Did you know that the word “trinity” is not in the Bible? We arrived at the knowledge of the trinity from Scriptural truths and logical progressions. A lot of the theological beliefs of the Church took a long time to unpack and sort out. In its infancy, Christianity spread faster than its teachers could educate new believers. With no Internet to post on, unorthodox—and heretical—beliefs became commonplace. It took a lot of really smart, holy people and a number of decades to figure out what Christians believed. 

Allow me to introduce you to Athanasius of Alexandria. If the Apostle Paul is the greatest Christian theologian of all time, Athanasius is probably number two. He served as a bishop in Egypt back in the fourth century and became foundational to the Church’s doctrinal systems. Many of our core beliefs are due to his deep theology and tenacity in defending them.

One of the biggest arguments back in the 300s was Jesus’s divinity. Who was He, exactly? Over several years, a lot of different theories popped up. Some said He was God in a human disguise. Some said He was a “composite person.” Some said He was the last son of Krypton, flown to Earth before it exploded.

Just kidding. Nobody said that. But come on—you can see the parallels between Jesus and Superman, right?

The group called the Arians (no, not the WWII Aryans—different Arians) argued that Jesus was something more than man, but less than God. He was “of a similar substance” to God.

But Athanasius bristled at the logical incongruency. If Jesus was not one with God, then we believed in many gods—which kind of goes against that whole “The Lord your God is One” thing that God had said. Athanasius argued that if Jesus wasn’t God, His sacrifice on the cross wouldn’t be enough to pay the debt of our sins. Therefore, He is “of the same substance.” The council agreed with him and adopted the belief of Jesus’s dual nature as a foundational doctrine.

So What?

Theology can be hard, and even when we think we know the answer, we may have some lingering questions. But making sure that our beliefs line up with Scripture, is important. How can you deepen your theology where you are?