Theology and Christology Christian Creeds Theology and Christology

Creed Creed comes from the Latin credo = I believe It also refers to a statement of faith It is a confession of belief, not a statement of fact It is a statement of Christian belief about God and Jesus Creeds summarize core beliefs and cherished values Creeds reflect theology rather than history

Specific reasons for creeds To answer questions such as: Was Jesus God? Was Christ crucified? Did Yahweh create Jesus Christ? Problem: If God the Father created Jesus Christ then God the Father was not always a father, meaning that God changed. By definition, God is not supposed to change, ever. Did Jesus exist before creation? How does the Holy Spirit come into all of this?

Why Creeds? Creed are a way of defending one’s faith- like an apology As an apology Defends Christianity as monotheistic against accusations of being polytheistic Why? The Trinity – 3 gods? 1God? How are they the same and how are they different? The Christian creeds are the answer to these problems.

Christology Creeds address/answer questions about Christ Creeds explain/define Christology Christology The understanding of who Jesus is Christology is the term used for understanding Christ (Anointed One) and how the Anointed One is related to Jesus and to God the Father There were diverse ways of understanding Jesus Teacher, Prophet, Messiah, etc.

Council of Nicaea: Nicene Creed First ecumenical council Ecumenical council refers to worldwide gathering of Christian bishops Purpose: Constantine wanted a church that had beliefs that would be catholic Catholic means universal or everywhere Issues discussed: The relationship between God the Father and the Son Church disciple and administration Sources used: scripture (see warm-up) Terminology: homoousios & homoiousios Homoousios: means of the same substance God the Father and the Son are not just alike they share the same divinity Homoiousios: means of similar substance Outcomes: God the Father and the Son are of the same substance

Beyond the council of Nicaea Even though Arius accepted the decision of Nicea, he was not readmitted to the church He was accused of immoral conduct, supporting rebels against the emperor Athanasius of Alexandria- Important leader Human beings are meant to be a perfect reflection of God But they lost this perfection due to sin As a result, a new creation is needed Jesus Christ came to the world restore humanity so that they reflect God’s image perfectly again. Christ came to save humanity In order for Christ to save, He had to be divine As stated in the Nicene Creed

Unanswered quest. of Nicaea “of the same substance”: God the Father and the Son share an eternal substance different from everything else? The three persons of the Trinity are without distinction? Is the Son divine? Did Christ have only a divine nature, or did he have a human one as well? Was his mind divine, but his body human? If Jesus was divine, did that make Mary the Mother of God? But how could God be born? What about the Holy Spirit?- where did it fit into the picture?

The Council of Constantinople Aka second great ecumenical council of the Church Purpose: revise the Nicene Creed Issues discussed: the Father and the Son share the same divinity Arian interpretations are wrong Outcome: Jesus is “true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father” Begotten – generated from same substance like an embryo that carries DNA Begotten can be considered an eternal thing – only in the case of the son Created – made from nothing – like Adam in Genesis 1 Created cannot be eternal. the Nicene Creed as it is today This creed is recited during Sunday Mass