The Trinitarian Controversy

The Trinitarian controversy lasted from AD 318 to AD 382, concluding with the Council of Constantinople of AD 381, at which the definitive theological position of the Church on the Trinity was formally articulated. That position holds that God comprises one nature or substance, which is divine, in three divine persons, or entities. Whether or not that position makes sense as a theological mystery, a fundamental article of faith, or a nonsense statement must be set aside for the moment. What is important is that the Church fathers who found meaning in it did so in order to lend authority and rationality to the institutional character of the organization that was taking shape in the fourth century.

The first phase Trinitarian controversy erupted soon after the emperor Constantine embraced Christianity and stopped the policy of persecution of the Christians in AD 313. However, between that time and 325, the good church fathers were preoccupied with rationalizing and identifying the content of Christian doctrine. One such effort--apparently well-intentioned--was undertaken by Bishop Arius of Alexandria, who asserted the absolute character, or unique oneness, of God. So far, so good, for God is to be conceptualized as distinct and distinctively superior in his eternal glory to mere mortal man. But a problem arises with the looming figure of Jesus Christ, originator of Christianity. If God is one, perfect, etc., and if Christ as the Son of God is to be considered a palpable, human

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d . . . not of any other hypostasis or essence, but of the Father" (p. 339). In other words, Arius was a heretic. A vocal opponent of Arianism was Athanasius, who insisted on the oneness of God in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One key to this is an insistence on the divinity of Christ (Hardy, 1954, p. 49), although another doctrinal controversy specifically relating to the true nature of Christ was to follow the problems with nailing down the doctrine of the Trinity. Athanasius's point about the special quality of Christ is that only a Christ who was divine could have endured a death and achieved a resurrection that would have accomplished for all humankind a redemption of human experience that would make human affinity with the divine--i.e., salvation--possible (Athanasius, 1954, p. 80). That is what Athanasius means when using the phrase "victory of the cross" (Athanasius, 1954, p. 73). A demigod could not accomplish that victory; only God could. If Jesus is not divine, the Incarnation has no meaning. But he is, and it does, according to Athanasius. Athanasius's forceful opposition of Arianism did not complete the doctrinal articulation about the Trinity as far as the institutional character of the emerging

Category: Philosophy - T