this is the first video in a series on
what the pre nicing Christians believed
about the nature of God God simply means
deity but the nature of God is a bit
more complex than just saying God many
people refer to God as the Trinity
coined by Theophilus of antioch in
or the Godhead coined by John Wycliff in
to avoid any dogmas that may come
from these terms and to return to Paul’s
usage in Colossians the nature of
God will be called the divinity in this
series what have we heard about the
divinity how many members or persons are
in the divinity some responses might
include one God in three persons one God
in two persons one God in one person two
gods each in one person the pre nicing
Universal belief
Christians always had the same universal
belief that the divinity is one God in
three persons as far back as ad with
Ignatius the student of the Apostle John
this belief was taught Ignatius wrote
implying that Christ the Father and the
Holy Spirit were all equally God one
Confusion
confusing thing is that when Christians
today say God that could be referring to
the divinity as a whole or specifically
to God the Father the same thing is true
with the writings of the early
Christians as well as the scriptures the
context always dictates whether God
means the divinity or the Father please
keep this in mind whenever you hear
anyone refer to God on this channel I
will try to use the father and the
divinity to differentiate between the
two proceeding through the pre Nicene
PreNicene Church
church let’s read a few quotations
regarding what they believed about the
divinity Clement of Rome a student of
Peter and Paul wrote before the end of
the first century have we not one God
and one Christ
is there not one spirit of grace poured
out upon us Justin Martyr wrote we
confess that we are atheists so far as
the gods of this Roman sort are
concerned but not with respect to the
most true God the father of
righteousness and temperance and the
other virtues who is free from all
impurity but both him and the son who
came forth from him and taught us these
things and the prophetic spirit we
worship and adore knowing them in reason
and truth Theophilus wrote the three
days which were before the creation of
the lights are types of the Trinity of
God and His Word and his wisdom a Fenig
Oris wrote Christians know God and his
logos what is the oneness of the son
with the father
what is the communion of the father with
the son what is the spirit what is the
unity of these three the spirit the son
the father and their distinction in
unity a Rania’s a student of Polycarp
who is a student of the Apostle John
wrote thus one God the Father is
declared who is above all and through
all and in all
the father is indeed above all and he is
the head of Christ but the word is
through all things and is himself the
head of the church while the Spirit is
in us all and he is the living water
which the Lord grants to those who
rightly believe in him and love him and
who know that there is one father who is
above all and through all and in us all
Clement of Alexandria prayed all of us
should in praise thank the alone father
and son son and father the son
instructor and teacher with the Holy
Spirit all in one in whom is all for
whom all is one for whom is eternity
whose members we all are
Tertullian wrote the mystery of the
economy of God is still guarded which
distributes the unity into a trinity
placing in their order the three the
Father the Son and the Holy Spirit
however there are three not in condition
but in degree not in substance but in
form not in power but in aspect yet of
one substance and of one condition and
of one power in as much as he is one God
from whom these degrees and forms and
aspects are reckoned under the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit how they are susceptible of
number without division will be shown as
our treatise proceeds Hippolytus wrote
the Blessed John in the testimony of his
gospel gives us an account of this
economy of God and acknowledges this
word as God when he says in the
beginning was the word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God
then if the Word was with God and was
also God what follows would one say he
speaks of two gods
I shall not indeed speak of two gods but
of one of two persons however and of a
third economy that is the grace of the
Holy Spirit for the father indeed is one
and there are two persons because there
is also a son and then there is the
third the Holy Spirit the father decrees
the word execute and the son is
manifested through whom the father is
believed on the economy of harmony is
led back to one God for God is one it is
the father who commands and the son who
obeys and the Holy Spirit who gives
understanding the father who is above
all and the son who is through all and
the Holy Spirit who is in all and we
cannot otherwise think of one God but by
believing in truth in father and Son and
Holy Spirit
Origen wrote
father generates an uncreated son and
brings forth a holy spirit not as if he
had no previous existence but because
the father is the origin and source of
the son or Holy Spirit Cyprien wrote the
Lord says I and the father are one and
again it is written the Father the Son
and the Holy Spirit and these three are
one
Dionysius of Alexandria wrote if from
the fact that there are three persons
they say that they are divided there are
three whether they who disagree like it
or not or else let them get rid of the
Divine Trinity altogether
Dionysius of Rome wrote therefore that
admirable and divine unity must neither
be separated into three divinities but
we must believe on God the Father
omnipotent and on Christ Jesus his son
and on the Holy Spirit
moreover that the word is United to the
God of all because he says I and the
father are one and I am in the father
and the father is in me
thus doubtless will be maintained in its
integrity the doctrine of the Divine
Trinity and the sacred announcement of
the monarchy Tertullian probably wrote
Tertullian
the most about the divinity and how
there are three persons in one God he
made the following illustration to help
people understand it
comparing the divinity to the Sun and
its light to the spring and it’s River
and to the parts of a tree God sent
forth the word as the Paraclete also
declares just as the root puts forth the
tree and the fountain the river and the
Sun the rain for these are emanations of
the substances from which they proceeded
indeed I shall not hesitate to call the
tree the Sun or the offspring of the
root and the river of the fountain and
the ray of the Sun because every
original source is apparent and
everything which issues from the origin
an offspring much more is this true of
the Word of God who is actually received
as his own particular designation the
name of son but still the tree is not
severed from the root nor the river from
the fountain nor the ray from the Sun
indeed nor is the word separated from
God therefore following the form of
these analogies I confess that I call
God and His Word the father and his son
too for the root and the tree are
distinctly two things but correlative
Lee joined the fountain and the river
are also two forms but indivisible so
likewise the Sun and the Ray are two
forms but coherent ones everything which
proceeds from something else
must needs be second to that from which
it proceeds without being separated on
that account however where there is a
second there must be two and where there
is a third there must be three now the
spirit indeed is third from God and the
son just as the fruit of the tree is
third from the root or as the stream out
of the river
is third from the fountain or as the
apex of the ray is third from the Sun
however nothing is alien from that
original source from where it derives
its own properties in like manner the
Trinity flowing down from the father
through intertwined and connected steps
does not at all disturb the monarchy of
God well at the same time it guards the
state of the economy of God this is not
Common scriptures
the end of what the pre Nisan Christians
want to tell us the next two videos will
go into more detail showing how the
doctrine of one God in three persons is
the only way to describe the divinity
finally let’s look at some common
scriptures the pre Nisan Christians used
to explain the divinity firstly and most
importantly they relied on Matthew
this verse was a big deal to them and
had practical applications to their
teachings on the
divinity go therefore and make disciples
of all nations baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit in the beginning was the
word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God he was with God in the
beginning the father and I are one yet
for us there is one God the Father all
things are from him and we exist for him
and there is one Lord Jesus Christ all
things are through him and we exist
through him the divinity is such an
endless mystery for humans to understand
all we can do is scratch the surface I
mean what could be explained in a
minute video please continue this series
to learn more I invite you to watch the
next couple videos where we will discuss
what early Christianity had to say about
the person or persons of God blessings
and so forth