The 16:25
I. Big Picture
A shift of genres
Confessions: formation of the self
Accessible way
Many people can relate too
Anthanisus personality and journey to faith is orderly exposition to theological thoughts
Meaning of God, Creation, etc.
We can identify a distinct number of theological thoughts
God and cosmology
Trying to understand where creation comes from and what the structure of creation is
Doctrine of salvation
Loving God despite humans screwing everything up
How does God to ensure that things turn out okay
How does God solve the problem that humans created
Context
Ambiguity in the Bible & early church
Widespread agreement and widespread disagreement about Jesus
Agreement: Jesus Christ is supremely important
What made Him unique: He had special and unique relationship with God such that He can
redeem other human beings/restore broken relationship with God
He wasnt located in the past but alive for early Christian community
Source of joy and source of early Christians to relate to God and other Christians
Disagreement: arises because questions about exact nature of Christs relationship with God
Most important human being chosen by God/adopted by God so that God could carry out Gods
saving plan
OR was Jesus Christ God in the fuller sense
Somebody who shares in the divine being
All the properties of God Himself
Reasons why questions arose was because of New Testament
Colossians 1:15 = two viable interpretations
Surely if somebody is image of God, surely they too is God
Appropriately to say Jesus Christ is God
OR image cannot mean same thing as God
Firstborn means Jesus is fully human
New Testament can support a variety of interpretations and precisely because of that, it was
legitimate/understandable that early Christians disagreed about ultimate identity of Jesus Christ
Arius and Arianism
Arius person that Athanasius opposed
Popular and gathered a lot of followers
Arius/Arians believed two concerns
To preserve Gods utter simplicity and utter transcendence
Absolutely no distinctions in God God is simply One
More One than the number one
Utter transcendence: God is utterly other from the world/utterly distant/utterly
different/inaccessible
Creation begins with creation of the Son, Son is identifiable as Jesus Christ
Because creation begins with the Son, the Son is not God but ultimately a creature
If Jesus is a creature, Jesus Christ is not God
There was a time when He was not = Arian slogan
Athanasius and Nicea
Jesus Christ defined in same way God the Father is defined
Jesus is fully God
Athanasiuss contrasts Arius to the fullest
II. a narrative of creation & salvation
Distinction & Unity: The Father and the Word/Son of God
Distinction but not division in the One God
Two names that should be distinguished but not merged into one
Both pertain to One God but contains some type of distinction
Distinction goes hand in hand in believing that God is one = God is unified but distinct between
Father and Word
Unity including distinction
Word of God is derived from the Father but coequal with Father because He has all the qualities
of the Father
Father generates the Word of God, also called the Son of God
Son is not a creature but rather, Father generates Son
But not generating something that is inferior
Coequal to God
BIG CLAIM of this book
The Word as Creator and Renewer
Word of God is creator of anything that exists
Word of God is agent of creation and organizes and structures everything that exists in time and
space
Creation comes into existence out of nothing
Out of sheer power of God, and communicated through the Word, creation exists
Word not is just created but also the renewer of creation
Word creates and RECREATES
Word brings into existence out of nothing,
Through the Word of God, God creates and through the Word of God, God saves
Puts things right when things go wrong
God loves humans so much, humans bear the image of God
If the Word of God could be named the Image of God, then humans can be called the image of
the Image of God
Sin and Death
Humans violate the terms of the relationship they are given by God
Human try to erase the image of God that they have been given
Adultery, etc.
Consequence: Humans were brought into existence out of nothing. When humans begin to sin,
a process of de-creation begins
Try to drip back towards nothing
Try to embrace death
Starts to disintegrate
Slipping back towards nonexistence
Puts God in dilemma: God doesnt create so that creatures slip into nonexistence but God
creates so humans can have rich relationship with God
Death starts to reign and God doesnt want that
Not Gods fault that humans are sinning
humans are responsible for sin
preserving relationship or let humans get what they deserve (death)
Divine intolerance: no more death!
Gods love of humans is so intense that its absolutely unthinkable to let go of His project of
creation
God personally steps in -> incarnation
The incarnation of the Word
Word of God exists as a human being while remaining fully God in order to put universe right
again
Word of God adds to himself an individual human body and exists in the mode of human
existence
Does that mean that Word of God changes into human being and ceases to be Word of God
Choosing to exist as human being adding to Himself, not a transmutation
The salvation of humankind
Consequence of God becoming human: humans can start to know; directed on God
God is now comprehensible to human beings
Incarnation of God; drip towards death is halted, movement towards life begins
Reign of death is broken
Christ is the locus of life and immortality
Life radiates out from Christ and affects all humans
Christ had to die in order that life may be given to all mankind
The Crucifixion
Death to be halted, Christ himself has to die
But resurrection means that death is being replaced
New life: resurrection and courage
Resurrection is new birth of human race
Humans do not need to fear death
Because death will be overcome by life
Life will come to ALL human beings; not selective to only Christians
Entirety of human race
III. things to think about
How can there be distinction but One?
Father and Son/God and Two persons?
Dont Christians see God as Three persons?
Athanansius doesnt deal with Holy Spirit
Does he forget to think about Holy Spirit? Is his ___ incomplete?
At the end of his life, Athanasius starts to talk about three persons
But in the beginning of the book, Holy Spirit is pushed to the side
Does Athanasius make it seem like Jesus was fully human?
Jesus suffered and crucified
But Athanasius seems to instrumentalize Christs humanity
Colossians 1:15: He is the image of the invisible of God, the firstborn of creation.
Confessions: formation of the self
Accessible way
Many people can relate too
Anthanisus personality and journey to faith is orderly exposition to theological thoughts
Meaning of God, Creation, etc.
We can identify a distinct number of theological thoughts
God and cosmology
Trying to understand where creation comes from and what the structure of creation is
Doctrine of salvation
Loving God despite humans screwing everything up
How does God to ensure that things turn out okay
How does God solve the problem that humans created
16:25
16:25