God in Christianity

La Sainte Trinité, painting by Gustave Doré (1866). God the Father presents the body of Christ, his Divine Son, with the Holy Spirit visible as a dove at the top of the image.
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In Christianity, God is the eternal, supreme being who created and preserves all things.[5] Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God, which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the material universe).[6] Christians believe in a singular God that exists in a Trinity, which consists of three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christian teachings on the transcendence, immanence, and involvement of God in the world and his love for humanity exclude the belief that God is of the same substance as the created universe (rejection of pantheism) but accept that God the Son assumed hypostatically united human nature, thus becoming man in a unique event known as "the Incarnation".[10]

Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline epistles and the early Christian creeds,[13] which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus.[a][18] Although some early sects of Christianity, such as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, protested against the deification of Jesus,[19] the concept of Jesus being one with God was accepted by the majority of Gentile Christians.[20] This formed one aspect of the split of early Christianity and Judaism, as Gentile Christian views of God began to diverge from the traditional Jewish teachings of the time.[16]

The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things".[21] In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted.[22] As time passed, Christian theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer, stating that the Father is in Heaven), others based on theological reasoning.[23][24] The "Kingdom of God" is a prominent phrase in the Synoptic Gospels, and while there is near unanimous agreement among scholars that it represents a key element of the teachings of Jesus, there is little scholarly agreement on its exact interpretation.[25][26]

Although the New Testament does not have a formal doctrine of the Trinity as such, "it does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit... in such a way as to compel a Trinitarian understanding of God".[27] Around 200 AD, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus.[9][11][28] This concept was later expanded upon at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD,[27] and a later definitive form was produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381.[29] The Trinitarian doctrine holds that God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit are all different hypostases (Persons) of one substance,[9][30][31] and is not traditionally held to be one of tritheism.[9] Trinitarianism was subsequently adopted as the official theological doctrine through Nicene Christianity thereafter, and forms a cornerstone of modern Christian understandings of God—however, some Christian denominations hold nontrinitarian views about God.[35]

  1. ^ a b c Theokritoff, Elizabeth (2010) [2008]. "Part I: Doctrine and Tradition – Creator and creation". In Cunningham, Mary B.; Theokritoff, Elizabeth (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology. Cambridge and New York City: Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–77. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521864848.005. ISBN 9781139001977.
  2. ^ a b c Young, Frances M. (2008). "Part V: The Shaping of Christian Theology – Monotheism and Christology". In Mitchell, Margaret M.; Young, Frances M. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1: Origins to Constantine. Cambridge and New York City: Cambridge University Press. pp. 452–469. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521812399.027. ISBN 9781139054836.
  3. ^ a b c Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Doctrine of the Trinity". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd Revised ed.). Oxford and New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 1652–1653. doi:10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
  4. ^ a b c Schnelle, Udo (2005) [2003]. "Part II: The Basic Structures of Pauline Thought – Theology: God as the Father of Jesus Christ". Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology (1st ed.). Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic. pp. 395–400. ISBN 9781441242006. LCCN 2005025534.
  5. ^ [1][2][3][4]
  6. ^ [1][2][3][4]
  7. ^ Weinandy, Thomas G. (2019) [2015]. "Part I: Catholic Teaching – God, the Creation, and the History of Salvation: The Incarnation". In Ayres, Lewis; Volpe, Medi Ann (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology. Oxford and New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 167–182. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566273.013.7. ISBN 9780199566273. LCCN 2018965377.
  8. ^ Louth, Andrew (2007). "The Place of Theosis in Orthodox Theology". In Christensen, Michael J.; Wittung, Jeffery A. (eds.). Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Traditions. Madison, New Jersey and Vancouver, British Columbia: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 32–44. ISBN 978-0-8386-4111-8. LCCN 2006017877.
  9. ^ a b c d Del Colle, Ralph (2001) [1997]. "Part II: The content of Christian doctrine – The Triune God". In Gunton, Colin E. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine. Cambridge and New York City: Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–140. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521471184.009. ISBN 9781139000000.
  10. ^ [1][7][8][9]
  11. ^ a b Kelly, J. N. D. (2006) [1950]. "Part II: Creeds and Baptism". Early Christian Creeds (3rd ed.). London and New York City: Continuum International. pp. 30–61. doi:10.4324/9781315836720. ISBN 9781315836720. S2CID 161264947.
  12. ^ Fotopoulos, John (2010). "Chapter 23: 1 Corinthians". In Aune, David E. (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 413–433. doi:10.1002/9781444318937.ch23. ISBN 9781444318937. S2CID 241555937.
  13. ^ [4][11][12]
  14. ^ 1 Corinthians 8:5–6
  15. ^ Bernard, David K. (2019) [2016]. "Monotheism in Paul's Rhetorical World". The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ: Deification of Jesus in Early Christian Discourse. Journal of Pentecostal Theology: Supplement Series. Vol. 45. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 53–82. ISBN 978-90-04-39721-7. ISSN 0966-7393.
  16. ^ a b Hurtado, Larry W. (2015) [1988]. "Introduction: Early Christology and Chronology – Chapter 5: The Early Christian Mutation". One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (3rd ed.). London and New York City: T&T Clark. pp. 1–16, 97–130. ISBN 9780567657718.
  17. ^ Hurtado, Larry W. (2005). "How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity". How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 13–55. ISBN 978-0-8028-2861-3.
  18. ^ [2][15][16][17]
  19. ^ ("Clementine Homilies", xvi. 15)
  20. ^ "TRINITY". Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Irena27 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Globe352 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference SGuthrie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Hirschberger, Johannes. Historia de la Filosofía I, Barcelona: Herder 1977, p.403
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Image478 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference FranceK1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ a b Stagg, Frank. New Testament Theology. Broadman Press, 1962. ISBN 0-8054-1613-7. p. 38
  28. ^ Kelly, J. N. D. (2000). Early Christian doctrines (5th ed.). London: Continuum. p. 150. ISBN 978-0826452528.
  29. ^ Prestige, G.L. Fathers and Heretics SPCK:1963, p. 29
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Behr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fair48 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference mercer935 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kelly115 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mac117 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ [3][32][33][34]


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