10. Jahrgang • 2013

MBS Texte 179

Thomas K. Johnson The in the Bible and Selected of the Church: Resources for Study

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TheologicalTheologische Accents Akzente TableInhaltsverzeichnis of Contents

I In the Bible...... 3 II Early Christian Creeds...... 4 The before the Apostles’ Creed...... 4 The Apostles’ Creed...... 4 The ...... 5 The Definition (or Creed) of Chalcedon...... 6 The Athanasian Creed...... 7 III The Trinity in the Medieval Reform Movements...... 8 IV The Trinity in Classical Protestant Confessions...... 10 The ...... 10 The Thirty Nine Articles of the Anglican Church...... 11 The Second Helvetic Confession...... 11 The Bohemenian Confession of 1575...... 12 The London Baptist Confession of 1689...... 14 V The Doctrine of the Trinity, Recent Developments...... 15 The Amsterdam Declaration 2000...... 15 The Capetown Commitment of 2010...... 16 Recent Mennonite and Ethics...... 17 The : A Church Dividing Issue? An Agreed Statement, 2003...... 19 Annotation...... 21 The Author...... 22 Study Centers...... 23 Imprint...... 24

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2 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study

The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study

Thomas K. Johnson

I In the Bible This study assumes that the classical Though the teaching about the Trinity Christian teaching on the Trinity is comes mostly in the New Testament, consistent with the Bible, though this there are many places where the Old claim will not be documented at length. Testament points toward understand- The reader who is uncertain that the ing as a Trinity. This is sometimes Triune nature of God is taught in the connected with descriptions of com- Bible should carefully consider some of plexity within the Godhead, some- the many relevant biblical texts on this times with clear distinctions between theme. Though the technical language the work of God as Creator and as of the classical Christian creeds is not Redeemer. used in the Bible, this careful way of Some of these texts are: speaking about God flows organically o from the entire Bible. A few selected Genesis 1:26–27 texts which the reader may want to o Isaiah 43:10–11; 44:6; 48:16; consider: 63:7–16 o Psalm 2 o Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–13; o Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34 Psalm 45:6–7 o o M atthew 28:18–20 Psalm 110 o John 1:1–18 Our understanding of the Trinity is o John 14:16, 26; 15:26–27; John closely associated with our understand- 16:5 –15 ing of Jesus, the Christ, who is fully God and fully man, yet one Person. o R omans 1:1–6 This classical Christian teaching is also o 2 Corinthians 13:14 assumed in this study, though it will o E phesians 1:3–14; 2:14–22 not be defended at length. A few bib- o C olossians 1:15–18 lical texts the reader may wish to con- sider on this topic, in addition to the o 1 Peter 1:1–2 mentioned above:

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o Isaiah 9:6–7 A nd in one Christ Jesus, the Son of o D aniel 7:13–14 God, who became incarnate for our salvation o Zechariah 12:10 A nd in the , who pro- o Matthew 9:1–8; 11:25–30; 14:22–32 claimed the [divine] dispensations o Mark 4:35–41 through the prophets, including the o John 3:16–36; 5:16–27; 20:24–29 advents, the birth from a virgin, the o Romans 5:15–17; 9:1–5 passion, the resurrection from the dead and the bodily ascension into o 1 Corinthians 2:6–10 of the beloved Christ Jesus o Colossians 2:9 our Lord, as well as his [future] o Hebrews 1:1–13; 2:5–18; 4:14–16; coming from heaven in the glory of 5:7–9 the Father, when he will ‘gather all o 1 John 1:1–4; 4:1–3 things in one,’1 And to raise up again o 2 John 7–8 alI flesh of the whole human race, in order that ‘every knee should bow and every tongue confess’2 to Christ II Early Christian Creeds Jesus, our Lord and God, our Sav- ior and king, according to the will The Creed before the Apostles’ Creed of the invisible Father, and that he should execute righteous judgment From the early centuries of the church toward all. That he may send ‘the used summaries of the faith spirits of wickedness’3 and the angels to maintain consistency of basic teaching who transgressed and became apos- among the churches and from generation tates, together with the ungodly and to generation. There were a few very simi- unrighteous, wicked and profane lar creeds that were slowly replaced by the among human beings, into everlast- ‘Apostles’ Creed.’ As an example of a creed ing fire, but in the exercise of his of which we have a complete text that was a grace may grant immortality to the forerunner of the Apostles’ Creed we include righteous and holy, and to those who the creed of Irenaeus (130–202 AD). have kept his commandments and Although the church is dispersed persevered in his love and may clothe throughout the world, even to the ends them with everlasting glory.4 of the earth, it has received this common faith from the apostles and their disciples: The Apostles’ Creed [We believe] in one God, the Father The Apostles’ Creed was not written Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth by the apostles but it contains the cen- and the sea, and everything that is in tral elements of the proclaimed them by the apostles and is apostolic in that

4 MBS Texte 179 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study sense. (We have not seen convincing H e ascended into heaven and sits evidence for the claim, repeated occa- at the right hand of sionally in Christian history, that there Almighty; was a council of the apostles in the first F rom thence he shall come to judge century which wrote this creed.) With the living and the dead. very slight variations in wording, it has I believe in the Holy Spirit, been used as a simple summary of cen- tral Christian beliefs since very early The Holy Church, the in Christian history. Almost this exact communion of the , wording has been used since about 390 The of , the resurrec- AD. tion of the body, and the life ever- In early Christian history it was lasting. recited, especially at the time of bap- tism, as a Triune statement of faith The Nicene Creed which nicely explained ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and The ‘Nicene Creed’ contains the teach- of the Holy Spirit.’ This creed is one of ing approved by the Council of Nicea the sources of the common Christian in 325, but the exact wording and for- way of talking about ‘Three Articles’ of mat come from the Council of Con- the faith, about the Father, about the stantinople in 381. (In contrast, the Son, and about the Holy Spirit. This exact wording of the creed approved at outline shows how the early church Nicea is sometimes called ‘The Creed of saw the doctrine of the Trinity as not Nicea.’) For this reason it is sometimes only central to knowing God but also also called ‘The Creed of Constantino- the leading way to outline the entire ple’ or ‘The Nicene-Constantinopolitan faith. Creed.’ The teaching of the creeds from Nicea and Constantinople were fully I believe in God the Father approved at the Almighty, Maker of heaven and in 451. The text of the Nicene Creed earth; follows: A nd in Jesus Christ his only Son, W e believe in one God the Father our Lord: All-sovereign, maker of heaven and Who was conceived by the Holy earth, and of all things visible and Spirit, invisible; B orn of the Virgin Mary, A nd in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was only-begotten Son of God, Begot- crucified, dead, and buried; ten of the Father before all the ages, He descended into hell; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of one substance The third day he arose again from () with the Father, the dead,

Theologische Akzente 5 Thomas K. Johnson

through whom all things were made; human. It was adopted by the Council who for us men and for our salvation of Chalcedon (also called the Fourth came down from the , and ) in 451 AD. It was made flesh of the Holy Spirit has been generally accepted by most and the Virgin Mary, and became Christians except those who belong to man, and was crucified for us under the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was We, then, following the holy buried, and rose again on the third Fathers, all with one consent, teach day according to the Scriptures, and people to confess one and the same ascended into the heavens, and sits Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same on the right hand of the Father, and perfect in Godhead and also perfect comes again with glory to judge the in manhood; living and the dead, of whose king- truly God and truly man, of a rea- dom there shall be no end; sonable [rational] soul and body; A nd in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and consubstantial [co-essential] with the Life-giver, that proceeds from the the Father according to the God- Father,5 who with the Father and the head, and consubstantial with us Son is worshipped together and glo- according to the Manhood; rified together, who spoke through the prophets: in all things like unto us, without ; In one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church: b egotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in W e acknowledge one baptism unto these latter days, for us and for our remission of sins. We look for a res- salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, urrection of the dead, and the life of the Mother of God, according to the the age to come.6 Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, The Definition (or Creed) of Chalcedon Lord, only begotten, to be acknowl- This creed is often called a defini- edged in two natures, inconfusedly, tion, not a creed, because its focus is unchangeably, indivisibly, insepara- on defining the relation between the bly; two natures of Christ, not on con- the distinction of natures being by fessing our entire trinitarian Chris- no means taken away by the union, faith. It is included here because but rather the property of each the Christian understanding of the nature being preserved, and concur- Trinity is closely associated with the ring in one Person and one Subsis- Christian understanding of Jesus, the tence, not parted or divided into Christ, being both fully God and fully two persons, but one and the same

6 MBS Texte 179 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study

Son, and only begotten God (mono- and another of the Holy Ghost. gene theon), the Word, the Lord But the Godhead of the Father, of Jesus Christ; the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is as the prophets from the beginning all one; the Glory equal, the Maj- [have declared] concerning Him, esty coeternal. Such as the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is; such is the Son; and such is the has taught us, and the Creed of the Holy Ghost. The Father uncre- holy Fathers has handed down to us. ated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and The Athanasian Creed the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; This creed was named after the impor- and the Holy Ghost eternal. And tant and writer of the fourth cen- yet they are not three eternals; but tury, Athanasius (293–373), but it was one eternal. As also there are not probably written in the fifth or sixth three uncreated; nor three infi- century, long after the time of Atha- nites, but one uncreated; and one nasius. In this text the term ‘catholic’ infinite. So likewise the Father is refers to all those Christians who did Almighty; the Son Almighty; and not follow one of the important her- the Holy Ghost Almighty. And esies of the ancient world; the Christian yet they are not three Almighties; church was not yet divided between but one Almighty. So the Father Protestant and , nor is God; the Son is God; and the between eastern and western churches. Holy Ghost is God. And yet they It has been used by many Evangelical are not three ; but one God. churches, though its didactic character So likewise the Father is Lord; the makes it more suitable to a classroom or Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost personal use than to a worship service. Lord. And yet not three Lords; W hosoever will be saved, before all but one Lord. For like as we are things it is necessary that he hold compelled by the Christian ver- the catholic faith. Which faith ity; to acknowledge every Person except every one do keep whole by himself to be God and Lord; and undefiled; without doubt he So are we forbidden by the catho- shall perish everlastingly. And the lic religion; to say, There are three catholic faith is this: That we wor- Gods, or three Lords. The Father is ship one God in Trinity, and Trin- made of none; neither created, nor ity in Unity; Neither confound- begotten. The Son is of the Father ing the Persons; nor dividing the alone; not made, nor created; but Essence. For there is one Person begotten. The Holy Ghost is of of the Father; another of the Son; the Father and of the Son; neither

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made, nor created, nor begotten; Man is one Christ; Who suffered but proceeding. So there is one for our salvation; descended into Father, not three Fathers; one Son, hell; rose again the third day from not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, the dead. He ascended into heaven, not three Holy Ghosts. And in he sitteth on the right hand of the this Trinity none is before, or after God the Father Almighty, from another; none is greater, or less whence he will come to judge the than another. But the whole three quick and the dead. At whose Persons are coeternal, and coequal. coming all men will rise again So that in all things, as aforesaid; with their bodies; And shall give the Unity in Trinity, and the Trin- account for their own works. And ity in Unity, is to be worshipped. they that have done good shall He therefore that will be saved, let go into life everlasting; and they him thus think of the Trinity. that have done evil, into everlast- Furthermore it is necessary to ing fire. This is the catholic faith; everlasting salvation; that he also which except a man believe truly believe faithfully the Incarnation and firmly, he cannot be saved. of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and III The Trinity in the Medi- confess; that our Lord Jesus Christ, eval Reform Movements the Son of God, is God and Man; While the various medieval reform God, of the Essence of the Father; movements within often begotten before the worlds; and focused on moral reforms and concerns Man, of the Essence of his Mother, regarding the , some of the born in the world. Perfect God; many movements desired to be clear and perfect Man, of a reasonable that their reforms were based on clas- soul and human flesh subsisting. sical Christian doctrine. As an example Equal to the Father, as touching we mention the Waldenses Confession his Godhead; and inferior to the of 1120. It not only explicitly affirms Father as touching his Manhood. the Apostles’ Creed; the fourteen arti- Who although he is God and cles of the Waldenses appear to be a Man; yet he is not two, but one development of the twelve articles of Christ. One; not by conversion the Apostolicum. of the Godhead into flesh; but by assumption of the Manhood by 1 . We believe and firmly maintain all God. One altogether; not by con- that is contained in the twelve arti- fusion of Essence; but by unity of cles of the symbol, commonly called Person. For as the reasonable soul the apostles’ creed, and we regard and flesh is one man; so God and as heretical whatever is inconsistent with the said twelve articles.

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2. We believe that there is one God – and , who died for the salva- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. tion of all who should believe, and 3 . We acknowledge for sacred canon- rose again for their . ical scriptures the books of the Holy 8 . And we also firmly believe, that Bible. (Here follows the title of each, there is no other mediator, or advo- exactly conformable to our received cate with God the Father, but Jesus canon, but which it is deemed, on Christ. And as to the Virgin Mary, that account, quite unnecessary to she was holy, humble, and full of particularize.) grace; and this we also believe con- 4 . The books above-mentioned teach cerning all other saints, namely, that us: That there is one GOD, almighty, they are waiting in heaven for the unbounded in wisdom, and infinite resurrection of their bodies at the in goodness, and who, in His good- day of judgment. ness, has made all things. For He cre- 9. We also believe, that, after this ated after His own image and life, there are but two places – one likeness. But through the enmity of for those that are saved, the other the Devil, and his own disobedience, for the damned, which [two] we call Adam fell, sin entered into the world, paradise and hell, wholly denying and we became transgressors in and that imaginary of Anti- by Adam. christ, invented in opposition to the 5. That Christ had been promised to truth. the fathers who received the law, to 1 0. Moreover, we have ever regarded the end that, knowing their sin by all the inventions of men [in the the law, and their unrighteousness affairs of religion] as an unspeak- and insufficiency, they might desire able abomination before God; the coming of Christ to make satis- such as the festival days and vigils faction for their sins, and to accom- of saints, and what is called holy- plish the law by Himself. water, the abstaining from flesh on 6. That at the time appointed of certain days, and such like things, the Father, Christ was born – a but above all, the masses. time when iniquity everywhere 11. We hold in abhorrence all abounded, to make it manifest that human inventions, as proceeding it was not for the sake of any good from , which produce in ourselves, for all were sinners, but distress (Alluding probably to the that He, who is true, might display voluntary penances and mortifica- His grace and mercy towards us. tion imposed by the Catholics on 7. That Christ is our life, and truth, themselves), and are prejudicial to and peace, and righteousness – our the liberty of the mind. shepherd and advocate, our sacrifice

Theologische Akzente 9 Thomas K. Johnson

1 2 We consider the Sacraments as The Augsburg Confession signs of holy things, or as the visible emblems of invisible blessings. We This was and is the primary doctrinal regard it as proper and even neces- standard of the Lutheran churches, sary that believers use these sym- written and officially accepted in 1530. bols or visible forms when it can be 1] Our Churches, with common done. Notwithstanding which, we consent, do teach that the decree maintain that believers may be saved of the Council of Nicaea concern- without these signs, when they have ing the Unity of the Divine Essence neither place nor opportunity of and concerning the Three Persons, is observing them. true and to be believed without any 13. We acknowledge no sacraments doubting; 2] that is to say, there is [as of divine appointment] but bap- one Divine Essence which is called tism and the Lord’s supper. and which is God: eternal, with- out body, without parts, of infinite 14. We honour the secular powers, power, wisdom, and goodness, the with subjection, obedience, prompti- Maker and Preserver of all things, tude, and payment.7 visible and invisible; and 3] yet there are three Persons, of the same essence IV The Trinity in Classical and power, who also are coeternal, Protestant Confessions the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term ‘person’ 4] they From the beginnings of , use as the Fathers have used it, to sig- the ancient and classical doctrine of nify, not a part or quality in another, the Trinity was affirmed and taught as but that which subsists of itself. 5] a central theme of the Christian faith. They condemn all heresies which This is seen in the several branches of have sprung up against this article, as Protestantism that developed from the the Manichaeans, who assumed two time of the in the 16th cen- principles, one Good and the other tury. There is overwhelming consensus Evil: also the Valentinians, Arians, regarding the Trinity in the Protestant Eunomians, Mohammedans, and confessions. The following selections all such. 6] They condemn also the show that similarity among churches Samosatenes, old and new, who, con- that had disagreements on questions tending that there is but one Person, regarding sacraments, , and sophistically and impiously argue other church policies. that the Word and the Holy Ghost are not distinct Persons, but that ‘Word’ signifies a spoken word, and ‘Spirit’ signifies motion created in things.

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The Thirty Nine Articles The Second Helvetic Confession of the Anglican Church This confession was written by Hein- In 1562 the developing the Church of rich Bullinger in Switzerland in 1564 England adopted its ‘Thirty Nine Arti- and enjoyed widespread use in Protes- cles’ which became its standard teach- tant churches in Scotland, Hungary, ing. Its first two articles summarized Poland, and France, as well as Switzer- the themes covered in the early state- land. It shows the extent to which the ments of the church. Protestant Reformers were conscious of Article I: carefully following the early Christian Of Faith in the Holy Trinity creeds There is but one living and true God, GOD IS ONE. We believe and everlasting, without body, parts, or teach that God is one in essence or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, nature, subsisting in himself, all suf- and goodness; the Maker, and Pre- ficient in himself, invisible, incorpo- server of all things both visible and real, immense, eternal, Creator of all invisible. And in unity of this God- things both visible and invisible, the head there be three Persons, of one greatest good, living, quickening and substance, power, and eternity; the preserving all things, omnipotent Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. and supremely wise, kind and mer- ciful, just and true. Truly we detest Article II: Of the Word or Son of many gods because it is expressly God, which was made very Man written: ‘The Lord your God is one The Son, which is the Word of the Lord’ (Deut.6:4). ‘I am the Lord Father, begotten from everlasting your God. You shall have no other of the Father, the very and eternal gods before me’ (Ex. 20:2–3). ‘I am God, and of one substance with the Lord, and there is no other god the Father, took Man’s nature in besides me. Am I not the Lord, and the womb of the blessed Virgin, of there is no other God beside me? A her substance: so that two whole righteous God and a Savior; there is and perfect Natures, that is to say, none besides me’ ((Isa. 45:5, 21). ‘The the Godhead and Manhood, were Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and joined together in one Person, never gracious, slow to anger, and abound- to be divided, whereof is one Christ, ing in steadfast love and faithfulness’ very God, and very Man; who truly (Ex. 34:6). suffered, was crucified, dead, and G OD IS THREE. Notwithstanding buried, to reconcile His Father to we believe and teach that the same us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for immense, one and indivisible God original guilt, but also for all actual is in person inseparably and without sins of men. confusion distinguished as Father,

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Son and Holy Spirit so, as the Father the Counselor comes, whom I shall has begotten the Son from eternity, send to you from the Father, even the the Son is begotten by an ineffable Spirit of truth, who proceeds from generation, and the holy Spirit truly the Father, he will bear witness to proceeds from them both, and the me,’ etc. (John 15:26). In short, we same from eternity and is to be wor- receive the Apostles’ Creed because it shipped with both. delivers to us the true faith. Th us there are not three gods, but H ERESIES. Therefore we condemn three persons, cosubstantial, coe- the Jews and Mohammedans, and ternal, and coequal; distinct with all those who blaspheme that sacred respect to hypostases, and with and adorable Trinity. We also con- respect to order, the one preceding demn all heresies and heretics who the other yet without any inequal- teach that the Son and Holy Spirit ity. For according to the nature or are God in name only, and also that essence they are so joined together there is something created and sub- that they are one God, and the divine servient, or subordinate to another in nature is common to the Father, Son the Trinity, and that their is some- and Holy Spirit. thing unequal in it, a greater or a For Scripture has delivered to us a less, something corporeal or corpo- manifest distinction of persons, the really conceived, something differ- angel saying, among other things, to ent with respect to character or will, the Blessed Virgin, ‘The Holy Spirit something mixed or solitary, as if the will come upon you, and the power Son and Holy Spirit were the affec- of the Most High will overshadow tions and properties of one God the you; therefore the child to be born Father, as the Monarchians, Nova- will be called holy, the Son of God’ , Praxeas, Patripassians, Sabel- (Luke 1:35). And also in the baptism lius, Paul of Samosata, Aetius, Mace- of Christ a voice is heard from heaven donius, Anthropomorphites, Arius, concerning Christ, saying, ‘This is and such like, have thought. my beloved Son’ (Math. 3:17). The Holy Spirit also appeared in the form The Bohemenian Confession of 1575 of a dove (John 1:32). And when the This confession has a slightly differ- Lord himself commanded the apos- ent character from some Reformation tles to baptize, he commanded them era documents because it was accepted to baptize ‘in the name of the Father, by a very wide range of churches and and the Son, and the Holy Spirit’ Christians including the Hussite (Matt. 28:19). Elsewhere in the Gos- Ultraquists, the Unitas Fratrum (Unity pel he said: ‘The Father will send of the Brethren) which was a Protestant the Holy Spirit in my name’ (John Church from eastern Bohemia dating 14:26), and again he said: ‘When from 1457, along with some Lutherans

12 MBS Texte 179 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study and Roman Catholics. This confes- creation, preservation, and direction sion articulates significant applications of all things, we make no difference of the doctrine of the Trinity to the between the Father and the Son and questions of the era: the second article the Holy Spirit. of the Creed is applied to justification 2. We believe and with the mouth by faith in a manner one would expect confess that the second person in the from Lutherans and Calvinists while , that is the eternal Son of God, the third article of the Creed is applied our Lord Jesus Christ, was pleased to personal holiness and to take on himself human nature in in a manner that looks forward to the the body of the blessed Virgin Mary Moravia Brethren, successors of the by the action of the Holy Spirit, so Unitas Fratrum, who later influenced that dual nature divine and human John Wesley. This confession also in unity of person to eternal indivis- includes both the preached Word and ibility is united, one Christ, true God the Sacraments as applications of the and true man, born of the Virgin basic confession about the Holy Spirit Mary, who for all human kind, truly in the manner which was distinctive of suffered, was crucified, died, and was the Reformation. buried in order that he might rec- oncile us with God the Father. And Of the Holy Trinity, or the Differ- he was the redeeming sacrifice not ences of Person in only for , but also for all 1. We believe and confess, that the other sins that people commit. And eternal God the Father is the first this same Lord of ours, the divine person of the Deity, omnipotent and Christ, descended into hell, and eternal, of unfathomable and incon- truly on the third day he rose from ceivable power, wisdom, justice, holi- the dead for our justification. After- ness, and goodness, who from eter- ward he ascended into heaven, sits nity begat a Son, the substantial and on the right hand of God the Father, perfect image of his being, and from reigning eternally and ruling over all whom as well as from the Son comes creation. He justifies all who believe the Holy Spirit, and who together in him, he sanctifies them, sending with the Son and the Holy Spirit was into their heart the Holy Spirit, who pleased to create all things visible and would rule, comfort, and revive them invisible from nothing in the accept- against the devil and the power of able time of his divine majesty, and sin. And so he is the perfect media- according to his divine purpose pro- tor, advocate, and intercessor with vides, preserves, directs, and governs. God the Father, reconciler, redeemer, And so concerning the divine being and Savior of his Church, which he and substance as well as concerning gathers by the Holy Spirit, preserves, the divine external acts, such as the

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protects, and rules until completion God and the Holy Trinity of the number of the elect of God. 1 . The Lord our God is the one and Afterward that same Lord Christ only living and true God; Whose will truly come again to judge the subsistence is in and of Himself living and the dead in such manner - Who is infinite in being and per- as Christian faith and the Apostolic fection; Whose essence cannot be teaching declare more widely. comprehended by any but Him- 3. We believe and confess that the self; Holy Spirit is the third person in the - Who is a most pure spirit, invis- Deity, from eternity coming from ible, without body, parts, or pas- the Father and the Son, substantial sions and eternal, revealed as the Father’s love to the Son, and as the Son’s to - W ho only has immortality the Father, as power and goodness - Who dwells in the light which no inconceivable. He is seen not only man can approach, Who is immu- in the creation and the preservation table, immense, eternal, incom- of all things, but also especially in prehensible, almighty, in every those works which he pleased to do way infinite, most holy, most wise, from the beginning of the Church most free, most ; in the sons of God, working in them - Who works all things according to through the ministry of the word of the counsel of His own immutable God, through the sacraments and and most righteous will, for His the living faith to eternal salvation own glory; which is deposited in God’s elect in - Who is most loving, gracious, mer- Lord Christ from the foundation of 8 ciful, longsuffering, and abundant the world. in goodness and truth; - Who forgives iniquity, transgres- The London Baptist Confession of 1689 sion, and sin; Because this confession is a century - Who is the rewarder of those who later than the first Reformation con- diligently seek Him; fessions but carefully repeats the same themes of the earlier Protestant confes- - and Who, at the same time, is sions, it shows the tremendous extent to most just and terrible in His judge- which the several branches of Protes- ments, hating all sin and Who will tantism shared a highly developed doc- by no means clear the guilty. trine of the Trinity which was regarded 2 . God, having all life, glory, good- as foundational to the Christian faith. ness, blessedness, in and from Him- self, is unique in being all- sufficient, both in Himself and to Himself,

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not standing in need of any creature - The Son is eternally begotten of the which He has made, nor deriving Father. any glory from such. - The olyH Spirit proceeds from the - On the contrary, it is God Who mani- Father and the Son. fests His own glory in them, through - All three are infinite, without them, to them and upon them. He is beginning, and are therefore only the only fountain of all being; from one God, Who is not to be divided Whom, through Whom, and to in nature and being, but distin- Whom all things exist and move. guished by several peculiar relative - He has completely sovereign domin- properties, and also their personal ion over all creatures, to do through relations. them, for them, or to them whatever - This doctrine of the Trinity is the He pleases. foundation of all our communion - In His sight all things are open and with God, and our comfortable manifest; His knowledge is infinite, dependence on Him. infallible, and not dependant on the creature. V The Doctrine of - Therefore, nothing is for Him contin- the Trinity, Recent gent or uncertain. Developments - He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His com- A striking characteristic of the global mands. evangelical missions movement of the 20th and 21st centuries has been the seri- - To Him is due from angels and men ous thinking about the doctrine of the whatever worship, service, or obedi- Trinity which both builds on the classi- ence, they owe as creatures to the Cre- cal statements and then understands the ator, and whatever else He is pleased calling of Christians and of the church to require from them. in light of Trinitarian doctrine. We 3. In this divine and infinite Being include two examples, from Amsterdam there are three subsistences, the Father, 2000 and Capetown 2012. the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit. All are one in substance, power, and The Amsterdam Declaration 2000 eternity; each having the whole divine essence, yet this essence being undi- 1. God vided. The God of whom this Declaration The atherF was not derived from any speaks is the self-revealed Creator, other being; He was neither brought Upholder, Governor and Lord of the into being by, nor did He issue from any universe. This God is eternal in his other being. self-existence and unchanging in his

Theologische Akzente 15 Thomas K. Johnson

holy love, goodness, justice, wisdom, 3. Holy Spirit and faithfulness to his promises. God Shown by the words of Jesus to be in his own being is a community of the third divine person, whose name, three coequal and coeternal persons, ‘Spirit,’ pictures the energy of breath who are revealed to us in the Bible and wind, the Holy Spirit is the as the Father, the Son, and the Holy dynamic personal presence of the Spirit. Together they are involved in Trinity in the processes of the created an unvarying cooperative pattern in world, in the communication of divine all God’s relationships to and within truth, in the attesting of Jesus Christ, this world. God is Lord of history, in the new creation through him of where he blesses his own people, over- believers and of the church, and in comes and judges human and angelic ongoing fellowship and service. The rebels against his rule, and will finally fullness of the ministry of the Holy renew the whole created order. Spirit in relation to the knowledge of Christ and the enjoyment of new 2. Jesus Christ life in him dates from the Pentecos- The Declaration takes the view of tal outpouring recorded in Acts 2. As Jesus that the canonical New Testa- the divine inspirer and interpreter of ment sets forth and the historic Chris- the Bible, the Spirit empowers God’s tian creeds and confessions attest. He people to set forth accurate, search- was, and is, the second person of the ing, life-transforming presentations of triune Godhead, now and forever the gospel of Jesus Christ, and makes incarnate. He was virgin-born, lived their communication a fruitful means a life of perfect godliness, died on of grace to their hearers. The New the cross as the substitutionary sac- Testament shows us the supernatural rifice for our sins, was raised bodily power of the Spirit working miracles, from the dead, ascended into heaven, signs and wonders, bestowing gifts reigns now over the universe and will of many kinds, and overcoming the personally return for judgment and power of Satan in human lives for the the renewal of all things. As the God- advancement of the gospel. Christians man, once crucified, now enthroned, agree that the power of the Holy Spirit he is the Lord and Savior who in love is vitally necessary for evangelism and fulfills towards us the threefold medi- that openness to his ministry should ational ministry of prophet, priest and mark all believers.9 king. His title, ‘Christ,’ proclaims him the anointed servant of God who The Capetown Commitment of 2010 fulfills all the Messianic hopes of the canonical . This newest main document of the global missions movement, released at the Third Lausanne Congress on World

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Evangelisation in October 2010, also ence and servant-witness, we affirm displays a developed doctrine of the our love for Jesus Christ by trusting Trinity which builds on the statements in him, obeying him, and making of the early church. Not surprisingly, him known. the practical application of the Trinitar- ian understanding of God is primarily Article 5. We love God the Holy related to world missions. Spirit Article 3. We love God the Father W e love the Holy Spirit within the unity of the Trinity, along with God Th rough Jesus Christ, God’s Son, – the Father and . He is and through him alone as the way, the missionary Spirit sent by the mis- the truth and the life – we come to sionary Father and the missionary know and love God as Father. As the Son, breathing life and power into Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit God’s missionary Church. We love that we are God’s children, so we and pray for the presence of the Holy cry the words Jesus prayed, ‘Abba, Spirit because without the witness Father’, and we pray the prayer Jesus of the Spirit to Christ, our own wit- taught, ‘Our Father’. Our love for ness is futile. Without the convicting Jesus, proved by obeying him, is work of the Spirit, our preaching is met by the Father’s love for us as the in vain. Without the gifts, guidance Father and the Son make their home and power of the Spirit, our mission in us, in mutual giving and receiving is mere human effort. And without of love. This intimate relationship the fruit of the Spirit, our unattract- has deep biblical foundations. ive lives cannot reflect the beauty of Article 4. We love God the Son the gospel. God commanded Israel to love the LORD God with exclusive loyalty. Recent Mennonite Theology and Ethics Likewise for us, loving the Lord Though some early Mennonite confes- Jesus Christ means that we stead- sions, such as the Schleitheim Confes- fastly affirm that he alone is Saviour, sion of 1527, did not discuss the Trinity Lord and God. The Bible teaches at length, this gap has been very compe- that Jesus performs the same sover- tently addressed in recent times. As an eign actions as God alone. Christ is example we include the version of the Creator of the universe, Ruler of his- Confession of Faith of the Canadian tory, Judge of all nations and Saviour Mennonite Brethren Church (2004). of all who turn to God.He shares the W e believe in the one, true, living identity of God in the divine equal- God, Creator of heaven and earth. ity and unity of Father, Son and Holy God is almighty in power, perfect in Spirit. Just as God called Israel to wisdom, righteous in judgment, over- love him in covenantal faith, obedi-

Theologische Akzente 17 Thomas K. Johnson

flowing in steadfast love. God is the fallen world. He revealed the fullness Sovereign who rules over all things of God through his obedient and visible and invisible, the Shepherd sinless life. Through word and deed who rescues the lost and helpless. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, God is a refuge and fortress for those bringing good news to the poor, in need. God is a consuming fire, release to the captives, and recov- perfect in holiness, yet slow to anger ery of sight to the blind. Christ tri- and abounding in tender mercy. God umphed over sin through His death comforts like a loving mother, trains and resurrection, and was exalted as and disciplines like a caring father, Lord of creation and the church. The and persists in covenant love like a Savior of the world invites all to be faithful husband. We confess God as reconciled to God, offering peace to eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. those far and near, and calling them to follow Him in the way of the cross. God the Father Until the Lord Jesus returns in glory, G od the Father is the source of all He intercedes for believers, acts as life. In Him we live and move and their advocate, and calls them to be have our being. The Father seeks His witnesses. those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, and hears the prayers of God the Holy Spirit all who call on Him. In the fullness The Holy Spirit, the Counselor, is of time, the Father sent the Son for the creative power, presence and the salvation of the world. Through wisdom of God. The Spirit convicts Jesus Christ the Father adopts all people of sin, gives them new life, who respond in faith to the gospel, and guides them into all truth. By forgiving those who repent of their the Spirit believers are baptized into sin and entering into a new covenant one body. The indwelling Spirit testi- with them. God gives the Counselor, fies that they are God’s children, dis- the Holy Spirit, to all His children. tributes gifts for ministry, empowers God’s creative and redemptive love for witness, and produces the fruit sustains this world until the end of of righteousness. As Comforter, the the age. Holy Spirit helps God’s children in their weakness, intercedes for them God the Son according to God’s will and assures The Son, through whom all things them of eternal life.10 were created and who holds all things together, is the image of the invisible God. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus took on human nature to redeem this

18 MBS Texte 179 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study

The Filioque: A Church Dividing Issue? • that our Churches commit them- An Agreed Statement, 2003 selves to a new and earnest dia- logue con­cerning the origin and One of the continuing discussions person of the Holy Spirit, drawing between the Orthodox and Roman on the Holy Scriptures and on the Catholic churches has been whether full riches of the theological tradi- or not the filioque clause should be tions of both our Churches, and included in the Nicene-Constantinop- to looking for constructive ways olitan Creed of 381. Evangelicals and of expressing what is central to our Protestants have generally followed the faith on this difficult issue; western or Roman Catholic version of • that all involved in such dialogue this creed, though not with 100% con- expressly recognize the limitations sistency. Evangelical teachers should of our ability to make definitive take note of this selection from the assertions about the inner life of North American Orthodox-Catholic God; Consul­tation, 2003. • that in the future, because of the We are aware that the problem of the progress in mutual understand- theology of the Filioque, and its use ing that has come about in recent in the Creed, is not simply an issue decades, Orthodox and Catholics between the Catholic and Ortho- refrain from labeling as heretical dox communions. Many Protestant the traditions of the other side on Churches, too, drawing on the theo- the subject of the procession of the logical legacy of the Medieval West, Holy Spirit; consider the term to represent an integral part of the orthodox Chris- • that Orthodox and Catholic theo- tian confession. Although dialogue logians distinguish more clearly among a number of these Churches between the divinity and hypo- and the Orthodox communion has static identity of the Holy Spirit, already touched on the issue, any which is a received dogma of our future resolution of the disagreement Churches, and the manner of the between East and West on the origin Spirit’s origin, which still awaits full of the Spirit must involve all those and final ecumenical resolution; communities that profess the Creed • that those engaged in dialogue on of 381 as a standard of faith. Aware this issue distinguish, as far as pos- of its limitations, our Consultation sible, the theological issues of the nonetheless makes the following origin of the Holy Spirit from the theological and practical recommen­ ecclesiological issues of primacy dations to the members and the bish- and doctrinal authority in the ops of our own Churches: Church, even as we pursue both questions seriously together;

Theologische Akzente 19 Thomas K. Johnson

• that the theological dialogue ferent ways of understanding the between our Churches also give procession of the Holy Spirit need no careful consideration to the status longer divide us. We believe, rather, of later councils held in both our that our profession of the ancient Churches after those seven gener- Creed of Constantinople must be ally received as ecumenical. allowed to become, by our uniform • that the , as a practice and our new attempts at consequence of the normative mutual understanding, the basis for and irrevocable dogmatic value of a more conscious unity in the one the Creed of 381, use the original faith that all theology simply seeks to Greek text alone in making trans- clarify and to deepen. Although our lations of that Creed for catecheti- expression of the truth God reveals cal and liturgical use. about his own Being must always remain limited by the boundaries of • that the Catholic Church, fol- human understanding and human lowing a growing theological words, we believe that it is the very consensus, and in particular the ‘Spirit of truth,’ whom Jesus breathes statements made by Pope Paul VI, upon his Church, who remains with declare that the condemnation us still, to ‘guide us into all truth’ made at the Second Council of (John 16.13). We pray that our Lyons (1274) of those ‘who pre- Churches’ understanding of this sume to deny that the Holy Spirit Spirit may no longer be a scandal to proceeds eternally from the Father us, or an obstacle to unity in Christ, and the Son’ is no longer appli- but that the one truth towards which cable. he guides us may truly be ‘a bond of We offer these recommendations peace’ (Eph 4.3), for us and for all to our Churches in the conviction, Christians.11 based on our own intense study and discussion, that our traditions’ dif-

20 MBS Texte 179 The Trinity in the Bible and Selected Creeds of the Church: Resources for Study

AnnotationAnmerkungen

1 Eph. 1:10. 7 http://www.freechurch.org/resources/confes- 2 Phil. 2:10–11. sions/waldenses.htm. Viewed 8 November, 2013. 8 3 Eph. 6:12. http://moravianarchives.org/wp-content/ 4 uploads/2012/01/Bohemian-Confession-1575. This quotation is taken from Gerald L. Bray, pdf. Viewed 8 November, 2013. (Ed.), We Believe in One God (Intervarsity Press, 9 2009), 4, quoting Irenaeus, Prescriptions Against http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/ Heretics. augustweb-only/13.0.html?start=6. Viewed 9 November, 2013. 5 At this point the Western churches later added 10 the phrase ‘and the Son’ (filioque in ) to http://www.mbconf.ca/resource/File/PDFs/ indicate that the Holy Spirit was sent out at Confession_of_Faith_v.1.pdf. Viewed 8 Novem- Pentecost by both the Father and the Son and ber, 2013. has similar relationships with the Father and the 11 http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ Son. ecumenical-and-interreligious/ecumenical/ 6 This text is taken from Documents of the Chris- orthodox/filioque-church-dividing-issue-eng- tian Church, second edition, selected and edited lish.cfm. Viewed 14 November 2013. by Henry Bettenson (Oxford University Press, 1963), 26. (English spelling and grammar mod- ernized).

Theologische Akzente 21 Thomas K. Johnson

TheÜber den Author Autor

Thomas K. Johnson received his Ph.D. in ethics from the Univer- sity of Iowa (1987) after a research fellowship at Eberhard-Karls Universität (Tübingen). He received a Master of Divinity (Magna Cum Laude) from Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, 1981) and a BA from Hope College (Michigan, 1977). After serving as a church planter in the Presbyterian Church in America he became a visiting professor of philosophy at the European Humanities University in Minsk, Belarus, 1994–1996. (UHU is a dissident, anti-Communist university, forced into exile by the Belarusian dictator in 2004.) Since 1996 he and his wife have lived in Prague, where he taught philosophy at Anglo- American University (4 years) and at Charles University (8 1⁄2 years). He is now Vice President for Research, Martin Bucer European School of Theology and Research Institutes; Academic Council, International Institute for Religious Freedom (WEA); Professor of Philosophy, Global Scholars, and Senior Advisor to the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. His wife, Leslie P. Johnson, is director of the Christian International School of Prague.

22 MBS Texte 179 StudyStudienzentren Centers

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Publisher: Martin Bucer Seminary is not a university under German Thomas Schirrmacher, Prof. Dr. phil. law but only offers courses and lists those courses in a Dr. theol. DD. transcript. South African School of Theology (Tlhbane, North West Province), Olivet University (San Francisco) Editor: and Whitefi eld Theological Seminary (Florida, USA) and Ron Kubsch, M.Th. other schools outside of Europe accept those courses Editorial Committee: under their own legal responsibility for granting their de- Prof. Thomas K. Johnson, Ph.D.; grees to students. Much of the teaching is by means of Thomas Kinker, Th.D.; Titus Vogt Saturday seminars, evening courses, extension courses, independent study, and internships. Contact: [email protected] The work of the seminary is largely supported by the con- www.bucer.org tributions of donors. North American supporters may send contributions to our American partner organization, The International Institute for Christian Studies. Checks MBS-TexTe (MBS-TexTS) should be made out to IICS with a note mentioning MBS Theologische Akzente and sent to: (Theological Accents) Es erscheinen außerdem folgende Reihen: (The following series of The International Institute MBS Texts are also being for Christian Studies: P.O. Box 12147, Overland Park, KS 66282-2147, USA published:) EU: Reformiertes Forum IBAN DE52 3701 0050 0244 3705 07 (Reformed Forum) BIC PBNKDEFF Pro Mundis Geistliche Impulse (Spiritual Impulses) Hope for Europe Ergänzungen zur Ethik (Ethics) Philosophische Anstöße (Philosophical Initiatives) Vorarbeiten zur Dogmatik (Preliminaries for a )