the nicene creed 2 “we believe in one god” 1: truly we believe in one god 2: the name of god

The Nicene Creed 2

“We believe in one God”1: Truly we believe in one God

2: The Name of God

1.Truly we believe in one God

• The first affirmation and the most important• The whole creed speaks of god, when speaks

of man, and the world, speaks of them in relation to God


• Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deuteronomy 6:4

• And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Mark 12:29

• Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Romans 3:30

• Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Galatians 3:20

1.Truly we believe in one God• For there is one God, and one mediator between God

and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Timothy 2:5 • you believe that there is one God; thou doest well: the

devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19 • There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to

destroy: who art thou that judge another? James 4:12 • For there are three that bear record in heaven, the

Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 1 John 5:7


• Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength. Isaiah 45:22-24


• To believe in one God is equally important to the belief in God.

• To believe in one God means to believe in God’s uniqueness, rather than singularity. “Thou shall have none other gods before me”. Deuteronomy 5:7&..

• ”Thou shall not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth”: Deuteronomy 5:8


• Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us to understand that He is “the Lord”

• We Call the Holy Spirit “the Lord, and giver of life”

• Both expressions are not contrary to the belief in one God

• The three persons of the trinity share one and the same essence and nature


• The belief in one God is common to many religions and philosophies.

• The dogma of the trinity is unique to the Christian faith.


The One God and three persons in the Old Testament.•The trinity was revealed in the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan•Before the Theophany the trinity was presented in an obscure way in the old testament.


• Although Moses the prophet had conveyed to the Israelites the One God, they reverted to polytheism and idol worship. ”And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.” Judges 2:19

• The old testament then is a preparatory stage for the full divine revelation in the new testament.

1.Truly we believe in one GodExamples of Old Testament hints to the Trinity1. The Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the Lord spoke as he is God not as speaking on God’s behalf. Many of the Church writers believed Him to be the person of the Son

•And the angel of God spoke unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.•I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointed the pillar, and where thou vowed a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. Genesis 31:11, 13

1.Truly we believe in one GodExamples of Old Testament hints to the Trinity2.God speaks in the plural

This was explained as the dialogue among the trinity:“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” Genesis 1:26

St Athanasius, St Cyril of Jerusalem, and St Gregory of Nys.


Examples of Old Testament hints to the Trinity2.God speaks in the plural•Same could be understood from:

“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us” Genesis 3:22

“ let us go down, and there confound their language” Genesis 11:7


• Examples of Old Testament hints to the Trinity3.Hints to the Trinity

“And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground”, Genesis 18:1, 2


Examples of Old Testament hints to the Trinity3. Hints to the Trinity•And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3.•St. Athanasius pointed that the three Holy (trisagion) points to the Three persons of the Holy Trinity.


• The hints/ pointers of trinity were obscured to Jewish readers of the old testament, even to the writers of the Holy scriptures. That is why St. Augustine wrote:

• “The old testament is understood in the Light of the new”

1.Implication of faith in one God1. Coming to know God’s greatness and majesty.

Therefore we must serve God first.2. Living in thanksgiving: everything comes from the one

God “what have you that you did not receive?” 1 Corinth 4:7

3. Respect the dignity of all men as an image of the one and same God.

4. Make good use of created things. Use everything as long as they bring us closer to Him. Detach ourselves from all that drive us away from Him

5. Trusting God in all circumstance: in every condition for every condition and concerning all things

1.Implication of faith in one GodA prayer

Let nothing trouble youLet nothing frighten you

Everything passes God never change

Patience obtains allWhoever has GodWants for nothing

God alone is enough

2.The Name of God

What is the significance of a name?:•When a person reveal his/her name, they allow other to know them more personally and more intimately.•A person becomes more accessible when reveals his/her name to other person.•A name also says significant things about a person: Adam = from the earth, Eve = Mother of all living, Jacob = who caught the heal ..etc.

2.The Name of God• God revealed Himself progressively under different

names, but the most significant of these revelation is the one given to Moses from the burning bush.

• ”And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:13, 14

2.The Name of God

“YAWH” “I Am He Who Is”

or “I Am Who Am”

or”I Am Who I Am”

2.The Name of God

“I Am who I Am”-what does this name say?•This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery •It is both, a name and a refusal of a name at the same time•God is infinitely above anything that we can understand, yet he makes Himself available and close to men

2.The Name of God

• When God revealed His name as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, He reveals His faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past “I am the God of your fathers” as well as for the future “I will be with you”

• When God reveal His Name as “I am”, He is the God who is always here, available to His people to save them.

2.The Name of God

On calling on the name of God, we immediately put ourselves in God’s presence

2.The Name of God• The response of holy men in God’s presence• Moses takes off his sandals and veils his face.

Exodus 3:5-6• Isaiah cries out “woe to me, for I am undone; for

I am a man of unclean lips” Isaiah 6:5• St. Peter cries “depart from me, for I am a sinful

man O Lord” Luke 5:8• St. John wrote “ we shall …reassure our hearts

before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything” 1 John 3:19-20

2.The Name of God

• Out of respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce His name. the scribes used to wash and change their pens before writing the Name. In the reading of the sacred scripture, the revealed name “Yhwh” is replaced by the divine title “Lord”

• Lord = Adonai in Hebrew• Lord = Kyrios in Greek . Jesus Chris is

acclaimed under the title “Lord”

2.The Name of God• Attributes linked to The Name of God1.Merciful and Gracious: after Israel sin, when Moses

asked to see God, The name “YAWH” was proclaimed as the merciful and gracious:

”And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” Exodus 34:6

2.The Name of GodAttributes linked to The Name of God

1. Merciful and Gracious:•“I am” here means the faithfulness of God in spite of the unfaithfulness of His people. By going so far as offering His own Son, God shows Himself to be “rich in mercy”. Ephesians 2:4

•Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals that He Himself bears the divine name: ”Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I amhe”. John 8:28

2.The Name of GodAttributes linked to The Name of God

2.Self Existing•The Greek translation (Septuagint) of the Hebrew scriptures, and following it the Church’s Tradition, understood the divine name in this sense:

•God is the fullness of being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from Him; but He alone ishis very being, and he is of himself everything that He is

2.The Name of God

Attributes linked to The Name of God3. God is Truth and Love:•God “He who IS” reveals Himself to Israel as the one “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”•God is Truth because: “God is light and in Him there is no darkness” 1 John 1:5•“God is Love” 1 John 4:5

the nicene creed 2 “we believe in one god” 1: truly we believe in one god 2: the name of god

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