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 Psalm 111

 

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! (ESV)

 

 

 

 

 

Neither Here, Nor There

Monday in Epiphany 4

30 January 2011 

In the fourth century, the Arian controversy over the divinity of the Son was not simply a debate between those who thought that the Son was fully God and those who denied it, by saying that He was a mere creature. The radical Arians were saying that Christ was not of the same substance with the Father. The defenders of the Nicene faith, of course, confessed that the Son was of the same substance as the Father. Many churchmen attempted to split the difference, so spinelessness was not invented by our contemporary churchmen. There were several grades of compromisers who attempted to split the difference. They supported one shade or another of the concept that the Son was neither unlike nor identical to the Father in substance, but was similar in substance with the Father. This wishy-washy compromise satisfied no one over the long haul and did not properly reflect the divine teaching of the divinity of Christ according to Scripture, but it helped to muddy the waters between A.D. 325 and 381.

 

Those who were uncertain about the full divinity of the Son of God, were then good candidates to be uncertain about the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. They, even after accepting the Nicene confession that Christ is of the same substance with the Father, sometimes found it difficult to make the same confession about the person of the Holy Spirit, refusing to see that the confession of the first obligated the confessor to the second. Having given in on the first point, they wanted to dig in their heals about the second. How typical of us humans! But such an attempt was ill-fated as Gregory Nazianzus pointed out. To accept the full divinity of the Son, but to deny the full divinity of the Holy Spirit, is a bit like being a bit dead or a little pregnant. One either is dead or not dead, pregnant or not pregnant, not a little of both. Either both the Son and the Holy Spirit are fully God or neither is. It took some time for everyone to see this.

 

Gregory forthrightly called the fully Arian position "more complete ungodliness," but thought of those who accepted the full divinity of the Son but declined to call the Holy Spirit fully God as unfortunate and in need of admonishment. He mocks them by calling them "not quite dead." God has been perfectly clear about the revelation of His Son as God of God, only those who cannot make a decisive statement will prevaricate about the divinity of the Holy Spirit. They are neither here nor there; mealy-mouthed leaders of the confused. From such "leadership," Lord, protect us. Each of the persons of the Trinity is fully and completely God. 
Gregory Nazianzus

  

"Our argument has now come to its principal point. I am grieved that a problem that was long dead, and that had given way to faith, is now stirred up afresh. Yet it is necessary to stand against these babblers and not let judgment go by default, when we have the Word on our side and are pleading the cause of the Spirit. They say, 'If there is God and God and God, how is it that there are not three Gods, or how is it that what is glorified is not a plurality of principles?' Who is it that says this? Those who have reached a more complete ungodliness, or even those who have taken the secondary part; I mean who are moderate in a sense in respect to the divinity of the Son. For my argument is partly against both in common, partly against these latter in particular. What I have to say in answer to the latter is as follows. What right have you who worship the Son, even though you have revolted from the Spirit, to call us tritheists? Are not you ditheists? For if you deny also the worship of the Only-begotten, then you have clearly ranged yourself among our adversaries. And why should we deal kindly with you as not quite dead? But if you do worship the Only-begotten, and are so far in the way of salvation, we will ask you what reasons you have to give for your ditheism, if you are charged with it? If there is in you a word of wisdom answer and open to us also a way to an answer. For the very same basis upon which you will resist a charge of ditheism will prove sufficient for us against one of tritheism. Thus we shall win the day by making use of you, our accusers, as our advocates. Nothing could be more generous.

 

"What is our quarrel and dispute with both? To us there is one God, for the Godhead is one, and all that proceeds from Him is referred to one, though we believe in three persons. For one is not more and another less God; nor is One before or after another; nor are they divided in will or separated in power; nor can you find here any of the qualities of divisible things. To speak concisely, the Godhead is undivided in separate persons. There is one mingling of light, as though three suns are joined to each other. When then we consider the Godhead, or the first cause, or the undivided majestic unity, that which we conceive is one. However, when we consider the persons in whom the Godhead dwells, those who timelessly and with equal glory have their being from the first cause, there are three whom we worship."

 
Gregory Nazianzus, Fourth Theological Oration, 13-14 

Prayer

Almighty God, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and to carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

For Joel Parshall, that the Lord would watch over him and grant him healing in accordance with His good and gracious will

 

For Kim Maureen, who will be undergoing surgery this week, that the Lord would guide and guard the hand of the surgeon

 

For the members of the Capital Campaign team of Memorial Lutheran Church as they recruit supporters, that everyone would give with a cheerful and merry spirit

Art: DAVID, Gerard  Triptych of Jean Des Trompes (1505) 

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