Posted by Ray Kidder on 9/21/2009, 9:36 pm, in reply to "Re: Searcher & The Nicene Creed"
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Searcher,
Thanks for your response. I suspect that if you inquired as to the original intent of the words "very God of very God", you might find this term enlightening. I am unsure what this term is supposed to signify, but I suspect that it has to do with the way Jesus proceeds from God the Father.
This web page gives a brief explanation of why the Seven Ecumenical councils took place, and why the Nicene Creed was written:
Eastern Orthodox - Ecumenical Councils
On this web page, this was the given QUESTION: What makes a Council "Ecumenical"? The most common answer I have received is that a council must be received by the whole Church, but what about the Fourth Ecumenical council? It was not received by the entire Church, yet we still believe it's Ecumenical.
The answer to the question begins:
"ANSWER: Every council was called to determine the consensus of the Church to a crisis that was causing a serious division. The first Council at Nicea countered the teachings of Arius, that our Lord was not really part of the Trinity. The second Council in Constantinople had to deal with the teaching of Apollos that our Lord was not really human, and also approved the Nicene Creed. (more follows)"
Theologians like Arius used scriptures to promote their doctrine that Jesus was not really part of the Trinity. It was a controversial subject, and led the Church to discuss the right interpretations of the Bible to counter Arian beliefs. Without such councils, how could the theological problem be solved? It seems likely that the writers of the Nicene Creed discovered the words "very God of very God" as a good way to teach the proper understanding of the pocession of Jesus from the Father. This is from John 8 (NKJV):
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
From reading this verse, how do you know whether or not there was a time in which God the Father existed without God the Son, but God then created Jesus at some point of time such that Jesus then proceeded from God? With such serious divisions, why wouldn't God send His Holy Spirit to enlighten the writers of the Nicene Creed to enlighten those who needed guidance from God, to heal the divisions?
Ray Kidder
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