Paper Category: Creedal Christianity: Celebrating Nicaea - Systematic Theology

Over the centuries there have been several attempts to show from general revelation that God is triune: e.g. Richard St Victor, Edwards, and, more recently, Swinburne. In modern times, with the increasing interest in AI and Information Theory, it is not surprising that there have been suggestions that these domains have something to contribute to … Read more

One topic of concern in the field of Science and Theology, especially in discussions of evolution, is the attempted removal of the human-animal distinction. If humans are different only in degree and not in kind from animals, then much of traditional Christian Theology must be reworked. One downstream effect of this reconsideration is the nature, … Read more

Thanks to the work of Matthew Barrett, the editor of a 40-author team, InterVarsity Press has provided the church and the academy with a work of monumental theological import with the release of, On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God. The book is wide-ranging, covering historical, dogmatic, philosophical, and cultural concerns … Read more

The Council of Nicaea’s (AD 325) third article, “And in the Holy Spirit,” is a true statement. Yet, it will require further theological development in time. The Western tradition will adopt the Filioque clause from the Third Synod of Toledo (AD 589) into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381). This inclusion accurately attests that God the … Read more

The richness in the Trinity provides resources for a rich view of the Trinity. This paper considers a specific case, how appropriate metaphysics deriving from the Trinity helps assess Calvin’s view of the Son as “autotheos.” A key source for an appropriate metaphysics is the fact that the Father as Original reflects himself in the … Read more

Debates surround the relationship between doctrine and experience. Some scholars, such as Sandra Schneiders, hold that experience produces doctrine and not vice versa. As a result, these scholars argue that the study of spirituality should prioritize experience over doctrine and be autonomous from the study of theology. Other scholars, such as Alister McGrath and Simon … Read more

This paper critiques Barth’s Christological Anthropology against Bavinck’s Trinitarian Anthropology, highlighting a potential problem with Barth’s Relational view of the Imago Dei and human nature. In a respectful continuation of Bavinck’s work, I will present what I call a typological relations model that grounds the Imago Dei in the Triune God instead of the Covenant, … Read more

The doctrine of actus purus—typically associated with Aristotle and Aquinas—finds its inchoate metaphysical assumptions worked out in the Nicene controversy. Figures like Marius Victorinus were instrumental in adapting Neoplatonic metaphysics to defend divine simplicity and immutability in a way that upheld Christian Trinitarianism and refuted Arianism. The Council of Nicaea thus became a defining moment, … Read more

The Nicene Creed is best known for its develop of an orthodox formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Due to Trinitarian formulation the Creed has been accepted an “ecumenical creed.” Nevertheless, an under scrutinised aspect of the Creed is its statement on baptism. This paper will examine the Creed’s understanding of baptism. It will … Read more