Confessing the Triune God
by Pastor Walter Snyder

The Sunday following Pentecost is celebrated as Trinity Sunday on the Western Christian Church.
And since it is widely used for this day, I'll touch on the Athanasian Creed.

Christianity constantly struggles to keep the Faith free from false philosophies. In the
fourth-century, a persuasive preacher with a logical mind used a philosophy foreign to the
Scriptures in order to explain the connection between Jesus and his Father. Arius borrowed from
the popular Greek concept that a "god," by nature, had to be high, distant and almighty; and that
humans, consequently, had to be low, spacial and inferior. Arius taught that only the Father was
really a proper God. Because Jesus was human, he was therefore only a creature (created by God)
and therefore did not really possess any divine qualities. The problem was basic: When Arius
denied the divinity of Christ, he destroyed God's role in accomplishing our salvation. If Jesus
were not really God, then he could not possibly have saved us from our sins.

Orthodox ("right-teaching") Christianity declared the Scriptural teaching of the two natures of
Christ---that he was both "true God," and "true man." The Athanasian Creed proclaims over and
over that Jesus is "equal with the Father." Affirming Jesus' divinity, this creed confesses that God
was the originator of our salvation---he did it for us. Affirming his humanity, it confesses that
Jesus died for every part of us---he was a Savior who was completely human. Excerpts from this
creed, named for Saint Athanasius, show how the Church has traditionally expressed the Biblical
doctrine of the Trinity.

"The catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Three Persons and Three Persons in one
God, neither confusing the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is One Person of the
Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is,
such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit."

Still, while there is one God, the Persons of the Trinity are not to be confused: "The Father is
made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created
but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor
begotten but proceeding."

The Athanasian Creed continues by clearly confessing the divine and human natures of Christ,
concluding by saying of him, "At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and will
give an account of their own works. And they that have done good will go into life everlasting;
and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the catholic faith which, except a man
believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved."

Mention of works and salvation in the same breath often bothers those who understand from
Scriptures such as Ephesians 2 that we are saved by ~grace~, not by works. However, this
passage echoes Christ's Judgment Day prophecies from Matthew. The key is understanding that
the works themselves never merit salvation. Rather, works are testimony to saving faith,
indicating that the deeds that are called "good" by God are done only by Christians who believe in
Jesus Christ as their crucified and risen Savior and who trust in him alone. Many who think that
they have done good will be horribly dismayed on the Last Day (Matthew 25:44 46). Finally, the
"catholic faith" spoken of in the creeds doesn't mean "Roman Catholic," either. Rather, it means
the faith of the entire Christian Church as it is believed, taught, and confessed around the world
and through the ages and is fulfilled in the blessed dead in Christ.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard Version~<TM>,
© 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor, © 2003 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer,
by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations
into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international
copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.