Should homoousion in the Nicene Creed be translated as "same substance" or as “one substance?”
Upvote:1
The authors of the creed definitely meant that God and Christ are one substance. Remember that the creed was formulated against Arius, who claimed that Christ was of a similar substance with the Father, not the same substance. The Christological issue here is that Arius makes Jesus out to be not eternal, whereas God is eternal. Both of these ideas are in direct contradiction with scripture, which says of Christ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" and in which Christ says of Himself "I and the Father are one" and "truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I AM [YHWH]." (Emphases mine).
In keeping with the plain truth of scripture, the Nicene fathers are affirming that the Word, which is Jesus Christ, is of one substance with the Father, that He and the Father "are one," and that He is, truly, God. Nothing other than total qualitative sameness is possible here.
Edit: A caveat, the contention is that the Son of God is not eternal, whereas orthodox Christianity holds that He is, in keeping with John 1. The human nature of Christ is created and exists in time. But the Son, consubstantial with the Father, is eternal and is fully and totally God, necessarily, or else John 1 (and Christ's own words, "I and the Father are one) is mistaken.
Upvote:1
One of the main arguments of classical Arianism was that, since the Father is unbegotten, and the Son begotten (of the Father), then the two must therefore of necessity be of a different nature, inasmuch as one and the same substance cannot be said to be both begotten and unbegotten at the same time, inasmuch as that would lead to a blatant self-contradiction.
As such, IF one includes the personal or hypostatic attributes (fatherhood, son-ship, and procession) within the term substance, one must of necessity use h*m*-ousios, rather than mono-ousios, per your own (correct) understanding of the term's historical meaning, prior to the rise of Arianism.
However, IF one excludes personal or hypostatic attributes from the term's definition, than one could use either. This exclusion is ultimately the work of the Cappadocian fathers. It was not present at Nicaea, hence its use of h*m*- rather than mono-ousios; and, while the Cappadocians themselves have never, to my knowledge, actually changed Greek Nicene terminology, they nevertheless made it possible to translate or render h*m*-ousios as of one and/or the same substance, in stead of strictly of the same substance, as it has previously been the case.
More post
- 📝 According to Catholicism, where will our resurrected bodies be after the 'final judgment'?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Irresistible Grace?
- 📝 According to Reformed theology, where is the Scriptural evidence for h*m*ousion?
- 📝 Why are the first five books of the old testament named differently in some translations?
- 📝 Are Catholics allowed to believe that the EF or OF is objectively more reverent than the other?
- 📝 What is the "General Magisterium" in Roman Catholicism?
- 📝 Is John 3:23 contradicted by 1 John 4:5-6? Does the born again experience happen by the Holy Spirit or by both the word of God/Gospel and Holy Spirit?
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's take on copies of Bible printed with errors?
- 📝 Do pre-tribulational, pre-millenial theologies reconcile with Jehovah's Witnesses
- 📝 Who was Melchizedek?
- 📝 Absolute Divine Simplicity (ADS) and the Trinity
- 📝 Death becomes her?? But in real life
- 📝 Looking for Complete Online Collection of the Sermons of German Priest, Fr. Franz Hunolt, S.J
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's view on the appointment of theologians by NASA to study the impact of belief in ETs, in the context of Gen 6:1-3?
- 📝 Arius' death was it miraculous or was he poisoned?
- 📝 Why do Greek Orthodox venerate icons and Roman Catholic statues?
- 📝 How do Cessationists expect people to believe without seeing miracles today?
- 📝 How do Cessationists interpret Matthew 7:21-23?
- 📝 Were birthdays celebrated by believers anywhere in Holy Scriptures?
- 📝 Does the diversity in doctrines among Christian traditions indicate that there are multiple "truths"?
- 📝 How is the divinity of Jesus defended in light of Philippians 2:9 ("God exalted him") and Matthew 28:18?
- 📝 What did Jesus mean by `being shrewd'?
- 📝 Where can I find the Orthodox response to the Augsburg Confession?
- 📝 What was the reason for the suspension of the “vegetarian mandate” in Gen 9:1-3 after maintaining it for over 1500 years?
- 📝 In what manner did Christian baptism differ from ritual washing as part of Jewish Teshuva (repentance.)
- 📝 For Catholics who object to Vatican II, what are the key issues?
- 📝 In Matthew 23:35, who was “Zacharias son of Barachias”?
- 📝 When and how did men and women start sitting together in church?
- 📝 What is an overview of the schools of thought regarding the soteriological status of alien life forms?
- 📝 Did Martin Luther write his own Bible?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Should h*m*ousion in the Nicene Creed be translated as "same substance" or as “one substance?”
- 📝 Should the phrase "God from God" in the Nicene Creed be translated as "god from god"?
- 📝 How should I understand the emphasis on "begotten, not made" in the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 Was the Nicene Creed accepted under duress?
- 📝 Does the Nicene Creed condemn Chiliasm?
- 📝 Does the Nicene Creed suggest a strict division of responsibilities within the Trinity?
- 📝 Should Genesis 1:2 be translated "And the earth became without form..."?
- 📝 What did "one baptism" in the Nicene Creed mean back then?
- 📝 Doctrinal significance of the tense and subject of "Adored and Glorified" in the Nicene Creed
- 📝 A Question regarding arguments against the Nicene Creed
- 📝 Was the "Nicene Creed" of AD 381 an update of the Nicene Creed of AD 325?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians explain the Athanasian Creed saying that the "one God" is the Trinity rather than the Father as in the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 What does the Nicene Creed mean when it says that the Father and the Son are of the same substance?
- 📝 Was the Athanasian Creed ever translated into Koine Greek? If so, where can I find the text?
- 📝 What evidence is there that the original framers of the 325 Nicene Creed intended it to be read in subordinationist ways?
- 📝 Which are the OT prophesies referred to in the Nicene Creed in relation to Jesus' Resurrection?
- 📝 In The Nicene Creed is Jesus equal to God the Father?
- 📝 Should a Protestant accept the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church explain the addition of the word “died” in the Nicene Creed
- 📝 Why do most Catholic Churches not say the Nicene Creed anymore and instead say the Apostle's Creed?
- 📝 Does the phrasing in Nicene Creed cast doubt on the eternality of The Son of God?
- 📝 How can we trust the Bible after it has been translated to another language?
- 📝 Did the Apostles' Creed originate with the Apostles?
- 📝 In what order should the books of the (Protestant) Bible be read?
- 📝 According to the Bible, how should Christians meditate?
- 📝 Why is the Gospel of Thomas considered heretical by Nicene Christians?
- 📝 Should a Protestant read the apocryphal books of the Bible?
- 📝 To whom should we pray? To the Father or the son Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
- 📝 What should a Catholic Religious Ed. class be taught about the Reformation?
- 📝 What guidelines or rules should be used when interpreting the Bible?