{"id":21513,"date":"2025-07-01T14:54:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T18:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/?p=21513"},"modified":"2025-07-07T08:48:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T12:48:18","slug":"june-intermission-from-fatherhood-to-the-father-and-the-son-at-nicaea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/article\/concise\/june-intermission-from-fatherhood-to-the-father-and-the-son-at-nicaea\/","title":{"rendered":"June Intermission: From Fatherhood to the Father and the Son at Nicaea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 325 AD, 318 bishops (by the traditional count) arrived in the city of Nicaea (modern Turkey) to discuss a number of theological matters dividing the church. From emperor Constantine\u2019s point of view, these matters were threatening the unity of his rule over Rome. And so, one year after securing the empire, he invited 1,800 bishops to address the theology of Arius, which was the most significant theology matter dividing his empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventeen hundred years later, the Creed of Nicaea that emerged from that Summer gathering is still cited, recited, and employed to unite the Church Universal, as it defines trinitarian orthodoxy. Many doctrines have since divided the global church, and even one word (filioque<\/em> = and the son) added later to the Nicene Creed has also divided the church. Still, for all the ways that divisions have come, the Nicene Creed remains a bedrock for Christian orthodoxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next month, Christ Over All<\/em> will consider the history, theology, and necessity of this ancient creed. Last year, we spent a month thinking about creeds and confessions in general, as well as their ongoing usefulness for those who believe the Bible is the final authority. This month, we will build on that foundation, as we look at each section of the Creed and how it informs our faith today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Nicene Creed: 1700 Years of Homoousios<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, few things made today last seventeen years, let alone 1700. Obsolescence is engineered into the cars we drive and the device on which you are reading this essay. I am not a prophet, but I am willing to bet that your current device will not be in working order in seventeen years. That said, unless the Lord returns, the Nicene Creed will still be working, no worse for wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But obsolescence does not simply afflict technology. Sin has so corrupted human relations that institutions like marriage, which are promised to last a lifetime, are often short-lived. Ephemeral\u2014something lasting for only a short time\u2014is a word that marks the twenty-first century, and eternal things rarely make the never-ending cycle of news. Instead, from the things we buy to the homes we build, we have become accustomed to disposable products and replaceable people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And not surprisingly, such a vision of the world has an impact on the Word of God and the God of the Word. Throw in our culture\u2019s obsession with the therapeutic\u2014a view of life that tells broken people that they deserve to be comforted without correction\u2014and you begin to have views of God that fundamentally deny both Scripture and statements about it (like the Nicene Creed).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, two decades ago, Open Theists compared God\u2019s knowledge of the future to that of mankind, and as a result, they denied our Creator the power to know all things. Likewise, the God who is preached in countless mega-churches today is one that affirms our (fallen) human desires and refuses to raise his voice about sexual sin above a whisper. As David Wells famously observed, God has become weightless, so that even in churches where orthodox statements about God are found on the website, fear of God is lacking in the worship. In place of reverent confession of God\u2019s matchless glory is an endless array of creative comparisons between the creature and the Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Kyle Claunch noted in our final longform of June<\/a>, to make God like his creation turns comparison in the wrong direction. The uncreated God is not like his creation. Rather, we who are made in his image are like him\u2014but not in every way. Rather, we are like him to the degree that we embody his communicable attributes. Still, there remains attributes of God that are wholly unique to our uncreated Lord. And that means that to speak properly about God is not something we can do haphazardly or without help. And this need for help is where the Nicene Creed comes to our aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For, in fact, this creed provides basic language for talking about God that is both true to Scripture and derived from Scripture. And lest we attempt to know God by means of worldly comparisons or ever-changing metaphors, the language of Nicaea has stood the test of time for seventeen centuries. And the reason for its endurance is its connection to the Bible. In other words, the creed is not an addition to the Bible. It is a distillation of the Bible. And this month, as we consider Nicaea\u2019s place in church history, we will also show how it attends to the Word of God to give us a proper grammar about God the Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I tell my theology class when I teach the doctrine of God, our modern culture trains us to want a god like us. But in truth, we need a God who is not like us. We need a God who does not change, who is perfect in all of his attributes, and who did not come into being at some point before the world began. Truly, this was the error of Arius as he attempted to explain the begottenness of God in ways that humans could understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, his approach to the doctrine of God failed to distinguish the difference the between the eternal begottenness of the uncreated Son and the procreative begottenness found in humanity. Indeed, against the Arians, the Open Theists, and the pastoral therapists who explain God in purely human ways, the Nicene Creed teaches us to know, love, worship, and obey a God who is not like us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a day that offers modern man a world at his fingertips, the Nicene Creed trains us to look away from ourselves to the God who was, is, and forever will be the unchanging God. And more, it gives us terms of engagement that help us to know God as he is and not as the false teachers proclaim him to be. In truth, studying the Nicene Creed is not simply an exercise in ancient history or esoteric dogma; it is deeply practical and devotional\u2014if only we are willing to give the time to think about the Father, Son, and Spirit who are of one essence with one another. That shared nature is called Homoousios. <\/em>And all month long, we will celebrate the doctrine espoused at Nicaea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Paterfamilias: Making Fatherhood Great Again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yet, before moving forward toward the Nicene Creed, we ought reflect on the previous month that is equally practical and often just as theological. In fact, as mentioned above, Kyle Claunch\u2019s essay on the Fatherhood of God<\/a> not only culminated a month filled with essays helping fathers to think carefully about their calling, but it also laid the groundwork for seeing how fatherhood on earth is derivative of God\u2019s Fatherhood in heaven. And more, he made careful distinctions with respect to the way that God\u2019s fatherhood is proper to the whole Godhead in relationship to creation, even as the Father is a personal property that is not shared with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, if you want a good primer on this month\u2019s theological theme of Divine Sonship, Professor Claunch\u2019s essay on God\u2019s Fatherhood<\/a> is the place to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, this essay is only one of four longforms that we published in June. For we also took time to consider the connection between fatherlessness and the rise of Neo-Nazi sympathies<\/a> in an essay by Will Spencer. In its aftermath, we had countless pastors commend his first-person testimony for bringing to light a plague that is troubling many young men. Next, Aaron Rock provided an immensely practical essay that combined solid doctrine with fatherly devotion<\/a> to encourage fathers to disciple their children in the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then last, Doug Ponder provided a historical and contemporary appraisal of the terms \u201ccomplementarianism\u201d and \u201cpatriarchy.\u201d<\/a> Indeed, if fathers are to be the heads of their homes, but various terms confuse the issue today, then we need to think more carefully about the language we use, even as language changes. And so, Doug\u2019s longform seeks to affirm the goodness of thick\/broad\/natural complementarianism that recognizes male and female difference go beyond the church and home, while also appreciating the goodness of the concept and term \u201cpatriarchy\u201d\u2014when defined biblically\u2014as has been done throughout church history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, in these four longforms, we find critical thought on matters contemporary and eternal. So be sure to check them out and then share them with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, this month offered more than a dozen concise essays that ranged from affirming the goodness of Reformed Baptists raising their children in the Lord<\/a>, to fathers blessing their children<\/a>, to the dangers of \u201cgentle parenting,\u201d<\/a> to the misuse of parental authority<\/a>, to the way the natural law helps us think about fathering<\/a>, and more<\/a>. Indeed, for those wanting to think wisely about the fatherhood, this month<\/a> is a great place to begin and could serve as a fruitful syllabus for the men in your church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, you can find the whole month<\/a> listed with the longforms bolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n