Protestant Christians hold to the Reformation dictum Sola Scriptura as the starting point of theological understanding. As the reading in this week’s lesson has shown, the reality is more complicated. The early church constructed its central theological understanding, that God is Trinity, even before there was an agreed to New Testament canon. With this as background respond to the following two questions.
Tasks:
In a minimum of 200 words each, post to the Discussion Area your responses to the following:
Discuss Athanasius’s exposition of the incarnate person of Christ and His eternal relationship with God the Father. What was familiar to you? How did his discussion contribute to your theological understanding? How were you challenged?
Evangelical American Christians often see the Bible as the only source and authority in theology. If this is your tradition, what challenge did you face and what did you learn from the assigned material on this topic? If you are from another tradition, discuss your tradition’s understanding of the sources and authorities in theology.