- Nov 26, 2019
- 10,934
- 5,593
- 49
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Generic Orthodox Christian
- Marital Status
- Celibate
Exactly. Jesus said, 'that they may be one as we are one'. I don't know any Christian who argues that all Christians are a single being or that there is a single being that consists of all Christians. His prayer is that Christians would be one as He and the Father are one. I don't think Jesus thought that all Christians would morph into a single being. He's praying for unity. So, if He didn't intend for all Christians to be one single being then He's not saying that He and the Father are one single being, thus He's not saying there is a being called God that consist of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware in his brilliant theological work The Orthodox Way conceptualizes the Trinity as an eternal union of pure, perfect, absolute love, and that we are called to make our churches, our family life, our friendships, and our relations with other people icons of this perfect love.
It's crystal clear, yet people simply ignore it in favor of some 5th century doctrine that 5th century church leaders told them they have to believe to be saved. They break down the comparison that Jesus made. They say Christians are one in unity, but God is one in number. That's not what Jesus said. He wanted both groups to be one in the same manner. I just don't see how people ignore this.
Wait a second - what fifth century doctrine are you talking about?
Christianity is a monotheistic religion and always has been; at no point did the bishops of the early church sit down and contrive the doctrine of monotheism or of the Trinity. In the Fourth Century, there was an ecumenical council in response to Arius, who was a presbyter in the church of Alexandria who caused a scandal by teaching that Jesus Christ was a creature, which was an unheard of doctrine, and the anathema against Arius was nearly unanimous (technically it was unanimous, but the 5 or so bishops who supported him left the council early, and Eusebius of Caesarea, who was an Arian sympathizer, voted for the anathema but later equivocated on it). Arius won powerful supporters, however, including Emperor Constantine’s heir Constantius, who initiated a persecution of Christians by Arians that lasted into the reign of Emperor Theodosius.
Upvote
0