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The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 2

...securing salvation for his people as predicted (Matthew 1:21). The gospel was written after his ascension. Matthew has one final question to ask. Having come closer to us than ever before and fulfilling his purpose, especially after predicting the destruction of the second temple, has Jesus left us? This is answered with a resounding “no!”; Jesus promised before ascending to heaven that he would always be with his people, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20); “…behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Just as Solomon realised, the presence of God is not limited to a particular place where he is known to have placed his name. Jesus...

Did the Early Church invent the Trinity?

...h for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit” — Against Heresies 1:10:1, A.D. 189. Tertullian (c. 216) We do indeed believe that there is only one God, but we believe that under this dispensation, or, as we say, oikonomia (Gk. οἰκονομία, “economy”), there is also a Son of this one only God, his Word, who proceeded from him and through whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made … We believe he was sent down by the Father, in accord with his own promise, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father and the Son, and in the Holy Spirit” — Against Praxeas 2, A.D. 216...

On the Feast of the Nativity, a sermon by Leo the Great

...In the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to share a sermon from a man known as Leo the Great (aka Pope Leo I), who was a Pope from 440-61 AD. He was one of the most significant and important men in Christian antiquity, as he tried to combat the heresies which seriously threatened church unity in the West, such as Pelagianism. This sermon of his about the incarnation of Christ and what it means for us has always stuck with me since I first read it last April when writing my own book on the Early Church Fathers. It's not that long, so take the time to read it through and let the words sink in as we prepare for Christmas to remember and celebrate the birth...

The Temptations of Jesus: Pride

...k out our salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12)!...

The Early Concept of the Trinity: Tracing the Roots

...attern of salvation… They are three not in dignity, but in degree, not in substance but in form, not in power but in kind. They are of one substance and power because there is one God from whom these degrees, forms, and kinds devolve in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ignatius and the Trinity Jesuit priest, theologian, and scholar Fr. Edmund Fortman provides an analysis of Ignatius’s writings, offering invaluable insights into the understanding of the Trinity during the very early Christian period. Ignatius is another apostolic link as he was a disciple of the Apostle John. Writing between AD 108–110, in his letter to the Ephesians, speaks of...

What is Monarchical Trinitarianism?

...roles in salvation and redemptive history. Ontologically the Persons of the Trinity are the same as they share in the same essence of the Father, and thus co-equal and co-eternal, but in terms of how they relate to one another and to humanity, there is a type of subordination. As Jesus said in John 5:19–23, “the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”, similar also to how Jesus said that only the Father knows the hour of the End, and that the Son doesn’t know (Mark 13:32). The One True God Central to Monarchical Trinitarianism is the recognition of the Father as the...