had a common three-part structure, very like that of the Apostles Creed, familiar to us, which is a descendant of the Old Roman Creed. As we shall see, it is then in the fourth century that the creeds we know and recognise emerge, particularly the Nicene Creed of 325 and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 (which is the one we think of as the Nicene Creed!) 5

8 The Significance of these First Creeds It is important to recognise a number of key features about these early creedal statements and about the process by which they came about: 1. In each case, the rule of faith, or local creed was a summary of the faith which had been handed on to the church community, in other words they were a reflection of the community s tradition. They were seen as rooted in the apostolic faith of the church. 2. They emerge out of a variety of settings, but especially out of the process of preparing people for baptism. It was in this particular situation that a succinct statement of the belief which characterised Christianity became most necessary, for those baptising as well as for those baptised. 3. Increasingly creeds became authoritative statements which could be used against false teachers, and could act as a test of orthodoxy. They were used to distinguish between those who were within the Church and those who, by their beliefs, placed themselves outside its boundary. 4. In whatever setting, they were part of the identity of Christianity, as it emerged in the first four centuries of the life of the church. Although very different in character, they functioned in a similar way to the Shema in Judaism (which you can find in Deuteronomy 6: 4-7). They were a reassurance that people belonged, a rallying cry, a criterion for recognising authentic Christian belief. Timescale It is worth comparing the timescale of the development of the creeds with the development of the New Testament Canon. This process also took place over the course of the first four centuries. Different Canons were suggested (such as the Muratorian Canon of circa 200 in Rome). Individuals made proposals about which texts should be included in the New Testament and which should not, such as Origen (in about 250) and Eusebius (in about 300). It was not until the Councils of Carthage in 397 and 418 that the New Testament emerges entirely as we know it today. At each of the different stages of this process, different texts were included in the New Testament. Some were included at earlier stages which are no longer regarded as part of the New Testament, others (notably Hebrews) made a late entry to the Canon. The reasons for comparing this process with that of the emergence of the creeds are as follows: 1. The timescale is similar 2. The process is also about discovering the apostolic faith which texts reflected this? 3. The emergence of the Canon is also about the identity of Christianity which texts were at the heart of the faith and could build up the community and its members? 4. The process is a reaction to those who appeared to undermine the identity of Christianity, such as Marcion in the second century, who had definite, but rather different ideas about what the Christian Scriptures should look like. The Theology of the Creeds So far we have dealt with the process of the emergence of the creeds, but have only hinted at their content. We have recognised that the creeds were marks of Christian identity, but have not yet explored what that identity was. We have hinted that the theology of the creeds had to do with questions about the nature of God arising from belief in Jesus Christ, but have not yet explored further. This, in many ways, is the challenge for this term to grapple with the theological identity of Christianity as it emerged in the first four or five centuries, in order that we may better understand our theological identity as Christians in the twentyfirst century. 6

9 SESSION 1 GOD THE FATHER CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH For this session Read Young Chapter 2. Read Source 1 in the Reading Block from McGrath, Christian Theology an Introduction. In 250 words address the question: What was gnosticism and how did it challenge the church's beliefs? 7

10 SESSION 1 GOD THE FATHER CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH INTRODUCTION In the introduction to the Seminar Day we referred to the questions raised about God by the new belief in Jesus Christ. In the next sessions we will explore how Christians came to understand the relationship between Jesus and God. But in this session we turn to belief in God the Father. The early creeds and their fore-runners articulate belief in God the Father Almighty, in God s being the creator of heaven and earth (which is taken to include all things visible and invisible). In one sense there is little change here from traditional Jewish beliefs. In the beginning Israel had experienced God as a tribal leader and a warrior who would fight battles on their behalf, a powerful God among other Gods. However, following the experience of the exile, they began to see YHWH, their God, as the God of history who created and sustains the whole world. The Jews had come to understand God as the Father of their nation and Israel as his son. Indeed, this sonship was extended to others in Jewish history, in particular the Israelite Kings (see 2 Sam. 7.14, Pss.2.7; 89.26f). Considering the patriarchal cultural context in which the scriptures were written it is not surprising that analogies for God were primarily male. However, YHWH was never seen as sexually male and a number of the images associated with Israel s God recognize the importance of female imagery. Hence the image of God giving birth (Deuteronomy 32:18) as a midwife helping with the birthing process (Isaiah 66: 6-11) or as caring for Israel as a mother cares for her child (Isaiah 66: 13) Clearly, because of the relationship between God and Jesus, and of our relationship with God in Jesus, the idea of God being Father appears in the New Testament in a new light. As we see from the Jewish tradition, a Father-Son relationship does not of itself imply equality. The notion that Jesus was in some way equal to God would about in other ways, as will be seen in future sessions. To say that Jesus is God s Son only moves us on a shade from standard Jewish beliefs of the time, at least to start with. It might also be said that belief in God as Creator looks familiar. The Jewish God had become known as the Lord of the heavens and the earth and this was a belief inherited by the new Christian Church. However, this idea was to be severely challenged in the second century by a set of thoughts, ideas and practices that have become known as gnosticism Gnosticism Gnosticism might be said to be a way of thinking that was to be found in a variety of forms, or movements. Although there has been considerable debate about whether Gnosticism is to be found influencing the New Testament, it seems clear that its most significant effect on Christianity was in the second century. But what was this phenomenon? Although manifesting itself in different ways, Gnosticism had a nember of key characteristics. Firstly, and most importantly, Gnosticism was dualist. Spirit and matter were distinguished. Spirit was seen as good, matter as evil. Secondly, there was no single God. God, the ultimate being, the source of divinity and 8

11 salvation, was separate from the creator god (or demiurge). He was the God who created matter and was seen as a rather lesser deity. Thirdly, creation was believed to have come about as a result of an accident or sin. And therefore, fourthly, salvation was understood to be a process whereby the divine spark in them could be liberated. By receiving secret knowledge ( gnosis ) they would be set free from evil matter and reunited with the divine. This way of understanding the world was attractive to many and was widespread in the Graeco- Roman world. The Response to Gnosticism Not surprisingly, where Gnosticism touched Christianity it had a particular effect on Christian beliefs. From a gnostic perspective, the God and Father of Jesus could not possibly be the same as the God of the Old Testament the redeemer who set one free from matter could not be identified with the creator. Further, Jesus could not really have been human, only have appeared to be such. And Jesus, being spirit, could not have really been born, nor could he actually have been crucified, nor could his body have been raised. His birth, death and resurrection must be illusory and certainly could not contribute to our salvation. It is clear that parts of the Christian church embraced aspects of gnostic thinking and this can be evidenced by texts such as the Gospel of Thomas. However, a number of key figures set their face against this tendency, wrote against it and fought hard to ensure that the gnostic texts were not recognised as authoritative texts for Christians, and that the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) were. Key amongst them in the second century was Irenaeus. He saw that it was essential to affirm that the world is God s creation and the place where God is at work. Redemption is not from matter, but of matter the whole of us is to be gathered up into God, not just our spirit. As we shall see in subsequent sessions, it is therefore necessary that Jesus entered fully into our humanity, was crucified, buried and raised, that he might redeem the whole work of his Father, the entire creation. And, in the light of the challenge of Gnosticism, the church affirmed that creation was ex nihilo, out of nothing. It was not formed out of eternal matter or indeed, out of God himself. Creation out of nothing emphasised the power of God in creation and the dependence of creation on God and emphasized that creation was part of God s work of salvation. Irenaeus therefore saw that there was a continuum of salvation, beginning with the creation, continuing in the work of Christ and realised through the work of the Holy Spirit. The one God is responsible for ordering the 'economy' of salvation. Within the Godhead each person is responsible for an aspect of salvation. The Father is the creator of the Universe; the Word/Son destroyed death and brought life and fellowship; the Holy Spirit makes us new. This is the theological groundwork for the creeds, and also for belief in the Trinity, which has its roots at about the same time in the work of Tertullian. He was the first writer to use the term Trinitas of God, declaring that God is one in substance, yet three persons who are distinct but not divided, different but not separate. Significance for Today In the writings of Irenaeus, Tertullian and others, Christianity opted not to be subsumed by gnostic teaching. It decided instead to affirm the unity of God, and to assert that all creation might be saved by God. Further, they rejected the idea that salvation involved secret knowledge available only to the elect. Rather, salvation in Christ was available to all. This is part of what is expressed in the comparatively brief first clause of the creeds about belief in God the Father. Much of this thinking is of significance for us today. We too are faced with questions about salvation and matter. In both society and the church, we encounter dualist thinking, which rejects the goodness of God s world, and which sees salvation in purely spiritual terms and we also encounter those who reject the idea of anything spiritual or transcendent. For them salvation, in so far as it has a meaning, is to be found in materialism, in the accumulation of material things. In response to both viewpoints we are called to affirm today that Christianity is about the whole of life, the material and the spiritual. 9

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13 GROUP SESSION 1 Arrive and worship Reflect on the seminar day Worship together. Project 1. Using the work you have prepared for this session: List the distinctive features of Gnosticism. Identify the understandings of God that the early church wished to safeguard in response. Project 2a. Study the following passages. Consider, what in these texts might be attractive to a Gnostic Christian? How do these texts challenge Gnostic beliefs? Project 2b. Genesis 1:1-10 Isaiah 45:5-8 Romans 8:9-11, Over the first few centuries, Christian theologians took two positions on God's relationship to creation and role as creator. One, earlier phase, associated with Origen and Justin Martyr, held that God ordered matter that had always existed. The other, which later became the dominant view, as developed by Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine, held that God created everything from nothing and that apart from God nothing is eternal. Compare the summaries of these two positions below. Which do you agree with and why? Pre-existing matter. [Creation] was seen as an act of construction, on the basis of material that was already to hand, as one might construct an igloo out of snow, or a house from stone. The existence of evil in the world was thus to be explained on the basis of the intractability of matter. God's options were limited by the poor quality of material that was available. The presence of evil or defects within the world are thus not to be ascribed to God, but to deficiencies in the material from which the world was constructed. McGrath, Christian Theology an Introduction p 219 Creation 'ex nihilio' Everything that exists owes that existence to God. There is no alternative source or origin of existence. Everything that exists was created good by a good God. The evil that exists within the world is not to be thought of as something positive and real. Possessing its own distinct substance. Rather it is to be thought of as a lack of goodness. Evil does not derive its origin from God, but from humanity's use of it's God given freedom. McGrath Christian Theology an Introduction p

14 Project 3. Discuss the question: Is your body your Temple? Reflection. Each share briefly what you have learned from this session. Say how this session has made you feel. Worship together. Planning. Plan your preparation for session 2. 12

15 SESSION 2 JESUS CHRIST ETERNALLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER For this session Read Young Chapter 3. Read Source 2 in the Reading Block from Ashwin-Siejowski Early Christian Doctrine and the Creeds In 250 words address the question: Why was it important for the early church to decide whether Jesus was God? 13

16 SESSION 2 JESUS CHRIST ETERNALLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER INTRODUCTION When we read the New Testament, it is clear that Jesus is recognised to be more than human. Three times this is made explicit. At the beginning of John s Gospel we are told that (John 1:1) the word (Jesus) was God. At the end of the same Gospel Thomas calls Jesus, My Lord and my God (John 20:28). And at the beginning of the Letter to the Hebrews a psalm is interpreted as being addressed to Jesus as God (Hebrews 1:8). The gospels also make it clear that Jesus acts as God. In Mark, chapter two, Jesus forgives the sins of a paralysed man which raises the question, (Mark 2: 7), Who but God alone can forgive sins? Further in Mark, chapter four, Jesus stills a storm on the Sea of Galilee and this evokes the question (Mark 4: 41), Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? This approach to the person of Jesus has been called narrative Christology. Who Jesus is emerges from what he does. This understanding, that Jesus might somehow be God, had, and still has, profound implications for our understanding of God. It sparked off a debate in the early Church about the person of Jesus and in what way that person was divine. As well as recognising the divinity of Christ, however, the New Testament has also much to say about Jesus humanity, his being born, his living and his dying. The early church wrestled with this area too, and with the balance between Jesus humanity and divinity. In the early Church period people grappled with this balance in a variety of ways. Some, such as the Ebionites (a first century Jewish group), suggested that Jesus was only human the son of Joseph and Mary. For them anything more would challenge their Jewish monotheistic faith. Others, known as adoptionists, suggested that Jesus was born as a human, but subsequently adopted by God, at his baptism, or after Jesus death. Others again suggested that Jesus was God, but subordinate to the Father. And there were those who agreed that Jesus was God, but denied that he had ever become fully human - he had just appeared to those around him to be a human being. This latter point of view is known as Docetism, and might well have been held by a gnostic Christian. Various writers explored in more detail how it could be that Jesus the man could also be God. So for example, Justin Martyr, writing in Rome in the second century, suggested that the Logos (the Word) was manifested in Christ. This seems to have been an apologetic approach, designed to convince Jews and Greeks. For the Jews, the idea that Jesus was the Word of God would allow them to draw on large parts of the Hebrew Scriptures which spoke of God s Word almost as an extension of God s being. For Greeks, and especially for followers of the philosophical schools of Stoicism or Middle Platonism, the Logos is a designation for the divine principle. Origen, writing in the third century, takes up this line of thinking, suggesting that the Logos was united with the human soul of Christ. For Origen, the Logos and the Father are co-eternal, but the Logos is subordinate. He writes against opponents, such as Celsus, who argue that if Jesus is worshipped as God then you no longer have one God, but two. In such writings the key questions arising from the belief that Jesus is divine are mapped out: If Jesus is divine is God still one? Is Jesus, in his divinity, equal to God? How are the divine and human joined in Christ? Is the divine part of Jesus created, or eternal? Can we worship Jesus as we worship God? Does Jesus save us by being divine, by being human, or by being both? 14

17 The Council of Nicaea Such questions come to a head in the period leading up to the Council of Nicaea in 325. In order to understand what was going on in this period, we have to do some imagining. We have to imagine a time when the answers to these questions were not cut and dried (as, on the whole, they are for us). We have to remember that the debate was not just an esoteric one amongst academic theologians. People at all levels of the church had strong feelings about the outcome of the debate. Indeed, it is thought that songs about Arius (whom we shall encounter in a moment) were sung in Mediterranean dockyards! The debate was highly political and cultural. There were strong differences of opinion between the Latin speaking West and the Greek speaking East. These cultural differences were sharply focused in difficulties of translating between Latin and Greek, where terms such as ousia (Greek) and substantia (Latin), both translated in English as substance, are not equivalent in meaning. Even within churches of the same cultural background there were strong factions. Further, by the time of the Council of Nicaea the Emperor Constantine had become welldisposed towards Christianity indeed he called the Council and was involved in its affairs. Two characters are usually taken as representing the opposing viewpoints at the Council. One of these was Arius, who believed that God the Father existed before the Son, who was created. He proposed that Christ should be described as being of like substance with the Father (homoiousios). His opponent was Athanasius, who believed that as God alone can save, Jesus must be God incarnate, whom we can worship. The term associated with Athanasius was homoousios meaning that Jesus was of the same substance as the Father. In the Greek the debate was over a single letter (an i, or iota). The Council, with the backing of the Emperor, opted not for homoiousios (of like being), but for homoousios (of one being). This cornerstone of Christian Theology establishes that Jesus is God, in the same way that the Father, the Creator is God. They concluded that Jesus was not created by God, but begotten he existed before creation. This was enshrined in the Nicene Creed. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten from the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father The Council was also quite clear that Jesus was human, that he became incarnate, that, he was made man. The creed maintained the belief that Jesus suffered death and was buried. The thinking was that being human was an essential part of Jesus work, which was, and is, to save us - if he hadn t suffered and died, he couldn t have achieved our salvation. To save humanity Jesus had to be fully human. The Implications However political the process by which the Creed was arrived at it established some key points of the theology of Christ. In particular it established the belief that Jesus was both fully human, and fully God. The implication of this is that what you see, in Jesus, is what you get, in God. In other words, in Jesus God became fully engaged with, and involved in, humanity, and indeed creation. Further, it is in this way that God saves humanity and brings the whole of creation to its fulfilment. Not that this closes down debate! The belief that God fully engages with, is incarnate in, humanity in Christ gives rise to a further area of exploration important in our generation. The fact that in the one person, human and divine, Jesus offered himself on the Cross leads us to a striking question. When Jesus suffered on the Cross, did the Father suffer too? In the early church the consistent orthodox answer was that the Father could not. He was impassible (unchangeable) and therefore could not suffer. However, the question has refused to go away. Especially in the twentieth century, in the wake of two World Wars and the Holocaust, the idea that the Father is removed from human suffering has made less and less sense. As we shall see in the session, there is a growing conviction that just as the Father suffers, so does the Son. Among those who have grappled with this is Jurgen Moltmann. He writes 15

18 A God who cannot suffer is poorer than any human. For a God who is incapable of suffering is a being who cannot be involved. Suffering and injustice do not affect him. But because he is so completely insensitive he cannot be affected or shaken by anything; he cannot weep, for he has no tears. But the one who cannot suffer cannot love either. He is also a loveless being. (Moltmann J (1974) The Crucified God). 16

19 GROUP SESSION 2 Arrive and worship Reflect on any issues that have arisen from the last session. Worship together. Project 1. Theology The nature of Jesus ('Christology') Ebionites A human being only Adoptionists A human who became the Son of God at his baptism or resurrection Origen The divine Word of God, but a lesser Divinity than the Father who is subordinate to the Father. Arianism Divine but created by God. There was a time when he was not. Of a like substance to the Father but not of the same substance with the Father. Docetism Jesus was God who only appeared to be human, he never really was human and so only appeared to suffer Council of Nicaea Complete the table above by adding the Council of Nicaea's view of the divinity of Christ. For each of the theologies that Nicaea rejected as heresy, explore why the Church came to reject these positions. 17

20 Project 2. In the New Testament, the writers explore and develop their understanding of who Christ was and how he relates to God and humanity. Study the following passages. Luke 2:52 Romans 1:3 Hebrews 1:1-5 John 1:1-5 Philippians 2:4-11 How do they support or contrast with the various views of the nature of Christ that you have examined in project 1? Project 3. Discuss the question: Jesus was God. Jesus suffered and died. Did God suffer and die? Reflection. Each share briefly what you have learned from this session. Say how this session has made you feel. Worship together. Planning. Plan your preparation for session 3. 18

21 SESSION 3 JESUS CHRIST INCARNATE OF THE VIRGIN MARY For this session Read Young Chapter 5 Read Source 3 from the Reading Block, Joint Statement on Christology. In 250 words address the question: What does it mean to say that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine? 19

22 SESSION 3 JESUS CHRIST INCARNATE OF THE VIRGIN MARY INTRODUCTION The period after the Council of Nicaea provides an interesting demonstration of the progress of theological debate in the early church. In particular we ought to note that: The Council did not resolve the debate between the Arians and those who thought like Athanasius There were many factors which impinged on the debate Such resolution as there was gave rise to new unanswered questions So theological debate continued after the Council of Nicaea in relation to the divinity of Christ. Athanasius continued to write treatises in order to convince people that only if Jesus was God in the fullest sense could he save humanity, and that any sense that Christ was subordinate to the Father left him as a mere agent of God. However, a series of Arian Emperors encouraged others to persist with the notion that it was necessary to understand God in hierarchical terms. It was not until 381 and the Council of Constantinople that the political climate allowed the Nicene formula (homoousios) to be once more accepted. The result was the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (which is the one we refer to as the Nicene Creed!) Interestingly, this creed was probably created from a local creed into which was inserted what had been agreed first at Nicaea. As indicated above however, this agreement gave rise to yet further questions. In the period leading up to the Council of Chalcedon in 451, there was much debate about how the divine and the human could both be present in Jesus. At stake here was our understanding not so much of the nature of God, but of the relationship between humanity and God. In the fifth century one key viewpoint (still held by some Eastern Christians known as Monophysites) was that in Jesus there was only one nature; the humanity was put on by, or taken into, the divine nature. The other main viewpoint was that in the one person of Jesus there were two natures, the divine and the human. These pictures of how divinity and humanity combine in Christ are, at the same time, pictures of how we are united with God in Christ. If humanity is subsumed into God in Christ, then we are to be subsumed into God. If divinity and humanity remain in some way separate in Christ, then we are united with God in Christ in a rather different way. The Council of Chalcedon opted on the whole for the latter position, while stressing the essential unity in Christ. This is expressed in a complex way, of which the following is a sample: We confess our Lord Jesus Christ one and the same Son, the same perfect in Godhead, the same perfect in manhood... of one substance with the Father as touching the Godhead, the same of one substance with us as touching the manhood, like us in all things apart from sin to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way abolished because of the union, but rather the characteristic property of each nature being preserved, and concurring into one Person and one subsistence... Again, we must note some key things. First, the agreement was only one stage in the debate. Different viewpoints persisted, and indeed persist today. One of the key differences between the Western Churches (including ourselves) and the Orthodox Churches of the East is the way in which we are seen to grow up into Christ. In the West we are much more likely to think of our humanity being joined to God; in the East they might well think more in terms of our becoming more God-like a process of divinisation. Secondly, we ought to note that the way in which faith is articulated in the fifth century has changed. The result of the debate is not a Creed, but rather a definition. Perhaps this represents a move away from a more 20

23 popular debate, to one which only involved the specialists. Whether or not that is the case, the form of theological discourse continued to change. For example, the Reformation period was to give rise to some key confessions of faith, in different forms including our own 39 Articles. And in many generations new forms of worship, new liturgies and hymns have expressed faith in ways appropriate for the times. Significance for Today What above all we ought to recall from the debate leading up to Chalcedon, is that in Jesus, the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity are present and are united. This gives rise to the hope that in Jesus all humanity, including ours, can be united with God. Knowing that in Christ humanity and divinity are joined opens up for us the possibility, therefore, of salvation. In Christ, God reaches out to us and draws us into God. Through Christ, God is at work in us and our humanity is being transformed. This is something that will ultimately be completed in us, when we are fully united with God in Christ after our death. The single word which articulates this hope is incarnation. It expresses what God is doing in and through Christ. But it also expresses something of what is happening to us, as God becomes incarnate in us and in creation. It encourages us, from West and East, with Christians of every generation, to pray the ancient Christian prayer, which is rooted in Athanasius theology: May we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity. In truth, different christological questions arise in different ages. A particular concern in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has been with the Jesus of History (Jesus the first century Jewish religious figure); the Christ of Faith (the Jesus we believe in today); and the relationship between them. Different writers and thinkers have put different emphasis on the two aspects of Jesus. For some it is vital that their faith in Jesus today is rooted in a historical understanding of the first century Jesus. Others doubt whether we can establish much contact with that historical figure for them faith in Christ today is key and Christ becomes incarnate in the present through that faith. The twentieth century has also seen changes in the way the human beings understand themselves. Insights from sociology and psychology, together with the influence of postmodern thinking has led to an understanding of humanity that: stresses the autonomy of the individual over the communal understands the self as an individual project open to construction and re-invention recognises the complexity of human motivation values the multiplicity and plurality of human experience recognises the uniqueness of each human s experience The idea of the Incarnation; the thought that God should be united with humanity in the intimate way that is suggested by Chalcedon is commonplace for Christians today. But perhaps we ought to try and recapture the shocking nature of this belief. It is surely incredible that God stepped into our midst in this way! And perhaps just as shocking are the implications of the Incarnation for us, for our discipleship and ministry. For we are called not just to speak of God, but to live in such a way that God is incarnate in us and in our actions. 21

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25 GROUP SESSION 3 Arrive and worship Project 1. Reflect on any issues that have arisen from the last session. Worship together. Describe the two positions on the nature of Christ that were debated at the Council of Chalcedon. Reflect on the quote: Between God and man there is such an enormous gulf that only a person representing both realities, that is divine and human at the same time, can bring together and reconcile the two. Ashwin-Siejkowski 2010 p37 Address the question: Why was one of the two positions chosen and not the other at Chalcedon? Project 2. Study the following passages. Hebrews 4:14-15 John 11:32-37 Luke 22:39-46 Mark 15:25-39 Identify how Jesus' humanity and divinity are expressed. Do you think that Jesus' humanity and divinity were ever in conflict? Project 3. Discuss the question: Can Jesus, a first century Jewish man, be like you? 23

26 Reflection. Each share briefly what you have learned from this session. Say how this session has made you feel. Worship together. Planning. Plan your preparation for session 4. 24

27 SESSION 4 THE HOLY SPIRIT THE LORD THE GIVER OF LIFE For this session Read Young Chapter 4. Read source 4 from the Reading block from Higton Christian Doctrine In 250 words address the question: Why was the nature and work of the Holy Spirit debated in the early centuries of the church? 25

28 SESSION 4 THE HOLY SPIRIT THE LORD THE GIVER OF LIFE INTRODUCTION We have looked so far in this term at theology relating to the Father and to Christ. But what of the Holy Spirit? A natural question, given the use of the threefold formula at baptism ( In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ) and the inclusion of a question about belief in the Holy Spirit in the baptismal creeds, is whether the Holy Spirit is also God as Jesus is and as the Father is. However, before answering that, it is worth exploring a little what the early church experience of the Holy Spirit was after the first century. Was it for example, like that related in the Acts of the Apostles? The answer is that such experience was rarer in the third and fourth centuries than in the first and second. Partly, this was in reaction to a rather extreme movement within the Church called Montanism, which seems to have emerged in the late second century. This movement was characterised by ecstatic behaviour and an emphasis on prophecy. It, and therefore similar phenomena, came to be regarded with considerable suspicion, not least because of the extent to which Montanus and other key figures claimed to speak God s word directly. Such a claim acted as a huge challenge to the authority of the church (as indeed such claims do today). The reaction against Montanism seems to have resulted in less charismatic behaviour in the church. Further the church was in the process of deciding to limit the texts which would form the New Testament, thus closing off the period in which the Holy Spirit was understood to be at work inspiring the writers of these texts. Nonetheless the church was convinced that the Holy Spirit had to be at work in the life of the church. It was only through the Spirit that scripture could be read, understood and interpreted. The Spirit sanctified the believer at baptism, and indeed the whole of the church. Further, theologians consistently wrote about God using the threefold formula: Father Son and Holy Spirit. As we shall see in the next session, Trinitarian theology has its roots firmly in the second and third centuries. It was against this background that the church pursued the question of the divinity of the Holy Spirit and arrived at an articulation of a belief that the Spirit was also God, and, like the Son, fully God. This came about gradually in the period following the Council at Nicaea. Athanasius is to be found defending this viewpoint in the second half of the fourth century. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of AD381 contains a much fuller clause about the Holy Spirit than the Creed of AD325. And soon afterwards (although not in the AD381 Creed itself) the Spirit is reckoned to be of one substance (homoousios) with the Father. Once again there were some key questions that only arose at this point. Only when you arrive at the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is God in the same way as Jesus do the following questions emerge: Is the Spirit another Son? Is the Spirit also begotten? 26

29 The answer to these questions (asked by critics of those who advocated the divinity of the Spirit at the time) was that no, the Spirit was not another Son, and therefore was not begotten. This safeguarded the belief that Jesus was the only-begotten Son of the Father. Rather the Spirit proceeded from the Father in another way the Holy Spirit was not begotten of the Father, but breathed from the Father. Not that the debate was completely straightforward, or free from cultural factors and differences. In the East, the Greek patristic writers held that the Father was the sole source of divine being; it was the Father who breathed the Spirit (just as it was the Father who begat the Son). In the West, Augustine and others, drawing on New Testament references to the Spirit of Christ, suggested that the Spirit was breathed by the Father and by the Son. By the ninth century, the Western Church tended to add to the phrase from the Nicene Creed which spoke of the Spirit proceeding from the Father, the extra phrase and the Son (in Latin filioque). This difference in theology contributed to, or focused, the divide between the Western and Eastern Churches in 1054 CE, alongside other issues such as the primacy of the Pope. Significance for Today This is an issue that has been revisited in the twentieth century. This is partly in the light of ecumenical dialogue between Western and Orthodox churches, and partly to do with the need to revisit our understanding of the way in which the Spirit works. To some the Western position tends to limit the role of the Spirit. It can lead to the view that the Spirit is only at work in the Church. The Eastern view might encourage us to see the work of the Spirit as rather broader, to be seen in the whole of God s creation. Those who would advocate such a view might ask: Do we seek to impose limits on the Holy Spirit, or do we recognise that the Spirit is at work wherever there is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22)? This seems to be an important question in an age where we have a large understanding of the world in which we live, and can see the diversity of cultures and beliefs in that world. This situation must raise the question: in what ways is the Holy Spirit at work outside the church and how may we recognise this? At the same time the church has experienced once again some of the ecstatic effects of the Spirit, and a sense of the Holy Spirit being very active in guiding members of the church today, in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. Those who have had this kind of experience, and advocate the value of this kind of renewal of the church s life might find creative opportunities for dialogue together with those who are aware of the wider work of the Holy Spirit. 27

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31 GROUP SESSION 4 Arrive and worship Reflect on any issues that have arisen from the last session. Worship together. Project 1. Using the work you have prepared for this session: Identify the challenges that made the early church wrestle with the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Identify the different ways in which the nature of the Spirit was expressed in the East and the West. Why is it important for us that the Holy Spirit is God? Project 2. Using Study Sheet 1 and any other passages that you identify: Build up a collection of pictures and images of the Person and work of God the Holy Spirit in Scripture. Explore the activity of the Holy Spirit in: Creation Revelation and the search for truth the Church's ministry prayer and worship the work of salvation In what ways does this multifaceted picture of the Spirit touch on your own experience? Project 3. Discuss the view that: The Spirit is at work in those who are not Christians. Reflection. Each share briefly what you have learned from this session. Say how this session has made you feel. Worship together. Planning. Plan your preparation for session 4. 29

32 STUDY SHEET 1 T 30