“…are men to pray to you and learn to know you through their prayers? Only, how are they to call up on the Lord until they have learned to believe in him? And how are they to believe in him without a preacher to listen to?”[1]
This is a quote from Augustine’s Confessions in which he is speaking to God. It is so important to have people to teach the gospel. It is imperative to have defenders of the faith such as the church fathers; people that no matter what the cost will defend and preach the correct theologies about God’s word. How could Christianity have survived all of these years without teachers? But we have an amazing history because of the sacrifice others have made for the name of our God. Augustine’s statement parallels to Romans 10:14 “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Augustine probably derived the idea from this scripture. This statement is an encouragement to Christians to go out and preach the Bible as God would have them do. Through the teaching of Christians, future generations have hope of salvation.
[1] St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin (London, England: Penguin Books, 1961), book 1 page 1.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/
I think this is a very good website that applies to the class. This website documents letters, speeches, and books from the earliest Christians, the “church fathers”. The more we know about our church fathers, the better we will understand our religion and the events that took place around the time period of the church fathers. I believe that the people who taught closest to the time of Christ were more accurate in their teachings. God has preserved his Word. Therefore, we still have the most important information correct, but the further we get away from the time of Christ, the less accurately we interpret God’s Word. There is a lot we can learn from our church fathers. They have already fought many of the battles we face today such as disagreement about the nature of Christ in the Arian controversy. I am convinced that they understood the Bible more than we do today because they were taught by direct followers of Christ. This is why I have chosen this resource to share as a deeper learning for the materials we have covered in class.
The Nicene Creed is a statement of Christian faith established in 325 AD by the bishops of the church. It was brought to light in order to settle the Arian controversy between members of the church over the nature, essence, substance equal to that of the Father, person, and eternal attributes of Christ.[1] This document is extremely important for Christians to, not only know about, but to learn and understand. This document contains key information about Christ, which are foundational to faith in Christ.
Constantine, the Roman emperor in 325 AD, called for a council in order to settle the Arian controversy. Arius and his followers believed that, “There was once when Christ was not.”[2] He said that when scripture speaks of Christ as the “begotten son” it implies that Christ was created by the Father at some time. Arians claimed that because of this fact, Christ was not the same substance as the Father, but was the highest of all God’s creations. Bishop Alexander and St. Athanasius were convinced that this belief was complete heresy and would lead to the destruction of Christianities salvific message. Ferguson says “An overwhelming majority of the bishops did not agree with Arius, but it was harder for them to agree on a positive statement of doctrine.”[3] The most important addition to the creed was the Greek word homoousios, meaning “of the same substance”. This affirmed that the Son of God was like the Father “in every way,” and did not derive from any other substance than that of the Father Himself, as explained by a man named Eusebius. The adoption of this word eliminated the Arian teaching. The members of the council found it necessary to use this word, homoousios which was not found in scripture, in order to stop the Arians from interpreting Biblical ideas falsely. The main theological errors of the Arians that the Nicene Creed refuted were (1) that “There was once when he was not” or “He came to be from nothing” and (2) that the Son of God is “created,” or “alterable,” or “mutable.” [4]
The council at Nicaea was significant because it was the first universal council. Nearly three hundred bishops gathered to discuss this controversy and establish a creed to bring unity and agreement in the church.[5] This council was different than most because the emperor, Constantine, was involved. The age of persecution was over and now the head of political affairs wanted to be involved in Christian religion. The alliance between church and state was set when Constantine stepped in and would remain for twelve to fourteen centuries. The creed of Nicaea was not only a confession of faith but was also a test of fellowship.
In our modern times we still struggle with disagreement in our churches over the nature of Christ as well. Many religions of the present age call themselves “Christian” as they did back then; yet do not believe in the teachings of Christ. Christians need to stand up for the convictions they hold instead of “tolerating” many different beliefs. Our nation has come to believe that we should accept contrasting views regardless of their validity. The more tolerant we become, the further away we get from the truth. We begin to shy away from controversial theologies and philosophies because we don’t want to quarrel. Because of this Christians don’t even know what to believe, or why they believe anything. We may be fighting slightly different battles today, but a lot of the battles we face hold just as much importance in the salvific message of the Bible as the Arian controversy. Some of the scariest beliefs today are that truth is relative and there is no standard; there are many ways to heaven; we should not push our religion on anyone else; and also that each person is a “priesthood” and can interpret scripture in their own way without regard to the church fathers or history. We need to save the souls of the people who are falling into the trap of this myth. We need to stand against the world and not worry about the persecutions we might come into contact with because of our stance. Our church fathers have shown us that it is possible to stand for our values and get results. The battle over Arianism was not easy to win, but it was possible with the help of God.[6] The most important thing is that we save souls from the furies of Hell.
It is important to learn about and understand events such as the Council of Nicaea. Christians should learn the Nicene Creed. It is foundational to the Christian religion. It brought out the theological concepts found in the Bible of who Christ said he was in a more understandable and definite way than ever before. The wording used in the creed could not easily be twisted to mean anything other than what it was intended to mean. These beliefs established in the creed are foundational to the salvific message. Without believing in Christ as God, of the same essence as the Father, eternal, and creator, along with other characteristics mentioned in the creed, one cannot be saved. The statements in the Creed are derived from the theologies found in the Bible.
The reason the creed was established was bring agreement in the church as to what exactly the nature of Christ was. It was extremely important to word it so that one could not misinterpret the nature of Christ. Christ is the center point of salvation. Without understanding who he was, Christians have no foundation for their beliefs and, more importantly, no salvation. This is why it is important for Christians to know the creed, understand where it came from and why it is correct theology. This battle has been fought before. Others have already determined the reason this is important and we must learn from their study of this subject.
[1] Kevin Knight, “Arianism,” New Advent, 2008, www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm. (accessed June 3, 2008).
[2] Everett Ferguson, Church History Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 193.
[3] Ibid, 194.
[4] Ibid, 195-196.
[5] Rusch, William G, The Trinitarian Covtroversy, trans. William G. Rusch (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), 49.
[6] Taken from my answers on Dr. Phillip Calvert’s Take Home Exam 1, Spring 2008
Christian Jihad
In their book, Christian Jihad, authors Ergun and Emir Caner wanted to show the mistakes of the Christians during the Crusades so that we will learn from them and not re-live the same mistakes. The book illustrates the steps that took place in order for the church to fall so far away from the truth. The authors give warnings to secure our liberty and freedoms. A few things the authors strongly insist are: to have enough independence to know when we are faced with lies, to fear extreme tolerance, and that torture is never in the will of God.
Common belief around 300 AD was that Christians should not be involved in warfare. It was believed that Christians were to offer themselves in death rather that taking the life of another. Christians suffered through many horrific persecutions, and they highly honored the martyrs of the faith. Constantine’s rise to power in 324 began the transition in the teaching of the church, regarding the evils of warfare, away from this previous belief. Believers were now allowed to be in the military but were given specific restrictions against duties that involved violence. Jobs such as guarding the emperor, care of public transportation and mails, secretarial duties, and others like these, were now seen in a positive light. Emperor Constantine looks back to the Old Testament and reminds the people of Rome the situations in which the Israelites killed for God’s purposes. He believed that war was for protecting the innocent; it was honorable, virtuous, and God-ordained. He also believed the innocent should be defended even to the point of slaughtering the enemy. During the time of Constantine, Christians began to give explicit approval of warfare as a restraint of evil. They even took it as far as to discharge all pagans, and allow only Christians to serve in the military. They took it upon themselves to judge the wicked instead of waiting for God.
In the year of 800, Charlemagne and Leo III entered into an unholy marriage between the church and the state. The Christians took many political positions and some became addicted to the taste of power. When the church was no longer useful to the state, it tossed her aside as an unwanted mistress. In 1088, Urban II was brought into power. There was turbulence in the church and many were concerned about the future. It is said that, “If he were unable to unite the people of the faith quickly, the Church would divide into warring factions bent on self-rule and domination.”[1] He was able to unite them with a common enemy. That enemy was the Muslims and Jews. He was determined to take Jerusalem from these pagans. He justified killing by saying that God was placing His judgment on this place, since it had suffered so long under the blasphemies of the pagans. He promised Christians that they would receive God’s salvation for their martyrdom. Most of the people who joined his army were illiterate. This disabled them from learning that the Crusades were, after all, not “God’s will.” They were completely dependent on the Church leaders to care for their souls. In Urban’s eyes, it was necessary to substitute a war against the pagans for wars between Christians. Christian brothers even began betraying one another. They were more interested in personal gain than unity by the time of the second Crusade, in 1147. Christians were undistinguishable from non-Christians for each were reaching new heights in brutality and deceit. They had come a long way from there criteria of a “Just War.” Christians now turned from shedding the blood of others to the killing of their own. Sufferings were believed to lead to repentance, so they began torturing people in order to save the sinners soul from eternal damnation. This was the time of the Inquisitions. Anyone could be accused of heresy and would most likely suffer tortures since the people could easily and innocently answer a question incorrectly.
As a result of the crusades “The Christians lost stature as the reasonable voice of peace in the midst of conflict. They also abandoned perspective, as a holy band working toward the kingdom of Jesus Christ.”[2] The Christians held to the concept of converting the world by the sword, instead of by the gospel. Though it seemed that they had gained the whole world, they had lost their souls. The Caner brothers state that “…forced orthodoxy cannot biblically or logically lead to genuine adoration.”[3] War is not the way to handle salvation. God alone is the righteous judge. Jesus warned against events such as the Crusades in Matthew 13:24-30, when he told His parable of the wheat and the tares. Christ died for all sinners. When the time is right, God Himself will sift through the crop and decipher between the wheat and the tares. The crusades teach us that we must keep watch on our state to ensure that our freedoms are not hindered upon. The authors warn us to make certain that liberty is not replaced with tolerance in our own government. They say that we should not fall into the lie of being tolerant. No religion is a religion just like any other. Slaughter such as this is never the answer. It is never the will of God. God is a just God, and He never calls us to such horrendous acts such as torture.
My name is Maegan. I am 19 years old, but I will turn 20 on March 3rd. I grew up in a very conservative baptist home in the small town of Big Spring, Tx. I have an older sister, Shelleyn, and a younger brother, Kolt. I was homeschooled from 8th-12th grade. I was a level 8 gymnast before I had to quit in 2001 because of an injury. I miss it very much. I showed horses for 4-H during my high school years. That was a lot of fun. I just got married this past October in Georgia. My husband, Joey, is currently surving the army in Iraq. God-willing he will get out of the army soon after he returns in Feb. 2009. We neither one know yet what God is calling us to do with our lives when he gets back. God has been working on our patience for quite a while now and we both know that God will show us his plan when He is good and ready. Joey and I have an amazing love story. We both knew we would marry someday when we started dating in June of 2006. We always thought we would marry upon his return from Iraq, but God laid it upon our hearts to get married before he left so strongly that we couldn’t resist. It seemed crazy and impractical, but we believed it was God’s will so we started making plans. We talked to our parents, received their blessings, and planned the whole thing in 3 weeks and it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. It was perfect. We know it was God’s plan because things fell into place so amazingly. There is so much more to the story. God has blessed us so much. I know that God has a plan for our lives and I trust Him to show us in His timing. As for now, I’m simply going to school to learn more about Him and waiting until He shows me what to do next.
