Transfiguration

In order to gain a deeper understanding of our faith, we must discover the essential beliefs of our faith. Contrary to popular belief, there are not that many specific things in which we are called to believe. I truly believe that our beliefs as Christians began to take shape as the Early Church struggled to fully understand who Jesus is. Their conclusions about Jesus required the Church, then, to formulate several other very fundamental beliefs. After the Church formulated its beliefs about Jesus, the Church was required to address its most important and profound belief, namely Who God Is!

Therefore, I would like to first address the Dogma of Christ and, with an understanding of that dogma, then address the Dogma of God As Trinity. It was precisely because of the Church’s Dogma of Christ that our Christian religion formulated an entirely new and unique understanding of God. This new understanding clearly articulates the profound difference between Judaism and Christianity.

The doctrine that emerged about Christ simply states that He is one person in two perfect natures, divine and human. It is the realization of this doctrine, and the working out of its implications, that came to be the central preoccupation of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Church: councils that are of enduring importance in the Church. These seven Councils took place from the first to the eight centuries. It is not exactly the development of a doctrine, to use the term popularized by Newman, that gives the impression of some kind of evolution of the Church’s faith. It is, rather, a growing clarity of the Church’s faith. The only growing in depth that matters is a growing in depth in our relationship with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

If there is a history of doctrine, it is the history of heresy, which is constantly changing, not a history of the faith of the Church. From the very beginning the Church believed in Jesus. She confessed from the very beginning that He was sent by God and that He was truly special. His Resurrection from the dead convinced the Church of His connectedness to God in a very intimate and profound way. It took time, however, for the Church to find the words, ideas and concepts to express fully who she believed Jesus to be. The heresies that arose, caused the Church to formulate Her beliefs.