Lecture 10: The Doctrine of the Trinity
Orthodox, that is, Nicene, trinitarian theology arose in the course of the
Arian controversy in the 4th century. The Arian controversy began with
Arius, a presbyter in the church of Alexandria, who taught a radical form of
subordinationism, in which the Word or Logos is one of God’s creations—
that is, a creature, not the Creator. The implication which horri¿ ed nearly
everyone was that “there was once when he was not.”The ¿ rst ecumenical (worldwide) council of the church was convened
in Nicaea in 325 to condemn the teaching of Arius. In a new strategy for
formulating Christian doctrine, the council adapted a modi¿ ed baptismal
creed as a test of orthodoxy. To make sure Arius and his followers couldn’t
subscribe to this creed, they added a phrase saying the Son is homoousios,
having “the same essence” as the Father. Rather than being created from
nothing, the Logos comes “from the essence of the Father.” Although
the exact meaning of this key phrase is often disputed, it clearly has the
implication that the Son is God in exactly the same sense that the Father is
God. Although Arius was soon widely rejected, many mainstream theologians
found it dif¿ cult to accept the creed of Nicaea and its homoousios clause.Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, was the most prominent defender of
Nicene theology in the ¿ rst half of the 4th century. His key point was that the
Son is not created but eternally begotten from the Father; his key argument is
that the Father is eternally a Father, never without a Son.As the 4th-century controversy unfolded, the concept of the divine essence
or ousia was further developed. Because it is equally shared by Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, it comes to be called the divine essence rather than
the Father’s essence. The Father is the Source or First Principle of the Son,
to whom he gives being by giving them the whole of the divine essence.
The divine essence is not divided among the three, for it is not a material or
stuff out of which they are made. Rather, it is characterized by its attributes:
divinity, eternity, omnipotence, goodness, etc., all of which belong equally
and wholly to Father, Son, and Spirit.The controversy concluded with the second ecumenical council in 381 at
Constantinople. The council approved an expanded and edited version of
the Creed of Nicaea, which is now recited around the world and called the