|
|||||
|
As 2010 drew to a close, I found myself bogged down within a philosophical book about the nature and praxis of the church. I was so bogged downed that I decided to take a hiatus from that book and to return to my first literary love – that of church history. Specifically, I chose [...]
Well, I’m glad you asked. The reason is that for a few hundred – no, make that a thousand or so – years a lot of believes believed that there was one, universal visible “church.” Like a lot of things, this visible church started out united, but became fragmented over the years leading to the development of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Coptic Church, the Nestorian Church and, eventually, the Protestant Church (or, should I say, churches). Unfortunately, this fragmentation did little to change the view that there was one ‘visible church’. Instead, folks simply assumed that THEIR church was the ONE, and everyone else was not. (sigh) Sometime during the 1500’s this view (thankfully) began to change – as noted in the Westminster Confession of 1646 which states:
However, this was not to be the end of the debate (double sigh). Catacombs of San Callisto: baptism in a 3rd-century painting A good friend of my is getting ready to move a new town and is in the process of looking for a group believers to hang with. During this process he ran across a small church that requires all new members to be baptized [...]
In the Latin West, the view that the Holy Spirit proceed from both the Father and the Son led to the doctrine of “Subordinationism.” This doctrine states that both the Son and the Spirit are subordinate to the Father. Note that there are various types of subordinationism in which detail out the way in which the Son and the Spirit are subordinate (i.e. in nature, being, relationship, etc). However regardless of how one splits or defines Subordinationism, the end result is a hierarchy within the Trinity with The Father on top followed by the Son and then the Spirit (see image to the right). On a practical level, this hierarchy can lead people to:
On the other side of controversy is the belief that the Trinity is equal in both essence and role. Meaning that there is no ‘true’ hierarchy within the Trinity as they all work together in unity (see image below). Our discussion of Gregory of Nazianzus’ famous quote last week got me to thinking a lot about the “Filioque Controversy.” This is a 1,700 year controversy within Christianity that has a profound impact on how one views the Trinity. The controversy started fairly soon after the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. During this general council, the Church Fathers modified the Nicene Creed of 325 AD to help defend against various heresies (Arinism, Apollinarianism, Macedonianism, and Chiliasm). In this creed (now called the “Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed”), the following statement was made and agreed upon:
However in 410 AD, a regional council in Persia modified this line to include the Latin word “filioque” – which means “and the Son” (note that the creed was originally written in Greek):
Andrei Rublev, Gregory the Theologian (1408) ““What is not assumed, is not redeemed”“ I came across this great quote by Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390 AD) today while re-listening to some old VLI lectures. Gregory made the statement during the great fourth century debate on the nature of Jesus Christ in an effort to [...] It is no secret that I am a bibliophilia (i.e. a lover of books). It is a strange thing as I used to hate books – that is until 4th grade when my brother and his best friend turned me onto Louis L’Amour. The rest, they say, is history. Recently a friend was asked what where the top 10 influential books in his life – a task that proved to be very difficult. So much so that he decided to limit himself to 22 books. Today I have decided to follow his example and list the top ten most influential books in my life (and yes, I have kept my list to 10). The Short List (i.e. this is my running list of books that have had the most impact on my life) 1) “From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya : A Biographical History of Christian Missions” by Ruth Tucker (1989)
2) “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” by John Foxe (1563)
3) “Breakthrough: Discovering the Kingdom” by Derek Morphew (1991)
Irish Saints by Robert T. Reilly My love for the ancient Celtic church started about six years ago when I first read Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Since then I have strove to learn more about these men and women of God who flourished on the edge of the world. [...]
Nestorianism is a fairly unknown branch of Christianity – at least in the West. They broke off from mainline Christianity in 431 A.D. when the First Council of Ephesus declared the teachings of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, about the nature of Jesus to be heretical (ie. did Jesus have one or two natures?). As a result, the followers of Nestorius turned eastward to Persia, India and China. Before I go on, I think it is worth noting that I don’t think the teachings of Nestorius where really “heretical”. I think it was mostly a political move by the other bishops to gain control over the church as the Coptic Church was “kicked” out in a similar move in 451 AD. But, that is just my view. Back to Yang Sen-Fu’s book – It was originally written in Chinese and was translated into English by Dr. Herbert Hatcher in 2007. As a result, the book was a tad hard to understand as the wording didn’t always work out… but the essence of the book translated well. Continue reading A History of Nestorian Christianity In China by Yang Sen-Fu Ah… the good, old Celtic church. Sigh. What a group of radicals. As some of you know, I have a "thing" for the church in the British Isles from 300 A.D. to about 700 A.D. During this time, the Celtic church was more or less independent from the larger Roman Catholic Church (or [...] |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Requisite Danger - All Rights Reserved |
|||||
Yesterday we talked about the historical roots of the “Filioque Controversy.”
I was browsing the shelves of my local library when I came across Yan Sen-Fu’s book about Nestorian Christianity in China. Talk about a find! It was awesome. 
Recent Comments