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Theo 1 > God - Trinity (Part 1) > Flashcards

God - Trinity (Part 1) Flashcards

1
Q

State in one sentence the summary of the doctrine of the Trinity

A

one God in three persons

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2
Q

When was the doctrine of the Trinity affirmed?

A

from the very beginnings of the Christian faith – as we can see from Scripture and the writings of the early church fathers

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3
Q

Why was the understanding of the Trinity not an expected outcome?

A

Due to the Jewish heritage of the first disciples of Jesus

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4
Q

What are the 2 things that contributed to the revision of the disciples’ understanding of the Trinity?

A
  • The coming of Jesus Christ

- The outpouring of the Holy Spirit

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5
Q

What are the alternatives conceptions of monotheism in the light of revelation of Jesus and the Spirit?

A
  • Modalism
  • Adoptionism
  • Arianism
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6
Q

What is modalism?

A

God is one being and one person who reveals himself differently at different points of history – first as the Father, then as the Son, and finally as the Holy Spirit

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7
Q

What was the most sophisticated version of modalism?

A

Most sophisticated version of modalism was Sabellius (late 2nd-3rd century). Heresy is called “Sabellianism”.

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8
Q

What is adoptionism/unitarianism?

A

Jesus is a human being but not God. Some versions see Jesus “adopted” by God as his son when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist

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9
Q

What is the most prominent advocate of adoptionism?

A

Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch (260-268 CE)

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10
Q

How would Paul of Samosata describe Jesus and the Holy Spirit?

A
  • Jesus was united to the Logos from this birth: only in the moral sense. The Logos dwelt in Jesus “as in a temple”
  • The “Spirit” is also impersonal: refers to the grace which God pours out on his people
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11
Q

What are two implications of Modalism?

A

– The Father entered the virgin’s womb, becoming his own Son

– It was the Father who suffered and died on the cross (Patripassianism)

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12
Q

Who is the founder of Arianism?

A

Arius (early 4th century)

- priest-in-charge of one of the key churches in Alexandria

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13
Q

Who is Jesus to Arius?

A
  • Jesus became human on Christmas day (“incarnation”)
  • Jesus is the first and greatest of all God’s creatures
  • Jesus was appointed as the mediator between God and the world
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14
Q

How did Arians support their position in the Biblical texts?

A
  • Jesus was created
  • Oneness of God
  • Jesus’ inferiority to the Father
  • Texts which attributed to the development, weakness, and suffering of the Son
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15
Q

What do Arians think about the Holy Spirit?

A
  • He is also a creature
  • His task is to sanctify and instruct
  • He is “third in both nature and order”
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16
Q

What are the motivations of Arians?

A
  • To uphold monotheism but reject modalism’s attempt to do so
  • Beliefs must be logical and comprehensible to the mind
  • Commitment to preserve the transcendence, immutability, impassibility, and blessedness of God
17
Q

What did the Roman Emperor Constantine do to fight against Arianism?

A
  • Called for an assembly of bishops

- The Council of Nicaea (first ecumenical council) issued a declaration (Nicene Creed of 325 CE) which rejected Arianism

18
Q

What happened after 325 CE?

A
  • The struggle against Arianism continued, as church leaders wavered to and fro in their rejection of the heresy, and a succession of Roman Emperors supported different sides
  • The following decades saw a flurry of assemblies and creeds
  • The controversy within the Roman Empire was only quelled at the Council of Constantinople in 381 CE, which issued the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
19
Q

Who were the key leaders who defended and clarified the Nicene position?

A
  • Athanasius of Alexandria (c.298-373)
  • The Cappadocian Fathers:
    > Basil of Caesarea (330-379)
    > Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 330-391)
    > Gregory of Nyssa (d. c. 394)
20
Q

The key leaders responded to Arianism in four ways. What are they?

A
  1. Citing the Scriptural texts and traditions which uphold the doctrine of the Trinity
  2. Explicating the proper starting point of theology
  3. Clarifying the doctrine to clear up misconceptions
  4. Setting out the implications of the doctrine for Christian life and ministry
21
Q

Which are the type of texts and traditions that uphold the doctrine of the Trinity?

A 
Texts pointing to
a. divinity of Jesus
b. separate personhood of Jesus
c. divinity of the Spirit
d. separate personhood of the Spirit
Traditions supporting the doctrine of the Trinity
22
Q

What is Arianism’s starting point of theology and why is it wrong?

A
  • Starting point of the Arians was a commitment to human logical reasoning and the assumption that God was bound by it
  • Exaltation of human reason: A Greek cultural trait
  • Forced Christianity into the procrustean bed of their cultural and philosophical assumptions
  • A more proper starting point: God’s revelation of himself through the sources of theology
  • Embrace this revelation and follow where it leads, even though we are not able to make perfect sense of it
  • The presence of mystery in our knowledge of God and His ways: Is to be expected if the Christian view of reality is true
23
Q

The doctrine of the Trinity can be clarified in four ways. What are they?

A

a. The Trinity is one because its source is the Father
b. The Trinity is one because of mutual indwelling
c. The Trinity acts as one in relation to the world
d. The Trinity is one in its perfect mutual love

24
Q

What does it mean when we say that the source is the Father?

A
  1. It is God the Father who imparts his being to the other two members of the Trinity, so all three are truly of one essence
  2. The members of the Trinity are identical to one another in all aspects, except for their modes of origin and mutual relationship
    - God the Father: Without origin
    - God the Son: Begotten of the Father
    - God the Holy Spirit: Proceeds from the Father
25
Q

What did the Cappadocian Fathers do to help explain the Trinity?

A

Gave these terms different technical meanings

ousia: common essence of members of a species
hypostases: individual occurrence of a thing

26
Q

What is the mutual indwelling of the Trinity?

A

Perichoresis
- The members of the Trinity inter-penetrate and abide within one another, in a way which does not confuse their distinct hypostasis

27
Q

How does the Trinity act as one in its relation to the world?

A
  • The acts of God in relation to the world are performed in unison by all three members of the Trinity
28
Q

What are the 3 implications for the doctrine of the Trinity?

A

a. Revelation
- “Only God can reveal God”
b. Jesus as “Immanuel”
- The indispensible nature of an empathetic physical presence
c. Salvation
- Salvation as participation in the eternal love of the Trinity

Theo 1 (5 decks)

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