“Sólo Jesús,” Hispanic Modalism, Oneness Christology, and Paul’s First Epistles Daniel S. Steffen, PhD This paper proposes to explain the popular hispanic modalistic or “Oneness” Christology as to its particular beliefs and strong influence in several Latin American nations.1 The movement is known as “Sólo Jesús,” in Spanish. This explanation includes comparing and contrasting this … Read more
The purpose of this presentation is to reflect on Oneness Pentecostalism through the lens of the Nicene Creed, and the doctrine of the Trinity in particular. It is not intended to denigrate that denomination, but to respectfully engage in dialogue with the intention of affirming the Nicene Creed. Oneness Pentecostalism is a modern form of … Read more
An important but underrecognized aspect of the reception of Nicaea I (325) at subsequent ecumenical councils is the fifth-century concept of the “sufficiency of Nicaea.” The Acts of Ephesus I (431) contain a decree (the so-called Canon 7.00 of Ephesus) that prohibits anyone from writing a different creed as a rival to the one promulgated … Read more
Frédéric Manns affirms that Justin Martyr’s conception of the nature of the Old Testament differed from that of the Jewish community. Jewish groups held to a three-level hierarchy of decreasing authority: Law, Prophets, and Writings. In contrast, Justin Martyr held to the entire OT as equally authoritative with all of it prophetically pointing to Christ. … Read more
William Perkins was one of the best-selling and most influential English divines of the Elizabethan era (1558-1603). While certain topics in Perkins’s corpus like predestination and conscience have received extensive attention from scholars, his use of creeds and church history has seen little dedicated discussion. A few exceptions to this paucity include one unpublished dissertation … Read more
This paper explores the significance of omitting the term ousios in the Creed of Nicaea (AD 325) and adding or substituting in its place “begotten by the Father before the ages” in a sampling of the creeds that have impacted the Nicene Creed. Comparisons of the Christological statements in the creeds of Caesarea (c. AD … Read more
NOTE: This proposal is being submitted to both ETS and EPS. While not accepting the more controversial aspects of his argument, J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig embrace one feature of Richard Swinburne’s natural theological argument for the Trinity: that mutuality is an essential requirement of love. Accordingly, God’s being essentially all-loving entails that … Read more
New Testament text and manuscript studies intersect with a variety of disciplines—including paleography, art history, exegesis, paratext, linguistics, and conservation—to enrich our understanding of how the New Testament was transmitted and received within its broader historical context. Each of these fields is itself interdisciplinary, drawing on historical sources from diverse cultures and periods. Given the … Read more
For catechumens and baptized believers alike, the Nicene Creed reveals the identity of the godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but also shows what God has done for the world. Though Arius (256-336) strayed from orthodoxy in his description of the relationship of the Father and the Son, his initial inquiry, which the Nicene Creed … Read more
Mark Noll has claimed that “the foundation of American theology was European theology.” This foundation was, for the most part, confessionally oriented in the Westminster Standards. This confession was, not only a reference for New England churches, but also an authority in the meetinghouse between minister and magistrate. The New Light effort to overthrow the … Read more