Formulation of the Doctrine of the Trinity - Essay Example

How Logos Christology helped the doctrine of the Trinity to be formulated in the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon Term paper May 14, words [Your name] [Your university] How Logos Christology helped the doctrine of the Trinity to be formulated in the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. Introduction If one takes a look at the history of the development of the humanity, one will be able to see that religion has always played one of the leading roles in it. Indeed, the traces of religious beliefs can be found almost at the very dawn of the society. However, one should point out that religious systems used to be closely connected to the local circumstances and rarely cross cultural boarders. However, Christianity shows a great example of how a single teaching that originated in one part of the planet was able to spread across the known world. With this in mind, one should note that at a certain point the Christians were forced to refine there teaching in order to get rid of any mistake that I could contain. It is beyond any doubt that the image of Christ is central Christianity and the peculiarity of His nature is a subject for various speculations. This paper will explore the way how Logos Christology helped the doctrine of the Trinity to be formulated in the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. The origins of the Logos teaching To begin with, it may be particularly important to analyze the very concept of logos. By far, they key text that is always engaged is the beginning of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). In spite of the fact that this is a rather short piece of text, it contains several important key worlds that would shape Christology in the future. First of all, it is the mentioning of beginning: it is crucial in the debates whether Christ existed before everything was created as it is mentioned in Genesis. Secondly, the connection between the Word and God is emphasized. Finally, it is the direct claim that the Word is God. Nevertheless, while the Gospel of John is regarded as the cornerstone of this concept, there are several other texts that contain similar idea. For example, in the Old Testament there is a phrase: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalms 33:6). There is no doubt that this might be seen as the reflection of the notion that everything was created through Christ, the Word. Moreover, it would not be a mistake to suggest that this used to be a widely accepted idea in the world of Christian scholars1. Thus, adherence to the same concept is witnessed in other Evangelists: “just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word” (Luke 1:2). Christ as Word versus Christ as Wisdom At the present moment the image of Christ is closely associated with the Word and these two names became almost synonymous2. However, one should note that there was a long standing theological trend among the Jews and among the early Christians that can be best exemplified by the following quote: “God of my fathers and Lord of mercy, you made all things by your word, and by your wisdom fashioned humankind” (Wisdom 9:1-2). The use of these two words in close proximity is no coincidence: they were largely seen as similar. However, there are were several obstacles on the way of emergence of Christ as Wisdom: the latter was largely personified as a woman; the Christians often make deliberate differences with the Torah tradition; the concept of wisdom had shades of meanings that could not convey the necessary message that was send my Christ as the Word. The case of First Council of Nicaea Speaking of the way the doctrine of Logos Christology influenced Christianity through several councils, it may be particularly advantageous to analyze the background of them. Thus, First Council of Nicaea was summoned primarily to challenge Arianism3. The latter is a peculiar view on the nature of Christ the major focus of which lies on the fact that Jesus should be seen primarily as a creature in the meaning that He was created. In other words, while he was made by the Lord, He is still the most perfect of His creation. As one can clearly see, the divine nature of Jesus is rejected in this approach. The debates were very long and heated over this important issue. While the majority of the people are not able to identify direct difference between being one’s creature and being begotten of someone, it has important theological implications as it sets limits on the nature of Christ4. According to the point of view that was opposing Arianism as well as accepted as the dominant in the Christian Church of the time, Jesus Christ was not created by God the Father as this would imply his inferiority in various aspects. The former was born by the latter. In other words, the Church made its best to make sure that the true nature of Christ in not distorted by the incorrect understanding of it by the people5. This resulted in the subsequent creation of Creed of Nicaea which specifically explain to the people the position of the Church. Thus, the second element of its reads as follows: “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father” (“The Nicene Creed”, 2015). As one can easily see, the Church made every effort to put the difficult theological concepts into simple words that could be repeated by the believers all over the word. The case of Council of Chalcedon It is rather surprising that several centuries later, the world of Christianity had to face a similar, yet different problem. Just like the First Council of Nicaea the Council of Chalcedon was summoned to refine the teaching make sure that fellow Christian do not believe in a heresy. However, while the first council was largely targeted against Arianism as a teaching that rejected the divine part of the nature of Jesus Christ, monophysitism or Eutychian controversy advocated a completely different idea: they thought that Jesus is more God than human6. It may sound rather convincing; however, this idea goes against the major postulates of Christianity. If Jesus Christ is more God than human, than there was not true sacrifice that was made; then all the pain that was supposedly endured by Him can not be the way of redemption. Similar to the previous case, the Christian Church decided to get rid of the heresy that undermined its foundation in the following way: it issued a Creed that explained the peculiarity of Christ’s nature7. Thus, according to Creed of Chalcedon, the double nature of Jesus is affirmed. This means that he was simultaneously God and Human, meaning that he was absolutely genuine God and absolutely genuine Human. In addition to that, the two natures of Him coexist in unit that does not allow them to interfere with each other, but also exist in separation. In other words, this represents the Golden mean between Arianism and Monophysitism. The important of Christ as Logos If one takes a close look at the councils that were discussed above, one will be able to see that the major argument in them was about various peculiarities that do not seem important at first sight. Indeed, Jesus Christ is still respected and worshiped in the Church regardless of the proportion of the divine and the human in His nature8. However, it is important to note that the idea of Christ as Logos has important theological implications that greatly influenced the development of Christianity in general. For example, seeing Christ as Word provides one with the opportunity to identify the Word and the One Who speaks It as well as make a clear distinction between them. This might be the first step towards recognition of the Trinity. Secondly, the teaching of Christ as Logos as it was put by John the Evangelist puts emphasis on the state of Jesus before the creation. Thus, if it had not been for it, Christ could have been regarded as the most perfect creation, but it is the idea of Logos that proves His pre-existence9. This, in turn, has important implications for the future as it shows the primacy of Jesus with regard to the creation as well as the people. This might be regarded as one of the key concept on the Christian Church. However, the biggest contribution of the concept of Logos lies in the fact that if it had not been for it, the idea of God the Father would not be developed10. Indeed, some might suggest that the Old and the New Testament are different in the way that the former depicted one God and the latter shows God to be the Trinity. Nevertheless, Christ as Logos might be regarded as a way to reconcile these two seemingly different points of view. Indeed, it explains that the Trinity also existed in the Old Testament, but it simply was not made know since Father did not speak the Word so that the people would know it. This means that the theological succession between the two parts of the same teaching was established through explanation of an essential concept that shows that Christianity is not a religion that rejects its past, but it is more of modern interpretation of what has been existing for thousand of years. Another point that should be mentioned is the fact that notion that were similar to Logos of Christianity existed in other religions as well11. Thus, the world of the first centuries of Common Era features a peculiar coexistence of people who adhered to different religious systems. Moreover, their faith often played an important role in their personal and political lives. Therefore, the introduction of the doctrine of Logos facilitated an effective interaction between the Christian world that was still relatively young as well as other spiritual teachings. This means that Christians were now able to explain their faith in a way that would be easily understandable to others and, simultaneously, understand the beliefs of the nations that lived around. Therefore, Logos should be regarded as a concept that prepared spread of Christianity. Finally, the introduction of the idea in question might also be seen as a way to unite the Old Testament and the New Testament through the story of Genesis and the idea of Adam. Thus, the latter is regarded as the first man and is largely positioned as an important figure. In the Christian teaching this name is also given to over notable figures12. However, it is Jesus who is considered to be Last Adam, not because He was created, but because He represents the highest degree of perfection that Adam was supposed to reach. With this in mind, it becomes clear that the use of this name shows that the Old Testament was originally Christian and bore the traces of the concept of Trinity. Conclusion Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to make one logical condition: the perception of Christ as Logos as an irreplaceable element of Christology that has important implications and which was used to refine the teaching. Originally, it is found in the beginning of the Gospel of John; however, there are other significant text that should be taken into account in order to understand the idea of Logos. The first council where it was articulated is the one of Nicaea and which is largely seen as a reaction of the Christian Church to the Arian heresy. In order to defeat it, the Church issued a creed that would explain its position. Another council that should be regarded as an important one of the Chalchedonian Council that had to tack a similar heresy that adopted an opposite vision of nature of Christ. Works Cited Anatolios, K. Retrieving Nicaea: The Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Academic, 2011. Baker, K. Fundamentals of Catholicism. San Francisco, CA, Ignatius, 1982. Cahill, L. Global Justice, Christology and Christian Ethics. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2013. Due, W. The Trinity Guide to the Trinity. Harrisburg, PA, Trinity International, 2003. Emery, G. The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity. Oxford, Oxford UP, 2011. Grillmeier, A. Christ in Christian Tradition. Atlanta, GA, John Knox, 1975. Hill, W. Paul and the Trinity: Persons, Relations, and the Pauline Letters. Grand Rapids, MI, William B. Eerdmans, 2015. Hillar, M. From Logos to Trinity: The Evolution of Religious Beliefs from Pythagoras to Tertullian. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2012. Kemball-Cook, David. Is God a Trinity? New York, NY, Lulu, 2006. Robinson, Andrew. God and the World of Signs Trinity, Evolution, and the Metaphysical Semiotics of C.S. Peirce. Leiden, Brill, 2010. Servetus, M. The Two Treatises of Servetus on the Trinity: On the Errors of the Trinity. New York, NY, Kraus Reprint, 1969. Stead, C. Philosophy in Christian Antiquity. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 1994. Read More