I believe it is important for us to affirm the Creed of Nicea and its importance of forging the foundation for Trinitarianism in the Christian faith.
The Creed of Nicea: 325
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,
begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten and not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things came into being, things in heaven and things on earth, who because of us men and because of our salvation, came down and became incarnate, becoming man, suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead;
Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is of different hypostasis or substance, or is created, or is subject to alternation or change –
From Early Christian Creeds, ed. J. N. D. Kelly and Henry Bettenson.
-r
5 comments:
I disagree and I do not affirm that creed. I affirm the Creed from the Council of Constantinople that developed on the Nicene Creed because I DO say that the Son is of a different hypostasis than the Father.
So, Jared, because of your affirmation of the different hypostasis, it leads you to completely deny the Nicene Creed?
I would also affirm the Nicene-Constantinopolitan (NC) yet I do not attempt to deny the confession made at Nicaea. Especially in understanding the context of Arianism's claims against Jesus.
I see what you mean in disagreeing with hypostasis. Could it be that the Western church Fathers viewed hypostasis as substance? Therefore to say that the Father and Son were of different hypostasis might imply a break in unity between the Godhead. Even the NC confesses that the Father and Son are of the same substance. Would you agree with that? Are you mainly just dissatisfied with the ending paragraph of the Nicene Creed?
Thanks for your interaction.
-j
Yes, no one today should agree with the anathema at the end. Not affirming the anathema is to affirm the understanding of the the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and thus the Athanasian Creed and Cappadoicians that do affirm a different hypostasis. The rest of the Creed is great.
I think it should be part of our worship in evangelical churches. Maybe not every week, but maybe monthly or varied with the Apostles Creed. I did not know the creed existed until I visited a Lutheran Church because my background of Baptist, Bible Church and Christian Churches were almost afraid of creeds or historical tests of Christianity. Shame.
Men & Brethren,
surely it is more important to affirm the Creed that Jesus affirmed!
He never affirm either the Nicene or the Athanasian creeds!
Rather his creed was the Shema, Deut 6.4
(Deu 6:4) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
The Messiah affirmed his creed in agreement with the scribe in Mark 12:28ff.
Note the scribe's response:
(Mark 12:32) And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Obviously then, neither Jesus nor the scribe were trinitarian!
If we are indeed followers of Christ, shouldn't our creed be the same as Jesus??
Find out more by viewing the video at:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you to reconsider "The Trinity & its creeds"
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Hello Adam.
I too affirm that there is only one God. However, I also affirm the profession of Thomas, when Christ appeared to him, he proclaimed "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).
If we look at John 20:28, or John 1, we must leave behind this idea that “Lord” and “God” may be separated and acknowledge the confession of Ph 2:11 that Jesus is Lord is not excluding His being God, but including it.
I think you may be running into a problem with your definition of “one” “אחד” echad. This is the word in Deut 6:4 to describe God. One must ask if one ever means one “what” or one as united. In a similar way, the word is used in Gen 2:24 to describe two persons, Adam and Eve, or man and woman, come together in marriage to become one using the same word “one” “אחד” echad. So if we only allow a narrow definition of the word “one” “אחד” echad as you want to only identify the Father as God as one, this would mean Adam and Eve came together to be one person. Obviously this is not the case. Therefore, “one” in Deut 6:4 is not a case in itself that God is one person anymore than Adam and Eve, or my wife and myself are one person.
Though you are concerned about not using “extra-biblical” language, you did so in your confession and creed about God and Christ you have just written on my blog, namely you called God one Person, going beyond the biblical language. Also, every word you typed is unbiblical because they are written in English. Thus, as you have acquiesced to the ability for us to use words not in the Bible to communicate biblical truth, let us acknowledge the biblical language that “Jesus is God, the Father is God and they are two persons, one essence” the teaching of the Church, who merely used these word “person” and “essence” to aid in grasping the biblical teaching. This is same church of which Jesus Christ declared “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This is the faith of the Church in the apostles. This is the faith of their followers such as Ignatius, disciple of John, who told us Jesus “was God in human form.” (Ignatius letter to the Ephesians ch 19).
It is a difficult teaching, but it is the teaching of Christ, (as accepted by Thomas calling him God) the apostles (Thomas in John 20:28, John in John 1, etc) and the church from Christ until now. One might not accept it, but this does not mean your belief is more ancient, but novel, new and ahistorical. You may believe that “God is one,” but remember the warning of James 2:19, even the demons believe that and shudder, it is not enough to ensure your hope of eternity. Your only hope is believing in the actual Son whom Thomas confessed as God, that God the Father sent, not in a false idea/image you call the Son. Believe the God-man, the Son of God has come, that all who believe have had their sins atoned for in his perfect propitiation. A propitiation that could be paid by no man, but only the God-man, Jesus the Messiah. You will be in my prayers that you may accept the faith of our Christ and the church. To explore it more, I would encourage you to find a local expression of this body, here is a directory of such a grouping of churches: https://processor.pcanet.org/ac/directory/directory.cfm . The local pastor will be able to answer your questions on the Christian conception of God. I pray the Holy Spirit will open your mind to His teaching.
Yours in Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man of our salvation,
Jared
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