It was the writings of a number of Eastern Orthodox theologians which prompted me to begin an in depth study into the important doctrine of the Monarchy of God the Father. I started with the pre-Nicene and Nicene Church Fathers, and then (of course) the pre-Augustinian CFs who defended the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.). Of late, I have focused on Augustine's elucidations on God the Father as the cause/source of the Son and Holy Spirit.
As
I continue my studies into the Monarchy of God the Father, I wanted to bring to
the attention of my readers three important contributions which are germane to
this topic. The first is a website ran by Andrew Davis:
Andrew is a cogent contributor in the comboxes of my recent threads on Augustine. His
site has a number of threads on the Monarchy of God the Father, defenses of the
Nicene Creed, and exposés on 'modern' forms of modalism and 'semi-modalism'.
The
second is a dissertation by James Paul Krueger:
From
the opening introduction of the dissertation we read:
One of the widespread
contemporary approaches to the Trinity repudiates “mere monotheism” and
emphasizes the community of the Persons as three separate centers of action.
Within some versions of this “social Trinitarianism,” the unique role of the
God the Father as source of the godhead is marginalized or obscured. The views
of Jürgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg on God the Father bring this problem
into focus, as they diminish the “monarchy” of the Father as unfitting because
as traditionally understood it lacks reciprocity. Instead, they envision
alternative modes of explaining the unity, stressing the original threeness and
describing divine unity as an eschatological achievement. After linking the
Father’s diminished place in these approaches with the problem of divine unity,
this study examines the theology of God the Father in Augustine and Bonaventure
to clarify how the concept of the Father as unique source can provide a
solution to this pressing problem in contemporary systematic theology.
And the third is a
master's thesis by Elizabeth Klein:
The
following is from the abstract of the thesis:
This thesis examines the
concept of God as Father in the thinking of two Patristic authors: Athanasius
(c. 293-373) and Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-390). Since God is called Father
frequently in the New Testament both Athanasius and Gregory see the name as
fundamental to understanding the nature of the intradivine life, as well as
God’s relationship to humankind. The reliance of Patristic authors on the
language of Father and Son brings relational language to the fore of
Christological and trinitarian discussions of the 4th and 5th centuries. In this
thesis, I endeavour to demonstrate the centrality of the fatherhood of God in
the thinking of Athanasius and Gregory of Nazianzus, and to connect their
thinking on this topic to larger theological questions of the period.
I recommend the above
resources to those folk who share my interest in the Monarchy of God Father.
ENJOY !!!
Grace and peace,
David
