Trinity Sunday 2023
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Our earliest creeds are in the New Testament writing - many of them from Paul (1 Cor 8:6, Romans 10:9-10, Phil 2:5-11)
While awaiting his execution by wild beasts in the Roman Coliseum, Ignatius penned a letter to the church at Smyrna in 107 A.D. that was a credal statement.
Irenaeus of Lyons wrote “Against Heresies” around 180 A.D. to oppose gnosticism, and “Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching” as a credal document, a second century equivalent to our Book of Concord.
The Didache, discovered in the 19th century, and written no later than the middle of the 2nd century, gave instruction on how to baptize, emphasizing baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostolic Tradition, written in Rome around 215, contained instructions for baptism that included credal interrogatories about each member of the Trinity, with the individual being baptized after answering each question in the affirmative.
The Old Roman Creed is very similar to the prototypical Greek Creed of the second century. We see evidence of both in extant writings of the time, in Latin and Greek.
Early credal statements - confessions of faith and encouragement to others before martyrdom (Ignatius & Justin); counters to heresy (Irenaeus of Lyons).
Under Roman rule, beginning with Constantine, the need for imperial unity and stability (political) drove the desire for theological articulation of the faith.
Nicaea - May 20, 325 - a gathering of 300 Christian bishops on the Asian side of the Bosporus straits, near the Roman capitol of Constantinople (or Byzantium). This was less than a year after Constantine had defeated Licinius at Chrysopolis, ending the Roman persecution of the Christian church.
Though the Creed of Nicaea emerged from the Council of Nicaea, a version of Arianism (which denied the divinity of Christ) persisted for another 50 - 60 years (until the Council of Constantinople in 381).
Great similarity in the terminology of Platonism (the One, the Word & the World Soul) with the Christian Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit). Early creeds sought to distinguish the Christian Trinity (equality of the Godhead) from Platonism (which rank ordered the three divinities).
Platonism (and Origen’s interpretation of Christianity) counted on humans rising to God, not God coming to us. Arius, following the teaching of Origen believed this to be the path, and believed the Son helped us climb toward God, not that the Son was God who had come down to us.
Arius believed and taught that the Son was created by God and that there was a time before the Son was begotten (not eternal).
Heresies begin as small mistakes, often born from a misplaced loyalty to our own logical faculties, and when pushed to their conclusion yield full blown conflict with God’s Word.
At the urging of his theological adviser, Hosius of Cordoba, Constantine invited all 1800 Christian bishops living within the Roman empire to confront the Arian heresy. Of the estimated 300 who attended, Alexander of Alexandria and his deacon, Athanasius were in attendance.
In the first matter of business, the council agreed to reject Arius’ teaching that the Son was lower than the Father.
Led by Hosius, the council drafted the Creed of Nicea. 3 attendees, including Arius, refused to sign. They were exiled and Arius’ writings were condemned.
This creed stated much about the Father and the Son, but said simply, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.”
The anathema at the end of the Creed of Nicaea condemned not just the false teaching, but those who taught them - “But, those who say, Once he was not, or he was not before his generation, or became to be out of nothing, or who assert that he, the Son of God, is of a different hypostasis or ousia (essence), or that he is a creature or changeable, or mutable, the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.
3 years after the council of Nicaea, Bishop Alexander of Alexandria died and Athanasius become Bishop of Alexandria. He would spend the remainder of his life defending the council of Nicaea and attacking Arianism.
A heresy that followed the Council of Nicaea, over-emphasizing the homoousia (one essence) was teh teaching of Sabellius - a version of Modalism, which claimed the one God was only one person and appeared in the mode of Father, Son or Spirit, but that they were not truly distinct persons. Following Nicaea, there were a myriad of local creeds written by the bishop of the area, with the intent to disavow Arianism without slipping into Sabellianism.
Following the death of Constantine, the empire faced political and religious turmoil, with the empire changing hands between Christian and pagan emperors, pro-Nicene and anti-Nicene emperors, even pro-Arian emperors.
Most bishops were exiled by one or more of these emperors. Athanasius was exiled 5 times for 17 years.
The main controversy in the Church was whether the Son was like the Father and came down to save us, or whether the Son was unlike the Father and needed to rise up to God, bringing us with Him.
An agreement that rose out of this period among the pro-Nicene groups, led by Athanasius, was the expression, “three hypostaseis and one ousia” (three persons and one essence)
Athanasius died in 373, and the government refused to ratify the election of his brother, Peter, as bishop of Alexandria, choosing Lucian, and Arian.
After this, the Macedonian heresy arose, accepting the equality of Father and Son, but denying that of the Holy Spirit.
The political/religious turmoil was settled with the ascension of Theodosius, a strongly pro-Nicene emperor, who named Gregory of Nazianzus bishop of Constantinople and called for the gathering of bishops at the Council of Constantinople in 381.
This council adopted the Nicene Creed, largely affirming the principles from the Creed of Nicaea, expanding on the confession of belief in the Holy Spirit, and eliminating the anathema. It continued to emphasize that the “Son came down for our salvation.”
The 4th century credal conflicts resolved around 2 issues - where is the line between God and everything else (on which side of that line do the Son and Spirit fall)? And, do we rise up to God or does He come down to us?
It is really quite simple: we believe in one God who made everything; we believe in his eternal Son, equal to him, who came down for our salvation, to do for us what we could not do ourselves; we believe in his eternal Spirit, worshiped just as much as he and the Son are, who makes us alive.11 Donald Fairbairn and Ryan M. Reeves, The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019), 79.
Following Constantinople, the Nestorians sought to divide Christ independently based on human and divine essences, not accepting or recognizing the divine taking on the human. They divided the essences, not combining them.
Cyril of Alexandria, who was born a few years after Athanasius death, took up the mantle of the fight - first against Arianism, and then against Nestorianism.
Both Arianism and Nestorianism put our salvation in the hands of one who is not truly God.
Nestorius became bishop of Constantinople, insisting that God had inhabited a man, Christ, but that it was 2 essences in 2 persons inhabiting the same body.
Cyril of Alexandria produced 12 anathemas against Nestorius. Theodosius II called for the third great ecumenical council at Ephesus in 431.
Our earliest creeds are in the New Testament writing - many of them from Paul (1 Cor 8:6, Romans 10:9-10, Phil 2:5-11)
While awaiting his execution by wild beasts in the Roman Coliseum, Ignatius penned a letter to the church at Smyrna in 107 A.D. that was a credal statement.
Irenaeus of Lyons wrote “Against Heresies” around 180 A.D. to oppose gnosticism, and “Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching” as a credal document, a second century equivalent to our Book of Concord.
The Didache, discovered in the 19th century, and written no later than the middle of the 2nd century, gave instruction on how to baptize, emphasizing baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostolic Tradition, written in Rome around 215, contained instructions for baptism that included credal interrogatories about each member of the Trinity, with the individual being baptized after answering each question in the affirmative.
The Old Roman Creed is very similar to the prototypical Greek Creed of the second century. We see evidence of both in extant writings of the time, in Latin and Greek.
Early credal statements - confessions of faith and encouragement to others before martyrdom (Ignatius & Justin); counters to heresy (Irenaeus of Lyons).
Under Roman rule, beginning with Constantine, the need for imperial unity and stability (political) drove the desire for theological articulation of the faith.
Nicaea - May 20, 325 - a gathering of 300 Christian bishops on the Asian side of the Bosporus straits, near the Roman capitol of Constantinople (or Byzantium). This was less than a year after Constantine had defeated Licinius at Chrysopolis, ending the Roman persecution of the Christian church.
Though the Creed of Nicaea emerged from the Council of Nicaea, a version of Arianism (which denied the divinity of Christ) persisted for another 50 - 60 years (until the Council of Constantinople in 381).
Great similarity in the terminology of Platonism (the One, the Word & the World Soul) with the Christian Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit). Early creeds sought to distinguish the Christian Trinity (equality of the Godhead) from Platonism (which rank ordered the three divinities).
Platonism (and Origen’s interpretation of Christianity) counted on humans rising to God, not God coming to us. Arius, following the teaching of Origen believed this to be the path, and believed the Son helped us climb toward God, not that the Son was God who had come down to us.
Arius believed and taught that the Son was created by God and that there was a time before the Son was begotten (not eternal).
Heresies begin as small mistakes, often born from a misplaced loyalty to our own logical faculties, and when pushed to their conclusion yield full blown conflict with God’s Word.
At the urging of his theological adviser, Hosius of Cordoba, Constantine invited all 1800 Christian bishops living within the Roman empire to confront the Arian heresy. Of the estimated 300 who attended, Alexander of Alexandria and his deacon, Athanasius were in attendance.
In the first matter of business, the council agreed to reject Arius’ teaching that the Son was lower than the Father.
Led by Hosius, the council drafted the Creed of Nicea. 3 attendees, including Arius, refused to sign. They were exiled and Arius’ writings were condemned.
This creed stated much about the Father and the Son, but said simply, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.”
The anathema at the end of the Creed of Nicaea condemned not just the false teaching, but those who taught them - “But, those who say, Once he was not, or he was not before his generation, or became to be out of nothing, or who assert that he, the Son of God, is of a different hypostasis or ousia (essence), or that he is a creature or changeable, or mutable, the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.
3 years after the council of Nicaea, Bishop Alexander of Alexandria died and Athanasius become Bishop of Alexandria. He would spend the remainder of his life defending the council of Nicaea and attacking Arianism.
A heresy that followed the Council of Nicaea, over-emphasizing the homoousia (one essence) was teh teaching of Sabellius - a version of Modalism, which claimed the one God was only one person and appeared in the mode of Father, Son or Spirit, but that they were not truly distinct persons. Following Nicaea, there were a myriad of local creeds written by the bishop of the area, with the intent to disavow Arianism without slipping into Sabellianism.
Following the death of Constantine, the empire faced political and religious turmoil, with the empire changing hands between Christian and pagan emperors, pro-Nicene and anti-Nicene emperors, even pro-Arian emperors.
Most bishops were exiled by one or more of these emperors. Athanasius was exiled 5 times for 17 years.
The main controversy in the Church was whether the Son was like the Father and came down to save us, or whether the Son was unlike the Father and needed to rise up to God, bringing us with Him.
An agreement that rose out of this period among the pro-Nicene groups, led by Athanasius, was the expression, “three hypostaseis and one ousia” (three persons and one essence)
Athanasius died in 373, and the government refused to ratify the election of his brother, Peter, as bishop of Alexandria, choosing Lucian, and Arian.
After this, the Macedonian heresy arose, accepting the equality of Father and Son, but denying that of the Holy Spirit.
The political/religious turmoil was settled with the ascension of Theodosius, a strongly pro-Nicene emperor, who named Gregory of Nazianzus bishop of Constantinople and called for the gathering of bishops at the Council of Constantinople in 381.
This council adopted the Nicene Creed, largely affirming the principles from the Creed of Nicaea, expanding on the confession of belief in the Holy Spirit, and eliminating the anathema. It continued to emphasize that the “Son came down for our salvation.”
The 4th century credal conflicts resolved around 2 issues - where is the line between God and everything else (on which side of that line do the Son and Spirit fall)? And, do we rise up to God or does He come down to us?
It is really quite simple: we believe in one God who made everything; we believe in his eternal Son, equal to him, who came down for our salvation, to do for us what we could not do ourselves; we believe in his eternal Spirit, worshiped just as much as he and the Son are, who makes us alive.11 Donald Fairbairn and Ryan M. Reeves, The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019), 79.
Following Constantinople, the Nestorians sought to divide Christ independently based on human and divine essences, not accepting or recognizing the divine taking on the human. They divided the essences, not combining them.
Cyril of Alexandria, who was born a few years after Athanasius death, took up the mantle of the fight - first against Arianism, and then against Nestorianism.
Both Arianism and Nestorianism put our salvation in the hands of one who is not truly God.
Nestorius became bishop of Constantinople, insisting that God had inhabited a man, Christ, but that it was 2 essences in 2 persons inhabiting the same body.
Cyril of Alexandria produced 12 anathemas against Nestorius. Theodosius II called for the third great ecumenical council at Ephesus in 431.
From the proceedings at Ephesus, Theodosius imprisoned Nestorius, Cyril & Memnon. Eventually he sided with Cyril and Nestorius was banished.
The result of the Council of Ephesus was the Formula of Reunion, which declared Christ to be one person of two natures (divine and human). Theodosius required all bishops to assent to it. This led to the birth of the Assyrian Church of the East, which rejected the Formula of Reunion, holding to Nestorius’ teaching.
Following the deaths of Cyril of Alexandria & John of Antioch, the peace forged at Ephesus fell apart in a debate between Eutyches and Dioscorus opposing Theoderet about the two natures/persons (and the meaning of the Greek work physeis).
This led Emperor Marcian (who succeeded Theodosius) to call the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
The charter of the Council of Chalcedon was to draft a new creed, but they ended up defining the Nicene Creed, reconciling the differences between the Creed of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed (both were in use between the assembled bishoprics).
The central affirmation of the Chalcedonian definition is that Jesus and the Logos are the same person.
The disagreement over Chalcedon led to a great schism, producing the Oriental Orthodox churches, which held to the one-physeis belief, which the West termed as one-nature, but which they hold to as one-person.
For the first five-centuries, disputes arose between Christian gatherings over their understanding of the Greek words ousia, physis, hypostasis and prosopon - essence, nature, person, mask, many different interpretations that included different meanings.
The Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant religions are all born our of an adherence to Chalcedon. The Oriental Orthodox tradition is a departure from it.
The Nicene Creed was wholly embraced in the Eastern churches, but many of the Western churches retained their own regional creeds, like the Old Roman Creed. By the 8th century, these regional creeds all sort of coalesced into what we know today as the Apostle’s Creed, especially in Northern Europe. The Apostle’s Creed began as a baptismal symbol and never really lost it’s tie to baptism.
What we know as the Athanasian Creed first appeared in a collection of sermons by the 6th century bishop Caesarius of Arles (in Gaul). It was titled, “The Catholic Faith of Saint Athanasius the Bishop.”
It was not written by Athanasius (but appeared some 200+ years after his death).
The early attribution to Athanasius gave it some level of acceptance in the Eastern Church, though they struggled with the double procession of the Holy Spirit (from Father and Son). Once the attribution to Athanasius was disproven, they fully rejected it.
The Athanasian Creed depends greatly of Augustine’s “On the Trinity”
Most likely written by a Gallic bishop or monk.
The Athanasian Creed appears to have been an educational treatise for clergy that had taken it’s place alongside the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed in the Western Church by the 13th century.
2 sections - the Trinity as a whole and the incarnation and life of Christ.
June 4, 2023
2. Textual Study
2. Textual Study
“And God saw that it was good”
“And there was evening and there was morning”
On the second day, God created the heavens. The purpose of the heavens was to separate the waters from the waters.
The dry land appeared at the word of God. Is this how Christ appeared in the upper room?
Vegetation was created to bear seed, to reproduce.
When God tells the earth to bring forth vegetation, it does. When He tells the great sea creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply, they do. When He tells man to be fruitful and multiply, man does not do so right away.
God’s orders to man are to be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth; subdue the earth; have dominion over the fish, the birds and every living thing. This is what man is created to do.
In the garden, man had every vegetable and fruit that had been created. These were his food.
Every beast and bird had every green plant for food. What about the fish - what did they eat?
In the Psalm, David recognizes that God has crowned man with glory by giving him dominion over all the creation (which is good)
I like Peter’s opening as a sermon opening - “let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”
The people that Peter is addressing saw the mighty works and wonders and signs that Jesus performed in their very midst
David knew the Lord was ever before him - was it so real that it was like he could see Him?
Did Peter reflect on this Psalm when he saw the empty tomb? The risen Lord?
No matter how great we are, like David, we shall die and be buried, and our tombs will be with those who love and revere us.
Christ was not abandoned to Hades. He did descend into Hell to declare his victory over death and Satan, but He was not abandoned there. His flesh, though human, was incorruptible.
Which enemies did God the Father make the footstool of Christ? Could it be any other enemies than death and Satan? His enemies were not those who killed Him - He prayed for their forgiveness. Rather, His enemies were those who have corrupted the very creation that is very good.
The Matthew 28 passage is in Galilee - it is not the Ascension. They are at a mountain - is it the site where He fed the 5000, near Bethsaida?
This was the 11 disciples, all of whom He had appeared to - they worshiped Him, but some still doubted. Who doubted? What did they doubt? Why did they doubt? Did they worship Him anyway, even though they doubted? When did they stop doubting? Did some of them ever stop doubting? He does not hand pick those who do not doubt to give them the Great Commission - He gives it to them all, even those who doubted. The message is not sanctified by the messenger, but by the Lord from whom it originates.
The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith The Church’s Response to Nestorianism
The bottom line was that both Arianism and Nestorianism put our salvation in the hands of one who was not fully God