The beliefs of early Christians regarding the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit were not only different from modern Trinitarian orthodoxy, but they were also highly diverse and fluid. The unified doctrine of the Trinity, as defined at the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), was the product of a long process of theological debate and political consolidation that resolved a wide variety of competing views. Prior to this, a significant number of Christians held beliefs that would later be deemed heretical, demonstrating a theological landscape fundamentally different from the one that would emerge in the 4th century.
The Varied Christologies of the 1st and 2nd Centuries
In the first two centuries, there was no single, agreed-upon "Christology" (theological understanding of Christ). Instead, scholars have identified a range of beliefs, none of which align with the later Trinitarian concept of Jesus as one of three co-equal and co-eternal persons in a single Godhead.
Adoptionism: A common view held that Jesus was born a human being and was "adopted" by God as his Son, either at his baptism (as suggested in early versions of the Gospel of Mark) or at his resurrection. Proponents of this view, such as the Ebionites, believed Jesus was a purely human prophet, chosen and empowered by God. This view is fundamentally incompatible with the Trinitarian doctrine of a pre-existent, eternally begotten Son. As scholar James D.G. Dunn argues in Christology in the Making (1989), the earliest layers of the tradition reflect a functional, rather than ontological, divine sonship.
Separationism: This view, also known as Cerinthianism, held that the man Jesus and the divine Christ were two distinct beings. The divine Christ descended upon the human Jesus at his baptism and departed from him before his crucifixion. This neatly separated Jesus' humanity from his divinity, a concept that would later be explicitly condemned by the orthodox position.
Modalism (or Sabellianism): A later, but still pre-Nicene, attempt to reconcile monotheism with the roles of Father, Son, and Spirit. Modalists argued that God is a single person who manifests Himself in different "modes" or "masks" at different times. God is the Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and the Spirit in sanctification. This view, while maintaining monotheism, denies the distinct personhood of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and was condemned as a heresy that confused the persons of the Trinity.
The Impersonal Nature of the Early Holy Spirit
The concept of the Holy Spirit's divinity developed even more gradually than that of Jesus. In the New Testament, the Greek term pneuma (spirit) is often used impersonally, reflecting the Hebrew concept of ruach as God's dynamic, functional power or breath.
Divine Force, Not Person: In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Holy Spirit was most often understood as an extension of God's power, a divine influence or force that inspired prophecy and empowered believers. It was not yet commonly conceived of as a distinct person with intellect, will, and emotion, as later defined in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
Gradual Personalization: The writings of the early Church Fathers reflect this developmental process. For example, while some, like Justin Martyr, refer to the Spirit as divine, they do not present a clear, personal, and co-equal Trinitarian framework. The formal statement of the Holy Spirit's full divinity would not be established until the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, which expanded on the Nicene Creed to affirm the Holy Spirit as "the Lord, the giver of life," who is "worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son."
The Role of Philosophical Influence
The intellectual framework for the later Trinitarian doctrine was heavily influenced by Hellenistic philosophy. The concept of the Logos (the Word), as developed by Greek thinkers like Philo of Alexandria, provided a philosophical basis for understanding Jesus' divinity as a divine intermediary.
Philo's Logos: Philo described the Logos as the "first-born of God" and the "instrument through which the world was created." Early Christian apologists like Justin Martyr adopted this concept to explain Jesus' pre-existence and his role in creation. However, in Philo's and Justin's view, the Logos was typically a subordinate, second divine being, not a co-equal member of a Trinitarian Godhead. This is a crucial distinction that highlights how early attempts to explain Jesus' divinity were still far from later orthodoxy.
Conclusion
The "fully Trinitarian belief system" as we know it today was a later development, not a core teaching of 1st and 2nd-century Christianity. As scholar Bart D. Ehrman argues in Lost Christianities (2003), early Christianity was a "vastly diverse" movement with a "stunningly wide array of belief systems." The existence of so many conflicting views—from Adoptionism to Modalism—proves that the understanding of Jesus and the Holy Spirit was completely different from the unified, orthodox doctrine that was painstakingly crafted and enforced in the 4th century. The final victory of the Trinitarian view was not a rediscovery of an original truth, but a definitive choice that came at the expense of all other competing beliefs.
No comments:
Post a Comment