Chapter 4 Trinity: The Christian God A HISTORY OF GOD Chapter 4 Trinity: The Christian God

The Burning Question of 20th Century Chistianity: What was the Nature of Jesus?

Who was Yeshua?

Who was Yeshua?

Professor Thomas Sheehan Thomas Sheehan is Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University and the author of The First Coming, a widely acclaimed and controversial account of Easter.  His philosophical specialties are in philosophy of religion, twentieth-century European philosophy, and classical metaphysics. His interests in biblical history exegesis include first-century Christianity and early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic.

Jesus: Your “Buddy??”

Jesus: Businessman? CEO?

$$Jesus$$ $$White middle-class Republican$$

“My favorite philospher!”

Jesus: White Racist?

Jesus: Homophobic?

Jesus: Homophobic?

Alien Jesus?

The Burning Question of Early Chistianity: What was the Nature of Jesus?

Jesus: Human?

Jesus: Divine?

Jesus: Both Divine and Human

4th CE: Arian Heresy A heresy which arose in the fourth century, and denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Arian Heresy Arius, a Libyan preacher, had declared that although Jesus Christ was divine, God had actually created him, and there was a time when he was not. This made Jesus less than the Father and contradicted the doctrine of the Trinity. Arius's teaching provoked a serious crisis.

The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 CE at the First Council of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed was adopted in the face of the Arian controversy. The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the divinity of Jesus, applying to him the term "God."

The Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325.

The Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed has been normative to the Anglican and Roman Catholic Eucharistic rite as well as Eastern and Oriental Orthodox liturgies.

Athanasius of Alexandria Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 293 – 2 May 373), also given the titles, was a Christian theologian, bishop of Alexandria, Church Father, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century. He is best remembered for his role in the conflict with Arius and Arianism. At the First Council of Nicaea, Athanasius argued against Arius and his doctrine that Christ is of a different substance from the Father.

Athanasius of Alexandria The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.

The Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being.

Mystery of the Trinity The Trinity only makes sense as a mystical or spiritual experience. It has to be lived, not thought, because God went beyond human concepts. It is not a logical formulation.

St. Augustine Explains the Trinity Augustine gives a psychological theory of the Trinity. Three Properties of the Soul: A. Memory B. Understanding C. Will

St. Augustine Explains the Trinity By cultivating a continual sense of God’s presence within our minds, the Trinity will be disclosed.

Eastern/Greek Christians View of Jesus Human beings would only fulfill themselves when they had been united to God. We can all aspire to become deified human beings like Christ, but only by the Grace of God.

Latin [Western] Christianity Western View of Jesus Sin was such a great affront to God that only the sacrifice of his son could set things right between man and God.