The Church Fathers All Disappeared!
Someday all the creeds and traditions we know will vanish into dust but what God has said will remain. After all the church fathers left the Reunion and went to their long home it was up to simple people like fishermen, tentmakers and carpenters to make sense of the things they left behind. These were the folks charged with cleaning up the mess (physical and spiritual) that was left behind by the “church fathers”. Pragmatticus was a janitor who could see things that escaped the notice of the wise and learned. His friend Meticulus was a clear-eyed scribe who had learned to see things for himself.
God is not a Substance
They wondered what was so wrong with the simple truth of scripture that declared just one God. This was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He was the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He was none other than the God of Israel. They knew for sure this God never described Himself as an essence or a substance that “subsisted” in three distinct persons. He alone is God and He is known to us as the Father. His name is YHWH. The janitor and the scribe knew God is not an abstract substance that can be analyzed and theologically divided into three “persons”! God is not something at all, He is “someone”…. and He is a personal God.
Jesus Offers Immortality
In His eternal plan to redeem us to Himself, YHWH fathered a Son (Jesus). This happened when Mary was visited by God’s Holy Spirit and the Virgin conceived God’s one and only Son. We know Jesus as our Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ and our Kinsman Redeemer. He went about doing good and spoke truth to religious authorities and they hated him for it, so they killed him. Jesus rose from the dead though and became the first fruits of God’s great plan. He is immortal and offers immortality to those who believe in Him, trust His words, and obey Him. Jesus is God’s unique agent on our behalf who speaks and acts with God’s full authority because that has been given to Him. We are determined to know nothing more or less than “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
We Do Not Worship a Divine Trio
The simplicity of all this is far beneath the sophistication of the learned ones who are “Ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). When scripture says, “For us there is One God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5) we simply choose to believe it. We believe in just one God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. There is no room in our hearts for homoousious and we do not worship a divine trio of co-equal persons. “For us there is one God, the Father, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:15)
God is Well Able to Express Himself Perfectly
It is a radical approach indeed that believes God is well able to express Himself perfectly, just as He chooses. As for God, His way is perfect and His word is flawless. Some translations say His word is pure, others say it is faultless. God’s word is precise, refined, reliable, trustworthy, tried, tested and true. We cannot say this about the words of the church fathers or the platonic philosophy that inspired them. This may be why scripture cautions us to shun philosophy as a miserable substitute for the things God has said.
The Waste Bin of History
Pragmatticus’ final duty was to walk through the meeting halls of the great Reunion with a dustpan and a broom. He swept all the philosophical ideas and jargon, along with the pride of the church fathers into his dustpan. Then he put it all in the waste bin of history where it belongs while Meticulus looked on with appreciation and respect.
Their Work Was Done
When the janitor and the scribe inspected the final result of all their work there was nothing left but the words and teachings of God and His Son Jesus. They both thought that looked pretty good and realized their work was done. The Allstars Reunion had finally come to its proper end.
Copyright 2021 by Bob Shutes
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Dear Reader,
This post concludes the Theology Allstars Reunion and the official account of what happened there. Thank you for coming to visit! We hope our efforts have blessed and cheered you, and perhaps given you a few insights that will help you on your way home to God. If you enjoyed the Reunion you are sure to love our brand new companion website. You can find it at www.wonderfultheology.com Please come and visit us there… and bring someone with you.