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In this second portion of his presentation, Dr. Branson discusses how different views on the Trinity relate to Orthodox-Roman Catholic relations, including the famous filioque (“and the Son”) dispute and the Great Schism.
He also claims that this is the first appearance of a tripersonal God in official, conciliar Roman Catholic creeds:
…we declare our belief in one God, in three persons consubstantial, divine and autonomous, as, for example, we may look at the one nature of light in three suns not unlike each other or in the same number of dazzling objects. We confess, indeed, God to be one, unique in respect of substance, but threefold or three if we are speaking of him in respect of persons, and we declare he has not received from himself that he has been made, nor in any way whatsoever from anyone else; but that he is alone, ever existing without beginning, and eternal, even the same and like to himself, and suffering no change or alteration; that he exists as the maker and source of all beings endowed with intelligence and feeling. (,”Definition of the holy and universal eighth synod,” [869-70] in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Ed. Norman Tanner Vol. I, pp. 160-61)
Quoting a few leading present-day patristics scholars, he argues that worries about “subordinationism” are misplaced, as any patristic Trinity doctrine will feature some sort of subordinationism. Finally, he shares two passages from Gregory of Nyssa which he says show some subordination of Son to Father, which is just a corollary of the unique monarchy of the Father, i.e. his being the one God.
Links for this episode:
- Part 1
- Dr. Branson’s homepage
- Dr. Branson’s slides with the unedited audio are posted here (today’s episode covers most of his Part 2 and the first portion of his Part 3).
- Photios I of Constantinople (d. 893)
- 8th Ecumenical Council – Constantinople IV (869-870) (Roman Catholic)
- 8th Ecumenical Council – Constantinople IV (879-880) (Eastern Orthodox)
- This week’s thinking music is “Great Doxology” from Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church 2.
Its a terrible shame that in Gregory’s time a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures was so hard to find, evidenced by his unawareness of the myriad times God is called Father in those writings.
Don’t let us stop with the writings of Bishops, Theologians or any other teachings of those who have wandered off the message of our Messiah onto some seemingly more significant after-thought.
I look forward now to hearing the reply of the errant and confused Dr Tuggy. 😉
Dale,
How is his view not Unitarian? What is his differentiation between your view (from what I gather he thinks you adhere to a sort of egalitarian Unitarianism ?) while he holds to a Monarchial Trinitarianism?
Thanks!
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