THEOLOGIANS AND EMPERORS

“The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man—and the dogma is the drama. That drama is summarized quite clearly in the creeds of the church, and if we think it dull it is because we either have never really read those amazing documents or have recited them so often and so mechanically as to have lost all sense of their meaning.” - Dorothy Sayers

The Empire after Constantine

CO

NST

AN

TIN

EConstantine II

Constantius II

Constans

THE GREAT CAPPADOCIANS

1. Basil the Great

Wrote the rule for monasteries that is still the standard rule for monasteries in the Orthodox world today

THE GREAT CAPPADOCIANS

2. Gregory of Nyssa

An early Church Father, who created a rich legacy of theology, liturgy, and spiritual literature.

THE GREAT CAPPADOCIANS

3. Gregory of Nazianzus4th-century Church

Father whose defense of the doctrine of the Trinity

made him one of the greatest champions of

orthodoxy against Arianism.

THE GREAT CAPPADOCIANS

4. Macrina the Younger

The unsung “Cappadocian” who

was a significant influence in the lives of Basil and Gregory,

her brothers.

THE GREAT CAPPADOCIANS

1. Basil the Great2. Gregory of Nyssa3. Gregory of Naziansius4. Macrina the Younger

One of the important themes that comes through when reading the

Cappadocians is the mystery of the Godhead. They insisted that those words of the Nicene Creed does not empty the

Godhead of its mystery.

“God’s being is infinite, and so the more that the finite mind knows of him, the more it becomes aware of its ignorance”; “In speaking of God, when there is a question of His essence, then is the time to keep silence. When, however, it is a question of His operation…that is the time to speak.”

Gregory of Nyssa.

“The begetting of God must be honored by silence. It is a great thing for you to learn that he was begotten. But the manner of his generation we will not admit that even angels can conceive, much less you.”

Gregory of Nazianzus

1 Timothy 3:16 NASB

By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:

He who was revealed in the flesh,Was vindicated in the Spirit,

Seen by angels,Proclaimed among the nations,

Believed on in the world,Taken up in glory.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CAPPADOCIANS

1. The deity of the Holy Spirit2. The humanity of Jesus Christ3. Care for the poor

The Council of Nicea did not say much about the Holy Spirit. It just said, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.” The focus was on the “homoousios” of the Son and the Father. The Holy Spirit was simply affirmed as an object of faith, but not explored more fully.

On the Deity of the Holy Spirit

The Nicene Creed“We believe in one God, Father Almighty,

maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of His Father, only begotten, that is of the ousia of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten not made, of one substance with the Father (homoousios), by whom all things were made,.. And we believed in the Holy Spirit.”

The writings of the Cappadocians help to prepare for the decision of the second ecumenical council in Constantinople in 381 that the Holy Spirit is of the same substance as the Father and the Son.

Another important contribution of the Cappadocians was to help the church begin to think about the person of Christ. After the doctrine of the Trinity, it was the doctrine of Christ that agitated the church. Various heresies developed and finally a consensus was reached at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

On the person of Christ

“That which He has notassumed, He has not healed. But that which is united to His Godhead is also

saved.”Gregory of Nazianzus

Athanasius said: “If Christ is not God, we are not saved.”

Gregory of Nazianzus said: “If Christ is not man, we are not saved.”

In terms of Soteriology…

One other aspect of the lives of the Cappadocians is their care for the needy. Basil was called “the Great” not by the great and mighty but by the poor and needy. He was called Basil the Great by the people who lived in Caesarea because he was so concerned about them.

On the care for the needy

“Let us put into practice the supreme and primary law of God. He sends down rain on just and sinful alike and to earth’s creatures he has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers, and the forests…He has given abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply and in rich measure.”

Gregory of Nazianzus

“When the Cappadocians spoke of giving to the poor, they did not mean setting aside a small portion of one’s wealth for that purpose. They spoke of ridding oneself of all that was not strictly necessary.”

Justo Gonzalez

Emperors and the Church

Became emperor when Constantius died at 361 AD.

Julian the apostate

A close relative of the family of Constantine

Raised as a Christian but renounced Christianity at the age of 20.

Julian the apostate

Why?

He wanted to reestablish the old syncretism that had ruled before the Christians

Julian the apostate

In order to destroy Christianity indirectly but found it difficult

to do.

Julian said, “They not only take care of their poor; they take care of our poor as well.” He saw that they not only provided love and food and care for Christians, but they also took care of those who were not Christians.

“Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!”

Julian the apostate

Died in battle in 363, fighting the

Persians.

He became emperor in 379. With Theodosius we have

another important change. Constantine had simply legalized Christianity.

Theodosius made Christianity as the only

official religion of the Roman Empire.

Theodosius

Made Christianity as the only official religion of the empire.

Theodosius and Christianity

By this declaration, he outlawed all other

religions.

He destroyed pagan temples and persecuted the pagans.

Theodosius and paganism

The tables has now turned. The persecuted

now becomes the persecutor.

He passed laws against heresies.

Theodosius and heresies

It was not only necessary to be a

Christian, but alsoto be an orthodox

Christian.

With Theodosius we move into a period that we can call “Christendom,”

Theodosius and heresies

In which state and religion are very

closely allied.

The First Council of Constantinople was called by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I in 381 to confirm the Nicene Creed of 325 and deal with other matters of the Arian controversy. Specifically, this council expanded the 3rd article of the creed dealing with the Holy Spirit to say that he is "the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified".

The Council of Constantinople

That statement was intended to say, and it does say, although people continued to add to it in various ways, that the church applies the concept of “homoousios” now to the Spirit as it had already applied that concept to the Son.

“…Holy Spirit, the Lord…”

This statement describe the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Father. If the word “begotten” was used to distinguished the Son from the Father, the word “proceeds” made the distinction for the Holy Spirit.

“…proceeds from the Father…”