06-08-2008, 06:34 AM
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| Puritanboard Professor | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Framingham, MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoelYrick  Why does the Westminster Shorter Catechism ask the question, "What is God?" instead of, "Who is God?"
I've had family members press me on this when I started memorizing the catechism, and I didn't have a satisfying answer. If someone could point me towards an answer, it would be much appreciated! | Here's what I found googling: Quote: |
In 325, the Council of Nicaea adopted a term for the relationship between the Son and the Father that from then on was seen as the hallmark of orthodoxy; it declared that the Son is "of the same substance" as the Father. This was further developed into the formula "three persons, one substance". The answer to the question "What is God?" indicates the one-ness of the divine nature, while the answer to the question "Who is God?" indicates the three-ness of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit". Saint Athanasius, who was a participant in the Council, stated that the bishops were forced to use this terminology, which is not found in Scripture, because the Biblical phrases that they would have preferred to use were claimed by the Arians to be capable of being interpreted in what the bishops considered to be a heretical sense.They therefore "commandeered the non-scriptural term homoousios ('of one substance') in order to safeguard the essential relation of the Son to the Father that had been denied by Arius."
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__________________
Bob Howes
Framingham, MA
A reoccurring thought:
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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