Arians And Augustine's Beliefs About The Nature Of God

The Arians and Augustine shared two common beliefs about the nature of God, however Augustine did not agree with what the Arian's said was implied by these beliefs. The first belief that Augustine and the Arians agreed upon is that God is divinely simple, meaning that God is; not complex, eternal and unchangeable. Drawing upon this belief, the Arians and Augustine also agreed that no accidents (changes in substance) can be attributed to God. In books five through seven of De Trinitate, Augustine opposes Arian criticisms of the Catholic faith by providing us with the lingual tools that enable us to correctly interpret the true meaning of the Catholic doctrine and believe in the Trinity. The first distinction that Augustine discusses is the

With both of these beliefs in mind, the Arians also concluded that calling God the Father and Christ the Son meant that God and Christ were two different substances. However, this belief contradicts the Catholic doctrine because it denies the co-equality of God and Jesus. Augustine demonstrates the absurdity of the Arian's belief by pointing out multiple examples in scripture that would deny the validity of their belief if it were applied to the text. Specifically, if the quote "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30) was said "substance-wise," then it would mean that "the substance of the Father and Son is one," which undermines the Arian's concluding belief that the Father and Son are two different substances. Augustine then goes on to explain the significance of referring to God and Christ as the Father and Son using the order of predication. The order of predication is a lingual tool that helps us to understand the way that claims are logically related to each

Although we cannot speak of God as he is as per the order of being and God's divine simplicity because we are limited to thinking about God in complex and Earthly terms, we must still strive to say something about God. In an attempt to do so, the Nicene creed refers to the Trinity as "one substance and three persons". This statement is often questioned as to if it supports the creeds insistence on the complete unity and equality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Augustine affirms that in saying "one substance, three persons" we are just trying to say something at all about God because it is better to say something rather than nothing. When reading scripture we must maintain what we have been taught through the Nicene creed, faith and the revelations of Jesus in order to correctly understand and