ST5102 Final Exam Study Guide Summer 2022

Yahweh (YHWH)

"I AM" God's personal name, the self existent, ever-active One, especially in covenant with Israel.

What does Oneness Pentecostalism (Jesus Only) teach about the trinity? How would you show them their error from Scripture?

"We do not beleive in a three-person Trinity, we beleive that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. We do not beleive that the terms 'Trinity'-'God the Son', 'God the Father', 'God the Holy Ghost', 'eternal Son', the 'first, second, and third persons in the Trinity' are either scriptural or correct. We believe the doctrine of the trinity was a product of pagan mythology and Grecian philosophy." John 1:1-2. John 1:14 - The Word made flesh and dwelt among us... the "one and only Son" who came from the Father, full of grace and truth". ..is one in deity but distinct in person from the Father. John 1:18 - "No one has ever seen God, but the one an donly Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." In the incarnation, the Son is revealed as God-distinct-from-God, never more clearly than at the cross, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Rev 5:13 - "THen I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea..."To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb..." fulfillment with the One seated on the Throne and the Lamb. TOGETHER, they are both worshiped by all the sentient beings in heaven and earth.

Calvin

(1509-1564): A French born reformer, Calvin is noted for basing his views in Scripture. His Institutes of the Christian Religion (Lat 1536; Fr 1539, 1559) provides the fullest and most biblical explanation of the Trinity from the early Reformation period. Organized loosely around the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, Institutes served on the one side as a catechism (3d ed, 1559) against M. Servetus and other radical Reformers advocating Unitarianism. On the other side, Calvin especially based his teachings on the Bible, contrary to the papal insistence on the authority (magisterium) of the Roman Catholic Church. While defending biblical and patristic Trinitarianism, Calvin questioned the Key Theologians 4 "eternal generation" of the Son, suggesting that, at best, this is economic language that has been projected analogically to the eternal relations of the Father and the Son.

Athanasius

(c.295-373): Champion of the doctrine of the Trinity. Athanasius received a classical education and was ordained as a deacon in 318. Most likely in his early twenties, he wrote his famous On the Incarnation that against Arianism articulates the equality of the Son with the Father. Although relatively young, he actively participated at the Council of Nicaea (325) and was soon appointed Bishop of Alexandria (328). The years that followed were a constant struggle through several exiles to uphold orthodoxy against a revived Arianism empowered by emperors and opposing bishops. Under his leadership with *Basil of Caesaria, the Council of Alexandria (362) brought clarification of the terms hypostasis (as "person") and ousia ("substance"), thus increasing understanding between the Eastern and Western fathers. To Athanasius is attributed the first full listing of the NT canon (367) and the biography Life of St. Antony that popularized monasticism throughout Christendom.

Richard of St. Victor

(d. 1173): Born in Scotland, Richard became Prior of St. Victor in Paris. His theology is influenced by *Augustine and *Anselm and a key point of his teaching on the Trinity centers on love. From a rationalist perspective, Richard argues that because God is charity (love), therefore divine charity must be directed toward another equal person or it is not charity. Therefore, at least two equal, divine persons share that mutual love in the Trinity. Richard in this sense is a Western social Trinitarian.

According to the prof, what is a "person" both human and divine? Name 4

1. Generic Nature: "Material" attributes that constitute one's being, divine or human: divine attributes ("the Word was God") or human (soul and body). 2. Self-Consciousness: Actual perception of self as distinct from other persons ("I Am") a person has distinct mental properties and internal relations. 3. I-Thou Relatedness: Distinction of oneself from another in relationships )"the Word was with God"); one's capacity to relate to others. 4. Perichoresis: Mutual indwelling of each member of the Godhead int he other without confusion of self-consciousness ("I am in the Father and the Father is in Me"); design of human beings to be indwelled by God. 5. Self-Giving: God has structured us so that to be fulfilled we must gove of ourselves to Him and to others. As the Triune God is freely self-giving, this God has build into our very being (as imago dei) the necessity of our free self-giving in order to be fulfilled

Do you see implications of the Trinity in marriage and family? If so, how?

1. Making the other known (Emmanuel God with us) 2. Communicating with each other (Jesus in prayer) 3. Enjoying koinonia together 4. Audible expressions of love to the other (The Son recog the Father's love for him) 5. Expressing pleasure with or desire to please the other (John 17 - glorified the FAther) 6. Giving gifts 7. Honoring the other 8. Working with and for one another 9. Sending, giving responsibility to the other 10. Submitting to the will of the other 11. Abiding in unity 12. Being part of each other (perichoresis), loving sexual union 13. Trusting the other in the midst of suffering (Jesus in the Garden) Gen 1:26-28, 2:18-24 Gal 3:26,28 - ...ther is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The attributes of the Godhead are manifested equally in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 12 - God gives spiritual gifts without gender distinction Eph 5 - delicate balance - follow God's example...submitting to one another..." 1. Economic Trinitarian relations, order of Godhead 2. The place of angels, sensitive to creation order 3. Order of creation 4. The sequence of the Fall, yet Adam is generally seen as responsible

Do you see implications of the Trinity for the church? If so, how?

1. Mutuality: each has been given gifts fro strengthening the body. We are sanctified. Genuine sense of equality of members, not spectators. 2. Generous Order: Self-giving leadership who yet lead and shepherd. Authority in local leadership. Order in the Trinity - order in the NT church. Final authority rests with godly male leaders. 3. Deep Firendships: . Nirturing God centered relationships. Trinity is infinitley, interdependent personal. Caring relationships. 4. Biblical Ecumenicity: God's care for one's local church extends to other churches. Fellowship with other local bodies of Christ.

Thomas Equinas

1225-1274): Youngest son of an aristocratic family, at five Thomas was given to the Church. He studied in the Dominican order under Albertus Magnus, mastering an Aristotelian approach to truth. Between stints in (?) Paris and Italy, Thomas lectured and wrote profusely including Summa contra Gentiles and later Summa Theologiae. While recognizing the primacy of revelation, Thomas accorded natural reason a certain autonomy. Valid reasoning begins with sense perception of facts within the natural world. From this he developed his proofs for the existence of God, who is pure act (i.e., perfection real-ized). Conversely, sacred doctrine is grounded in divine revelation in Scripture and the magisterium; special revelation is essential to ultimate truth understanding of Trinity, and salvation. Central to divine revelation is the Trinity and the Incarnate Word. Like Peter Lombard, Thomas begins with exposition of the divine nature (attributes), then addresses the three persons to which he gives considerable attention. Although vigorously opposed for decades, Thomas' system of thought revived especially in the 16th century when he was declared Doctor of the Church (1567).

John Owen

1616-1683 Univ Oxford, Of Communion with God: The Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Disticntly. Worshiping them and thanking them distinclty in our lives.

Divinization / theosis

2 Peter 1:4. Becoming "God-like" although not absolute "God" who is immutable. The Incarnation of the Logos is seen as salvific. God enters and infuses the physical world with His presence. "This is what the fathers meant by 'deification': God became man that we might become God." Athanasius "Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us; let us become gods for His sake, since He for ours became man." Gregory of Nazianzus

Augustine

354-430): Born to a pagan father and Christian mother (Monica), Augus-tine was a catechumem in childhood. In adolescence he abandoned Christianity for phil-osophic religion (Manichaeism) and a lover with whom he lived for 15 years and sired a son. He converted under Ambrose of Milan in 386 (Confessions). His writings in general (e.g., The City of God, On Christian Doctrine) and specifically his work The Trinity continue to influence Christian theology worldwide. De Trinitate (399-420) presents various tri-partite analogies—primarily psychological but also social (Lover-Beloved-Love itself)—to affirm the reasonability of the one substance of God existing in three subsistent relations. Augustine begins with the unity of God, then to expound the three "ways of being" or (for lack of a better term) "persons." His view of the Holy Spirit as the love between the Father and the Son provisioned the Western addition of the filioque clause to the Nicene Creed at the 3rd Council of Toledo in 589. Prior to Augustine, the emphasis in Trinitarian discussion tended to be on the ontological primacy of the Father, but Augustine placed the emphasis on the divine nature and subsistent personal relations—a pattern that until recently dominated Western theology.

Ebionism (1)

A Jewish-Christian sect: 1. Accepting Jesus as a mere man, denying virgin birth (Jospeh was real father). 2. Viewing Jesus as a prophet like John the Baptist and/or as divinely anointed. 3. Adhering strictly to Jewish law and the centrality of Israel )"Gospel to the Hebrews"); rejecting Paul's writings. 4. Ebionism signifies "poor." Likely Ebionites as Essenes lived an ascetic existence. Adopted by God at baptism. Jesus was perceived as an extraordinary prophet like John the Baptist who identified with the oppressed. But Jesus was not God.

Montanism: Special Revelation

About AD 170 a prophetic movement began in Asia Minor led by MONTANUS who is said to have claimed himself to be the mouthpiece, if not incarnation, of the Holy Spirit. The movement was marked by prophecy, tongues, and miraculous phenomena. Montanus required absolute obedience, celibacy, prolonged fasting, and heavy financial giving. He preached fiery asceticism and the impending judgement of both the world and the lax, carnal church. Montanism positively reminded the church of the Spirit's vital role and the need for purity and power. More generally, however, Montanism's super-spirituality and theological error generated resistance in the church towards matters of the Spirit.

Chart the basic differences regarding Who is God? and what is human? between the Christian God, the Allah of Islam, the Brahman of Advaita Hinduism, and atheism.

Brahman of Advaita Hinduism: Pantheism - All is one and All is God. God is everythings. The individual is divine. Every human is god. Yet all particulars are illusion, including the self. To enter oneness with the All-inclusive One, one must finally transcend (end deny) personal distinctions. Nor is there a place for ultimate morality. Atheism: The individual has a place But no absolute stands behind the universe All particulars lack ultimate meaning Humanity individually and/or collectively forms its own relative meanings Allah of Islam: God has no son God is not trinity He is God, the One and Only God Absolete, He begotten not, nor is he begotten Stands independant and above fellowship Christian: Created in the image of God Personhood and human dignity are grounded in a personal God Humanity lives in a moral universe goverened by a righteous God Tripersonal God provides an absolute basis for human social relations

In worshipping God, what three dimensions should be kept in balance? Why?

Catechetical (Cataphatic - teaches how to think rightly/may put God in a box) Theology: positive knowledge of God. leads us to some knowledge of God by positive affirmations. Apophatic theology (preserves mystery/leaves nothing to affirm): continues by the way of negations. Piestic theology (devotion - emphasizes relationship and application in life/interprets God by experience or pragmatism): centers on our personal relationshp with God; abiding, rejoicing (Abiding 1 John 4:13-16, Praising, Seeking)

Karl Barth

Challenged the liberal, non-Trinitarian theology that dominated theology from Schleirmacher onward. Affirms orthodoxy with God as the Revealer, Revealed, and Revealedness; God self-manifests as unimpaired unity.

Rudolph Bultmann

Denied the deity of Christ and Trinity. Whether a person's encounter with God in Christ was in fact an experience of God or whether it was ultimatley only an existential crisis of self-authentification is unclear.

Eutychianism (9)

Disputing Nestorius, Eutyches mixed the two natures of Christ, such that each nature absorbed the characteristics of the other; the human became divine and the divine human. But the church fathers understood the need to maintain the divine and human natures as distinct in the one person of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless post-Chalcedonian schisms in the East continued tendencies toward a single nature.

Modalism/Sabellianism (4a & b)

Early Modalism: Taught that God exists as a single person but manifest Himself in a plurality of modes. Trying to protect the oneness of God and the deity of Christ, Modalism argued the divinity of Christ was none other than the presence of the Father. The big problem: God the Father suffered and died on the cross in Christ. A second quite different form of Monarchianism is Modalism. God comes to us in three "modes"; that is, God is only one person but manifests himself varyingly as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Identifying the Son as the Father led to the charge of PATRIPASSIONISM which purports that the Father became incarnate, was born of a virgin, and suffered and died on the cross. (Jesus Only, United Pentecostals): Seballius in Rome declared that God manifested himself as the Father in the OT, the Son in the Incarnation and Gospels, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. God exists as one person; the Father functioning as the Son... The God of the OT (the Father) became the Son of the Gospels, then the Holy SPirit of Acts and the church today. God is perceived as but one person who is manifested differently in the flow of history. Both forms of Modalism make aGod's self-revelation at Christ's baptism, Gesthemene, and the cross a charade. The SOn, in effect, prays to himself (Local Church/Witness Lee)

Nicene-Constantinople Creed (321/381): basic affirmations

Emporor Constatine himself was the first to endorse the Nicene Creed. "We beleive in one GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy SPirit, the Lord and the Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostilic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen

Friendrich Schleiermacher

Father of modern theology. We call God Father because we sense a feeling of relationship, Jesus was filled with the presence of God. Shifted away from the term-46doctrine of the Trinity. Avalanche of skepticism of the Trinity. (1768-1834): Influenced by Immanuel Kant, the popular Berlin preacher and theologian Schleiermacher reinterpreted the essence of Christian faith as Key Theologians 9 the gefühl or feeling of filial dependency upon God. While the example of such filial dependency is best seen in Jesus, such a salvific experience is universal and transcends religious paradigms. In The Christian Faith (2d ed, 1830) Schleiermacher interprets "The Divine Trinity" (¶170) as the church's interpretation of the threefold experience of God as Father, Brother, and Spirit. Because Trinity does not necessarily describe the ineffable God, Schleiermacher's concept even of God the Father may fall short of a truly personal divine being.

Irenaeus

First Father of Christian Theologu - laid the outline of the Apostle's Creed. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Raised in Greek Christianity, lived in France. (130-200) Bishop of Lyons, distinguished between God's eternal being (immanent Trinity) and His economy (economic Trinity) as He manifests himself to the world. With Irenaeus a Trinitarian doctrine was beginning to solidify. The basic structure was being clarified for more accurate thinking in the years to come. c. 130-c. 200): As Bishop of Lyon and seeking to pastorally care for his people, Irenaeus came into sharp dispute with the Gnostics (who denied Christ's humanity). He emphasized traditional Christian elements like the Church, Baptism, and Scripture. Theologically he defended all three members of the Trinity (without using that word) as being divine and eternal yet still distinct: "there is declared one God, the Father, uncreated, invisible, maker of all things, above whom is not other God whatever...And God is rational, and therefore produced creatures by his Word, and God is a spirit, and so fashioned everything by his Spirit"(Ancient Christian Writers, 49). Irenaeus also suggested (as Justin Martyr) that Mary functions as the New Eve, just as Jesus is the Last Adam. He is called the father of Christian theology.

Jonathan Edwards

First great American intellectual, theologian, Calvanist, Congregational. The beauty of God as Trinity God as relational, even social trinitarian.

Eternal procession of the Spirit

From the Father through the Son.

Doecetism (2)

Gnosticism was a predominant worldview in Greco-Roman culture. Its Christianized form, Doecetism, believed Jesus to be a divine emanation but not truly human. Matter in intrinsically evil. When Jesus walked on the sand he left no footprints. (New Age)

Is God selfish?

God is profoundly self-giving. His glory is a shared glory, each delighting in the other. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit loving each other, giving to the other, honoring the other, glorifying the other. John 16:15 1 Cor 15:24-28 (SOn lays all things at the Father's feet). Creation and salvation begin and end with God's selfgivingness, both internally (each to the other within the Godhead) and externally (the triune God to all creation)

Eternal generation of the Son

God the Father begets his Son not in time but outside of time. The Father's divine nature is communicated or shared through all eternity with His Son. Equality of bein and eternal distinctions of persons. "eternally begotten by the Father...begotten, not made, of one being with the Father".

Immanence and Transcendence

God's omnipresence in and with his creation, as contrasted with divine transcendence. The superiority of God over and apart from his created world, God is unuquely "other" from all created existence.

Perichoresis

Gregory of Nazianzus used this term: The intra-Trinitarian relationship as mutual indwelling, reciprocal interiority. Without confusion, each member of the Godhead indwells the other. The reciprocol indwelling (or mutual inhabitation) of each member of the Godhead in the others, without confusion of personal distinctions. Used also of the relationship between the two natures of Christ,] perichoresis came to describe the mutual indwelling [or coinherence, mutual penetration] of each member of the Godhead in the other. [From Gk. peri "around" + choreo "dance in chorus." A doctrine evident in the Cappadocians and developed by John of Damascus. Latin Circumincession and Circuminsession]

Homoousious vs. Homoiousious

Homoousious - Greek word meaning "of one and the same substance of being' as contrasted to homoiousious (of a similar substance or being) as applied to the Son's divine nature in relation to that of the Father.

Adoptionism (3)

In Rome, Theodotus of Byzantine taught that Jesus existed as an extremely righteous man counted worthy for adoption by God the Father. Some considered Jesus to be deified at his baptism, others at the Mount of Transfiguration, while still others argued that only at the resurrection he was made (adopted as) Christ and "Sone of God," Lord of the Church. Immediately condemned as heresy then, it nevertheless is a common view of theological liberalism and to some extent non-Christian religions. MONARCHIANISM denies the personal distinctiveness of the divine Son and the Holy Spirit in relation to God the Father. One form of Monarchianism interpreted Jesus as a man completely submissive to the Father who anointed him with the Spirit and adopted him as his Christ. At the resurrection Jesus was declared Lord of the church. (Various forms of theological Liberalism)

Arianism (5)

Jesus is divine, but... He was created in the past, a second God. Similar nature not the same nature with the Father. Subordinate to the Father. There was a time when Christ was not. The Son cannot be equal to the Father in substance or eternity past. The Son is a created God, reflective of the Father but one with him in will, not essence. Arius proclaimed that Jesus was a god, the firstborn of all creation through whom God created the world. Thus the Son is supposedly only of "similar nature" to the Father, not truly absolute God. (Jehovah;s Witnesses, Mormons).

Origen

Lived in Alexandria and traveled widely in response to invitations to mediate in church disputes, or to speak in front of prominent people. He is often declared the most fertile thinker of the Christian 3rd c. with immense influence among Eastern fathers. While often faulted (and condemned) for his allegorical interpretation of Scripture, Origen contributed significantly to Christological development with the concept of "eternal generation of the Son." Using analogy, Origen argued that if human birth in time on earth reflected birth in eternity in heaven then the Son is eternally begotten of the Father outside of time. Thus, it is wrong to suppose that there was ever time when the Son "was not." (c. 185-254): Extraordinary scholar from Alexandria, Origen was immensely prolific writing both biblical commentaries and theological works—albeit most have been lost owing to his later ecclesial condemnation. The most important enduring work is an un-reliable translation of De Principiis. His Platonic influences are well known, as are his threefold hermeneutic (literal, moral, allegorical/mystical) and his rigorously ascetic lifestyle. While affirming the eternal pre-existence of the Son, Origen portrays the Son as one reflective of, but less than, God the Father. Despite shortcomings he left Trinitarian-ism with such terms such as "the eternal generation" of the Son, and possibly hypostasis, ousia, theanthropos, and homoousios.

Anslem

Necessity of God being Father and Son. (c. 1033-1109): From northern Italy, young Anselm traveled over the Alps into France and was persuaded to take monastic vows at the monastic school at Bec. He later became prior at Bec and traveled on occasion to Canterbury where he was, somewhat unwillingly, made archbishop (1093). Credited with being the most luminous mind between *Augustine and *Thomas Aquinas, Anselm is noted for his almost exclusive use of intellectual reason instead of scriptural or patristic authorities. His works on Christology—On the Incarnate Word and most famously Cur Deus Homo (Why Did God Be-come Man?)—yoked the two natures of Christ with the satisfaction theory of atonement. Anselm developed the ontological argument for God's existence (Prologion) and defend-ed the doctrine of the Trinity against tri-theistic views and conversely against Islam.

Tertullian

One substance, three persons. Eternal generation of the Son. Tertullian converted from paganism, and later to Montanism but then separated from them, with a center in Carthage. He explicitly articulated the Trinity as tres personae et una substantia. Because the Father perfectly generates the Son, the Son must be as is the Father. And if the Holy Spirit issued forth from the Father through the Son, then the Spirit must also be a divine person. Therefore, it can be said that all three persons constitute a trinitas. For Tertullian God is one sustantia (one reality) extended but not divided. The Son and the Holy Spirit are of one essence with the Father, each subsisting uniquely as a divine person. (c. 155-c. 220): Trained as a lawyer and converted sometime before 197, the North Af-rican Tertullian is noted for his polemical, acerbic style that permeates his writings. His most famous work Against Praxeas articulates an understanding of the Trinity against Modalism and Patripassionism (the view that the Father suffered on the Cross). Several of Tertullian's phrases became permanent markers of Trinitarian orthodoxy: "one sub-stance in three persons"; "God from God, Light from Light"; "the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, and each is God" (Adv. Praxean 12). Yet Tertullian opined that the Son/Logos came forth from God, such that the Father was not always the Father. He argued strongly against *Marcion and Gnosticism; at the same time, Ter-tullian is Montanism's most famous convert.

Nestorianism (8)

Patriach of Constantinople, Nestorius was said to present two persons in the one body of Jesus Christ. He affirmed Nicaea but resisted speaking of Mary as the "God-bearer", preferring "Christ-bearer". Historically, Nestorianism defended the full humanity and deity of Christ but may have so separated the two natures as to lose the single self-consciousness of the Savior.

Juergen Moltmann

Speculative theologian. Shocked the world, it is the Son as fully God crucified at the cross.

What is a Mormon's view of God and Christ?

The Mormon God and Jesus 1. The Father, Son , and Spirit are three separate, finite gods with physical bodies born of divine wives at different times. 2. There are galaxies of gods, our Father being only one, who had a father, who had a father... 3.Offspring from a "Heavenly Mother" included Son Jesus and Lucifer; "pre-existent" 5. Adam and Eve were not "mortal" (able to procreate) until the fall a step towards godhood. 6. Jesus is "Savior" by his resurrection; without a body one cannot become a god and give birth to spirit-children. 7. Jesus did his part; his blood does not atone for all sin; you must do acts of merit. 8. Mormon doctrine continues to change; but its basic cosmology parallels Spiritism with ascending levels of divinity. Three distinct persons and three Gods. God cannot be a person if he filled the immensity of space - God the Father cannot be in two places, as an individual. God the Father and God the Son have actual bodies and are not omnipresent. "exalted men" The Father has a Heavenly Mother (multitude of wives) with whom he has spirit children. God the Father begat the Son and the Spirit before all others... The Father and the Son are examples of ascending deity, the templates for how all Mormons hope to progress toward becoming gods and having their own kingdoms. The Son and Spirit are finite beings. Father is physical, finite being who engaged in sex begetting millions of spirit children. Jesus - created being (firstborn of the Father - then Lucifer and others ): pre-existent - earthly existence - future state. Subordinate to the Father Jesus is the second Comfoter Will return to earth with other righteous beings.

Filioque

The Spirit proceeds from the Father "and the Son" This single word became the creedal flashpoint that together with serious ecclesial and political antagonisms finally divided Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism.

Chalcedonian Creed

The edict of the 4th Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon (451) generally accepted in the East and West that affirms the divine and human natures of Christ are united in his single person (hypostasis), thus in hypostatic union. It stands as the definitive statement of Christology against both exaggerated separateness of natures (Nestorianism) and exaggerated commingling of natures (Eutychianism).

Trinity

The one true God eternally exists as three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit one in nature, equal in glory, and distinct in relations.

Kenosis

The self-emptying act of the Son of God in assuming human nature. The Son left his divine form of glory to assume the physical form and nature of a human being. Jesus was fully God yet did not grasp (demand) his rights as God.

Theology Proper

The study of God

Trace the development of Trinitarianism to the Council of Nicea (325). What did Nicea make clear?

The word homousios, "same substance" became key to describe Christ's eternal equality with the Father. "And the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God...

Karl Rahner

Theologian of Roman Catholocism. Trinity - inadquantly expressed in Catholic faith. All God is experienced... Is God more than He has revealed in scripture?

Did the early church fathers believe in the Trinity? Explain.

They didn't have the formula of the trinity, they believed but didnt have categories for it. Jesus revealed the reality of God's very being int he midst of monotheistic Judaism. Opinion is divided as to when and in what sense Jesus Christ was understood as God. In any case, Jesus was confessed as God, thought he nuances were not defined. In the decades of the NT and following, many false teachings about Jesus Christ were rejected by the main flow of early Christians.

What is the Jehovah Witnesses' view of Christ?

They follow the teachings and example of Jesus and honor him as their Savior and as the SOn of God. Thus they are Christians. However, they learned form the Bible that Jesus is not Almighty God and that there is no Scriptural basis for the Trinity doctrine. 1. The SOn is a god, but not Jehovah God. 2. Before this life, Christ was a spirit-creature named Michael, older brother of Lucifer and other sons of God. 3. On earth he did not have a human and divine nature, rather he gave up the divin nature to become a man. 4. At baptism Jesus was anointed to become Messiah. 5. He showed his subjection to God by humbling himself to a distraceful death on a torture stake. 6. At death Jesus ceased existing. 7. Christ was not raised in the flesh rather he was recreated as an exalted spirit-god with a spiritual body. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. John 1:1-18 John 17:3-5 John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

The Cappadocians

Three Hypostases of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Priority of "Person" One Set of Attributes Priority of Persons. Father as Source of All Divine Harmony Began developing creative, careful, and rigorous theology. Eastern Trinitarianism. Basil of Caesaria - Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa

Adolf von Harnack

this man believed that Jesus' gospel was about the Father, not about the Son. The human soul can be so ennobled to unite with God.