Church History
7/1/25
Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter IX. Theological Controversies, and Development of the Ecumenical Orthodoxy." In History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 2327-2561). (Original work published 1889). Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library). (sections 117-160).
"§129. The Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creed." (pp. 2388-2391).
A comparison of the Nicene Creed and the Constantinopolitan Creed may serve as a useful summary of the theological debates of the fourth century. Schaff provides a parallel version, signifying differences by use of brackets and italic type (Schaff 2014, pp. 2388-9). The electronic version which I have in my library does not reflect the columns and has trouble with the Greek text, so is of rather little use at this point. After the Greek there is an English translation, which is easier to compare. Schaff considers the creed of Constantinople to be "a considerable improvement on the Nicene" (Schaff 2014, p. 2390). He particularly favors the expansion of the third article, which creates more symmetry. After the council of Chalcedon in 451 the Constantinopolitan version generally replaced the Nicene version (Schaff 2014, p. 2391). In the West, the addition of the filioque statement added in Toledo in 589 provoked disputes which endure to the present (Schaff 2014, p. 2391).
"§130. The Nicene, Doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinitarian Terminology." (pp. 2391-2400).
Because of the articulation of the full deity of the Holy Spirit, during the fourth century it became possible to move toward articulations of the Trinity (Schaff 2014, p. 2391). Fourth century Fathers, such as Gregory of Nyssa, saw the doctrine of the Trinity as an effectual guard against polytheism and an unthinking or abstract monotheism such as might be seen in the Sabellians or the later Deists (Schaff 2014, p. 2392). In the end, the orthodox Christians confessed that while the Trinity could be described it evaded explanation.
Schaff goes on by summarizing essential elements of the doctrine of the Trinity. First, "there is only one divine essence or substance" (Schaff 2014, p. 2393). God is not separable into different types of being. The three persons of the Godhead are also not three specific individuals as we observe among humans. They are still one God (Schaff 2014, p. 2394).
Second, in the divine essence "there are three persons or, to use a better term, hypostases, that is, three different modes of subsistence of the one individual and indivisible whole" (Schaff 2014, p. 2394). Each person is fully divine and in agreement with each other person (Schaff 2014, p. 2395). This sets orthodox Christianity apart from both Sabellianism and from modalism. While analogies of the Trinity abound in creation, all fall short of describing the Trinity (Schaff 2014, p. 2396).
Another element of Trinitarian explanation (Schaff numbers this as fourth, though I find no third point) is that the persons interpenetrate one another (Schaff 2014, p. 2397). They do this constantly and without hindrance.
Fifth, the Trinity may be seen in both of two ways. One is the constitution, what the persons are made of . The other is of manifestation, what the persons appear to be (Schaff 2014, p. 2397).
Sixth, in some way there is a subordination among the persons of the Trinity. However, this is not a subordination of essence but only of hypostasis. It is functional rather than inherent in the divine nature (Schaff 2014, p. 2398). This distinction has historically been very challenging to make, as analogies are few and far between.
7/1/25
Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter IX. Theological Controversies, and Development of the Ecumenical Orthodoxy." In History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 2327-2561). (Original work published 1889). Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library). (sections 117-160).
"§129. The Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creed." (pp. 2388-2391).
A comparison of the Nicene Creed and the Constantinopolitan Creed may serve as a useful summary of the theological debates of the fourth century. Schaff provides a parallel version, signifying differences by use of brackets and italic type (Schaff 2014, pp. 2388-9). The electronic version which I have in my library does not reflect the columns and has trouble with the Greek text, so is of rather little use at this point. After the Greek there is an English translation, which is easier to compare. Schaff considers the creed of Constantinople to be "a considerable improvement on the Nicene" (Schaff 2014, p. 2390). He particularly favors the expansion of the third article, which creates more symmetry. After the council of Chalcedon in 451 the Constantinopolitan version generally replaced the Nicene version (Schaff 2014, p. 2391). In the West, the addition of the filioque statement added in Toledo in 589 provoked disputes which endure to the present (Schaff 2014, p. 2391).
"§130. The Nicene, Doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinitarian Terminology." (pp. 2391-2400).
Because of the articulation of the full deity of the Holy Spirit, during the fourth century it became possible to move toward articulations of the Trinity (Schaff 2014, p. 2391). Fourth century Fathers, such as Gregory of Nyssa, saw the doctrine of the Trinity as an effectual guard against polytheism and an unthinking or abstract monotheism such as might be seen in the Sabellians or the later Deists (Schaff 2014, p. 2392). In the end, the orthodox Christians confessed that while the Trinity could be described it evaded explanation.
Schaff goes on by summarizing essential elements of the doctrine of the Trinity. First, "there is only one divine essence or substance" (Schaff 2014, p. 2393). God is not separable into different types of being. The three persons of the Godhead are also not three specific individuals as we observe among humans. They are still one God (Schaff 2014, p. 2394).
Second, in the divine essence "there are three persons or, to use a better term, hypostases, that is, three different modes of subsistence of the one individual and indivisible whole" (Schaff 2014, p. 2394). Each person is fully divine and in agreement with each other person (Schaff 2014, p. 2395). This sets orthodox Christianity apart from both Sabellianism and from modalism. While analogies of the Trinity abound in creation, all fall short of describing the Trinity (Schaff 2014, p. 2396).
Another element of Trinitarian explanation (Schaff numbers this as fourth, though I find no third point) is that the persons interpenetrate one another (Schaff 2014, p. 2397). They do this constantly and without hindrance.
Fifth, the Trinity may be seen in both of two ways. One is the constitution, what the persons are made of . The other is of manifestation, what the persons appear to be (Schaff 2014, p. 2397).
Sixth, in some way there is a subordination among the persons of the Trinity. However, this is not a subordination of essence but only of hypostasis. It is functional rather than inherent in the divine nature (Schaff 2014, p. 2398). This distinction has historically been very challenging to make, as analogies are few and far between.
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