As we celebrate the 17th anniversary of the council of Nicaea, we do well to remember those who did all that they could to contend for the faith that was once for all given to the saints. One of those men was a well-respected African theologian and Church father, Athanasius 1 of Alexandria. As a … Read more
Vincent of Lérins is commonly employed by Roman Catholics as a stalwart defender of the Magisterium’s infallibility (e.g. Guarino, 2006, 2013; Congar, 1997, 2004; John Henry Newman, 1845; etc.). His Commonitorium provides an early intellectual case for the rule of orthodoxy: universality, antiquity, and consent. More specifically, ecumenical councils provide judgments of the Church as … Read more
Explores the historical development of Trinitarianism, situationally driven by the challenges of Arianism, as seen in Christology at the First Council of Nicea (325 AD) and Pneumatology at the First Council of Constantinople (381-383 AD). Includes the examination of developing Pneumatology post-Nicea, and how Arianism came to be seen as threatening, not just the divinity … Read more
There has been much scholarly interest in trinitarianism among evangelical scholars. Part of this interest is a renewed evangelical ressourcement of Nicene writers. To give a sample, non-exhaustive list of books on the Trinity in the last ten years which draw on Nicene writers: Barrett, On Classical Trinitarianism (2024); Butner, Trinitarian Dogmatics (2022); Letham, The … Read more
This study explores the historical and theological foundations of the Baptist Faith & Message (2000) by examining the relationship between some Southern Baptists’ self-identification as a non-creedal tradition and the significant role of creeds and confessions in shaping Southern Baptist beliefs and practices. This work highlights the historical dependence of Baptists on creeds for doctrinal … Read more
Nicea’s Cultural Offense The emergence of creeds and confessions presents a grand narrative of intra-Church conversation (sometimes collegial, sometimes not so much). The councils wrangled over momentous points of doctrine, which turned on such words as Homoousios, Filioque, and Theotokos. Along the way, such heretics as Marcionites, Sabellians, and Apollinarians were pushed to the side. … Read more
Francis J. Grimké (1850-1937), born enslaved, went on to study at Princeton Theological Seminary and spent most of his 50 years of ministry pastoring Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. He is notable for many reasons, including his traditional theological commitments and the instrumental role he played in the early civil rights movement, as … Read more
John Owen is one of the most widely read theologians of church history among contemporary evangelicals. He has a reputation as an exemplary producer of orthodox Trinitarian piety and polemical defence of the Reformed catholic faith. Yet he had a complex relationship with creedal Christianity. At times his rejection of creeds and councils were mistaken … Read more
The long eighteenth century brought unprecedented doubt and confusion to the doctrine of the Trinity. Anti-trinitarians sought to discredit the doctrine of the Trinity through historical, philosophical, and biblical arguments. In answer, the Reformed Orthodox sought to defend the doctrine of the Trinity on the same fronts. According to Richard Muller, though their historical and … Read more
This paper will argue that John Gill adopted the method of testes veritatis to defend the Nicene doctrine of eternal generation in his short work “A Dissertation Concerning the Eternal Sonship of Christ,” which was first published posthumously in the 1773 edition of his Sermons and Tracts. This Protestant method was pioneered by Flacius Illyricus … Read more