Thoughts and reflections concerning the following areas 1.13.1-14.0
"Here, if any where, in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly and with great moderation, cautiously guarding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God's word. For how can the human minds which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun consists, though it is daily presented to the eye, bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure? Nay, how can it, under its own guidance, penetrate to a knowledge of the substance of God while unable to understand its own? Wherefore, let us willingly leave to God the knowledge of himself....This knowledge, then, if we would leave to God, we must conceive of him as he has made himself known, and in our inquiries make application to no other quarter than his word."-Calvin, John
In the current readings so far things have been fairly easy to discern and comprehend but things are about to change. Calvin now leads us by the hand in a lengthy discussion and explanation of subject that has brought about division, created heresies, and birthed cults in the endeavour to understand it rightly. The topic we will now discuss will be the Trinity.
Many books and articles consisting of multiple pages have been written on this subject and is discussed by Calvin at length and with great care. I will only submit one blog entry to this topic but will to the best of my ability discuss what Calvin says about it, give a brief summery of its historical development, and some concluding remarks. But first we need to get acquainted with a few terms and issues as we start at the shallow side and make our way to the deep end.
The Early Christian Explanation of the Trinity
“There is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence.” B.B Warfield
Simply put, the doctrine of trinity is difficult to understand even when taught and understood correctly but i'll try to give a brief (very brief) summery of how it developed. Now, we all know that the name "trinity" is no where to be found int he bible but its absence doesn't mean it isn't biblical. The question is does the term explain and reflect what scripture teaches. The early church, in response to a number of heretical groups and false teachings that were arising who denied the diety of christ or the holy spirit began to formally solidify who Christ is in relation to the Father. It was unanimously agreed upon by the early church that Christ was truly God and since there was only one God reconciliation between the two truths had to be fleshed out. A few began to deny the deity of Christ, namely the gnostic heresy which taught that Christ was a super angel,inferior in nature to God, and an emanation of God of a higher rank than humans and at the same time denied his humanity. Arainsism, named after Arius held that the Son was created by the Father who at one time never existed. Christ being created is subordinated to the father in essence ultimately resulting in the denial of his divinity. Arainism is seen today in the doctrine and beliefs of the Jehovah's witness. Sabellius(A.D. 200), the originator of sabellianism held that the Father,Son,and Holy Spirit were God but said that they were no more than three manifestations or "modes" of the one true God. Sabellius denied the personhood of the three while ascribingng to it as a great mystery. Tritheism, Docetism, Macedonianism, Adoptionism, and Partialism just to name a few were many other teachings that arose denying the deity of Christ which gave rise to the need to articulate a creed or statement to refute the many errors that were attacking the christian faith.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed
The Council of Nicene Out of all the heresies the christian church was at great odds with aranisism which claimed that Jesus was a created being and at one time didn't exist. Having been excommunicated twice for his teaching arius continued with great force along side with eusebus, a popular bishop. The arian message became more popular and since it contradicted the teaching of Christ and the christian church hostility began to arise. Constantine the great noticed this rivalry and fearful that aranisism would divide his empire which was recently converted to Christianity called a council to settle the dispute.
Eusebius
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation, begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We believe also in one Holy Spirit.
We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of these [persons]: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit; even as our Lord also, when he sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-2.html#sthash.dlHg8tw7.dpuf
At the council a rule or statement of faith(a set of basic doctrines learned and confessed) was used as a way to preserve apostolic tradition. The rule of faith used states,And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation, begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We believe also in one Holy Spirit.
We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of these [persons]: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit; even as our Lord also, when he sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-2.html#sthash.dlHg8tw7.dpuf
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation, begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We believe also in one Holy Spirit.
We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of these [persons]: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit; even as our Lord also, when he sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-2.html#sthash.dlHg8tw7.dpuf
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation, begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We believe also in one Holy Spirit.
We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of these [persons]: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit; even as our Lord also, when he sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-2.html#sthash.dlHg8tw7.dpuf
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:Unsatisfied with it Constantine requested the addition of one word, homoousios.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of light, Life of life, the only-begotten Son, born before all creation, begotten of God the Father, before all ages, by whom also all things were made; who on account of our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men; and who suffered and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We believe also in one Holy Spirit.
We believe in the existence and subsistence of each of these [persons]: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit; even as our Lord also, when he sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
One Iota: Homoiousios and Homoousios
Homoousios means (Greek: “of one substance,” or “of one essence”) The terms homoiousios and homoousios mean "similar essence" and "same essence."According to those who adopted homoiousios, Jesus was not the same as God but simply had a "similar essence." Arius viewed Jesus as heteroousios which means of a different substance. The fact that Christ was God was a given among the christian church and since he was infact God his essence was the same as Gods. To covey biblical truth homoousios was used and included rather than the word homoiousios which differed in spelling by just the letter "i". According to those who argued for homoousios, the doctrine which was eventually adopted as orthodoxy and added to the nicene creed, Jesus and God had the exact same essence which is what arius denied. Also, contrary to arius Christ is said to be consubstantial with the Father which means that the Son of God is of no other substance or essence but of the Father.The final version of the creed reads as follows,
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God, Light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made both which are in heaven and on earth; who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became incarnate, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day; he ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say "There was a time when he was not," or "He did not exist before he was begotten," or "He was made of nothing" or assert that "He is of other substance or essence than the Father," or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or susceptible of change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes.
When the creed states," The holy catholic church," it refers to the universal church rather than a specific branch of Christianity. The word catholic comes from the Greek word katholikos which means "universal" or "general."
Hopfully i've done a decent job with the historical development of the trinity but so as not to have this blog post become longer than it needs i'll save Calvins thoughts on the trinity for part 2 of this blog post.
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God, Light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made both which are in heaven and on earth; who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became incarnate, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day; he ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say "There was a time when he was not," or "He did not exist before he was begotten," or "He was made of nothing" or assert that "He is of other substance or essence than the Father," or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or susceptible of change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes.
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-4.html#sthash.zVClXKRV.dpuf
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God, Light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made both which are in heaven and on earth; who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became incarnate, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day; he ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say "There was a time when he was not," or "He did not exist before he was begotten," or "He was made of nothing" or assert that "He is of other substance or essence than the Father," or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or susceptible of change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes.
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-4.html#sthash.zVClXKRV.dpuf
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God, Light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made both which are in heaven and on earth; who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became incarnate, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day; he ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say "There was a time when he was not," or "He did not exist before he was begotten," or "He was made of nothing" or assert that "He is of other substance or essence than the Father," or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or susceptible of change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes.
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-4.html#sthash.zVClXKRV.dpuf
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is of the substance of the Father; God of God, Light of light, true God of true God; begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made both which are in heaven and on earth; who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became incarnate, was made man, suffered and rose again on the third day; he ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
[We believe] also in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say "There was a time when he was not," or "He did not exist before he was begotten," or "He was made of nothing" or assert that "He is of other substance or essence than the Father," or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or susceptible of change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes.
- See more at: http://www.christian-history.org/council-of-nicea-4.html#sthash.zVClXKRV.dpuf
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