ViaCrucis
Confessional Lutheran
- Oct 2, 2011
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So what you are saying is that the purpose of the Nicene Creed was not to glorify God, it's purpose was to exclude the Arians and the Pneumatomachi.
Its purpose was to declare the received faith of Christ's Church against false teaching. God is glorified in truth, not falsehood.
In fact it was not a revelation from God at all.
The Revelation of God is He who became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the One about whom the prophets spoke, and of whom the Apostles preached. The Lord and Savior of the whole world, Jesus Christ.
It did not come from a prophet of God,
Christianity is Christianity, not Islam. Christianity does not rely on prophets, but on the deposit of faith given in the beginning, built upon Christ the One Rock and Foundation.
it is not scripture,
No one claims it is.
it disagrees with what Jesus said:
It does not. On the contrary, it affirms the Lord's own words, that He is one with the Father, that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. Because He ans His Father are of one Being.
(New Testament | John 20:17)
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Then do you believe that the Father isn't God? After all, it is written in Hebrews 1:8,
"But of the Son [the Father] says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.'"
The Son refers to the Father as God.
The Father refers to the Son as God.
How can this be? Because the Father and Son are both truly God, homoousios.
For there is only one God,
"I, and I alone, am God; there is no other god." - Deuteronomy 32:39a
"Hear O Israel, the LORD your God is one LORD." - Deuteronomy 6:4
"Remember the former things of long ago; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me," - Isaiah 46:9
And there are three who are called God.
The Father,
"yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist," - 1 Corinthians 8:6a
"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him," - Ephesians 1:17
the Son,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." - John 1:1
"This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to have Him killed, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." - John 5:18
"I and the Father are one." - John 10:30
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were made through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent." - Colossians 1:15-19
"For in Him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily," - Colossians 2:9
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His Hypostasis, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power." - Hebrews 1:1-3a
"But of the Son He says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom." - Hebrews 1:8
"waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," - Titus 2:13
and the Holy Spirit.
"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in She'ol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me." - Psalms 139:7-10
"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:11
"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man, but to God.'" - Acts of the Apostles 5:3-4
And so, as is said in the Quicumque Vult (aka the Athanasian Creed), "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the Persons, nor dividing the Substance."
For the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God,
But not three gods, but one God.
For the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord,
But not three lords, but one Lord.
For the Father is Almighty, the Son is Almighty, and the Holy Spirit is Almighty,
But not three almighties, but one Almighty.
For the Father is Eternal, the Son is Eternal, and the Holy Spirit is Eternal,
But not three eternals, but one Eternal.
For there is One God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father, begotten not made, begotten before all ages, God of God; and one Holy Spirit, Lord and Life-Giver, who proceeds from the Father. The All-Glorious Most Holy, and Sublime and Eternal Holy Trinity: God. Beside whom and other than there is none. There is none before or after, beside or neart. Beyond all things, through all things, in Whom are all things. For in Him we move and breathe and have our very existence. The Maker and Sustainer of all. Alpha and Omega, First and Last, Beginning and End; the Everlasting, the I AM.
-CryptoLutheran
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