LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

THE ORIGINS OF TRINITARIAN LANGUAGE

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JOHN LANDERS

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
CHHI 610

JAMES W. FOGAL
AUBURN, AL
NOVEMBER 2014

What language in the Nicene Creed is found as early as Irenaeus?

At the passing of the apostles, the need for orthodox theology statements was necessary
to combat false teaching. The apostles were concerned with false teaching (i.e., Gal 1:6-9,
Ephesians 4:13-15) and their successors, the Apostolic Fathers, had the same concern as their
mentors. The early ruminations of writings from the Ante-Nicene Fathers were not nearly as
systematic and purely orthodox as the Nicene Fathers, but it was upon the shoulders of the AnteNicene that the Nicene Fathers were able to write as they did.
The New Testament has early statements of orthodox theology. Two quick examples of
this can be found in the baptismal formula (Matt. 28:19), which forms the basis of all the ancient
creeds, is clearly Trinitarian; as is the apostolic benediction also (2 Cor. 13:13).
The Apostles Creed, in its present shape, is post-apostolic; but, in its contents and spirit,
it is truly apostolic. It is believed to be a baptismal creed, but it embodies the faith of the AnteNicene church.1 It clusters around Christ as the central article of our faith. It confines itself to
the fundamental truths, is simple, brief, and yet comprehensive. Philip Schaff writes that it is the
only strictly ecumenical Creed of the West, as the Nicene Creed is the only ecumenical Creed of
the East. It is the Creed of creeds, as the Lords Prayer is the Prayer of prayers. 2 W. H. C.
Frend writes that the confession of faith which Christians made in baptism, had now become the

1 Philip Schaff and David Schley Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 2 (New York: Charles
Scribners Sons, 1910), 533.

2 Ibid., 533.

Rule of Faith, to which Christians must hold fast when others came preaching a different
doctrine.3
Later, the rule of faith (in Greek , in Latin regula fidei) was understood
a doctrinal summary of Christianity.4 There was at first no prescribed formula of faith binding
upon all believers. Each of the leading churches framed its creed, according to its wants, though
on the same basis of the baptismal formula, and possibly after the model of a brief archetype
which may have come down from apostolic days much like Baptist churches in the modern era.
Because of this, there are a variety of such rules of faith, some longer or shorter, in the AnteNicene writers, as Irenus of Lyons (180), Tertullian of Carthage (200), Cyprian of Carthage
(250), Novatian of Rome (250), Origen of Alexandria (250), Gregory Thaumaturgus (270), and
Lucian of Antioch (300). Yet even with all the differences between them, there is substantial
agreement, so that Tertullian could say that the regula fidei was una omnino, sola immobilis et
irreformabilis. Philip Schaff writes that these are variations of the same theme.5
Ignatius of Antioch, in his letter to the Smyrnaeans, wrote of Jesus being truly born of a
virgin and also being truly nailed to the cross for us.6 He is also known as the Doctor of Unity

3 W. H. C. Frend, The First Advance: Church History 1, AD 29-500, Rev. ed., vol. 5, SPCK International
Study Guide (London: SPCK, 1991), 6061.

4 Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 529.

5 Ibid., 529530.

6 Pope Benedict XVI, The Fathers (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2008), 15.

by being an early proponent of the unity of God and Christ, despite the heresies that argued for
separated human and divine natures within Christ.7
The Roman bishop Dionysius, in the mid-third century, stood nearest the Nicene doctrine
according to Schaff. He maintained both the unity of essence and the real personal distinction
of the three members of the divine triad, and avoided tritheism, Sabellianism, and
subordinatianism with the instinct of orthodoxy.8
Irenaeus had been taught by Polycarp, who had been taught by the Apostle John. Thus he
came close to an Apostle. He composed the following statement that was likely influential upon
the later Nicene Fathers:
The Church has received from the Apostles and their disciples, this faith:
In one God, the Father almighty,
who made heaven and earth, the seas and all things in them;
and in one Christ Jesus, the son of God,
who became incarnate for our salvation, his birth from a virgin,
his passion, resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven,
and his future manifestation in glory;
and in the Holy Spirit
The Church, although scattered over the whole world, guards this faith as if it lived in one
house; believes it as if it had but one mind; preaches, teaches, and hands on these things,

7 Ibid., 17.

8 Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 570.

as if it had only one mouth; and although the languages of the world are different, the
force of the tradition is one and the same.9

What terms did Tertullian and Origen develop, and how has this language become a part of
our discussion?
Christians in Tertullians day were suspicious of the doctrine of the Trinity and looked
upon it almost as a refined polytheism. They were inclined rather strongly to some form of
Monarchianism as alone comporting with a real monotheism.10 Tertullians testimony was that
true Christians had always believed in essence what he teaches.11 There was one thing, in other
words, which was more fundamental to Tertullians thinking than even the Logos Christology.
That was the Rule of Faiththe immemorial belief of Christians, grounded in the teaching of the
Word of God.12 This Rule of Faith had come down to him from the beginning of the Gospel,
as he phrased it; and he recognized it as his first duty to preserve it whole and entire.13

9 Irenaeus, Against Heresies I, 10.

10 Benjamin B. Warfield, The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield: Studies in Tertullian and Augustine, vol. 4
(Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 9.

11 Ibid., 18.

12 Ibid., 26.

13 Ibid., 2627.

He is known to be responsible for the development of the distinctive Trinitarian

terminology.14 One concept that Tertullian contributed to the Trinitarian debate was his
Christology specifically the two natures of Christ. The phrase he used was two substances.
The Word, the divine nature of Christ, existed alongside the Father from all eternity. He became
man for mans salvation, since He could only accomplish His work as a man. He argues that
Jesus was not confused but conjoined in one person at once God and man.15 Also, Tertullian
developed the words trinitas which is translated Trinity, and also he used the Latin word
persona, a theatrical word, to translate the Greek word the Latin word translates into
English as person and became the way to refer to each member of the Trinity. He also
introduced the word substantia to express the idea of a fundamental unity within the Godhead. It
is substantia that each of the three persons of the Godhead have in common.16
A contribution that Origen made toward Trinitarian debate was concerning the
aforementioned word, . He pointed out that error arises when

Why did philosophical language take on an increasing role in the ancient church?
As Christianity grew within the Roman Empire, some of the opponents utilized philosophical
arguments to attack the budding religion. Because of this,

14 Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), 249.

15 J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2004), 151.

16 McGrath, Christian Theology, 250.

Bibliography
Frend, W. H. C. The First Advance: Church History 1, AD 29-500, vol. 5, SPCK International
Study Guide. London: SPCK, 1991.
Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2004.
McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
Pope Benedict XVI. The Fathers. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2008.
Schaff, Philip and David Schley Schaff. History of the Christian Church, vol. 2. New York:
Charles Scribners Sons, 1910.
Warfield, Benjamin B. The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield: Studies in Tertullian and Augustine,
vol. 4. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008.