What Was The Dominant Theological Issues At Stake In The Resolution Of Nicene Crede - Essay Example

What was the dominant theological issues at stake in the resolution of Nicene Crede Introduction creed - A definite summary of what is believed; esp., a summary of the articles of Christian faith; Webster's English Dictionary Nicene Creed was made with the primary purpose to identify who has the real faith in the Christian principles and who does not. It was a sense of quality consciousness that ensured a definition for what is acceptable quality and what is not. This would eliminate those people who are actors in the theatre of religion. It was not a new concept that was brought in by the Nicene Crede; it was an agreement between the east and the west on the basis of Christian theology. In AD 325, the first Ecumenical Council adopted the Nicene Crede. This listed out the basic tenets that would make the Nicene Crede as accepted by the Ecumenical church. Ecumenical was a world wide general council that adopted the standard practices that the church should follow and this applied to all the churches everywhere in the world. Therefore, Nicene Creed can be looked at as the set of rules that were adopted by the entire world for the church. The Nicene Creed went through changes in the Constantinople Council in 381 AD (Collins, Ken., 2006). The canons went through alterations and included the terms 'and the son' in the decrees in addition to the 'holy spirit'. This council firmed the Nicene Creed and indicated that no more creeds will be recognised by the Ecumenical council. Whereas Nicene Creed was about one and the only Holy Spirit and his one and only son, there were other theologies that came out in the later creeds like Chalcedonian, Apostle and others. Nicene Creed has been accepted by a number of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Some of the Protestant churches are also subscribers to these thoughts. Nicene Creed puts the entire Christian theology as accepted by the Ecumenical council into a summary or doctrine. History is resplendent with the changes that were brought into the creed at different points of time. The changes that were introduced in the creed were brought in by the western thinking Roman Catholics mostly and many changes in these were subsequently accepted. Nicene Creed was later etched on stone and metal to be made the basic faith on which Christianity laid its stress on. In short, Nicene Creed theology espouses the cause of one universal God and his Son, who was born as the saviour of the world and the human beings here. He was the one who came in the body of the human being and He was the one who was resurrected on the third day after He was crucified by Pontius Pilate. He will come back again on the judgement day to judge the dead and the living. Every true Christian would believe in the Holy Spirit and would worship the Father and the Son. There is only one Single Church and one Baptism that would forgive all the sins (Creeds, 1997). They would also believe in the 'resurrection of the dead and that the life of the world to come'. Thesis Nicene Creed theology states that there is only one God, the Father. It also believes in the making of the earth and all the things that are visible and invisible by him. The later filioque addition to the theology is in the form of 'the son' in addition to the Father. This meant that the Son was a part of the entire process from the very beginning even before the commencement of the creation. The creed was created to adjudge the faith of the individual and had to insist on the existence of one church for all Catholic and Apostle. The Nicene Creed could therefore, be said in a short summary, that there is only one God, the Father and his Son, and he created the universe and the Son came in the body of the human being to deliver the people off their sins. It also said that they are to be worshipped and glorified and that there is only one church for Catholic and Apostolic communions. It also said that there will be a judgement day when the world, both the dead and the living will be judged and when every person who lived here will be resurrected. One God and the Creation Nicene Creed reinforced the theology that there is only one God. The Christian theology has always been supportive of the one God. Every human being who espoused faith in the Christian theology has to accept the basic doctrine of the Christians, namely, the universality of one God. God, the Father begot the Son. The Son was not made by the Father; instead the Son was begotten by him. One God could beget another God and that was how the Son came to be. God, the Father and the Son then created the entire Universe comprising of the heaven and the earth, the seen and the unseen. All these make up the entire creation. In addition to this, God and his Son, also created the animals and the human beings. Creation was not just done by God alone but in association with the Son. The crux of the entire theology is the One God doctrine which also included the Son after the 381 AD. Nicene Creed supported the concept of one Universal God and said that there is only one Holy Ghost and therefore, there cannot be multiple churches for this purpose. The Roman Catholic Church and the apostolic churches that were in existence were thus brought under one umbrella. The creed was very clear that since the Son was begotten from the Father, the Son was as good as the Father and He was a part of the Father himself. He was 'one in being' with the Father. This made the Son a God and was accepted so. The later interpretations of the theology have mentioned that by the Power of the Holy Spirit, Virgin Mary begot the Son in the Human form. Holy Ghost and the Son are worshipped and they are the only ones who should be worshipped. The Visit of the Son One of the basic claims of the theology lies in the visit of the Son. The Son who was begotten by the Father came into the earth to redeem the sinned masses. The Creed is clear that the Virgin Mary begot the Son by the Power of the Father (Maked Disciples., n.d.). The Son came to the earth in the Human form so that He can be one with the human beings in this world and thereby, ensure that they adopt and follow the rules that are laid down by God, the Father. He, the Son, came to the earth for us and for our salvation. The creed insists on the faithful to accept it and make it a fact that the Son came to earth only for neutralising the sins of the people and let them know the methods that need to be adapted to get forgiveness for the sins committed by them. He became truly human and lived like a human. For the sake of human beings, He was crucified by Pontius Pilate. He wanted to show to the world that the methods and means adopted by the kings and people were sinful. He shed blood for the good of the people and for their deliverance. This is reflected in the Creed's statement, 'For our sake, He was crucified'. He suffered, died and then buried for our sake. The death and the gory incidents leading to death of Jesus are reflected in the short two lines of the Creed. Since Creed has to be a short acceptable version of the faith, it does not go into the details of the faith and the history. It does not try to prove any of the statements made. It is only a reflection of the basic criterion that go into the faith. It also says that the faith needs to believe that He, the Son, rose again from death on the third day in fulfilment of the words of the scriptures. He went back into heaven to sit on the right hand side of the Father. The Kingdom of God is thus established and is ruled by the Father and the Son at his right. The Son will again come back to the earth in all his glory. He will be lord of the Judgements that would be pronounced on the Judgement day. As He presides over the happenings in the Kingdom of God, He watches everyone along with the Father and decides whether every one of the actions is right or wrong. Judgement Day The other major part of the creed is about the judgement day. The theology is incomplete with out the rule on the judgement day. This has stemmed from the basic idea that human beings should lead a life that is in line with the dictums of the Lord. In order to ensure that this happens or whatever is the reason, the decree on the Judgement day is very prominent in the Nicene Crede. It clearly states that the Lord and his Son will come back to earth on the Judgement day. And all men (later day translations and the original Greek version do not have the gender) shall stand before them for the Judgement. This includes both the dead and the living. Further, it says in line with the Biblical and the later day canons that all people should believe in the existence of one God, the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is also the giver of life who will rule His Kingdom along with his Son, righteously. It is the Father and His illustrious Son who have been time and again been sending messages to us, ordinary mortals, on the way to lead our lives, through various prophets who walked this earth (2 Peter 1:20-21 KJV). This has been so stated, with the clear indication to ensure that all the churches merge and there exists only one church. To this extent, the Creed also decrees and says that there will be only one church, be it Roman Catholic or Apostle or otherwise. The basic principles of the church shall always remain to honour the Lord and the King, the Holy Spirit and his Son. Then, it also proposes a method to rectify the sins that are committed by the people. It says baptism is the method to go. Once the person is baptised and he apologises for all his sins, then he is forgiven by the kind Lord, the King. But then again, there is only one Baptism and cannot have any multitude of baptisms. And there is only one Baptism that is offered; different churches or Holy Fathers cannot offer different Baptisms. Baptism is the way for clearing all the sins that a person has committed and at any point in time, if he or she feels that they should be free of all their sins, then they should ensure that they are baptised appropriately. If they have already been baptised then a forgiveness is what they should seek for the Lord God for the betterment of their life and saving themselves at the time of the Judgement Day. For, on the Judgement Day, whether the person is dead or alive, he will be called in by the Lord God and will be judged based on the work he has performed on the earth. The Good and the Bad he has committed will stand for trial on that day and He will pass judgement on the happenings in everyone's life. Reason for the Creed Some of basic theologies that Nicene Creed promoted can be called: 1. Baptismal Regeneration 2. Monotheism 3. God is Love These three basic concepts of Christianity formed the core of Nicene Creed. Though not very obvious, it promoted Monotheism when it read God is but one. There is only one God. It is Trinity but it is not three Gods; but one. Jesus exists in two forms. One the human and the other divine; this happens because He is begotten by God from himself and does not get created or made by God. Monotheism is the core concept and theology that is reinforced by the Creed. Monotheism is the basic concept which Bible also subscribes to. This was brought out and was accepted by the Ecumenical council. None of the other creeds at any point in time contested this particular aspect of Christianity or that of the Nicene Creed. This was uniformly and universally accepted. The case of God is Love is also very similar (1 John 4:8). There have not been many disputes or debates over whether God is Love. This again is the fundamental concept that the creed reinforces. According to the Creed, God in his magnanimity and love sent His Son who is sitting at his right to earth for the deliverance of the people on the earth. He need not have done this but for his Love. He was very much interested in the well being of the people living on His earth. This was created and nurtured by God. Therefore, the moment he had a problem, God ensured that the problem man has gets resolved at the earliest point in time. He sends His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem Earth from the trouble it is in. Jesus came to earth to spread the message of God. God also made His Son to die on Earth for the sins of his fellow human beings (Romans 5:8) though He was no human. In order to strengthen this thought, the creed made the following words in the list. 'For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried.' Nicene Creed. This was the reason why they made the remark Love is God and God is Love. The points in the Creed doubly reinforce the idea behind the Nicene Creed in this connection. Love in most of the human situations are given in exchange of some thing else. Love is given to another person because the person could give this person something else; may be for the sake of befriending, for the sake of something else. Love in many cases is conditional. The nearest to an unconditional love is the affection of the parent to the child. Even through thick and thin, the love continues. But then, God's love is something beyond even that (1 John 4:7-11). He has a love that not only sent His Son, Jesus to earth to redeem us from the sins that the men and women have fallen into but also to sacrifice Him on the cross to make the people of the world realise the importance of the Love and the affection that God has for the people on the Earth. In order to reinforce this idea, the Nicene Creed tells about the sacrifice that the Son of the God made on this earth. Apart from this, it also reinforces the concept of Baptism and regeneration or relegation of sins. While people who subscribe to the theology of the Christians especially the Nicene Creed would have to also subscribe to the principles of ratification. This could be achieved by ensuring that the people are baptised properly in one church and they are then allowed to take forgiveness from the God. The sins that are committed are cleared once the baptism is given to the concerned person. This was implied by the statement in the Creed. 'We acknowledge One baptism for the forgiveness of sins'. This would mean that taking Baptism in a church that is a part of the Christian way of thinking is the solution for the sins that were committed by him. There is also another interpretation for the same words that occur in the Nicene Creed. The sins are not removed when the person is baptised once in the church or once he is baptised he would never commit a crime or would not be party to a crime. Instead some of the people interpret the statement differently. The only one baptism is the baptism given by the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation (Ephesians 4:4-6). And the forgiveness that is given at that time by the Holy Spirit to those people who have had the faith in Him and has adhered to a life that was in line with the dictations of the Lord and his Son. These three basic principles are upheld by the Nicene Creed. The theology supported by these principles form the core of the Christian theology too with modifications that came up later. Conclusion This paper presented a brief history of the Nicene Creed and its origins. Nicene Creed took its birth because of the need to standardise on the facts of the Christian faith. The days of the yore when there were many questions that were unanswered and what was right and wrong, came up, Nicene Creed could bring in a short summary or doctrine of the faith. It specified its theology in three basic tenets. These include the faith in one and the only God. This was multiply reinforced by using more than one statement in the Creed. This also explained the position of the Son with reference to the Only God that it propounded. Secondly, it reinforced the concept of God is Love and God has sacrificed his Son for the Love that He has for his people. Finally, the baptism that sets aside the sins that was executed by men and women. All these were explained in more detail in the previous sections. In addition to these, the later day thoughts that modified the original ideas behind the making of the Creed, were also discussed and presented. References 1. Collins, Ken., 2006, The Nicene Creed. 5 Dec. 2006. http://www.kencollins.com/why-07.htm 2. Creeds, 1997, The Nicene Creed. 5 Dec. 2006. < http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm> 3. Maked Disciples., n.d., The Nicene Creed. 5 Dec. 2006. http://www.makedisciples.com/nicene-c.html Read More