Christian Orthodoxy, although confidently and definitively proclaimed by millions of Christians on a weekly basis, has not always maintained the substantiated structure and sound doctrinal assertions needed to support the professions of the Nicene Creed. Terms such as “consubstantial,” and “begotten”, imbedded in many foundational Christian statements, contain links back to the earliest developments and controversies in the formation of Christianity. One such religious polemic is known as the Arian Controversy and is held by many theologians and historians to be the climax of ancient church history. This period of theologically-fueled upheaval, lasting for a greater part of the fourth century, dealt with the question of the divinity of Jesus …show more content…
Through an examination of the implications of the decisions of the Nicaean Council in regards to Arianism, I will argue that the Arian Controversy and Arius’ heretical claims of Jesus’ created nature were necessary and catalytic elements of early Christianity that consequently resulted in the ability of the Church to reformulate and restructure its orthodoxy in a manner that ultimately strengthened the basis of Christianity for centuries to …show more content…
The unstable structure of early fourth century Christian orthodoxy left much room for spiritual interpretation and question, fostering the spread of doctrines such as Arius’ which attempted to provide answers to questions regarding the central oneness and uniqueness of God. The orthodoxy of Arius’s time had yet to define the relation between the Father and Christ or The Word in a specific manner that definitively refuted polytheistic elements. Arius was an intellectual presbyter in the Eastern realm of the Roman Empire, admired for his scholarly and strongly persuasive teachings (Wilken, 89) Arius’ sermons, articulated in the early fourth century, addressed and defined problems regarding the unshared divine status of God the Father, and it was through the implications of this wide-ranging question of Jesus’ “creation” by God that Arius based his doctrine. The oft-repeated phrases “only-begotten” and “Son of God” were frequently used by Arius to justify questioning the divinity of Christ in his sermons, always stressing the tenet that there is One God, through whom Christians profess their monotheistic faith. He expounded on this by declaring a theological method of preserving the “singularity” of God the Father, by referring to the trinity in a hierarchical context, minimizing the deity of
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
This paper is written to discuss the many different ideas that have been discussed over the first half of Theology 104. This class went over many topics which gave me a much better understanding of Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. I will be addressing two topics of which I feel are very important to Christianity. First, I will be focusing on the question did Jesus claim to be God? This is one of the biggest challenges of the Bibles that come up quite often. Secondly, I will focus on character development.
The direction now of my research is to begin investigating the context of the debate. To achieve this aim I will need to be consulting books of both secular and church history for the time of Jesus and the Council.
Jesus, a name known by billions throughout the world. To each, this name means something different; savior, friend, philosopher, prophet, teacher, fraud, fake, liar. Some even believe that He is just an imaginary character from the minds of those who wrote about Him. The Westminster Dictionary of Theology describes apologetics as, "Defense, by argument, of Christian belief against external criticism or against other worldly views" (Apologetics 31-32). Though there are still many mysteries that surround the ongoing debate about Christianity, evidence can now prove some of what Christians took by faith before. Now, more than ever, there is information to prove the existence of this man that walked the earth more than two thousand years ago. Little remains of His life and works except for that which is contained within the pages of the Holy Bible. Throughout the past century alone, there have been numerous discoveries, both scientific and archeological; to further prove the existence of a man called Jesus and reinforce the Bible as a legitimate historical document. The validity of Christianity and Jesus Christ himself has been the center of religious controversy for centuries. Though His identity has not and probably never will be proven, He did exist. This paper will use apologetics to prove this so. Sufficient evidence proves the existence of Jesus and forms a firm basis for Christianity.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
The purpose of this essay is to examine the barriers to the spread of Christianity during the Roman Empire. The relationship between Christians, Jews, and the Roman Empire was quite complicated. The Romans became involved with the Jews in 63 B.C.E. as part of their domination of the eastern Mediterranean. Christianity originated 6 B.C.E – 29 C. E. by a Palestinian Jew named Jesus, proclaiming to be the Messiah. The NIV Bible is the primary source for this essay. Leviticus from the Old Testament is written as a series of rituals or laws given to Moses by God. The book of Acts, I Corinthians and Galatians are from the New Testament. Acts was written by Luke, one of Jesus’ disciples, and outlines the spread of Christianity. I Corinthians and Galatians are letters to the early church written by Paul, a leader and missionary. The authors of the books of the Bible record eye witness accounts and revelations from God. The World History I textbook and The Survey of World History/Civilization online content are secondary sources used to connect events in the Bible to historical events during the Roman Empire. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire despite opposition from the Jews, the Romans, and problems with the early church.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
Throughout the first 400 years that Christianity was present in the world it changed dramatically. It started small in an area near the eastern Mediterranean area but within these 400 years, it grew to encompass the whole of the Mediterranean and its surrounding. Throughout this time of growth, there was also much change within the beliefs of Christianity with the main belief centering around Jesus Christ. While Christianity grew and made it to new areas it was introduced to new people that interpreted the different scriptures and preaching of what it meant to be a Christian. Some of the most influential writings in these years came from Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century writer, Christian, theologian, and bishop. He expressed his beliefs of what made a Christian a Christian within his writing. One of his most famous writings, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, highlights the idea of the Holy Trinity and the Rule of Faith in the interpretation of the bible. Irenaeus believed that the Rule of Faith was ultimately necessary and required when reading and interpreting the word of Christianity saying, in the words of Isaiah, “If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand” (paragraph 3). In the eyes of Irenaeus, the Rule of Faith is one of the main things that makes a Christian a Christian.
Arianism and Apollinarianism fall under the controversy surrounding the Christ being fully divine and fully human. Arianism is the teaching of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, and his supporters. Arius denied the full divinity of Christ. He taught that the Son of God was not of the same substance as the father and that he was created “...
The pagan and Christ share a great deal in common, particularly from a metaphysical perspective, and the profound influence of pagan philosophy on Christian theology and mysticism is well documented. Nevertheless, this essay will attempt to identify a few basic differences between pagan and Christian religion and religious practice. We will begin with a brief overview the pagan, using Plotinus as our exemplar, and then we will offer an account of how Christ fundamentally differed from the pagans.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
His book presents three main perspectives on Christology (biblical, historical, and contemporary). He attempts to combine classical views and contextual views of Christology.
Through these debates, there is a resultant lack of continuity regarding the person of Jesus. I would like to address this briefly here with consideration to possible ways of regaining continuity between the human and divine. The discontinuity between the Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith is one of the fundamental concerns of modern Christology. Due to the notion of the Scandal of the Cross, which we know of from Pre-Easter faith, there seems to be a divide presented between the Christ of history and the Christ of faith For example, Bultmann stated that “it is the Christ of the Kerygma and not the person of the historical Jesus who is the object of faith”, however, in the modern climate, we better understand the Christ of history and the Christ of faith in regards to the personage of Christ- what he did and what he taught for example.
Lutzer, Erwin. The Doctrines That Divide: a Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998.