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
- 📝 Are there teachings of the Catholic Church on the similarity between Christ and the ram that Abraham sacrificed?
- 📝 Why is Lust a sin in Matthew, but praised in Proverbs?
- 📝 How can the Son not know what the Father knows?
- 📝 Identify this story about the end times from the Desert Fathers
- 📝 How do Catholics reconcile the Immaculate Conception with Romans 3:23?
- 📝 What is seen to actually occur if a female were to be the subject of laying on of the hands in ordination?
- 📝 What does it mean "...blood that will be shed by many of you for the forgiveness of sins"?
- 📝 Was adelphopoiesis a plural rite?
- 📝 Are some people created to go to Hell?
- 📝 Who pays for Protestant seminary education for aspiring ministers?
- 📝 Is Genesis 18 regarded as a Theophany of the Trinity by any denomination?
- 📝 Is there a co-relation between the name or Bethlehem and Jesus' teachings?
- 📝 What's the normal term for a Catholic priest that works in a parish under another one?
- 📝 Chimera Image on my leather jacket?
- 📝 Are there any Christian groups that believe in only One God (The Father revealed by Christ) and only One Gospel rather than 4 Gospels?
- 📝 Why don't priests give Holy Communion to everyone at Mass?
- 📝 What was the 16th century Catholic doctrine on Greek gods?
- 📝 Do mormons have a doctrine of afterlife preaching and repentence?
- 📝 What is the gist of CARM's criticism of Joyce Meyer?
- 📝 Burying a fish as a Christmas tradition?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, is tempting another person a sin?
- 📝 What is the official Catholic view of a feminine element within the Trinity?
- 📝 How has Roman Catholic Confession changed throughout the centuries?
- 📝 What do "Templar" and "Soldiers of Christ" mean?
- 📝 How long are extraordinary ministers allowed to possess the Eucharist?
- 📝 Where did St. Catherine of Siena say: “Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.”?
- 📝 King David accepts God's will by touching the Ark
- 📝 Israel’s pronoun in the Old Testament?
- 📝 Does Paul ever actually quote Jesus anywhere?
- 📝 Are there verifiable written reports of Christians praying to God about recent events and receiving supernatural knowledge?
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?