Course 8 · Theology and Tradition
God, Trinity, and Creation
Study what the church has taught about the nature of God, the Trinity and creation, how those teachings were formed in the Nicene controversies, and how Christians answer the questions raised by divine sovereignty and evil.
Overview
This course is the first of three on systematic theology, which is the effort to state what Christians believe in an ordered and connected way. It begins with the doctrine of God: who God is, what can be said about God’s nature, and why the church spoke of God in the terms it did. It then follows the long argument over the Trinity, from the New Testament to the Council of Nicaea in 325 and the Council of Constantinople in 381, and the work of the Cappadocian Fathers who gave that argument its settled vocabulary.
The second half of the course turns to creation and God’s relation to the world. It asks what it means to say that God made everything from nothing, how God can be both beyond the world and present within it, and how God governs a world in which suffering and wrongdoing are real. These questions are where the doctrine of God meets ordinary life, and the course treats them honestly, including the strongest objections.
The course is taught in plain language. Technical terms such as simplicity, immutability, homoousios and hypostasis are explained when they first appear. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant positions are stated so that a member of each tradition would recognize them, and the course marks where the churches agree, where they differ, and where the question is still debated by scholars.
By the end you will be able to explain the classical doctrine of God and the Trinity, trace how the church arrived at its language, handle the main arguments about divine attributes, and write a reasoned defense of the Trinity from Scripture and from the history of doctrine. All work is done in your own notebook; nothing is submitted or graded by this site.
Objectives
- Define the main attributes of God in classical theism and explain the reasoning behind each.
- Explain divine simplicity, immutability, eternity and omniscience, and state the strongest objection to each.
- Trace the development of Trinitarian doctrine from the New Testament through Nicaea and Constantinople.
- Summarize the Arian controversy and explain why the Council of Nicaea chose the word homoousios.
- Distinguish the terms ousia, hypostasis and person, and describe the Cappadocian settlement.
- Compare the Eastern and Western emphases in Trinitarian theology without caricature.
- Explain creation ex nihilo and distinguish it from alternative views of how God relates to matter.
- Describe how Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant thinkers understand providence and divine sovereignty, and where they differ.
- Evaluate the main Christian responses to the problem of evil, including the strongest objections to each.
- Write a reasoned defense of the classical doctrine of the Trinity using Scripture and historical theology.
Course outline
Module 1 Speaking About God
Learn how theology speaks about a God who is beyond human understanding, and meet the main attributes of God as the tradition names them.
Topics
- Nature and attributes of God
- Classical theism
- Divine transcendence and immanence
Lessons
Module 2 The Classical Attributes
Study four demanding attributes, how each is argued from Scripture and reason, and the objections each one faces.
Topics
- Divine simplicity
- Divine immutability
- Divine eternity and omniscience
Lessons
Module 3 The Trinity in Scripture and the Early Church
See how the New Testament and the earliest writers spoke of Father, Son and Spirit before there was a settled doctrine.
Topics
- Trinity
Lessons
Module 4 Arius, Athanasius and Nicaea
Read the crisis of the fourth century closely: what Arius taught, what was at stake, and how the council answered.
Topics
- Arian controversy
- Nicene theology
Lessons
Module 5 The Cappadocians and the Shape of Trinitarian Thought
Learn the vocabulary that settled the controversy and the main ways East and West have developed it.
Topics
- Cappadocian theology
Lessons
Module 6 Creation from Nothing
Study what Christians mean by creation, why the church rejected rival accounts, and how God stands to the world made.
Topics
- Creation ex nihilo
Lessons
Module 7 Providence, Sovereignty and Evil
Ask how God governs the world, what divine sovereignty does to human freedom, and how Christians have answered the problem of evil.
Topics
- Providence
- Divine sovereignty
- Problem of evil
Lessons
Suggested schedule
| When | Work |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Module 1: Speaking About God |
| Week 2 | Module 2: The Classical Attributes |
| Week 3 | Module 3: The Trinity in Scripture and the Early Church |
| Week 4 | Module 4: Arius, Athanasius and Nicaea |
| Week 5 | Module 5: The Cappadocians and the Shape of Trinitarian Thought |
| Week 6 | Module 6: Creation from Nothing |
| Week 7 | Module 7: Providence, Sovereignty and Evil |
| Week 8 | Independent assignment and self-assessment |
Readings
Required
- Council of Nicaea (325) and Council of Constantinople (381), The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
The statement of faith confessed by Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant churches. Learn it line by line before reading anything else on the Trinity.
How to use it: Read the creed slowly, line by line. Mark each phrase that answers a particular error, such as begotten, not made, and of one substance with the Father.
Read the creed (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) In the library - Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word
A short and clear account of why God became man. It is the best first patristic text for a beginner.
How to use it: Read the opening chapters on creation and the Word. Notice how the doctrine of creation from nothing shapes his argument about why the Word became flesh.
Read online (New Advent (Church Fathers)) In the library - Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto)
Basil’s defense of the full divinity of the Holy Spirit and a key text on unwritten tradition.
How to use it: Read selectively for Basil’s defense of the Spirit’s divinity and his appeal to the worship practice of the church.
Read online (New Advent (Church Fathers)) In the library - Gregory of Nyssa, Dogmatic Treatises, etc. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, vol. 5)
A volume of Gregory’s doctrinal writings. The place to meet the Cappadocian way of explaining one God in three persons.
How to use it: Read selectively in the Trinitarian treatises for the Cappadocian argument about one nature and three persons.
Read online (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) In the library - Augustine of Hippo, On the Trinity
The most influential Western treatment of the Trinity. Difficult, so read it after the Cappadocians.
How to use it: Read selectively, beginning with the opening books on Scripture and the Trinity. Treat it as the foundation of Western Trinitarian thought.
Read online (New Advent (Church Fathers)) In the library - Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
The great medieval summary of Christian theology. It is long; use the questions assigned in each course rather than reading straight through.
How to use it: Read the questions on God’s simplicity, immutability, eternity and knowledge (Part I, Questions 3, 9, 10 and 14) as the classic statement of these attributes.
Read online (New Advent) In the library - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Trinity
How the doctrine developed and how philosophers have tried to make sense of it.
How to use it: Use this article to see how contemporary philosophers state the puzzles of the Trinity and the main models proposed.
Read online (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) In the library
Recommended
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Divine Simplicity
Explains a difficult doctrine and its main objections.
How to use it: A clear statement of the doctrine and the objections to it.
Read online (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) In the library - J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines
A standard account of how Christian doctrine took shape in the first centuries.
How to use it: Read selectively for the history of Trinitarian doctrine and the fourth-century controversies.
Find in a library or bookstore catalog (Open Library) In the library - John of Damascus, An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
The eighth-century summary of Eastern doctrine. A standard way into how Orthodox theology organizes the faith.
How to use it: The opening books give a summary of the doctrine of God as the Eastern tradition received it.
Read online (New Advent (Church Fathers)) In the library - Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., The Seven Ecumenical Councils (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, vol. 14)
The decrees and canons of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon with the surrounding history. The primary text for Courses 5, 6 and 9.
How to use it: Use the documents of Nicaea and Constantinople to see the councils in their own words.
Read online (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) In the library - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Problem of Evil
A full and fair survey of logical and evidential arguments and the main theistic responses.
How to use it: A map of the arguments and responses, useful before you read the Christian primary sources.
Read online (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) In the library - Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil
The short book that set out the free-will defense against the logical problem of evil.
How to use it: A short and rigorous presentation of the free will defense.
Find in a library or bookstore catalog (Open Library) In the library - David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss
An argument for the classical understanding of God across religious traditions, written by an Orthodox author.
How to use it: An Orthodox philosopher’s defense of classical theism in modern language. Read selectively.
Find in a library or bookstore catalog (Open Library) In the library - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
The most influential Reformed theology. Book IV is the best statement of the Reformed view of church and sacraments.
How to use it: Read the sections on God, providence and predestination to see the Reformed account of sovereignty.
Read online (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) In the library
Passages in the Scripture Study
- Deuteronomy 6:4 The Shema: the Lord is one. The starting point for any Christian account of God.
- Exodus 3:14 God’s self-naming at the burning bush, often discussed in connection with divine being and the divine name.
- Isaiah 6:3 The seraphim cry Holy, holy, holy; God’s holiness and transcendence, with the earth full of his glory.
- Psalm 90:2 From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. A key text for divine eternity.
- Malachi 3:6 The Lord says he does not change, cited in discussions of immutability.
- James 1:17 With the Father of lights there is no variation or shadow due to change.
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The opening text for the doctrine of creation.
- Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command. Often cited, with debate over how directly it teaches creation from nothing.
- Matthew 28:19 Baptism in the one name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- John 1:1 The Word was with God and was God. Central to the dispute with Arius.
- John 14:26 The Father will send the Spirit in the Son’s name; used in discussions of the Spirit’s relation to the Father and the Son.
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 A Trinitarian benediction in the New Testament letters.
- Acts 17:28 In him we live and move and have our being; a text on God’s nearness to creation.
- Romans 11:36 From him and through him and to him are all things.
- Ephesians 1:11 God works all things according to the counsel of his will, discussed in every account of sovereignty.
- Genesis 50:20 You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. A key text for how God can work through human wrongdoing.
Independent assignment
A Defense of the Classical Doctrine of the Trinity
- Purpose
- To explain and defend the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity from Scripture and historical theology, and to show that you understand both the doctrine and the objections to it.
- Instructions
- State the doctrine in your own words in one paragraph: one God, three persons, the same divine nature, and the relations that distinguish the persons.
- Gather the biblical evidence in three groups: texts affirming that there is one God, texts that distinguish Father, Son and Spirit, and texts that ascribe divine names, works or worship to each. Quote or cite at least eight passages and say what each contributes.
- Trace the historical development in order: the New Testament, Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, the rise of Arius, the Council of Nicaea, the later fourth-century debates, Constantinople and the Cappadocians. Use dates marked c. where they are uncertain.
- Explain the key terms homoousios, ousia, hypostasis and person, and show how the vocabulary solved or clarified the problems of earlier language.
- Present Arianism and one other major rival (modalism or subordinationism) as their supporters would put them, in their strongest form.
- Answer the rivals using Scripture and the church’s reasoning, and explain why the church judged them inadequate.
- State at least two serious objections to the doctrine (for example that it is incoherent, or that it is not in the Bible) and give the best reply to each. Say honestly where a reply is incomplete.
- Compare the Eastern and Western emphases, including the filioque, in a fair paragraph that a member of each tradition would accept.
- Write a conclusion that says what is at stake in the doctrine for worship, salvation and the knowledge of God.
- Required sources
- The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and at least one other required reading.
- At least eight of the Scripture passages for this course, with at least three from outside the list.
- At least one Eastern source and one Western source on the Trinity.
- Length and scope
- About 3,000 to 4,500 words, or ten to fourteen pages. Keep it in your own notebook or document. Do not send it anywhere.
- Questions to address
- What does the church mean by one God in three persons, and what does it not mean?
- What is the strongest biblical argument for the doctrine, and what is the strongest argument against it?
- Why did Nicaea choose a word that is not found in Scripture?
- How do the Cappadocians avoid saying that there are three gods?
- What would be lost if the Son were a creature or the Spirit were only a force?
- Expected output
- A written, referenced defense of the classical Trinity with a historical narrative, a statement of key terms, a treatment of rivals and objections, and a conclusion.
- How it will be evaluated
- It states the doctrine precisely and does not confuse persons with modes or with three gods.
- It supports its claims from Scripture with accurate citations.
- It uses the history of doctrine correctly and marks uncertain dates and uncertain claims.
- It presents rivals and objections fairly, in a form their holders would accept.
- It represents the Eastern and Western traditions fairly.
- It is organized clearly and written in plain, careful language.
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Using an analogy such as water, ice and steam as though it were an argument; such analogies lean toward modalism.
- Saying that Arius denied that Christ was important instead of stating what he taught about the Son as a creature.
- Assuming that the Trinity was invented in 325 without reading the earlier evidence.
- Treating the Cappadocian terms as modern words, so that person means an individual self.
- Citing proof texts without explaining how the church used them.
Knowledge check and self-assessment
What is classical theism?
Classical theism is the view of God shared by most of the early, medieval and Reformation theologians in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. It holds that God is the infinite, self-existent source of all things, simple, unchanging, outside of time, all-knowing and all-powerful, and that God depends on nothing. Some modern theologians have proposed alternatives that make God more passible or more temporal. The debate is about how best to read Scripture and reason, not about whether God matters.
What does divine simplicity mean, and what motivates it?
Divine simplicity is the teaching that God is not composed of parts, such as substance and attributes or essence and existence. God’s goodness, power and knowledge are not separate things added to God; they are the one divine being described in different ways. It is motivated by the idea that God depends on nothing, since anything made of parts depends on its parts. Critics say it is hard to reconcile with real distinctions among attributes and among the persons of the Trinity.
How do defenders of divine immutability reply to the objection that the Bible shows God changing his mind or entering the world?
They distinguish God’s nature from God’s relations. They hold that biblical language about God repenting is a way of speaking about God’s real response to human action in terms humans can grasp, while God’s being, purposes and character do not change. For the incarnation they hold that the Son takes a human nature without his divine nature changing. Critics reply that this makes God’s relationship with creatures seem less real, and the dispute is ongoing.
What did Arius teach, and why did the Council of Nicaea reject it?
Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria in the early fourth century, taught that the Son was the first and greatest of creatures, brought into being by the Father before the world, so that there was a time when he was not. Nicaea in 325 rejected this because it held that if the Son is a creature he cannot reveal God fully or save humanity, which the church understood Scripture to say he does. The council confessed the Son as begotten, not made, and of the same substance as the Father.
Why did the creed adopt the word homoousios, and what does it mean?
Homoousios means of the same substance or being. It was chosen because Arian supporters could accept every biblical title for the Son while still saying he was a creature, and a word was needed that they could not accept. It says the Son is fully God in the same way the Father is, not a lesser being. The word does not appear in Scripture, and some at the time objected for that reason. Athanasius argued that it expressed the sense of Scripture in different words.
What did the Cappadocian Fathers contribute to Trinitarian theology?
Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, in the later fourth century, settled the vocabulary by distinguishing ousia, the one shared being of God, from hypostasis, the particular way that being exists as Father, Son or Spirit. God is one ousia in three hypostases. They also argued for the full deity of the Holy Spirit and described the persons as distinguished by their relations, such as unbegotten, begotten and proceeding.
What is creation ex nihilo, and why does it matter?
Creation ex nihilo means that God made the world out of nothing, not out of pre-existing matter and not out of his own being. It matters because it affirms that everything other than God depends completely on God, that matter is good and not an eternal rival to God, and that God is free in creating. Most scholars hold that the doctrine was clearly stated by Christian writers in the second century, while its roots in Scripture are debated.
Name two Christian responses to the problem of evil and one objection to each.
The free will defense holds that God created beings with real freedom, and that a world with freedom and love is worth the risk of wrongdoing; the objection is that it does not explain natural evils such as disease. The privation tradition from Augustine holds that evil is a lack of good, not a created thing, so God is not its author; the objection is that it can seem to explain away the reality and horror of suffering. Other responses exist, and each tradition combines several.
Judge your own progress
- When you finish the modules, answer the knowledge questions from memory, without notes. Aim for 70 percent or better; if you score lower, reread the relevant module and try again.
- Write your defense of the Trinity (the independent assignment). Wait three days, reread it, and mark every place where a term is used loosely or a claim lacks a source.
- Check your work against the evaluation criteria in the assignment. Rate each criterion as strong, adequate or weak and write one sentence on how you would improve each weak one.
- Return to the key ideas of the course after 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. At each point, explain aloud the difference between ousia and hypostasis, and what Nicaea decided about the Son.
- You can state the doctrine of the Trinity precisely and name the errors it excludes.
- You can narrate the road from the New Testament to Constantinople with accurate dates and names.
- You can present the objections to classical theism and to the Trinity fairly, and reply to them without evasion.