“…For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world .”

 

The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Easter I

April 11, 2021

 

1 John 5:4: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 

 

John the beloved Disciple begins our Epistle selection for the day with a strong statement of victory and achievement.  It is fitting that he should say so in this blessed season of Easter, for this is the time of Christ’s exultation over death, despair and perdition.  This is also our time of victory through Him.  In the big scheme of things, Good wins. Evil is defeated.

 

In bold and stirring words, John says we who believe in the Son of God can overcome the world.  In fact, in Christ, we the church through faith have overcome the world.

 

What? On the surface it seems unlikely when one surveys the relative powerlessness of many Christians around the world.  Consider all those who are persecuted for the faith. Although in this country, we are still free from persecution, in many places it is not so.  In China, in the Middle East, and in parts of Africa, persecution is real and active.  There are people, even today, who are suffering and dying for the faith of Christ. 

 

Thus, one might be tempted to look upon these martyrs and say, “Overcome the World?  Rather the world has overcome them…”  This would be the obvious conclusion and it would be patently wrong.

 

Consider this.  As the disciple is not above his master, nor is the servant above his lord, so are these blessed saints in relation to Christ.  As Jesus told those women who bewailed him on his way to Golgotha, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”[1]

In other words, if the World dared to strike the Head, what will happen to those that follow Him?  The World shall strike them, just as it did their Master.  They shall suffer persecution, deprivation, and even death.  As in the early Church, many will become as “offscouring of all things”.[2]  Yet, just as the World thought it had defeated Jesus by depriving Him of earthly life, it was totally wrong.  Christ overcame the hate of the World through Love. He asserted His Lordship over death and despair by rising from the dead.  Hate and evil were frustrated and defeated. Christ’s victory was complete.

 

As faithful disciples, those suffering for the faith, through faith, will be glorified like their Master.  They will experience the glorious overcoming of the world, just as Christ did. They may be cast down for a while, as was Christ, but their glory will forever outshine the malignancy of evil.  They will overcome the world through faith.

 

Yet, when we see the vicissitudes of the Church in the World, we ponder St. Paul’s words in First Cor. 1:26: (1 Corinthians 1:26): For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”

 

St. Paul was referring to the origins of the early Church. It grew, not from an endorsement from the rich and powerful, but rather despite indifference from them.  This changed into an active persecution of Christianity by the time of the Emperor Diocletian.   Again, how can it be that we Christians overcome the world, especially when we consider what our Lord Himself said in Luke 16:8: “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

 

John answers this internal inquiry we might have when he says, “⁵ And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?  In accepting this,  many Christians have “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”[3]  To use a well-worn but truthful phrase, although we are in the world, we should not be of it. In other words, we honor the Earth and our earthly existence as good and holy things, but they are not ultimate.  Earthly life should not hold complete sway over us.  We note its glitter and illusions, yet we are above them. 

 

The Apostle John reinforces our faith that Christ is the One that Overcame as he presents Christ’s “credentials.”[4] That is, there are witnesses to Christ’s existence, His glory and his Victory.

First, there is the Spirit of God, who bears witness to Christ constantly in our hearts, through our worship and reception of the Blessed Sacrament, and through our reading of the Word of God.  All this comes through grace by the Holy Spirit.  He is truth. 

 

Continuing, John tells us: “⁷ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”  Only in the Gospel and writings of John is Christ constantly referred to as “the Word”. The most familiar reference being in John 1:1, where we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  The Divine Son of God in the Glory that he had before the Worlds, certainly bears witness to his human nature, as well as his divine nature.  We know that the Father bore witness to His Son directly, first at his Baptism, when God the Father spoke: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  The Father spoke again at the Transfiguration, when Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah, becoming glistening white.  He said, (Luke 9:35) “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”  The Holy Ghost also witnessed directly to Jesus at His Baptism, descending bodily upon Him in the form of a dove.

 

The importance of this little section of Scripture cannot be understated: it is proof text for the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.   Just as these three bear witness to Christ, they witness to us about the nature of God.  He is One God in Three Persons, not three Gods, three Fathers, three Sons or three Spirits. These three Persons bear witness to Christ.

 

John echoes this, as he says, “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one”. 

Thus, we have a wonderful parallel of witness, both in heaven and on earth to Christ.  As many Church fathers have taught us, and even modern writers like C.S. Lewis, things on earth are a faint reflection of things in heaven.

 

The witness of men is important, but the witness of God is greater.  When we see the Scriptures through new, spiritual eyes and see the overwhelming evidence for the work and victory of Jesus Christ, we receive the witness in ourselves. Thus, we have witness that Jesus Christ is Lord.  To God’s eternal glory, we can only confess that Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we have the grace to confess this, it is well with us. We are beginning to overcome the world.

 

The record God has given us is quite simple: it is the sum of the Gospel: “And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

 

We give thanks to God that He has seen fit to call us into the fellowship of His Son… We give thanks that we, through Christ, have overcome the World. AMEN

 

⁷ “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

---

[1] Luke 23:31

[2] I Cor. 4:13

[3] Heb 11:13

[4] Henry, Matthew, Commentary on 1^st John

Whom do we Know?

 

Rev. Stephen E. Stults

St. Paul’s Anglican Church

March 21, 2021

Passion Sunday

 

John 8:55: “Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.”

 

What does it mean to “know” Jesus? This is a great question, and one that should be asked in the season of Lent.  It is during this season that we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming Easter joys.  Is it not during Lent that one should ask, “What does it mean to know Jesus?”  Better yet, shouldn’t one ask, “Do I know Jesus?”

 

Before we answer that question, let me relate a story. Some time ago, I was having a conversation with several Christian ministers. I was introduced to the group by a great friend and Christian brother, a Pentecostal bishop of the Apostolic Orthodox Church. This particular bishop is working to meld the Pentecostal aspects of Christian worship with the liturgical side of worship, which we do here.  He said to the group, “This is Fr. Stephen Stults, a man who knows the Lord.”  At the time I confess I was flattered by the comment, but later, I was troubled. Did I really know the Lord?  What did that mean?

 

Those of you who have attended our last three Lenten suppers have heard something of this. We have discussed at length the difference between a transactional or relational basis of living with God. Being transactional means you attempt to make a deal with God. If He will do this, you will do this. We illustrated the tragic examples of self-flagellation in the Middle Ages, where people would shred their own flesh in exchange for a hoped-for deliverance from the Black Death.  This is transactional.  It is also flawed because it assumes some element of self-salvation.  It assumes that something you do will cause the Almighty to act in your favor.

This is not to know God.  It is merely trying to use him by making a deal.  It also may assume that God delights in our misery, which, according to Scripture, is contrary to God’s chief attribute, love. To our mind, the only possible way God would treasure your suffering is if it brings about true or greater repentance. Even in these cases, suffering usually springs from the consequences of our sins.  We sin, we suffer, and hopefully we repent.

 

This parallels the so-called “sin cycle” of the Old Testament.  Israel would sin grievously, often for an extended period of time, God would bring forth judgement upon them, and they would repent.  This cycle is repeated several times until the greatest judgement occurred in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the Temple (and Jerusalem with it). Israel ceased to be a nation, being under the yoke of various foreign powers until the re-constitution of the Jewish State of Israel.

 

For a bit of history and fulfillment of prophecy: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.[1] This process began in 1946, when Pres. Truman endorsed the relocation of 100,000 displaced persons to Palestine, then under British control.  Throughout 1947, the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine examined the Palestinian question and recommended the partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. On November 29, 1947 the United Nations adopted Resolution 181 (also known as the Partition Resolution) that would divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948 when the British mandate was scheduled to end.[2] The rest is history, as Israel grew and flourished again as a nation, despite facing immediate war from the surrounding Arab states. 

 

It has been noted that Pres. Truman was especially desirous to assist Israel.  Sincee he was a devout Southern Baptist, did he feel that re-establishing the state of Israel would perhaps usher in the Millennial era, culminating in the Second Coming of Christ? Could this be an example of transactional thinking?

 

Knowing God involves something else.  It means that you have a relationship with Jesus. It means that you appreciate his Divine Character and love Him for it. It means that you trust in Him for salvation, and that you recognize that you are saved by grace through faith, and not by your striving.

 

It also means that this relationship is maintained through constant communication with God in the form of prayer: both formal and informal; as well as worship and service in His Church.  The more we talk with God, the closer we become, and the more we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind.

 

Our relationship with God  - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, should be dynamic, never static.  Since God is all about life, so shall our relationship be. The Prayer Book says, “…that, as we grow in age we may grow in grace….”.

 

Today’s Gospel gives examples of transactional vs. relational thinking. Jesus has just been accused of being a despised Samaritan by the Jews. To make the insult worse, they accuse Him of being possessed as well! From the New American Standard version, we read: (John 8:48): “The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Now, they have accused Christ of not only being an enemy to the Jewish nation and to their religion (a Samaritan), but also being demon-possessed![i]

 

Christ’s reply is meek and gentle.[ii] (John 8:49:  “Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.” This is a reply that most of us could not make. Our usual response to such a charge is to lash out with anger or resentment.

We know from the O.T. sacrificial system, that transactional relationships were the norm.  One would sin and one would present sacrifice for purposes of atonement. There was a specific type of sacrifice called the “sin sacrifice.” The whole of Jewish life was regulated by the Law, itself defined by transactions: one follows the Law, one is blessed; one breaks the law, one suffers judgement.  All in all, it was plainly stated: the pious Jew followed the Law; the impious did not. Blessings and curses would follow each path.

The Scribes and Pharisees were the guardians of the Law.  The knew it, they studied it, and they interpreted it to the common Jew. They were, without a doubt, the masters of the transactional practice of religion.

Their accusation of Christ shows this plainly. Implicit in the words is a transactional cause-and-effect situation: “Say we not well that thou art of Samaritan (inferior to the Jew with inferior Samaritan Scriptures and practice), and thou hast a devil? (the natural curse from living outside the Jewish Law).  This is how they related to God.  It was mechanistic and perhaps somewhat crass.  As time progressed, many pious Jews thought God owed them a blessing due to their flawless keeping of the Law! They knew the Law, but they did know God.

Always, in all situations, Jesus was in constant relationship with His Father.

Only once in Christ’s life could it be argued that He was apart from His Father.  That, of course, was the dreadful isolation on the Cross. He took all the world’s sin into Himself and as St. Paul says, became sin for us. Sin is separation from God. This is what Jesus endured for us, so that sin will not separate us forever from God. For a time, His relationship with the Father was suspended.

Now, here comes the difficult question: whom do we honor? If we are like the majority of the human race, we seek to honor ourselves.  Our self esteem, our well-being, our advancement, are key to our attitude and behavior. “Take care of Number One”, as the old saying goes.

Realistically, this is how people survive, and it may not be necessarily bad.  It can lead to great improvement in our own lives and those around us.  After all, what does an entrepreneur do but think of something that people want, then strive to deliver that good or service?  In so doing, he helps himself and society.

The key is what is the source of this inspiration?  If it is human will, sublimated in the Will of God, nothing but good can occur.   All will benefit, a “win-win-win” will happen.

In the case of the parables’ Pharisees, there is something else at work.  Their approach to Jesus is not born out of pure motives, but those of pride and fear.  How dare this rude rabbi presume to teach the people!  How dare He heal the sick! Just who does he think he is?

Exactly.  Rather than see Jesus as the long-expected Messiah, they react to protect themselves and their position. They seek to honor themselves. Understandably, it would be shocking to see and hear the things Jesus said and did, especially if one was charged with keeping the religious life of Israel.   After all, it was their job to teach the people from the Law of Moses. Their reaction is natural, yes, but it lacked one thing: faith. Their own pride and need for prestige did not allow them to see Christ as Messiah. All they saw was a presumptuous prophet saying outrageous things.

Beloved, let us examine this in terms of our Lenten journey.  How much do we seek to honor God, rather than ourselves?  How much, or how often, do we ask that His Will be done in our lives?  Has our Lenten experience been positive in this regard?

Most likely, we will not be hung on a cross, like Christ.  Most likely, we will not be scourged and mocked like Him.  Most definitely, we will not be asked to take the World’s sin upon us. Yet, when we give our will to God, all of us are fearful that God will ask something of us. We are afraid that He will ask us to do something we do not want to do. We may be afraid that bad things will happen, or that we will have to suffer for Christ.

Well, beloved in Christ, here’s the kicker: all of us will suffer in this life, whether we are in God’s Will, or not.  Jesus tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust.[iii]  Yet, there is a difference: the Christian prays for God’s will and the grace to meet whatever challenges happen to him.  The ungodly, or natural man suffers, and says “Why?” Whereas the Christian knows all things are pre-ordained in some wonderful and mysterious way, the man who knows not God is bewildered and bitter. Even in the Christian’s sufferings, there is a blessedness that the pagan will never know.

When we honor God, we are honoring ourselves, because we are in tune with what our Creator has willed for us. It is seldom easy, but it is the right path for us. Through God’s grace, we will realize, in time, that God’s Will is the only way to true peace and joy.

We cannot be more honored than that.     AMEN

---

[1] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel

[2] Ibid

---

[i] Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/8-48.htm

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Matt. 5:45

My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord

 

The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Easter Sunday, 2021

V.  Alleluia!  The Lord is risen!

R.  The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!

 

“O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth from generation to generation.” (From the Jubilate Deo in the service of Daily Morning Prayer.)

 

Today is the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Praise God! It is the feast of feasts for us.  We honor Christ’s victory over death, sin and the grave.  Today we celebrate victory over Man’s ancient foe, Death.  Today, we celebrate our status as sons and daughters of the Most High God. As Christ is victor over the grave, so through Him we are victorious over uncertainty and doubt. Our eternal destination is made sure. Today, we affirm one fundamental truth, from John 14:6: ^“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

 

We affirm confidently that we share in Christ’s resurrection. We proclaim to the world, “I am a Christian.  I am free from the fear of death.  I am filled with the love of God.  I am an heir of salvation and eternal life.” 

 

Consider the following texts from the Word of God that clearly show us this truth:

^KJG John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in

me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”

 

^KJG John 14:2 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, ¹, I would have told you. I go to ² prepare a place for you.”

 

^KJG John 3:16 ^{1 “}For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth ² in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

 

^KJG Matthew 20:28  “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

 

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. It is the second Dominical Sacrament, created by Christ himself.  The other is Holy Baptism. In this most blessed Sacrament, we remember our Lord’s death and are fed sacramentally with Him each time we participate in the Eucharist.  On Good Friday, Our Lord offered himself as the “one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice” for us.  On Holy Saturday, our Lord’s body rested in the sepulcher.  Today, Easter Sunday, our Lord Christ rose from the dead and opened unto us the gates of larger life.

 

St. Paul tells us that we who have been baptized into his death also share in His resurrection.  As Jesus told his disciples on Maundy Thurday: ( John 16:20): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” Today is the day that we have joy like no other, for we know that our Lord liveth and maketh intercession for us.

 

Christ’s resurrection is foreshadowed in the O.T. In the glorious words of Job, chapter 19: “²⁵ For I know that my ¹ redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ²⁶ And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet ¹ in my flesh shall I see God.”  In the notes to the Geneva Bible, it states: “In this Job declares plainly that he had a full hope, that both the soul and body would enjoy the presence of God in the last resurrection.”

 

We Christians know this to be true.  As Christ is, so shall we be. Christ, coming to take our manhood upon Him, tasted death for every man. We will not experience the chilling isolation He experienced on the Cross.  Christ, our Captain of salvation, did this for us. This is what we celebrate today.

 

Our Gospel tells us early in the morning, Mary Magdalene came to the sepulcher, perhaps to mourn for Christ, or as other Gospel accounts say, to anoint His body. Expecting to find the tomb sealed, she finds it open.  Immediately, she thought that Jesus had been removed and ran to tell the other disciples.

 

Peter and “the other disciple”, John, run to the tomb. John comes to the tomb first, sees the linen grave wrappings, but does not go in.  He hesitates.  When Peter arrives, bold, strong, brash Peter, he rushes into the tomb.  He sees the clothes and amazingly, the head napkin, neatly wrapped and lying by itself.  This is not a crime scene.  No grave robber stole the body.  It is a purposeful, designed situation where our Lord gloriously rose from the dead, neatly wrapped the cloth that was around His head, and went out.

 

Beloved in Christ, what is Easter to you?  Do you boldly believe in the power of Christ’s Resurrection?  Some did not.  St. Paul in 1 Cor. 15, speaks of those who doubted the resurrection: “¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen." ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty." ¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up -- if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! ¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  

 

We do not doubt.  We proclaim this message: Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ will come again.  The glorious Gospel continues:  we are no longer slaves to sin and death. Meaninglessness and oblivion are not in our future.

 

The promise of Easter isn’t only about the life hereafter, although this is paramount. Yet, be that as it may, if that were all, many people, even believers, might have some difficulty committing to the Christian Life.  No, our new life in Christ means a difference, a distinction, now, here on Earth. 

 

This is where the difference lies.  Christians genuinely have hope and power to live a blessed, empowered life in the Holy Trinity.  Only in Christ can we experience joy in our life despite our circumstances. Only in Christ can we have the “peace that passeth understanding”, an “extra something” that sets us apart from the World.  It is that grace that helps us live each day in joy, not despair; love, not hate; and a sense of completeness as opposed to emptiness.  It is truly marvelous and truly mysterious

 

Consider what St. Paul said about false hope in Christ; he said: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  If Christ was not true, our belief would not be true. We would have a dire situation to deal with. If Christ died and stayed in the grave, we would have to agree. We would be he most pitiful of people.

 

 It is not so, however.  In the most glorious of affirmations, the Apostle continues: “²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

 

This is the truth of Easter.  This is what we celebrate today.  This is our faith, our hope, and our joy. Thanks be to God!

 

^{John 20:8} “Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed.”

Action and Faith

The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church

The Fourth Sunday after Easter (St. Athanasius)

 May 2, 2021

Today, we commemorate the feast day of St. Athanasius. Athanasius I of Alexandria^{[note 1]} (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or, primarily in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Athanasius the Apostolic, was the 20th bishop of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). Recall that on the 3^rd Sunday of Easter, we also celebrated St. Mark, the first Bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius’ intermittent episcopacy spanned 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 encompassed five exiles, when he was replaced on the order of four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century. (Recall that Arianism is a Christological heresy first attributed to Arius (c. AD 256–336),^[1][2] a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that the Son of God is not co-eternal with God the Father^[1][a] and is distinct from the Father (therefore subordinate to him). However, as in mainstream Trinitarianism, Arianism holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,^[4][b][5][c] who was begotten by God the Father.[1])

Conflict with Arius and Arianism as well as successive Roman emperors shaped Athanasius' career. In 325, at the age of 27, Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council in May–August 325 to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father.^[4] Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as archbishop of Alexandria. In addition to the conflict with the Arians (including powerful and influential Arian churchmen led by Eusebius of Nicomedia), he struggled against the Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate and Valens. He was known as Athanasius Contra Mundum (Latin for Athanasius Against the World).

Nonetheless, within a few years of his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the "Pillar of the Church". His writings were well regarded by subsequent Church fathers in the West and the East, who noted their devotion to the Word-become-man, pastoral concern and interest in monasticism. Athanasius is considered one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in the Catholic Church.^[5] In the Eastern Orthodox Church Athanasius is the first person to identify the same 27 books of the New Testament that are in use today.

He is venerated as a Christian saint, whose feast day is 2 May in Western Christianity, 15 May in the Coptic Orthodox Church, and 18 January in the other Eastern Orthodox Churches. He is venerated by the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church, the Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Communion.[2]

At one point, Athanasias was the lone bishop who was not Arian. Thus, his moniker, “Athanasius against the World.” Thanks to his steadfastness and courage for orthodoxy, the Christian Church did not veer off into heresy forever. If Arianism had prevailed as the dominant theological strain of the Church, our religion would be quite different. The doctrine of the Trinity would not be the bedrock doctrine of our understanding of God.  Instead, we would have a distorted view of God. Rather than believing that each Person of the Trinity is co-eternal and co-equal, we would believe that God the Father is paramount, followed in power by the Son, with the Holy Ghost almost as an afterthought. This view perverts the unity and order of the Trinity. It also perpetuates the error that there are three Divine Beings.  This is a chief accusation that Islam levels against Christians, that we are multi-theists.

Luckily for us, Athanasius held for the traditional, orthodox view that God is One Being, in which there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no inequality in the Trinity: each Person is co-eternal, co-equal, and consubstantial.  This last term, the idea of being consubstantial, is the reason St. Athanasius ran afoul of the Arians. 

This term begs the question:  is Jesus, in his divinity, of the same substance as God the Father? If He is not, that means the Son is something different from the Father. If this is true, could Jesus save us, being God Himself?  Or, was He just sent to Earth by an authoritative Father-figure to act as His agent of salvation?

We think you might begin to see the difficulty here.  If Jesus is something different from the Father, that is, if he is not of the same substance, it raises great questions as to whom He is.  We are led into another whole field of quasi-theology, resulting in our confusion.

Instead, like Athanasius, we will stand on what the ancient Church has taught, and what the Word of God has revealed to us.  The second Person of the Trinity, the blessed Son, came to earth of His own free will, became incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Mother, and became man.  Man did not take on Divinity, but Divinity took on humanity.  As such, Jesus is inferior to the Father regarding His humanity, but equal to the Father regarding his divinity. As recorded in the Gospel of John (10:30), Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.”

At this point, one may wonder, “Why bother with all this theology?” Does it really matter? Unequivocally, yes… What you believe affects how you think.  How you think affects how you behave.  How you behave affects the world and the overall fabric of society.  People of faith tend to act with more purpose and conviction in a positive way, because at least they have a basic “roadmap” for life. Granted, others not of the household of faith also act with purpose and conviction, sometimes tirelessly, but their orientation is not as positive, if at all. Absent the Spirit of God, they appeal to the centrality of Man in all things.  In the end, this always fails due to the finality and fragility of Man.  We are a fallen race and can only reach perfection in Jesus Christ.

As always, all heresies begin and end with Jesus. To the faithless and unchurched, He is an enigma at best, as they ponder the God-Man thing, or at least, merely reduced to a great human teacher who was unjustly killed.  Either way, without the great teaching of the Church, there is a profound chasm of spiritual peril on both sides of the narrow path to salvation. 

 

Praise God, we of the household of faith are led up this pathway to righteousness by no other than the Great Shepherd, our Savior, our God, our Brother, and our eternal Friend, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Following His lead, we can never stray.

[Heb 13:20-21] “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria