I am home alone, and what better way to spend my time than to revisit the heresy of Arianism? In honor of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, I have invited AI to tackle the issue of homoousios, meaning "of the same substance" or "one in being," a term used in Christian theology to describe the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.
All the following information was gathered by asking AI some questions and then compiling the results into what I consider a cohesive argument.
The Council of Nicaea
Arius's central teaching was that Jesus, the Son of God, was not "of the same substance" (homoousios) as God the Father, but was created by him in time. Arius believed Jesus was a created being, a higher-order creature, but not God himself.
The Council of Nicaea formulated a Creed that affirms that God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit are one being.
The First Council of Nicaea in 325, depicted in a Byzantine fresco in the basilica of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey.
A thought experiment in Medieval Theology
The phrase "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" is a metaphor with no literal answer. It's a question that has been used to illustrate how pointless and unproductive it can be to debate incredibly fine-grained details. The question itself was posed as a thought experiment in medieval theology, exploring the relationship between the infinite God and the finite world.
So, if we accept the creed of Nicaea, what happens to the characteristics of His divine nature during His Incarnation? Let’s single out one, the Beatific Vision. I asked AI: If Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, what happened to his Beatific Vision while he was on earth?
The beatific vision in Christianity refers to the ultimate state of happiness and fulfillment that believers experience when they see God face-to-face in heaven. It's a direct, immediate, and intuitive apprehension of God's essence, a sight that brings perfect joy and blessedness.
Key aspects of the beatific vision is that it is a direct knowledge of God, not an indirect knowledge or understanding of God through concepts, but a direct, intuitive grasp of God's being.
AI answered: While consubstantial with the Father, Jesus' Beatific Vision was present in his divine nature, but it was not fully realized in his human nature while on earth. This means he possessed an immediate and perfect knowledge of the Father's essence, but he still experienced the limits of human knowledge and the need for faith.
As consubstantial with the Father, Jesus shares the same divine essence and therefore possesses the Beatific Vision within his divine nature. This means he has perfect and immediate knowledge of God and his will.
Although Jesus possessed a superior level of knowledge due to his divinity, his human intellect was still finite. He didn't know all possibilities, nor did he immediately grasp all truths as he matured and learned through his earthly experience.
Jesus' human nature, while not fully realizing the Beatific Vision, still allowed him to experience suffering and temptation, which were necessary for his saving mission. He needed to experience the limits of human suffering and death to win over them for humanity.
In essence, Jesus' Beatific Vision was present in his divine nature, allowing him to know and love God perfectly. However, his human nature experienced a limited understanding of God and the need for faith and growth in wisdom, which was necessary for his redemptive work.
Full disclosure: I dropped out of the Jesuits after completing the full course of study and became an atheist. Then I joined a Zen Temple, first in the Soto sect, then in another school of koan introspection, and a lot of Jesuits in the meditation hall, eventually making my way to another group with some loose connections to Unitarianism. With Unitarians, the key is loose connections, which is where I stand.
