Theological
Foundations of
Christian Spirituality
CS/TH 650
Defining this Course
CS/TS 650
Horizon of Ultimate Value
(Sandra Schneider’s statement in Holder, Chapter One)
Christian Spirituality specifies the horizon of ultimate value as
the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ to whom Scripture
normatively witnesses and whose life is communicated to the
believer by the Holy Spirit making her or him a child of God. This
“new life”…is celebrated sacramentally within the believing
community and lived in the world as mission in and to the
coming reign of God.
• Triune God; Jesus Christ; Scripture; Holy Spirit; sacramental
celebration; believing community; coming reign of God
The seven Theological Loci of this
course
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
The Trinity (“triune God”)
Christology (“revealed in Jesus Christ”)
Scripture (“to whom Scripture normatively witnesses”)
Pneumatology (“communicated…by the Holy Spirit”)
Sacraments (“is celebrated sacramentally”)
Ecclesiology (“within the believing community”)
Eschatology (“lived in the world as mission in and to the
coming reign of God.”)
Defining Christian Spirituality
(“Christian Spirituality specifies the horizon of ultimate value…”)
• Definition: The existential phenomenon of a life of faith and
discipleship.
What we want to be able to
answer…
• What we believe to be of ultimate value, and how this is
communicated to us;
• How belief forms our lives;
• How our beliefs are lived out in the world.
The Ordo Theologiae for this
Course…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Holy Scriptures
The Trinity
Christ (Christology)
The Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
Sacraments
Church (Ecclesiology)
The Kingdom of God (Eschatology)
Defining this Course
(Sandra Schneider’s statement in Holder, Chapter One)
Christian Spirituality specifies the horizon of ultimate value as
the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ to whom Scripture
normatively witnesses and whose life is communicated to the
believer by the Holy Spirit making her or him a child of God. This
“new life”…is celebrated sacramentally within the believing
community and lived in the world as mission in and to the
coming reign of God.
A word about Soteriology…
…The horizon of ultimate value as the triune God revealed in
Jesus Christ…whose life is communicated to the believer by the
Holy Spirit making her or him a child of God.
•
•
•
•
Christology
Pneumatology
Role of Faith
Nature of Grace and Justification: Forensic or Regenerative?
(declared righteous and/or made righteous?)
Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the
History of Christianity (M. Noll)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The Fall of Jerusalem (AD 70)
The Council of Nicaea (325)
The Council of Chalcedon (451)
The Monastic Rescue of the Church – Benedict’s Rule (530)
Christendom – Coronation of Charlemagne (800)
The Great Schism (1054)
Diet of Worms (1521)
English Act of Supremacy (1534)
The Conversion of the Wesleys (1738)
A “Rough” Correspondence
Theological Loci
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Holy Scriptures
The Trinity
Christ (Christology)
The Holy Spirit
(Pneumatology)
5. Sacraments
6. Church (Ecclesiology)
7. The Kingdom of God
(Eschatology)
“Turning Points”
 Fall of Jerusalem
 Council of Nicaea
 Council of Chalcedon
 Great Schism
 Diet of Worms
 Act of Supremacy,
Monasticism
 Christendom, Wesleys
Major Figures in this Course: Church Fathers
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Irenaeus of Lyons
Tertullian
Origen of Alexandria
Athanasius
Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa,
Gregory of Nazianzus
• Augustine of Hippo
Honorable Mention: Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria,
Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome
Dishonorable Mention: Marcion of Sinope, Arius, Apollinarius,
Sabellius, Nestorius, Pelagius
Major Figures: Monks, Mystics
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Anthony of the Desert
Benedict of Nursia
Francis of Assisi
Dominic
Honorable Mention: Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna,
Thomas a Kempis, Ignatius of Loyola, Martin of Tours, Julian of
Norwich
Major Figures: Scholastics
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Thomas Aquinas
Peter Abelard
Duns Scotus
William of Occam
Honorable Mention: Albertus Magnus, Anselm of Canterbury,
Major Figures: Reformers
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Martin Luther
John Calvin
Menno Simons
Thomas Cranmer
John Wesley
Honorable Mention: John Wycliffe & Jan Hus (pre-Reformation),
Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, Jacobus Arminius, Richard Allen
Major Figures: Modern Period
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Karl Barth
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gustavo Gutierrez
Honorable Mention: Friedrich Schleiermacher, William Seymour,
Paul Tillich, James Cone
First Theological
Locus
The Holy Scriptures
First Theological Locus: The
Holy Scriptures
• Canonical Considerations:
• Hebrew Bible or Old Testament (39)
• New Testament (27)
• Deuterocanonical books (Apocrypha)
• Hermeneutical Considerations:
• Allegorical, typological, historical-literal
• Christian interpretation is EMINENTLY Christological
• Doctrinal Considerations
• Who or what defines the faith?
Turning Point: Destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70)
Effects of AD 70
• The loss of the Temple – Israel’s cultus no longer serves as the
focus of unity for worldwide Jewry.
• The importance of synagogue and the power of
excommunication
• The decline of the Sadducees; the ascent of the Pharisees
• The decline of “Jewish Christianity”; the ascent of “Pauline
Christianity” – (Gentiles outnumber Jews)
• Hellenism  loses its influence on Judaism; permanent hold
on Christianity
Developments in Judaism (post-AD 70)
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•
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Hebrew/Aramaic became the exclusive sacred language-base
Hellenism was rejected
Rejection of the LXX and/or the Old Testament in Koine Greek
Rejection of books not known to exist in extant Hebrew or
Aramaic manuscripts and/or books known to have been
written after the time of Ezra (480-440 BCE)
• The curse of the “Minim” – a group that included the JudeoChristians and Gnostics
• The gradual expansion of the concept of Torah to include
Mishnah (220 CE, “oral Torah”), Tosefta (supplement to
Mishnah), The Jerusalem & Babylonian Talmuds (3rd-5th
centuries CE, “instruction,” rabbinical commentaries on the
Mishnah), and the midrashim (homiletical method of
interpretation)
Which Old Testament?
• Septuagint (LXX) – the Bible of the early church.
Approximately 85% of OT quotes in the NT come from the LXX
• Apocrypha – What status?
• Jerome was the first to advocate for using the Hebrew Bible as
the basis for the “official” OT of the Church (Vulgate)
• Jerome did not consider the apocryphal books to be of equal
inspiration with the rest of the OT
King James’ List of Apocrypha
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1 Esdras (Vulgate – 3 Esdras, in appendix)
2 Esdras (Vulgate – 4 Esdras, in appendix)
Tobit
Judith
Rest of Esther (Vulgate – Esther 10:4-16:24)
Wisdom
Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach)
Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy (Vulgate – all part of Baruch)
Song of the Three Children (Vulgate – Daniel 3:24-90)
Story of Susanna (Vulgate – Daniel 13)
The Idol Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate – Daniel 14)
Prayer of Manasses (Vulgate, in appendix)
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
How this question divided the
Church
• DIVISION OF EAST/WEST
• The Eastern Church continued to recognize the LXX as the
Christian Old Testament
• The Western Church opted for the Hebrew Bible as the Christian
Old Testament
• DIVISION OF ROMAN CATHOLIC/PROTESTANT
• The Roman Church recognized the Apocrypha as inspired
• The Protestants regarded the Apocrypha as something less than
inspired
NT composition in relation to AD 70
Written well prior to AD 70
• Undisputed letters of Paul (5060)
• 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1
Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 2
Corinthians, Romans
Written between AD 60s-80s
• Revelation (if early – 60s)
• Mark (shortly before AD 70?)
• Matthew (shortly after AD 70?)
• James (80s)
• Colossians (80s)
• If not Pauline
• Hebrews (80s)
Written well after AD 70
• Late First Century (80s-90s)
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Luke/Acts
Ephesians (If not Pauline)
Gospel of John
1,2,3 John
Revelation (if late)
Jude
• Early Second Century
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2 Thessalonians (if not Pauline)
1 Peter
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
2 Peter (AD 120)
Overview of the Gospels in light of AD 70”
• Mark – written in anticipation of destruction of Jerusalem;
announces imminent return of Jesus Christ
• Matthew – rewrite of Mark (but probably shortly after the
destruction), so perspective the same on Jerusalem; however,
Matthew includes more parables about the return of Christ
and the unexpected nature of it (seems more disassociated
from the destruction of Jerusalem)
• Luke – used Mark’s gospel, but obviously retrospective,
providing details of the siege of Jerusalem; second coming is
even further disassociated from the destruction
• John – contains the statement “Destroy this temple, and I will
raise it up in three days”; the antagonists are called “the Jews”
Other NT works…
• Hebrews (80s) – theological treatise explaining how the work
of Christ (both during his life and continuing in heaven) fulfills
and completes the role of the OT Tabernacle, priesthood, and
sacrificial system
• Revelation (early-60s, or late-90s) – If early, the book is
describing events leading up to AD 70, particularly the reign of
Nero; if late, then retrospective; anticipates the inevitable
conflict that Christians will have with the state
• Late “Pauline” Epistles – reflect later theology and the
“institutionalizing” of the church
Emergence of the NT Canon
• Marcion of Sinope (110-160)
• Marcion’s “Dilemma”
Since Marcion separated the New Testament from the Old, he is
necessarily subsequent to that which he separated, inasmuch as
it was only in his power to separate what was previously united.
Having been united previous to its separation, the fact of its
subsequent separation proves the subsequence also of the man
who effected the separation. (Tertullian, De praescriptione
haereticorum, 30 – early third century)
Muratorian Canon (AD 200)
• Four Gospels and Acts
• 13 Epistles of Paul
• James
• 1, 2 John
• Jude
• Revelation of John
• Revelation of Peter (?)
• Shepherd of Hermas (only for devotional
purposes)
Attested to by Origen
(early 3rd century)
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Four Gospels and Acts
13 Epistles of Paul
1 Peter
1 John
Revelation
Disputed: Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2-3 John, Shepherd,
Barnabas, Didache, Gospel of the Hebrews
Attested to by Eusebius
(early 4th century)
Books Received by All
• 4 Gospels / Acts
• 13 Pauline Epistles
• 1 Peter
• 1 John
• Revelation (which he
personally excluded)
Books Disputed, but
Well-Known
• James
• 2 Peter
• 2-3 John
• Jude
Attested to by Eusebius
Books to be Excluded:
• Shepherd of Hermas
• Epistle of Barnabas
• Didache
• Gospel of the Hebrews
• Revelation of Peter
• Acts of Peter
Council of Carthage (AD 396)
• Four Gospels and Acts
• 13 Pauline Epistles
• Hebrews
• James
• 1-2 Peter
• 1-3 John
• Jude
• Revelation
Christological Interpretation
• Prime Example: Isaiah 7 & Matthew 1
• “A virgin will conceive…”
• Different approaches to Christological Interpretation:
• Allegorical (i.e. gleaning a higher meaning from the text than the
literal)
• Typological (e.g. David  Christ)
• Literal (e.g. predictive prophecy)
Authority & Doctrine
The Bible as a Source of Doctrine: Who or What Defines the
Faith?
• Pope?
• Ecumenical Council? (Who calls councils?)
• Local consensus? (By whose authority?)
• The Individual?
Second Theological
Locus
The Holy Trinity
Second Theological Locus: The
Holy Trinity
Be familiar with:
• The 4th century Arian controversy
• The Council of Nicaea (325 AD)
• Monarchianism
• The definition of homoousios
• The distinction between Essence & Person (ousia &
hypostasis)
• Athanasius’ aphorism: “God became Man so that Man might
become god.”
Turning Point: The Council of Nicaea (325)
Arianism
• Radical Monotheism: tenacious to maintain the sole
Monarchy of the Father
• The Son as the “firstborn” over all Creation (“begotten in
time”)
• The Son is given the title “god” because he is created as the
perfect Image of God
• Condemned by the Council of Nicaea (325)
The Arian Controversy
• Seedbed of the controversy: Alexandrian approach
• Accommodationist stance towards Philosophy
• Representative theologians: Justin, Clement, Origen
• God seen as “perfection” (i.e. immutable, impassible, and
fixed, unbegotten)
• Allegorical interpretation helped Hellenistic thinkers to make
sense of a Bible which presented an “earthy” God
• Logos theology: Logos = reason of God (personal, capable of
direct relations with the world and with humans)
Logos Theology
Immutable God
(Perfection)
Mediating Logos (Reason)
Mutable Created Order (Humanity)
(Imperfect)
Logos Theology: “Begottenness”
• The Arian controversy would hinge on the interpretation of
the Greek term gennetos (“begotten”)
• In Greek philosophy this term had a broader, hence vaguer sense
than the way it is used in the NT
• “came to be” or “derived from” or “generated”
• Alexandrian Christian thought had learned to express its
monotheistic stance by insisting that God is the sole
agennetos (“underived” or “unbegotten”)
• All else that exists was derived or generated (including the Son)
• However, the way that the Son was generated was unique over
against the way all other things were generated
Origen’s understanding
• All things were generated or “begotten” out of nonexistence
(creatio ex nihilo), except for the Son
• The Logos (Son) was generated or “born” from God, and thus
was truly the “only-begotten Son” of the Father
• The Logos is “eternally begotten” (begotten from eternity)
• Hence the Logos is in a secondary but real sense divine
• What Origenist tradition envisaged was a pluralism of divine
persons within a hierarchy of being:
God (eternal, unchanging first principle)
The Logos or Son (Image of God, begotten from God)
All Creatures (called out of non-existence)
Monarchianism: a “Western” heresy
Emphasize that God is one person…
• Sabellianism (Modalism):
• God manifested and works in three modes: Father, Son, Holy
Spirit
• No personal distinctions within Godhead
• Adoptionism:
• Christ as man is totally infused (indwelt) by the God, thus
“adopted” into the Godhead
Council of Nicaea (325)
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Called by Constantine the Great
Condemned Arius
Defined the Son as homoousios with the Father
Articulated a statement that would become the basis for the
later “Nicene Creed.”
The parties at Nicaea…
1. Arian Party led by Eusebius of Nicodemia (small group)
2. Anti-Arian Party led by Alexander of Alexandria (small group)
3. The Western Position: Saw the matter as a controversy
between Eastern followers of Origen; sufficient to declare
that in God were “three persons and one substance”
(Tertullian’s position)
4. Patripassianism (Sabellians or Monarchians): The Father
and the Son are the same person (the Father “suffered the
passion”)
5. Majority of bishops at the council held to the traditional
Eastern Subordinationist position; sought a compromise
position
The Eastern Subordination View
• Based on Logos Theology (Origen’s explanation)
• God (Father) is sole agennetos; all else is gennetos (begotten)
• Creatures are generated or begotten out of nonexistence, thus
are “begotten and made”
• The Son is “eternally begotten” from God (thus born of God),
hence is “begotten, not made.”
• Christ is divine in the sense of being from God, but
subordinate to God
• UNRESOLVED: What is the true nature of the Logos?
Homoousios
• Definition: “of one substance” or “consubstantial”
• To say that the Son is homoousios with the Father is to say the
Son shares a common substance, nature or essence with the
Father.
• Not to be confused with homoiousios which would mean that
the Son’s substance or essence is “like” or “similar” to the
Father’s.
Creed of Nicaea (325)
We believe in one God the Father all powerful, maker of all things both
seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
only-begotten begotten from the Father, that is from the
substance [Gr. ousias] of the Father, God from God, light from light,
true God from true God, begotten [Gr. gennethenta] not made [Gr.
poethenta], CONSUBSTANTIAL [Gr. homoousion] with the Father,
through whom all things came to be, both those in heaven and those
in earth; for us humans and for our salvation he came down and
became incarnate, became human, suffered and rose up on the third
day, went up into the heavens, is coming to judge the living and the
dead. And in the holy Spirit.
And those who say "there once was when he was not", and "before he
was begotten he was not", and that he came to be from things that
were not, or from another hypostasis [Gr. hypostaseos] or substance
[Gr. ousias], affirming that the Son of God is subject to change or
alteration, these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes.
Distinction between Essence and
Person
• Tertullian: “One God in three Personae” (Trinitas)
• Persona means “role or character” played by an actor or agent
• Cappadocian Fathers: Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea,
Gregory of Nazianzus
• Ousia = Essence = Being
• God is one Essence
• Hypostasis = Instantiation of Being
• God is Three Hypostases
• Retained the language of Personae (i.e. Persons) in Latin, though this
proved to be a very awkward translation
• This distinction enabled the Church to maintain Monotheism
while acknowledging the distinction of “Persons” within the
Godhead
Relating Doctrine to Spirituality:
Implications
Athanasius’ Aphorism:
“The Word (or God) was made Man that we might become god
(or divine).”
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Soteriological implications?
Eschatological implications?
Third Theological
Locus
Christology
Third Theological Locus:
Christology
Be familiar with…
• The concept of Incarnation
• Apollinaris’ Christology
• Nestorius’ Christology (Nestorianism)
• Eutyches’ Christology (Monophysitism)
• The Council of Chalcedon (451)
• The Hypostatic Union
Turning Point: Council of Chalcedon (451)
Incarnation
• “Embodied in flesh”; “The assumption of a physical body &
nature”
• In what sense did the Word, who is homoousios with the
Father, become incarnate?
• Did Christ assume a full human nature? Is he one hypostasis
(person) or two hypostases (persons) after the incarnation?
One physis (nature) or two?
Apollinaris of Laodicea (d. 390)
• Friend and supporter of Athanasius and the Nicene faith
• Largely responsible for converting Basil of Caesarea to the
homoousian position
• Christology was driven by the desire to affirm that Christ, the
divine Son, was immediately present to transform and divinize
the sinful mortality of the human creature
• Taught that the true “ego” (or life-principle) in Jesus was
simply the Logos himself
• Impossible to assert that the divine Son united with a
complete, normal human being, for that would require the
union of two competing wills, two minds, two selves, and
hence two Sons, human and divine
• The unity of Christ would be destroyed; God would not be
“with us”
Apollinaris’ Christology
• A “trichotomy” of the divine mind, and a human body & soul
Divine
Logos
(Mind)
Human Body/Soul
Apollinaris’ views attacked
• Gregory of Nyssa – Against Apollinaris
• Gregory of Nazianzus insisted that since it is not merely the
flesh which sins, but soul and mind as well, it was necessary
for the divine Logos to take a complete human nature,
intellect as well as ensouled body
• Condemned by a Roman synod in 377 and by a synod in
Antioch in 379
• Council of Constantinople included Apollinarianism in its
lengthy list of erroneous teachings to be condemned (Canon
1)
“For that which he has not assumed he has not healed, but that
which is united to his Godhead is also saved.” (Gregory of
Nazianzus)
Summary: Apollinaris’ Position
• Eager to assert the deity of Christ and the unity of his person
led him to deny that Christ had a rational (human) soul.
• The Logos (Word) was the seat of rationality, replacing the
human nous (mind)
• Christ was thus a spiritualized or “divinized” form of human
being (Docetism)
• VERDICT: Not fully human
“Nestorianism”
• Initially, the Antiochene position was articulated by Diodore of
Tarsus and his pupil, Theodore of Mopsuestia
• The Antiochene opposed Apollinarianism’s teaching that the
Christ is “one composite nature,” objecting that this negated
what they wanted to affirm – namely that in Christ were TWO
SUBJECTS of action and predication – TWO NATURES (physes)
and TWO HYPOSTASES
• This position was too much for those who embraced the
Alexandrian position
• The elevation of Nestorius to the patriarchate of
Constantinople in 428 brought this issue to a head
Summary: Nestorius’ position
• Nestorius was Patriarch of Constantinople (428-431)
• Emphasized the disunion of natures (physes): “Divine Word” &
“Human Jesus” (two Christs??)
• Objected to the title Theotokos (God-bearer) for Mary;
preferred the title Christotokos (Christ-bearer)
• Nestorius’ position assumed that physis and hypostasis were
essentially synonymous
• Insisted a “true” union at the level of prosopon
• Condemned at the Council of Ephesus (431)
• Verdict: Two natures (physes) = two Christs (not a true union
of the divine and human)
Prosopon
• In Greek, a theatrical term that meant a mask or face; hence,
virtually synonymous with persona in Latin
• Terminology was often the source of much theological confusion
between East and West
• In Greek theology, prosopon came to mean a “selfmanifestation of an individual”
• The Antiochene position (championed by Nestorius and many
of his predecessors) was that a true union existed at the level
of the prosopa, hence a prosopic union
• Antiochene theology assumed that hypostasis and physis were
synonyms
Nestorianism
• Prosopic union : One “Prosopon” (i.e. face) – Unity of
Indwelling
“The Logos”
Complete
Divine
Hypostasis
“The Man”
Complete
Human
Hypostasis
Cyril of Alexandrian: Champion
of Alexandrian Christology
• “One incarnate nature of the divine Logos”
• The one Lord Jesus Christ was identical to the only begotten
Son of God, who was “enfleshed and became a human being”
• Therefore, there could only be ONE subject, one nature and
one hypostasis, that of the Divine Logos
• The humanity of Christ, body and soul, was a mode of
existence which the Logos made his own through his birth of a
woman; the humanity could not be separated from the Logos
as “another” beside him
• Nestorius understood Cyril to be saying that the humanity and
the divinity had somehow been fused into Christ into
something that was no longer either divine or human
Nestorian Controversy
• Early on in Constantinople, Nestorius delivered a sermon in
which he condemned the use of Theotokos (God-bearer) as a
title for the Virgin Mary
• “That which is formed in the womb is not…God”
• “God was within the one who was assumed”
• “The one who was assumed is styled God because of the One
who assumed him”
• More appropriate to refer to Mary as “Christotokos”
• Nestorius’ views were reported to Cyril of Alexandria, a strong
supporter of the Theotokos position; Cyril had been looking
for an occasion against Nestorius over a case in which
Nestorius had reversed a judgment of Cyril in the case of some
Egyptian monks
Council of Ephesus (431)
• Called by Theodosius II in the East and Valentinian III in the
West
• Cyril and his allies were the first to arrive and quickly
condemned Nestorius before his supporters could stop him
• John of Antioch (Nestorius’ main support) was delayed in
getting to Ephesus and thus convened his own council to
condemn Cyril and exonerate Nestorius
• Finally, the delegates of Pope Celestine (Rome) joined the
Cyrillian assembly and proceeded to add John of Antioch to
the deposed
• The two sides were at an impasse with Theodosius unsure as
to what to do
Formula of Reunion
• In 433, John of Antioch sent Cyril his text called the Formula of
Reunion, which admitted to the use of Theotokos, and also that
Christ was “complete God and complete human being” and that a
“union of two natures had occurred, as a consequence of which we
confess one Son.”
• Cyril signed it with enthusiasm; Nestorius’ cause was now lost, and
he was exiled: the Cyrillian assembly at Ephesus was vindicated
• This council is known now as the Council of Ephesus (431), the third
council considered “general” or “ecumenical”
• However, the document turned out to be a compromise which each
side; by 438, Cyril was convinced that the Antiochenes had been
duplicitous; he then wrote against the teachings of Diodore of Tarsus
and Theodore of Mopsuestia
• The stage was set for a renewal of acrimony
Controversy flares up again
• Cyril’s condemnation of the teachings of Diodore of Tarsus and
Theodore of Mopseustia, which many Antiochene signers of
the Formula of Reunion still honored
• Cyril dies in 444, succeeded as bishop of Alexandria by
Dioscorus, who had little regard for the Formula
• The new bishop of Constantinople was Flavian (447-449), who
supported the Formula but was inclined towards the
Antiochene position
Eutyches (380-456)
• Popular leader of a monastery in Constantinople and the principle
support of Dioscorus of Alexandria in that city; influential in the
imperial court
• Accused before Flavian at a synod of teaching that the human
nature of Christ was altered or absorbed by his deity
• Eutyches refused to admit that Christ’s humanity was the same
(homoousios) as ours, famously maitaining that Christ was “from
two natures before the union, but in one nature after the union”
• Eutyches was condemned by the synod but made an immeidate
appeal to the imperial court, which then proceeded to demand that
Flavian, not Eutyches, produce a confession of faith!
• Back in Alexandria, Dioscorus called for and obtained an imperial
summons for a general council
Summary: Eutychianism
• Eutyches was a monk of Constantinople (380-456)
• Vehemently reacted against Nestorianism
• Two natures before the incarnation (divine and human), one
nature after the incarnation (“divinized humanity”)
• Christ’s “humanity” without limitations or weaknesses
• Verdict: A confusion of the two natures
Prelude to Chalcedon
• Both Flavian and Dioscorus appealed to Leo I of Rome (440461)
• Leo responded to Flavian in a long and carefully argued letter
(Leo’s Tome) that Eutyches was an extremely foolish and
altogether ignorant man
• Leo appealed to the baptismal creed of the Roman church to
substantiate the traditional western view that Christ has two
substances or natures that remain intact and come together in
“one person”
• Leo’s Tome would prove to set Rome against its normal ally,
Alexandria, in favor of a more Antiochene-friendly christology
Prelude to Chalcedon
• Theodosius II called for a council to meet at Ephesus in 449
• Dioscorus and his supporters took all necessary steps to
predetermine the outcome
• Flavian was condemned; Eutyches vindicated
• Leo’s Tome was denied a reading
• Flavian died of suspicious circumstances on the way to exile
• Rupture of the ancient alliance between Rome and Alexandria
results
• Leo calls the council a “robbers’ synod”; calls for a new council to
be held in Italy
• Theodosius II refuses; then accidentally dies in 450
• The new empress, Pulchera and her husband, Marcian agree
to a new council to be held in Chalcedon (451)
Council of Chalcedon (451)
• Fourth council to be called “ecumenical”
• Acted quickly to depose Dioscorus and Eutyches (a “win” for
the Antiochenes)
• Rehabilitated Antiochene supporters of the Formula of
Reunion (a “win” for the Antiochenes)
• Canonized the Second Letter of Cyril of Alexandria to
Nestorius and his letter affirming the Formula of Reunion as
adequate expositions of the meaning of the Nicene Faith
against the errors of Nestorius (a “win” for the Alexandrians)
• Crafted a formula composed largely of phrases and ideas
drawn from Cyril’s letters, Leo’s Tome, and the Formula of
Reunion (a “draw” between Alexandria and Antioch with
Rome coming out on top)
Chalcedonian Definition
• Does not define the union (i.e. how it took place)
• Set limits beyond which error lies, for example:
• Nestorius had gone too far in not admitting to the unity of person
• Eutyches had gone to far in not admitting the distinction of
natures
“…One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten,
manifested in two natures without confusion, change,
division or separation. The union does not destroy the
difference of the two natures, but on the contrary the
properties of each are kept, and both are joined in one
person and hypostasis.”
Aftermath of Chalcedon
• Became the standard orthodoxy of the entire Western church
and most of the East
• The cause of the first long-lasting schisms in Christian history
• Nestorians (Syrian Churches of the East)
• Monophysites (Church of Armenia; Coptic Church)
• Christological differences became both the cause and the
excuse for political discord in the empire
• Emperor Zeno’s Henoticon (482) attempted to settle the
christological disputes by requiring all to go back to the
beliefs held prior to the controversy – failure of imperial policy
resulting in the Acacian Schism (between East and West)
• Schism healed in 519
Summary: Council of
Chalcedon
• 451, City of Chalcedon (near Nicaea)
• Fourth Ecumenical Council
• Affirmed Leo’s Tome (i.e. the Pope of Rome’s treatise on the
Incarnation)
• Condemned Eutyches and reasserted the Council of Ephesus’
condemnation of Nestorius
• Definition: Hypostatic Union
Important Terms
• Monophysitism: Christ has “one nature”
• Prevailing theology of Alexandria
• Athanasius, Cyril (but also Apollinaris)
• Dyophysitism: Christ has “two natures”
• Prevailing theology of Antioch
• John of Antioch, Pope Leo (but also Nestorius)
Christological Ironies
• The Council of Ephesus (431) had condemned Nestorian
Dyophysitism in the face of Cyrillian Monophysite challenges.
• The Council of Chalcedon (451) condemned Eutychian
Monophysitism in light of Leo’s Dyophysitism (while upholding
Ephesus’ earlier verdict!)
Hypostatic Union
• Christ is one Divine Person in two natures, divine and human
• Notice: not “of two natures” (deemed monophysite)
• En hypostasis, duo phuses
• Human nature is enhypostatically united to the Divine Person
Relating Doctrine to
Spirituality
The Importance of Incarnational Theology:
• Soteriological implications?
• Eschatological implications?
• Implications for Christian Spirituality?
Fourth Theological
Locus
Pneumatology – Doctrine of the Spirit
Fourth Theological Locus:
Pneumatology
Be familiar with…
• East vs. West: Theological Differences
• The Influence of Augustine in the West
• The Filioque controversy
• The Decline of Pneumatology in the West
• Consequences of theological neglect
East vs. West
The East…
• Concerned with the
“immanent or
ontological Trinity”
• Concerned to maintain
proper monarchy of
Father
• Concerned to maintain
full deity of the Spirit
• Concerned to maintain
proper distinctions
between Essence,
Existence, and Energies
The West…
• Concerned more with
the “economic Trinity”
• Concerned to maintain
the full deity of the Son
• Concerned to maintain
the unity of the Godhead
• Understood the Spirit as
the principle of unity (i.e.
love between Father and
Son)
The East
• Concerned with the immanent Trinity (or “ontological Trinity”)
• The interior life of the Trinity
• The reciprocal relations between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
without reference to God’s relation to Creation
• Concerned to maintain proper monarchy of Father
• The Father is the principle or “source” of deity (hypostatic
property distinctive to the Father)
• Concerned to maintain full deity of the Spirit
• The Son is “begotten” from the Father
• The Spirit “proceeds” from the Father
• Concerned to maintain proper distinctions between Essence,
Existence, and Energies
Eastern Trinity
Father
Fountainhead of
Deity
Son
Begotten of
the Father
Holy
Spirit
Proceeds from
the Father
Eastern View of Trinity
• The Son and the Spirit are the two “hands” of the Father
• The monarchy of the Father is emphasized
• Emphasis on three distinct persons in unity
Gregory Palamas
(1296-1359)
Eastern Theology
• Essence (ousia) – uncreated, incommunicable, the “whatness”
of God
• Existence (hypostasis) – The instance or existence of an
essence; essence exists only in persons; God is three Persons
• Energies – uncreated, but communicable; the Divine life in
which we are able and enabled to participate
Eastern View of Trinity
• The Son and the Spirit are the two “hands” of the Father
• The monarchy of the Father is emphasized
• Emphasis on three distinct persons in unity
Salvation in Eastern Thought
• Synergism (synegia) – Salvation cannot be earned; however,
its acquisition requires our cooperation with God since God
will not violate free will
• Life of faith and repentance and participation in the sacraments
are the ways that humans cooperate with God
• Stages of Salvation:
• Carthasis (Purification) – process of becoming sinless
• Theoria (Illumination) – process of being filled with divine light,
gained through contemplation on the Divine Mystery
• Theosis (Deification) – process of achieving union (without
fusion) with the Divine Life (the energies of God)
• In theosis, humans take on the attributes of God without
being merged into the Trinity (essence/energies distinction)
The West
• Concerned more with the “economic Trinity”
• Refers to the acts of the Trinity within Creation; the different
roles that each Hypostasis assumes in history
• Concerned to maintain the full deity of the Son
• Whatever is characteristic of the Father is characteristic of the
Son
• Concerned to maintain the unity of the Godhead
• The Spirit as the principle of unity within the Trinity (Augustine)
• The Spirit is the reciprocating love or “bond of love” shared
between Father and Son (Augustine)
The Western Trinity
• Emphasis on the unity of three persons
• Co-Equality of the three persons
• Spirit proceeds from Father and Son in one of two ways:
• The Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son
• The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one
principle and one spiration
Augustine’s De Trinitate
• Spirit as unifying principle of Trinity
• Spirit defined as “Bond of Love”
• Love reciprocated  Double procession
• Father is the “Lover”
• Son is the “Beloved”
• The Spirit is “Love”
Influence of Augustine on West
• Defining the Holy Spirit as “Love” in some sense
depersonalized the Third Person of the Trinity (i.e. made the
Spirit a quasi-attribute of God)
• The concept of Grace was thus depersonalized
• Something not quite the “Holy Spirit” him/herself
• Augustine’s doctrine of double-predestination
• Grace (love) given only to the elect
• Thus Spirit is not operative in the world beyond the sphere of
salvation (i.e. the church)
Filioque
We believe…
• in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from
the Father and the Son (Latin: filioque), who with the Father and
the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the
prophets.
• Added to the Creed by the Council of Toledo (589) to combat
semi-Arianism
• Augustine’s doctrine of double procession of the Spirit meant
the inevitable triumph of the filioque in the West
• Finally added to the Roman rite in 1014 by Benedict VIII, thus
making it universal in the Western Church.
Salvation in Western Thought
• Monergism (monegia) – Salvation cannot be earned; even its very
acquisition requires a monergistic act of God’s grace (regeneration);
the will is not truly free
• Gratia Cooperans
• Life of repentance, faith and works nonetheless requires the
cooperation of the regenerated will; participation in the sacraments
is the means through which God confers grace
• Stages of Salvation:
• Regeneration – The free gift of adoption and conferring of new life
• Justification – becoming righteous, through the remission of sin and
acts of penance (later being “declared righteous” in Protestant
thought)
• Sanctification (Protestant)– process of being made righteous (sinless)
• Beatific Vision or Glorification – achieving the “vision of God”
• The Beatific Vision entails a direct self-communication of God to the
individual person (heaven); analogous to theosis in Eastern thought
Decline of Pneumatology in the
West
• Exitus-reditus scheme (lit. procession and return)
• Nature of God and his will to create is an expression of the
procession of his love
• The goal of his creation, particularly rational beings, is to
return his love
• As scholastics codified different loci (sing. locus)
under which theological themes would be discussed:
• NO SPECIFIC LOCUS was assigned for the Holy Spirit in
the exitus-reditus scheme
• The Holy Spirit considered solely under the locus of
the Trinity
• Failure in the West to account structurally for the
Spirit’s ecclesial, sacramental, and eschatological
role
Consequences…
• Over-emphasis on the nature and name of
“love” (e.g. Romantic Movement)
• Depersonalization of the Spirit
• Implicit “Binatarianism”
• Over-emphasis on Augustine’s rule of
monarche: that the external acts of the Trinity
are undivided
Consequences…
• Lost sight of the Spirit’s communal and
eschatological dynamism
• Failure to appreciate Trinitarian rhythms in
Scripture, prayers, liturgy
• Trinity becomes a mere abstraction into the
inner nature of God
• Isolation of the Spirit from the Christian life
• Treatment of the Godhead as a fourth kind of
thing that all three have in common
Implications for Christian
Spirituality
The decline of pneumatology in the West has resulted in
spiritualities where the Spirit either:
• disappears into Christology, or
• is depersonalized by making either the Godhead an
impersonal fourth thing or grace a quasi-substance
• “God is Spirit” – ergo the Holy Spirit is the “stuff” that God is
made of
Relating Doctrine to
Spirituality
The Importance of pneumatology to Christian Spirituality:
• Communal (Ecclesial) implications?
• Sacramental implications?
• Eschatological implications?
Interlude: The Shifting Sands
of Western Theology
Seven Sacraments Altarpiece by Rogier
van der Weyden (ca. 1450)
Scholasticism
Transubstantiation
• Defined by the 2nd Lateran Council, 1215
• CLASSIC DEFINITION: The conversion of the whole substance
of the bread and wine into the whole substance of the Body
and Blood of Christ, only the accidents (i.e. appearances) of
the bread and wine remaining
Thomas Aquinas’ Understanding
First, because it is not customary but horrible for men to eat the
flesh of a man and drink his blood, the flesh and blood of Christ
are offered under the form of things which are more frequently
used, namely bread and wine. Secondly, lest this sacrament
might be ridiculed by unbelievers if we ate our Lord in his own
form. Thirdly, that while we receive the body and blood of our
Lord invisibly this may contribute to the merit of our faith (ST, III,
q. 75:5)
Defining Terms
• Form = The underlying reality of a thing
• Substantial Form = That which distinguishes the substance of one
thing from the substance of another. That which makes a “thing”
what it is, and not something else.
• Matter = What a thing is made of; a thing’s constituent parts;
the corporeal substratum of a thing
• Form + Matter = Substance
• Form inheres in matter to make a substance
Accidents
• Real but incidental properties of things, contingently
conjoined to a substance (color, quantity, taste, texture, etc.)
• Examples:
• Heating a rock changes the “accident” of temperature, but not
the substance of the rock (transaccidentation)
• The process of decay changes both the substance and the
accidents of a “thing” (transformation)
Transubstantiation
• The substance changes (as in transformation), however the
accidents remain the same
• How? Thomas posits the radical separability of substance and
accidents
• But Transubstantiation takes place only in the realm of the
miraculous
• In the miracle of Transubstantiation, substance exists without
its accidents (properties), and accidents exist without their
substance
• Thus Christ’s presence is a “non-local” presence, since locality
is an accident
Thomistic View of Grace
operans: moves the will to interior action
Motus (motion)
cooperans: moves the will to exterior action
Gratia
operans: justifies man
Habitus (habit)
cooperans: functions as the principle of
meritorious action
Thomistic Conception of
Justification
gratiae infusio | motus liberi arbitrii | contritio | peccatorum remissio
•
•
•
•
Infusion of Grace
Movement of the free will towards God through faith
Movement of the free will against sin
Remission of sins
Martin Luther
(1483-1546)
Luther’s first theological
breakthrough
• Originally Luther held that the precondition to justification
was a human work (meritum de congruo).
• However, following Augustine he abandoned this idea for the
understanding that God met the precondition, graciously
giving sinners what they required to be justified.
Luther’s second theological
breakthrough: fiducia
REDEFINING FAITH IN PAULINE TERMS:
• Faith is not simply historical knowledge. Even sinners are
perfectly capable of trusting in the historical details of
the Gospel message.
• Faith to be understood as “trust” (fiducia). Using a
nautical analogy, Luther mused, “Faith is not simply
about believing that a ship exists -- it is about stepping
into it, and entrusting ourselves to it. ”
• Faith unites the sinner with Christ. It is a response of the
whole person to God, making both Christ and his
benefits available to believers.
Luther’s departure from
Augustine
• Augustine, true to his philosophical roots, had defined
faith in purely intellectualist terms. Thus he was obliged
to add to his truncated idea of faith the concept of
caritas or dilectio (charity or love).
• Justification for Augustine is “faith working through
love.”
• Luther’s re-definition of faith in Pauline terms, while a
material departure from St. Augustine, is not necessarily
a formal departure.
• This re-definition allows Luther to posit justificatio per
solam fide (“justification by faith only”).
Luther’s third theological
breakthrough: “alien righteousness”
• A true theological novum: extrinsic righteousness. The
location of justifying righteousness remains outside of
believers.
• Justification as an iustitia aliena imputed to the believer
• God treats or reckons this righteousness as it were part
of the sinner’s person.
• Imputation of righteousness on the basis of union with
Christ
• Believers are simul iustes et peccator (at one and the
same time righteous and sinners), but not in the sense
that Augustine meant it.
• This represents a fundamental departure from
Augustine.
Philip Melanchthon
(1497-1560)
Later Lutheran Thought:
Melanchthon’s Contribution
• Early on, Luther still considered justification in terms of being
“made righteous.”
• Justification was extrinsic, in that it was effected by the
believer’s union with the indwelling Christ.
• Melanchthon began to draw a sharp distinction between the
event of being declared righteous and being made righteous.
Melanchthon and Forensic
Justification
• Justification: the event of being “declared righteous” in foro
divino (in the heavenly court)
• Regeneration or Sanctification: Process of being “made
righteous.”
• NOTE: This development represents a complete break with
the teaching of the Western Church up to this point in history.
Council of Trent (1545-63)
• The nature of justification is the process of
regeneration and renovation (being made righteous)
• The “single” formal cause of justification is the
interior gift of righteousness by which God makes us
righteous.
• Faith is the beginning of justification, but works must
attend faith throughout the process of justification.
• No one can have complete assurance of salvation.
Fifth & Sixth
Theological Loci
Sacraments & Church
Fifth & Sixth Theological Loci:
Sacraments & the Church
Be familiar with:
• The traditional Seven Sacraments (in the West)
• Sacramental models in history
• The “Ecclesiologies” that correspond to Sacramental models
Sacraments as spiritual participation in
the mystery of salvation
• Based on Pauline influence/interpretation
• Emphasis of the Patristic era (100-800 AD)
• Sacraments are initiatory (Baptism) and integrative (Holy
Communion)
• The spiritual realm is very real, yet invisible; made visible in
the Sacraments
• Ecclesiology: “Community of the Spirit,” characterized by
communalism (koinonia), mysticism
Apophatic/Speculative: e.g. early church (catechumenate)
Apophatic/Affective: e.g. Desert Fathers; Ceonobites
“Community of the Spirit”
World
Church
Sacraments as conduits or
channels of grace
• Augustine’s definition: “Outward and visible signs of an inward
and invisible grace”
• Emphasis on REAL presence
• Medieval period (up to Vatican 2 for RCC)
• Sacraments are salvific (personally)
• Sacraments are enumerated (7), thus fostering a limited view
of the realm of the spiritual
• Ecclesiology: Church as “Institution of Grace”; hospital for
souls
Kataphatic/Speculative: e.g. Western scholasticism
Kataphatic/Affective: e.g. Western monasticism (Catherine of
Sienna, Francis of Assisi)
“Institution of Grace”
Christendom
“Kingdom of
Christ”
Church
Worrld
defined
as
Hierarchical
institution
Sacraments as “Visible Words”
• Historical example: Lutheran Reformation
• The sacraments are the Word of God visibly offered; just as
the Bible is the Word of God audibly offered
• Reduced to two or three: those signs that offer justification
• Ecclesiology: Church as “Herald of Grace,” proclaiming God’s
justifying grace and/or God’s kingdom
Kataphatic/Speculative: e.g. Confessionalism
Apophatic/Speculative: e.g. Moralism; Liberationism
“Herald of Grace”
God’s Reign
ChurchWorrld
as Herald of
The Gospel
Sacraments as signs and seals of a
covenant relationship
•
•
•
•
Historical example: John Calvin and Reformed thought
Covenantal signs (legal, juridical)
Assist and augment faith, both of individual and community
What is offered to the receiver is truly received by faith
(virtually, spiritually)
• Ecclesiology: “Community of the Covenant,” the means of
realizing God’s elective decree
Kataphatic/Speculative: e.g. Covenant Theology
Kataphatic/Affective: e.g. Great Awakening
“Community of the Covenant”
NON-ELECT
Invisible
Church
Worrld
(True
Elect)
Visible Church
The World
Sacraments as memorials
• Historical Example: Radical Reformation (Anabaptists)
• Metaphorical, symbolic; aids to memory
• Denial of “real” presence or grace (grace is a disposition, not a
quasi-substance)
• Effect of sacraments: evocative, emotive – they stir up faith
(which saves)
• Ecclesiology: “Community of True Believers”
Kataphatic/Affective: e.g. Revivalism; Holiness
Apophatic /Affective: e.g. Quakerism (no sacraments!)
“Community of True Believers”
NON-BELIEVERS
True
Believers
Worrld
The World
Sacraments as creaturely
participation in the divine life
• Postmodern Period (seen in many churches)
• All created things ultimately point to the Creator
• Sacraments are celebratory, vocational, holistic, ecological, call
to action, advance of the kingdom of Christ
• No interest in enumerating, though “traditional” sacraments
still have primary role in the Church
• Ecclesiology: “Community of the Advancing Kingdom”
Apophatic/Speculative:
Apophatic/Affective
“Community of the Advancing
Kingdom”
Body of Christ
Worrld
The World
Monastic Ideal
• Affective (Apophatic or Kataphatic)
M
Church
Ecclesiola in Ecclesia
• “Church within the Church”
• Theology Type D: Holiness
• Spirituality: “Charismatic”
Sectarian
• Differences in doctrine or practice are so significant that a
separate, parallel life is formed outside of the main Body of
recognized Christians
• Usually Type A
Seventh Theological
Locus
Eschatology
What is Eschatology?
• The study of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven,
hell
• Futurology: concerned with what are believed to be the final
events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity, usually
revealed by prophetic oracle or sacred text
• A specifically Christian eschatology deals with:
• Death and the nature of the intermediate state (individual
eschatology)
• The resurrection of the dead and eternal destiny of humanity
(corporate eschatology)
• The events or historical realities that anticipate (or that constitute
the necessary conditions for) the parousia or Second Coming of
Jesus, which for Christians is the ultimate (or penultimate) event
prior to the consummation of human history
Nicene Creed (325, 381)
…[Christ] ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of
the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the
quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
…I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the
world to come. Amen.
The Four Creedal affirmations
1) Christ’s present reign from heaven (ascension and session
“at the right hand of the Father”)
2) Christ’s return (or “Second Coming”) to judge the living and
the dead
3) Christ’s kingdom “without end”
4) The resurrection and consummation (“world to come,” i.e.
the promise of a new heavens and earth)
What is not affirmed or
articulated in the Creeds
1) The existence or nature of a conscious or unconscious
intermediate state between death and the resurrection
• Purgatory? Heaven? So-called “Soul Sleep”?
2) The ultimate destiny of the damned
• Hell (Conditional or unconditional)? Annihilation? Apocatastasis
(universalism)?
3) A series of events or occurrences (“signs”) that point to,
announce, or are associated with the Parousia
4) The nature of the “millennium” or kingdom of God
Primitive Christian
Eschatology
Eschatological beliefs gleaned from the New Testament
Primitive Christian Eschatology: Christ’s
Resurrection is the “first fruits” of an anticipated
General Resurrection
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits
of those who have died. For since death came through a human
being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a
human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in
Christ. [1 Corinthians 15:20-22]
• The general resurrection of the dead is a belief shared with
first century Judaism
• However, in Christian theology, Christ is not merely the first
resurrected human being, but is rather the ground and
certainty of the resurrection
Primitive Christian Eschatology: The Resurrection
will take place at the Parousia
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,
about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as
others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with
him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the
coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have
died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the
archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will
descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then
we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds
together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will
be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with
these words. [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18]
Primitive Christian Eschatology: The Parousia marks
the final judgment of humankind
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations
will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one
from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats
at the left. [Matthew 25:31-33]
Primitive Christian Eschatology: The Parousia was an
imminent event expected within a generation or so
from the time of Christ
From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes
tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is
near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is
near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not
pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But
about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. [Matthew 24:32-36]
• The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)
associate the Parousia with Christ’s prediction of the
destruction of the Temple and Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered
together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be
quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or
by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the
Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that
day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the
lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He
opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object
of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
declaring himself to be God… And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of
his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.
[2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, 8]
Primitive Christian Eschatology: The Parousia is
associated with a “dissolution” and “re-creation” of
the heavens and earth
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one
day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one
day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of
slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but
all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like
a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise,
and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and
everything that is done on it will be disclosed. [2 Peter 3:8-10]
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no
more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. [Revelation 21:1-2]
The Millennium of Revelation 20
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the
key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it
over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the
thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little
while.
Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to
judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their
testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped
the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their
foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for
a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the
thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and
holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the
second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
[Revelation 20:1-6]
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his
prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as
numerous as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of
the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And
fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had
deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the
beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and the one who
sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place
was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before
the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the
book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as
recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death
and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged
according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into
the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone
whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the
lake of fire.
[Revelation 20:8-14]
Summary of Revelation Chapter 20’s
“Millennium”:
• Satan (the ancient dragon) bound for 1000 years; cannot
deceive the nations during this time
• Thrones set up for the martyrs; they “came to life and reigned
with Christ” for a thousand years – the first resurrection
• Satan released that he might deceive the nations once more;
final battle at “Jerusalem” and the “camp of saints”
• Final judgment of Satan; thrown into the lake of fire for
eternal torment
• Judgment seat is set up; a “second resurrection” of all the
dead who are judged according to their deeds
• Destruction of death and Hades; the “second death”; all who
are not in the Book of Life thrown into the lake of fire
What Christians make of the
Millennium of Revelation 20
Millennial Views
Chiliasm or “Pre-Millennialism”
• Chiliasm: from the Greek word for “thousand”
• Pre-Millennialism: the belief that the Parousia will occur
before the millennium predicted in Revelation 20
• Characteristics of the Millennium:
• A literal period of 1000 years
• A “Golden Age” or “Messianic Age”
• Christ and those who take part in the “first resurrection” (a
physical resurrection) will reign on earth during this time
• After 1000 years, a final apostasy will occur
• Judgment, general resurrection
• Final Consummation: New Heavens, New Earth (Rev. 21)
“Post-Millennialism”
• The belief that the Parousia will occur after the “millennium”
of Revelation 20, which is identified as the period between the
victory of Christ’s resurrection and a final (but brief) apostasy
which immediately precedes the return of Christ
• Characteristics of the Millennium:
• Not a literal 1000 years; metaphorical image of Church Age
• Period marked by increasing progress and spread of the Gospel
until the whole earth is “filled with the knowledge of the Lord”
• Christ and the saints reign from heaven; “living and reigning” with
Christ constitutes the “first resurrection”
• Christ’s return will bring about the general resurrection and
judgment according to one’s deeds
• Final Consummation: New Heavens and New Earth
“A-Millennialism”
• Literally “no millennium”; like Post-Millennialism, this view holds
identifies the millennium in Revelation 20 as the present age
between the resurrection and the end of the age, after which the
Parousia will take place; unlike Post-Millennialism, the reign of Christ
is an exclusively spiritual reign in the hearts of believers (or the
church) with no necessary historical effects
• Characteristics of the Millennium:
• Metaphorical period, not literal 1000 years
• Christ’s reign is in the heart of believers and heaven is the reward for
martyrdom; the Gospel may advance on earth to a great extent, but
there is no earthly claim to the kingdom of Christ
• The first resurrection is “regeneration”
• Christ’s return brings about the general resurrection and judgment
according to one’s deeds; final consummation in the New Heavens
and New Earth
Differences
Pre-Mill
A-Mill
Post-Mill
Before Parousia
After Parousia
After Parousia
Literal thousand years
Metaphor – 1000 years
Metaphor – 1000 years
Golden Age of Christ’s
Rule
Christ’s kingdom is
exclusively internal
Christ’s kingdom is
internal and external
First & Second
Resurrections – physical
First Resurrection –
regeneration
Second Resurrection physical
First Resurrection – reign
of saints with Christ
Second Resurrection physical
Changing positions over time
• New Testament Age: imminent return, associated with destruction
of Jerusalem
• Early Church (100-500): Prevailing view is Chiliasm
• Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus
• Medieval Period (500-1500): Prevailing view is A- or Post- Millennial
(difficult to distinguish)
• Early proponent: Augustine, who changed from Chiliasm due to the
excesses of those who were expecting the return of Christ in 500;
another expectation in 1000
• Reformation Period: 1500-1800: Prevailing view is A-Millennial
• Modern Period: 1800-2000: Revival of Chiliasm in modern
Dispensational movement; optimism on mission field and Great
Awakenings prompts a more confident Post-Millennialism that is
recognizably distinct from A-Millennialism
Eschatology &
Culture
A Theology of God’s Kingdom and Mission in the World
H. Richard Niebuhr’s models of “Christ
and Culture”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Christ against Culture
Christ of Culture
Christ above Culture
Christ and Culture in Paradox
Christ transforming Culture
Christ against Culture
• Antithetical View; encouraging opposition, total separation,
and hostility towards culture
• The values of the Kingdom of God stand in opposition to the
values of the world
• Early proponent: Tertullian “What has Athens to do with
Jerusalem?”
• Extreme example – Anabaptists: stressed the need to form
alternative Christian communities; refused to have anything to
do with secular power or authority
• Fundamentalism is the most prevalent form of this model in
American society
Christ of Culture
• Attempt to bring culture and Christianity together, regardless
of differences; world-affirming
• Early manifestation: “Christendom”
• Amalgamation of culture and Christian ideals: German Liberal
Protestantism
• Liberal Protestantism was inspired by a vision of a humanity
which was ascending upwards into new realms of progress
and prosperity; the doctrine of evolution (as opposed to the
scientific theory of biological descent via natural selection)
gave new vitality to this belief
• Liberation, process, and feminist theologies are current
examples of a similar trend
Christ above Culture
• Synthetic View of Christ and Culture
• Culture is neither inherently good or bad; God orders and
sustains culture as the best way to address the problem of sin
• Cannot separate human culture from the grace of God; culture
is only possible through grace; Thomas Aquinas: “Grace does
not abolish nature, but perfect it.”
• Both human rebellion against God and the love of God by the
redeemed are expressed in cultural terms
• Conversely, cannot separate the experience of grace from
cultural activity, for how can humans express love for the
unseen God without serving the visible brother in human
society?
Example (Christ above Culture)
• Thomas Aquinas and the High Middle Ages
• Separate realms for Philosophy (Reason) and Theology (Faith)
The Synthesis of Philosophy and
Theology
Philosophy
Theology
• Operates on the basis of
autonomous principles
• Can be known apart
from revelation
• Seek truth by a strict
rational method
• Does not seek to prove
what the mind cannot
understand
• Starts its inquiry from
the basis of revealed
truths
• Revealed truths are
those which cannot be
known by reason alone
• Revealed truths are
more certain than those
of reason (which may
err)
Christ and Culture in Paradox
• Similar to the “Christ above Culture” – but a more Dualist
approach
• Christians belong to “two realms” (the spiritual and the
temporal), which must live in tension of fulfilling both
• Christian community must expect to live in a degree of tension
in the world
• Example: Martin Luther’s doctrine of the “Two Kingdoms” –
the “kingdom of the world” and the “kingdom of God”
• Two kingdoms coexist and overlap, with the result of
Christians trying to live in one kingdom while obeying the
authority of another
Christ transforming Culture
• Conversionist position; hopeful view toward culture
• Attempt to convert the values and goals of secular culture into
the service of the kingdom of God
• Affirm God’s dramatic interaction with men in historical
human events
• Human culture can be “a transformed human life in and to the
glory of God” through the grace of God
• In practice, work in culture for its betterment, because God
ultimately had some hand in human creativity, and it was good
(and can be good); also work for its transformation because
while there is sin in culture, it is not all lost, there is hope
through Christ, for redemption of cultures
• John Calvin, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards