The latest Master’s Seminary Journal has been posted online. According to the Editorial, the focus of the current issue ‘seeks to honor Nicaea for its convictional defense of Christ, conclusions about His nature, and careful approach in handling God’s Word’ (208).
A pdf of the journal can be downloaded here.
Abner Chou
Editorial: Seventeen Hundred Years After Nicaea
Nathan Busenitz
The Ground and the Pillar of the Faith: The Witness of the Pre-Reformation History to the Doctrine of Sola Scriptura
The foundation of any church creed must be its doctrine of Scripture—the view of God’s Word that dictates the creed’s composition. The Nicene Creed is only authoritative insofar as it reflects the doctrinal positions found in the Bible. No church council possesses theological authority in and of itself. God’s Word is the authority above every earthly authority. Therefore, what the authors of a church creed believe about God’s Word will inevitably shape the creed they formulate. In the case of Nicaea, the church fathers held a high view of God’s Word, such that the unspoken foundation of the creed is the doctrine of sola Scriptura. Based on evidence from the writings of the church fathers, the early church held the strong conviction that God’s Word is inspired and without error, and that it is the highest authority and final court of appeal for the establishment of sound doctrine. This article will explore that conviction as it appears in early church writings.
Abner Chou
One God in Nicaea, 1 Corinthians, and Deuteronomy: The Hermeneutic of the Biblical Writers and the Early Church
On the 1700th anniversary of Nicaea, there are some who celebrate this historic creed and others who critique it, claiming that this was a product of an ancient time and a new understanding of the data is warranted. The question of whether Nicaea is accurate is a hermeneutical one, an issue which, ironically, Nicaea itself was originally desiring to address. The strength of Nicaea, reflected by its inter-textuality, is its biblical and precise hermeneutic. This is evident in even the first phrase of the creed, which echoes 1 Corinthians 8:6 which in turn is an exposition of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4. In tracing this line of texts, it becomes clear that the way Nicaea read Paul is the way Paul wrote, and the way he read the Shema is the way Moses wrote it. Exegetical analysis of this chain of passages demonstrates that the notions of essence, personhood, divine simplicity, and the distinction between Christ and the Father from creation are not later formulations based upon Greek philosophy and metaphysics. Though articulated in their own way, these concepts were present in the way Moses spoke of “one Yahweh” in the Shema and the way Paul spoke of “one God” and “one Lord” in contrast with the idols who are merely called gods and lords. Therefore, Christians confess Nicaea not because of the creed itself but for the very reasons that Nicaea did what it did: its careful exposition of Scripture. The hermeneutic of Moses is the hermeneutic of Paul which is the hermeneutic of Nicaea and the Christian.
Michael Riccardi
The Eternal Generation of the Son: The Backbone of the Nicene Creed
The 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea affords an opportunity for contemporary believers to reflect on Trinitarianism as among the foundations of our theological identity. While not inspired or infallible, the Nicene Creed faithfully represents biblical teaching on the Trinity and the person of Christ. Subordinate to and expository of Scripture, the Nicene Creed is a legitimate doctrinal norm for Christians. The backbone of the creed is the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son; it is the justification for how the Son can be consubstantial with the Father and, at the same time, distinct from the Father. This article undertakes a biblical and theological defense of eternal generation, namely, the eternal communication of the undivided divine essence from the Father to the Son. It shows that eternal generation is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith, and that it is derived from the sound exegesis of several texts from both Testaments, including Psalm 2, Proverbs 8, John 5, and others, including a lexical analysis of the Johannine monogenēs.
Mark Zhakevich
The Deity and Divine Glory of the Son
The Nicene wording “Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father” affirms the deity and glory of the Son. Echoing the language of John’s prologue (John 1:1–18), which this article examines, this portion of the creed declares that the Incarnate Christ is truly God, uncreated, coequal with the Father in glory. The creed conclusively indicates that Arius’ teachings regarding Jesus are heresy, in that they directly contradict the doctrine of Scripture. It is this emphatic declaration of the Son’s glory and essence that showcases the influence of Nicaea, even to the church today.
Peter J. Goeman
“Through Whom All Things Were Made”: Scriptural Foundations for the Son’s Uncreatedness
This study explores John’s Prologue (1:1–3) as the primary exegetical foundation for the Nicene clause “through whom all things were made” (δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο) by showing that the Logos—identified as the preexistent, divine Person of Jesus Christ—is both distinct from the Father and yet fully God. After surveying potential Greek philosophical and Jewish backgrounds (including the Aramaic Targums’ Memra and Old Testament parallels), this article argues that John deliberately uses the “Word” category to emphasize the unique role of the Son as the Creator. John places the Word “in the beginning,” and affirms “all things came into being through Him,” insisting that “apart from Him nothing came into being,” thereby excluding the Word from the created order. In so doing, John’s Prologue agrees with Paul’s affirmation in Colossians 1:15–17, that the Son is the uncreated God. These exegetical underpinnings vindicate the Nicene Creed’s confession of Christ as the Creator and uncreated equal with God.
Jesse Johnson
“For Us and for Our Salvation”: The Plan of Salvation Seen in the Incarnation
At the center of the Nicene Creed is the doctrine of the Incarnation—God becoming Man. This article argues that the Incarnation is properly located within the eternal plan of God for salvation. Thus it is seen in several New Testament texts that refer to the Incarnation as “foreknown from before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4; 1 Pet 1:20; Rev 13:8), as well as in the very first prophecy, Genesis 3:15. Moreover, pro-Nicene Trinitarian categories (such as the person/essence distinction) allow other texts in the Old Testament to be understood in light of the Incarnation. Such texts include those that refer to the appointment of the Son as the mediator (e.g., Ps 110; Zech 12:10), as well as by the existence of typology in the Old Testament. Considered as a whole, the Scriptures present the Incarnation as something planned by God before time, prophesied throughout the Old Testament, revealed in Jesus, and a reality that remains for all eternity.
Kevin D. Hall
The Nicene Creed: The Saving Work of the Son
The Nicene Creed has been a fundamental statement of the Christian faith, rooted in the truth of Scripture, since it was crafted in AD 325. Although it was written 1,700 years ago, it continues to serve the church well in affirming the truth about the Person and work of Christ. This article will focus on the Son’s saving work in the Nicene Creed and examine the core of the Christian message, reflecting on the statement, “He suffered, and on the third day He rose again, ascended into heaven…” This research will break down the statement, analyzing each event in the text of Scripture and highlighting the significance and beauty of these events, with the hope of providing understanding and encouragement about what Christ did for the believer, as articulated in this part of the creed.
John F. MacArthur
The Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, and, Addendum: An Overview of Future Judgments
The Nicene Creed culminates with the triumphant declaration, “He [Christ] shall come to judge the living and the dead” (ἐρχόμενον κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς). This doctrine, the return of Christ in judgment, is a key component of the Bible’s presentation of Christ. Addressing the eschatological judgments revealed in Scripture, this article consists of two parts. First, it includes a discussion about the judgment of the sheep and the goats from the Olivet Discourse. Second, to provide a greater understanding of all the future judgments, it concludes with an overview of each end-time judgment. As the reader will observe, Nicaea’s declaration of Christ’s return in judgment and glory is thoroughly biblical and worthy of consideration today.
Kevin Zuber
From Nicaea 325 to Constantinople 381: Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa on τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα: Part One
This article is Part One of a two-part series on what the church believes about the Holy Spirit. This article—Part One—has three sections. First, there is a brief examination of the question, “Why is the statement of the Nicene creed of 325 on the Holy Spirit so brief?” Second, there is a succinct excursus presenting the biblical teaching that the Holy Spirit has both deity and personhood. Third, there is the first installment of an examination of the work of four key fourth-century theologians on the subject of the Holy Spirit. This first installment examines the work of Athanasius; the other installments (constituting the whole of Part Two) examine the work of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The objective of this examination of the work of these theologians is to understand how the church went from the inadequate statement about the Spirit in the Nicene Creed of 325 to produce the better statement about the Spirit in the Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. In particular, the intention of this study is to show the part Scripture played as these theologians engaged with heretical views and as they articulated their doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
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