As the Christian world marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the need to revisit the reception history of its theological legacy becomes pressing. While much scholarly attention has been devoted to the Cappadocian Fathers and Latin pro-Nicene developments in Hilary and Ambrose, Augustine’s engagement with the Nicene faith—particularly in his magnum opus … Read more
When C. S. Lewis addressed the Christian life in *Mere Christianity,* he explained the seven virtues: faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. According to believers across centuries and continents, these seven provide the topography of the spiritual and moral life. Despite their acceptance by some ‘Reformed catholics,’ they have often been seen as … Read more
For the 1700th anniversary of Nicaea, many biblical scholars and theologians are exploring the significance of the creed for Christian faith and study. We’re reflecting, for example, on the way the creed distills the Bible’s storyline tracing the identity and activity of the Trinity as Creator and Redeemer; it’s central focus on the saving work … Read more
The concept of apostolicity becomes enshrined in Christian orthodoxy with the 381 revision to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed and Christians for nearly two millennia have confessed that, in addition to being one, holy, and catholic, the church is also apostolic. For generations that term has been taken to be coterminous with episcopal succession, but a careful … Read more
Historians throughout the twentieth century argued that the English General Baptists were inclined towards Trinitarian heterodoxy. Historians of the twenty-first century have often repeated those claims. Such claims leave students of the period with the impression that many seventeenth-century General Baptist pastors and theologians were mere Biblicists at best and inclined towards heterodoxy at worst. … Read more
Contemporary Christian theology is plagued by terminological difficulties in its conceptualizing of God and the world. While broad access to historical material has provided fertile grounds for retrieval, it also possesses the attendant danger of the obscuration of theological concepts based on the misapplication of technical terms. This has occurred with the use of words … Read more
Simon Episcopius, a prominent figure in the Remonstrant movement, significantly shaped post-Synod of Dort theological discourse through his articulation of a nuanced Arminian theology. While he did not explicitly address Christ’s spatial existence, his Christology and soteriology implicitly engage this concept through his affirmation of Christ’s full divinity and omnipresence. Upholding Nicene orthodoxy, Episcopius emphasized … Read more
“From Nicaea Through the Reformation: Nicaea’s Impact on Protestant Thought,” seeks to contribute to recent movements in theological retrieval. Examining the biblical and theological themes evident in the Protestant retrieval of early Christian theology in the Pre-Nicene period through the Reformation, provides insight into and impacts contemporary theological thought. The need for theological retrieval addresses … Read more