Church History
6/24/25
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).
"§127. The Nicene Doctrine of the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father." (pp. 2378-2384).
Schaff, identifying Athanasius as the most powerful representative of the Nicean view of the nature of Christ, observes that this dispute was at the center of the dispute between Arians and orthodox teaching (Schaff 2014, p. 2378). At issue was the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son. In negative terms, orthodoxy denies that the Son is, by nature, part of the created order. In positive terms, the Nicene Creed asserts the full essential deity of Christ (Schaff 2014, p. 2379). The reality of the Father and the Son, of one substance, rejects the idea that Father and Son are indistinguishable (Sabellianism). God can be one God in three persons of the same nature. Each person of the Godhead remains fully God (Schaff 2014, p. 2380).
The Nicene view requires that generation and creation be distinguished from one another. "Generation is an immanent, necessary, and perpetual process in the essence of God himself, the Father's eternal communication of essence or self to the Son; creation, on the contrary, is an outwardly directed, free, single act of the will of God, bringing forth a different temporal substance out of nothing" (Schaff 2014, p. 2381). Of special significance to our understanding of divine generation is that while human generation produces "a new essence of the same kind," in divine generation "the begotten is identical in essence with the begetter" (Schaff 2014, p. 2381). Further, implicit in the divine nature, both Father and Son are eternal (Schaff 2014, p. 2382).
The nature of God as redemptive requires that rescue from sin be performed by God. Schaff summarizes that "[i]f Christ were a creature he could not redeem other creatures from sin and death" (Schaff 2014, p. 2383). Athanasius described the concept of the Father without the Son as self-contradictory. The Son cannot be separated from the Father. For this reason, the Son is worthy of worship, as he is entirely divine (Schaff 2014, p. 2384).
"§128. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit." (pp. 2384-2388).
In Schaff's estimation, the issue of the deity of the Holy Spirit is tied to that of the Son (Schaff 2014, p. 2384). Because the Arians took the Holy Spirit to be a creation of the Son and thus subordinate to the Son as the Son to the Father, they held a radically different view of the Trinity from that held in orthodox Christianity 2385). Schaff notes that there were also adherents to Nicene Christianity who viewed the Holy Spirit as "an impersonal power or attribute of God" (Schaff 2014, p. 2385). The difficulty may have been rooted in an inability to find biblical passages in which the Holy Spirit is called God in unambiguous terms (Schaff 2014, p. 2386). Yet the historic baptismal formula, benedictions, and doxologies affirmed a divine triad. Therefore, the fourth century theologians worked to demonstrate the equal divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
To demonstrate the consubstantial essence of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son, theologians observed the fact that the Holy Spirit is never considered as part of the created order (Schaff 2014, p. 2387). He is omnipresent, eternal, and omniscient. He does "the divine work of regeneration and sanctification" (Schaff 2014, p. 2387), and is treated in all ways as God, equal to the Father and the Son. As an attempt to defend against confusion that could suggest God has two sons, a distinction was made between the Son being begotten and the Spirit proceeding (Schaff 2014, p. 2387).
6/24/25
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).
"§127. The Nicene Doctrine of the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father." (pp. 2378-2384).
Schaff, identifying Athanasius as the most powerful representative of the Nicean view of the nature of Christ, observes that this dispute was at the center of the dispute between Arians and orthodox teaching (Schaff 2014, p. 2378). At issue was the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son. In negative terms, orthodoxy denies that the Son is, by nature, part of the created order. In positive terms, the Nicene Creed asserts the full essential deity of Christ (Schaff 2014, p. 2379). The reality of the Father and the Son, of one substance, rejects the idea that Father and Son are indistinguishable (Sabellianism). God can be one God in three persons of the same nature. Each person of the Godhead remains fully God (Schaff 2014, p. 2380).
The Nicene view requires that generation and creation be distinguished from one another. "Generation is an immanent, necessary, and perpetual process in the essence of God himself, the Father's eternal communication of essence or self to the Son; creation, on the contrary, is an outwardly directed, free, single act of the will of God, bringing forth a different temporal substance out of nothing" (Schaff 2014, p. 2381). Of special significance to our understanding of divine generation is that while human generation produces "a new essence of the same kind," in divine generation "the begotten is identical in essence with the begetter" (Schaff 2014, p. 2381). Further, implicit in the divine nature, both Father and Son are eternal (Schaff 2014, p. 2382).
The nature of God as redemptive requires that rescue from sin be performed by God. Schaff summarizes that "[i]f Christ were a creature he could not redeem other creatures from sin and death" (Schaff 2014, p. 2383). Athanasius described the concept of the Father without the Son as self-contradictory. The Son cannot be separated from the Father. For this reason, the Son is worthy of worship, as he is entirely divine (Schaff 2014, p. 2384).
"§128. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit." (pp. 2384-2388).
In Schaff's estimation, the issue of the deity of the Holy Spirit is tied to that of the Son (Schaff 2014, p. 2384). Because the Arians took the Holy Spirit to be a creation of the Son and thus subordinate to the Son as the Son to the Father, they held a radically different view of the Trinity from that held in orthodox Christianity 2385). Schaff notes that there were also adherents to Nicene Christianity who viewed the Holy Spirit as "an impersonal power or attribute of God" (Schaff 2014, p. 2385). The difficulty may have been rooted in an inability to find biblical passages in which the Holy Spirit is called God in unambiguous terms (Schaff 2014, p. 2386). Yet the historic baptismal formula, benedictions, and doxologies affirmed a divine triad. Therefore, the fourth century theologians worked to demonstrate the equal divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
To demonstrate the consubstantial essence of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son, theologians observed the fact that the Holy Spirit is never considered as part of the created order (Schaff 2014, p. 2387). He is omnipresent, eternal, and omniscient. He does "the divine work of regeneration and sanctification" (Schaff 2014, p. 2387), and is treated in all ways as God, equal to the Father and the Son. As an attempt to defend against confusion that could suggest God has two sons, a distinction was made between the Son being begotten and the Spirit proceeding (Schaff 2014, p. 2387).
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