The 1600 Year Tradition of Nominal Christianity.
There are two ways to define the word "nominal;"
1. "Existing or being something in name or form but usually not in reality."
2. "A definition that describes something in terms of its properties, in order to distinguish it from other things."
The first appears first because this has become the modern somewhat negative definition. The second
refers to the grammar, "as in "nominative case." A distinctive characteristic that the person or thing can be defined by it.
Before the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century, one would be hard pressed to call someone by the modern definition of "nominal" who openly declared themselves Christian. There are several factors that contribute to the beginning of the early to modern negative version of nominalism in the fourth century (more on this below.) Throughout Christian history, there were many devout unnamed Christians and of course the "Saints" and theologians who are still spoken of today. The "in name but not in reality" nominalism emerges when, in the fourth century, Roman aristocrats could buy their offspring a bishopric office. Mainly this is true because before the emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity into the Roman empire, early Christians risked persecution in declaring themselves to be a member of the radical and growing faith. Many Christians were martyred for refusing to call the ruling authority i.e., the emperor "God." Jesus Christ was their King, their Lord and God. In their lives, Christ was the only ruler of all things, their trinitarian thought was immediate in understanding that God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to be incarnate and to begin His ministry and to declare the Kingdom of God had come.
Furthermore, humanity is redeemed from their sin and brought close to God by the death and crucifixion of Jesus, the Son. In Jesus ministry, he teaches that the Father of all men is in Heaven, sovereign, in control and deserving of their love, gratitude and submission (Matthew 23:9).
Jesus rises from the tomb and promises the Power of God in the Spirit to his disciples
and ascends to Heaven and sits at the right hand of God. (Acts 1:6-10). This was commonly understood among early Christians, before the collective books of the New Testament were canonized into a complete document, and before the Nicaean Creed. This was the patristic era of early Christendom, which includes Clement, Origen, Athanasius, Irenaeus, Justyn Martyr, Polycarp, whose writing and authorship emerges under good and bad emperors before Constantine. Their authorship as well as the biblical texts informed the principles for the Nicaean Creed.
The Nicaean Council sought to refute distortions and heretical claims that posed a threat of some nature to the early church doctrine. We see these distortions throughout history as well, even today.
The point of this blog writing is not to point a finger at anyone who may be "nominal" in their faith walk, but to express the idea that nominalism is not new, it has appeared throughout history in many different ways. Often, people have called themselves Christian when one can receive some benefit from that title without actually exhibiting a Christian character, philosophy, or a/the "mind of Christ" (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:16). I love conversation. I love talking about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible and about ecclesiastical history. I also love talking about books, and really, anything. In my walk and especially these last 7 years, I have become someone who is constantly thinking about God. In prayer, in study, reading, talking about God and theology, I research books, authors and churches of all traditions.
Talking about God, writing about God and the Bible, the church and churches, and theology is what one does in Christian scholarship. Therefore, a habit develops where speaking about God and theology is the norm.
Paul writes that
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for
every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV).
By profitable, Paul means something gained, maturity and understanding and furthermore a deeper love and commitment to God. My hope in pursuing this degree is that I might develop this competency and be equipped for every good work, not just in service to others for God but equipped to be a better human being.
Jesus is quoted as citing Deuteronomy 6:5 "you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" in the synoptic Gospels; seeking God, loving God with all one's strength and heart and soul is the imperative that will lead to a competency to serve God in love (Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; and Matthew 22:37). Citing all three in the ESV:
Luke states:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself”(10:27).
Mark states:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (12:30).
Matthew states:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (22:37).
Combined with the imperative to "love others/ one's neighbor (as oneself),"we have what we often call the Great Commandment in scripture. One can never cease to seek God, to begin everyday living in the Great Commandment. This pursuit leads to spiritual maturity and a love that grows for God, in gratitude for His being the living God who is available to us and who loves us in return. A love that is unconditional, that does not expect compensation or accolades, but simply rejoices in the exchange of the individual in a personal relationship with God.
Outwardly, one can judge the good or bad nominalism in others in their faith. Honestly, what a waste of energy because one cannot at all know where someone else is in their faith walk. Furthermore, judging another human being on anything means you still need to do some work on yourself. God knows.
I am grateful to desire God with all my heart, and to have others with whom God is the center of our conversation. I encourage you to seek to know God and build a personal relationship with him in Christ. Apart from God, we are like orphans, we can develop a skewed view of the world and God, this is to be in an arrested development from the person God always intended for us to be. In Christ, humanity is redeemed of being an "orphan/lost," grace is a gift that is free to you and I because Jesus has already paid our debt. All that remains is to receive it.
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