1
We Believe in One God
edited by
Gerald L. Bray
series editor
Thomas C. Oden
An imprint of InterVarsity Press
Downers Grove, Illinois
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
E-mail: email@ivpress.com
©2009 by Institute for Classical Christian Studies (ICCS), Thomas C. Oden and Gerald L. Bray
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a student movement active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at <www.intervarsity.org>.
The Scripture quotations quoted herein are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Images: The Adoration of the Trinity, by Albrecht Dürer, at Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
ISBN 978-0-8308-2531-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
We believe in one God/edited by Gerald L. Bray.
p. cm.—(Ancient Christian doctrine; 1)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-8308-2531-8 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. God (Christianity)—History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30-600. 2. Monotheism—History of doctrines. 3. Nicene Creed. I. Bray, Gerald Lewis.
BT98.W4 2009
231'.1—dc22
2009000459
Consulting Editors
Bishop Kallistos Ware, Oxford
Bishop Stephen Sykes, Durham
Prof. Augustine DiNoia, Rome
Prof. James I. Packer, Vancouver
A Guide to Using the Commentaries in the Ancient Christian Doctrine Series
Introduction: The First Article of the Creed
List of Ancient Authors and Texts Cited
Ancient Christian Doctrine is a five-volume collection of doctrinal definitions organized around the key phrases of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly called simply the Nicene Creed) as viewed by the foremost ancient Christian writers. The patristic period (c. a.d. 95–750) extends from Clement of Rome to John of Damascus. Geographically it stretches from Ethiopia to the Alps and from Spain to the Indus Valley. Classic Christian exegesis and doctrinal definition took decisive shape in this period. From the end of the New Testament to the Venerable Bede, biblical texts were intensely studied and their doctrine debated and ...
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About We Believe in One God“We believe in one God, the Father.” The opening clause of the Nicene Creed can be summed up in a single word—monotheism. In the early centuries of the church, this striking doctrine stood starkly against a cultural background of multiple deities and spiritual powers. While it clearly builds on its Jewish heritage, calling God “Father” anticipates the Father-Son relationship in the Godhead that early Christians knew and robustly upheld. The first article of the Nicene Creed also presupposes that there is an objective body of teaching that Christians are expected to confess as their faith. This idea seems normal and natural to us, but it was a novelty in the ancient world. Neither Judaism nor any pagan religion or philosophy could claim to have a closely defined set of beliefs that everyone adhering to it was expected to profess publicly and defend against all comers. While this article on God the Father is the shortest and arguably oldest portion of the Creed, it fully sets forth the fundamental understanding of God as creator and originator of all that is. This commentary in its selection of texts from the early church highlights the common understanding of the One God in three Persons, elucidating the church’s understanding of divine attributes and trinitarian relations. |
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