PASTOR’S CORNER, Rev. Jason Toombs, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Liberal
Friday, the Church remembers the Cappadocian Fathers. “Who,” you might be asking. The Cappadocian Fathers are St. Basil the Great of Caesarea, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and St. Gregory of Nyssa. These fathers of the faith, whose cities are difficult to pronounce for us, were churchly men who proclaimed the faith when the Church faced persecution within and without.
Emperor Constantine, who declared Christianity an allowed religion within the Roman Empire, called an assembly that met in Nicaea, or Nicea if you prefer, to discuss matters of the faith. This council met in 325 AD and issued the Nicene Creed as a way of proclaiming the true faith amid controversy. There was a presbyter, Arius, who proclaimed that Jesus was not coeternal with the Father.
Since songs and jingles carry proclamations better than words alone, he wrote a little ditty that can best be described, in English at least, as “There was when the Son was not” as he spoke about Jesus not being pre-Incarnate with the Father from eternity. At the Council of Nicaea, Arius’s chief opponent was Athanasius, a young man eager to defend the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead. Athanasius proudly proclaimed, “Athanasius contra Mundum,” “Athanasius against the World,” as many areas of the world followed the deceit of Arius or held to the Semi-Arian belief that Jesus is of like substance as the Father. Athanasius proclaimed the Deity of Jesus and that He is of the same substance as the Father, just as we proclaim in the Nicene Creed. While Athanasius is not the author of the Athanasian Creed, the argument is the same as what he was asserting against the Arians and Semi-Arians.
The Cappadocian Fathers were a second generation of churchly men who proclaimed the same faith as Athanasius and helped to hold together the orthodox faith in the Triune aspect of God. They used logic, philosophy, and rhetoric to proclaim the orthodox faith against those who held differing views of the nature of the Godhead, especially concerning the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity. It was with their guidance, preaching, teaching, and lives that the church held another Council, this time in Constantinople in 381 AD where the Nicene Creed was ratified and expanded to include more about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.
With that brief background of the controversy during their lives described, let’s look at each of the Cappadocian Fathers a little closer to see what they proclaimed in writings, sermons, and for the Church.
St. Basil the Great of Caesarea grew up in a Christian home and is the older brother of Gregory of Nyssa. He was the best statesman and leader of the three, which is why he is often referred to as “the Great.” He was installed as Bishop of Caesarea due to his work with the Bishop against the Arians. Basil wrote “Against Eunomius,” who was an Arian leader who claimed that Jesus is not the same as the Father as He is begotten of the Father and does not share the essence with the Father due to His being begotten. Basil wrote that essence is a statement of being, not a negation and that if Jesus were unbegotten or made, then He would not be the same essence. Basil also wrote “On the Holy Spirit” as the Third Person of the Godhead was often described as a creature or an “It” when He is equal to the Father and the Son. As a result of Basil’s proclamation, he also wrote a new Doxological ending as formerly the Doxology had been “Glory be to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit” and wrote instead, “Glory be to the Father, with the Son, and jointly with the Holy Spirit.”
St. Gregory of Nazianzus was a close friend of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, who met Basil while studying theology in Caesarea, and he was the best orator and poet of the three. As a result of these skills, he was the best preacher whose sermons are remembered long after he preached them. He wrote “Theological Orations,” which is a copy of five of his best sermons as they proclaimed the faith in a way that is easily understood, proclaims the characteristics of God, and that we can never fully explain God in a way that will satisfy faulty human reasoning. He also showed that the Son and the Holy Spirit are divine in their origin and they are distinct from one another.
St. Gregory of Nyssa was an immense defender of the Doctrine of the Trinity as he wrote “On Not Three Gods.” In this work, he shows that while we can talk about three men, such as Peter, James, and John, concerning one another due to their “man-ness,” we cannot do so with God as the three men are distinct from one another and God is not distinct in the same way. The Three Persons are distinct, but only internally, not externally, such as the three men. This is partially due to the use of language, so we have trouble explaining and understanding the Trinity fully.
Without their writing, preaching, and teaching, the Church would see Christ as not fully man and fully God. Thanks be to God for raising up the Cappadocian Fathers and other proclaimers of His truth.
