The Trinitarian Controversy

by William G. Rusch

This volume explores the development of the doctrine of the Trinity in the patristic church as a result of the Arian controversy: Arius -- Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia Arius -- Letter to Alexander of Alexandria Alexander of Alexandria -- Letter to Alexander of Thessalonica The Synodal Letter of the Council of Antioch, A.D. 325 The Creed of the Synod of Nicaea (June 19, 325) The Canons of Nicaea, A.D. 325 Eusebius of Caesarea -- Letter to His Church concerning the Synod at Nicaea Arius -- Letter to the Emperor Constantine Athanasius -- Orations against the Arians, Book 1 Gregory of Nazianzus -- Third Theological Oration concerning the Son Gregory of Nyssa -- Concerning We Should Think of Saying That There Are Not Three Gods to Ablabius Augustine of Hippo -- On the Trinity, Book 9

Genres: Theology, Church History, Religion, History, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity

182 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Scott Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing and helpful look into the academic/cultural setting, correspondences, and thoughts of the council of Nicaea as they worked the difficult task of defining the undefinable and refuting the Arian heresy.

It is always good to return to the writers and authors themselves rather than solely relying on contemporary interpretations.

The final piece from Augustine was especially enriching to my heart.

[Samuel Moerbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it promises to be. A very helpful source when tracing out the development of Trinitarian grammar. The introduction is helpful, and I appreciate the little note of marking out which chapters correspond to which documents. I particularly find the excerpt from Augustine lovely, as it is a good taste of the meditative side of doctrinal theology.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my early church history class. It's a collection of original writings by early church figures, primarily arguing over the Arian controversy. Was the Son created by Father and made God, or did he exist as God from the beginning? The result of this controversy was the establishment of the church's formal theology of the Trinity. It's probably not stuff most people will want to read for fun, but some of the material was pretty engaging. I especially liked the writing of Athanasius and Gregory of Nazienzus. It was cool to see how these brilliant 4th century theologians argued their points. Augustine's material was confusing by comparison. It almost didn't seem to fit with the rest of the writings in the book.

[NDH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cardinal Newman said that ‘to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.’
Simulo modo…to be deep in Theology is to fully understand that Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

However, to be fair, the Introduction to this collection of patristic writings is actually a very dense, very concise, and actually very good (and readable) exploration of the history and development of the doctrine of the Trinity.

[Nickolas Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard not to enjoy the letters of the Patristic fathers. I give this four stars because it’s less of a commentary on the Trinitarian Controversy and more of a presentation on the main issues. If you like reading the church fathers though and want to know more about the argument leading up to Chalcedon, pick it up.

[Richard Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a page-turner (I started it in seminary over 7 years ago and never quite finished it), but it’s more important than that. Because of these men and their arguments, the church has had a clear and orthodox understanding of the Trinity for the last over 1600 years. So while it may not be read very much (except in seminary classrooms), it is still foundational for the Christian church today.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful reader with a solid sampling of writings from the 4-5th centuries, including Arius, Athanasius, Gregory, and Augustine. The excerpts are fairly lengthy and cover both the Cappadocian (“social”) and Augustinian (“psychological”) models of the Trinity.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good, enjoyed reading both sides of the debate in the original sources. The passion comes through 1800 years later - on both sides. Thankful for the shoulders we stand on - faithful saints persevering by the power of the Spirit

[Michael Kenan Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent modern translation of key patristic Christological texts in readable English! A huge improvement upon the century-old freely accessible translations on CCEL.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many typos in this edition.

[Matthew Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible to most readers though dense at times. Utterly worth it to gain access to the early believers as they dealt with the challenge of developing sound doctrine and dealing with heretics.

[Scott Nickels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow: fantastic stuff for those that need to get over their Dan Brown conspiracy fixation. Now if I could only have retained 30% of what I read...

[Jack Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for my Sunday School class at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, VA. It was not an assigned book, but after I gave up on Sarah Coakley's book, I asked one of the members (a former minister) what was a good book to read on the historical and theoretical development of the Trinity. He pointed me to this book. I am about half-way through it and am getting bogged down because, it seems to me, this Trinity stuff was all made up in the first 3 centuries AD after Jesus. It started with small extrapolations and then was spun and spun and spun. I doubt that any first century Christian would know the concept as it has spun out into ever more theoretical concepts. So, I don't know if I will finish the book.

[Sooho Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why read perplexing modern commentaries on primary sources that spends ten pages on one line when you can be perplexed by reading them yourself? It is better to dabble in the fount than the bubbling brook thousands of miles away. A few of Arius, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianus, and Augustine’s works pack this 180 page book. Read, get confused, read again, hopefully learn a little, read a third time, and be confused even more. That is the vicious cycle of studying the Church Fathers.

cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com for more book reviews

[G Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helpful as a primer only. Not a definitive text... not too suitable for a layman either. Again, as a primer to the issues... Nice intro to the writings of Athanasius, Nazianzus, Nyssa, etc. But should not by any stretch of the imagination be considered a comprehensive intro.

[Erica Schrader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with primary texts from AD 315 - AD 419 regarding the Trinitarian controversy. The minds of these brilliant early theologians is sometimes a bit dizzying and hard for me to follow but I appreciated all these texts being gathered into one resource.

[January]

skimmed

[Matt Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick introduction and then straight to the primary sources. There is no conclusion chaoter. It ends with Augustine. It lets yoi draw your own conclusions, but history has also concluded the matter. The Trinity is I. Scripture, though not by name. It is clearly in there.

I loved hearing Athanasius lay into Arius. Gregory of Nazianzus was very easy to read and so incredibly deep. After reading him, he is my favorite of the Cappadocian fathers.