INTERNAL
OPPOSITIONS:
TRINITARIAN
C
CONTROVERSY
FILIOQUE
KWAKU BOAMAH, PhD .
OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Trinitarian Controversy
• Schools of Interpretations
• Christianity as Monotheistic
• The Holy Trinity
• Sabellius
• Arianism
• The church and the Arian Controversy
• The Role of Constantine
• Nicene Creed
• Filioque
• Christian belief
• Conclusion
OBJECTIVES
•To understand the basis of some
controversies in Christianity
•To explore two controversies in Early
Christianity related to the concept of the
Trinity
•To appreciate how the Early Church dealt
with controversies
•To discover the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity
INTRODUCTION
• Christianity in its earlier stage suffered both internal and
external oppositions.
• Externally, the Persecutions and Martyrdoms were wide
spread.
• Yet internally too the church needed to fight certain
persons and sects to be able to establish the foundations
of the faith.
• Internally there were Heretics and Gnostics among other
members of the church.
• Some of the major problems within the church at the
time was on the question of the Trinity.
TRINITATIAN CONTROVERSY
• The early 4th Century was a period of great debate in the
church
• A major debate in the church was related the relationship
between the Word (Son) and the Father
• The argument was weather the Son was subordinate to the
Father or in another way, weather the Son was created or He
had always been with God
• These difference is what has come to be known as the
`TRINITARIAN CON1TROVERSY`
• The argument was largely based on the New Testament
Conon. The texts were interpreted by different people in
addressing the relationship between the Father and Son.
SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION
• Regarding the relationship between the Father and the Son in
the Trinitarian Controversy, four main schools were generated
based on their interpretation of Scripture.
• Some O.T texts seem to suggest the Father and Son are
identical.
• Some scriptural texts suggest the Father `adopted` the Son at
His baptism by John.
• Some scriptures suggest the Son is subordinate or inferior to
the Father.
• Some scriptures affirms the oneness of the Father and Son.
• The main question that guided the controversy was “should
God be understood as absolutely one and alone or as three, a
Father, a Son and a Spirit?”
CHRISTIANITY AS MONOTHEISTIC
• Christian roots in Judaism stress the oneness of God as a
monotheistic religion
• The Jews recited the Shema “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is One- Deut. 6:41, every morning and evening”
• The Christians (especially the Apologists) actually mocked the
Romans for having many gods.
• The New Testament affirm not just one God but in three
persons which is also used in the baptismal formula as stated
in Matt. 28:19
• The expression of God in three persons is termed by Tertullian
(Against Praxeas 3) and Theophilus of Antioch (Apology to
Autolycus 2:15) termed `TRINITY` to show that although God is
one but also three
THE TRINITY
• The explanation of the Trinity is difficult to formulate.
• Scripture is not very straight forward on the concept:
a. some scriptures only talk about the Father
and the Son without the Holy Spirit (Gal. 1:3)
b. While others talk about all three (Matt.
28:19)
• It became a real subject of appreciation of how God
could be one but three also.
SABELLIUS
• This sect defended the oneness of God by making the Son
and the Spirit “modes” or temporal manifestation of God
• They suggest that `there were no permanently existing and
separate divine persons`
• However, when God wants to communicate with man, he
took on the `mode` of the Father, the Son, or Spirit
• When there was no need to communicate or act He is
absorbed or assumed in the oneness of God
• This school is also referred to as `modalism`
• This view was seen as heretic and rejected by the church
although it had some great support
ARIANISM
• In 318 Alexander of Alexandria publicly supported
the Son and the Father are co-equal.
• Alexander suggests that the Father and the Son are
the same and equally eternal
• Arius (260-336 CE) a respected Presbyter in
Alexandrian protested against the Bishop`s view.
ARIANISM cont.
•Arius maintained that:
•The word of God, seen as Jesus (the Son)
was subordinate to or less than the
Father.
•Although he praised the Son as the first
and greatest creature.
•He agreed that the Son could be called
`God` but disagreed that He is God in the
same way as the Father.
ARIANISM
• Central to Arius theology was that the Son was a
created being who was neither eternal nor equal to
the Father.
• He had slogans such as:
• There was a time when He (the Son) was not
• He (the Son) did not exist before he was born
THE CHURCH AND THE ARIAN CONTROVERSY
• Although Aruis did not argue the divinity of the Son and even
worthy of worship, he argued Jesus is subordinate to the Father.
• The such as not happy with Aruis views and therefore rose
actively against this position.
• Bishop Alexander called a Synod of about 100 Egyptian Bishops
who excommunicated Aruis and his followers from the church
• This controversy waged on for about three generations as `Arian
Controversy` and more formally labeled `Trinitarian
Controversy`
• In the end, Arius and his followers including some bishops were
exiled by Constantine
THE ROLE OF CONSTANTINE
• When Constantine in 324 captured the Eastern
half of the Empire, he was not happy with the
division in the church due to the Arian
Controversy especially in Alexandria
• Constantine therefore sent his adviser, Bishop
Ossius of Cordoba to reconcile the church as well
as letters and other correspondences to unit the
church.
• When his efforts did not yield results, he called
for a council in 325 at Nicaea in Asia Minor
THE ROLE OF CONSTANTINE
The council was initially divided on the issue of the Trinity:
• Some supported Arius
• Others disagreed with him
• A large number of the Bishops took a middle ground
• They sought to find a word that would best conceptualize the
relationship between the godhead.
• The council eventually came out with the Greek term
`homoousios` (of the same substance)
• Still on, some bishops disagreed because it is not found in
scripture, while others thought its close to Sabellius, yet they
could not convince the council, so it was adopted.
NICENE CREED
• The Nicene Creed was therefore developed to
deal with some of these controversies.
• Later revised at the council of Constantinople
in 381
• Was formulated in response to the Arian
heresy, and the revision was to deal with the
procession of the Holy Spirit which broke the
church.
• The Eastern and Western block of the Church 16
FILIOQUE
The division of the church was based on the
question of the relationship between the Holy Spirit
and the other Godheads (Father and Son)
The real question was about `procession`
Filioque /fil-i-ō′kwe/ (Latin: “and from the Son”). from
ablative of filius "son"
It is a phrase added to the text of the Christian
creed by the Western church in the Middle Ages
It is considered one of the major causes of the
schism between the Eastern and Western churches. 17
FILIOQUE cont.
• Eastern Orthodox believe that the absence of an explicit mention
of the double procession of the Holy Spirit is a strong indication
that the Filioque is a theologically erroneous doctrine
• Revelation 22:1 (possibly written by John, who identifies the
Water of Life as the Holy Spirit in John 7:39) states that the river
of the Water of Life in Heaven is "flowing from the throne of God
and of the Lamb" (the Lamb is Christ, cf. John 1:29), which may
be interpreted as the Holy Spirit proceeding from both the Father
and the Son.
• Siecienski asserts that "the New Testament does not explicitly
address the procession of the Holy Spirit as later theology would
understand the doctrine", although there are "certain principles
established in the New Testament that shaped later Trinitarian
theology, and particular texts that both Latins and Greeks 18
exploited to support their respective positions vis-à-vis
FILIOQUE cont.
It is argued that in the relations between the Persons of the Trinity, one
Person cannot "take" or "receive" anything from either of the others
except by way of procession from both.
Texts such as John 20:22 ("He breathed on them and said: Receive the
Holy Spirit"), were seen by Fathers of the Church, especially Athanasius
of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria and Epiphanius of Salamis as grounds
for saying that the Spirit "proceeds substantially from both" the Father
and the Son.
Other texts that have been used include, where the Holy Spirit is called
Galatians 4:6, - "the Spirit of the Son"
Romans 8:9 - "the Spirit of Christ"
Philippians 1:19 - "the Spirit of Jesus Christ"
John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7 - The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus19
(The Son)
20
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and with the Scriptures;
unseen. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son right hand of the Father.
of God, He will come again in glory to judge the living
and the dead,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God,
and his kingdom will have no end.
light from light, We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
giver of life,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
of one Being with the Father; who with the Father and the Son is worshiped
and glorified.
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic
heaven,
Church.
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, We acknowledge one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins.
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; We look for the resurrection of the dead, and
the life of the world to come. Amen. 21
CHRISTIAN BELIEF
Generally, the Trinity expresses three distinct
ways in which believers’ understand the
workings of God in history:
FATHER – the Creator and cosmic power
sustaining the universe
SON – incarnated in Jesus Christ as the
Savior or Redeemer of the universe
HOLY SPIRIT- the Sanctifier; the presence
of God in the world 22
CONCLUSION
•Creation is associated with the Father
•Redemption or Salvation with the Son
•Sanctification and Renewal with the Holy Spirit
However it does not mean they perform their various
roles independently of one another.
They are distinct persons but indivisible and
inseparable. 23
AKPE
KA KA KA
NA MI
