Joseph Smith is one of the most enigmatic figures in American religious history. From the details of his life story to the eventual formation of his own church, much has been written on the legacy of Joseph Smith. However, there are still numerous areas of Smith’s life and thought that demand further engagement, especially from a Nicene perspective. The purpose of the present research is to substantively add to scholarly knowledge regarding Joseph Smith. In contradistinction to other Nicene treatments of Joseph Smith and his theology, the present project will integrate multiple disciplines for the purpose of producing a robust, Nicene assessment of Smith’s life and tritheism. The aim of this project is to establish the historical context and potential religious influences upon Joseph Smith’s theological evolution. The process by which this information is ascertained requires a thorough and exegetical evaluation of the scriptural basis for Nicene orthodoxy. This data represents a theological foundation that must be built upon by recounting the development of Trinitarianism among the early Christians. Based upon this scriptural and historical background for Nicene orthodoxy, the historical focus then must turn to theological trends just prior to and during the life of Joseph Smith. The result of this process then leads to an assessment of Smith’s life and tritheism, from a Nicene perspective that integrates multiple lines of data. The findings of this research demonstrate, rather conclusively, that Nicene orthodoxy is rooted in the text of Christian Scripture. Further, Trinitarianism developed creedally, over time, among the early Christians but existed, in nascent form, from the close of the New Testament. Additionally, Nicene orthodoxy held sway among the colonies in America prior to the revolutionary era. The ideas and events leading up to the American Revolution gave occasion and platform to anti-Nicene ideologies that greatly influenced Joseph Smith’s family. Moreover, Joseph Smith’s own historical and religious context was littered with anti-Nicene and unorthodox teachers, movements and visionaries. These details lead to the conclusion that Joseph Smith was not a unique prophet but just one of many anti-Nicene religious leaders that arose to prominence during this period. It is therefore argued that Smith’s theology originated from his own theological musings. The resultant system is replete with doctrinal contradictions and philosophical absurdities. Thus, from the perspective of Nicene Christianity, Smith’s tritheism must be deemed as a distinct and rival system intended to replace historic orthodoxy. / PhD (Church and Dogma History)

Joseph Smith is one of the most enigmatic figures in American religious history. From the details of his life story to the eventual formation of his own church, much has been written on the legacy of Joseph Smith. However, there are still numerous areas of Smith’s life and thought that demand further engagement, especially from a Nicene perspective. The purpose of the present research is to substantively add to scholarly knowledge regarding Joseph Smith. In contradistinction to other Nicene treatments of Joseph Smith and his theology, the present project will integrate multiple disciplines for the purpose of producing a robust, Nicene assessment of Smith’s life and tritheism. The aim of this project is to establish the historical context and potential religious influences upon Joseph Smith’s theological evolution. The process by which this information is ascertained requires a thorough and exegetical evaluation of the scriptural basis for Nicene orthodoxy. This data represents a theological foundation that must be built upon by recounting the development of Trinitarianism among the early Christians. Based upon this scriptural and historical background for Nicene orthodoxy, the historical focus then must turn to theological trends just prior to and during the life of Joseph Smith. The result of this process then leads to an assessment of Smith’s life and tritheism, from a Nicene perspective that integrates multiple lines of data. The findings of this research demonstrate, rather conclusively, that Nicene orthodoxy is rooted in the text of Christian Scripture. Further, Trinitarianism developed creedally, over time, among the early Christians but existed, in nascent form, from the close of the New Testament. Additionally, Nicene orthodoxy held sway among the colonies in America prior to the revolutionary era. The ideas and events leading up to the American Revolution gave occasion and platform to anti-Nicene ideologies that greatly influenced Joseph Smith’s family. Moreover, Joseph Smith’s own historical and religious context was littered with anti-Nicene and unorthodox teachers, movements and visionaries. These details lead to the conclusion that Joseph Smith was not a unique prophet but just one of many anti-Nicene religious leaders that arose to prominence during this period. It is therefore argued that Smith’s theology originated from his own theological musings. The resultant system is replete with doctrinal contradictions and philosophical absurdities. Thus, from the perspective of Nicene Christianity, Smith’s tritheism must be deemed as a distinct and rival system intended to replace historic orthodoxy. / PhD (Church and Dogma History)

Thesis advisor: Khaled Anatolios / Within the context of his controversy with Eunomius of Cyzicus, Gregory of Nyssa articulated a distinctly pro-Nicene conception of the perfection of God. Gregory identified divine perfection with the philanthropic goodness that is manifested in the economic activity of God and that is witnessed most vividly in the saving incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. Yet, while this particular understanding of divine perfection served Gregory’s defense of Nicene trinitarian theology, its influence was not limited to that element of his theology alone. To the contrary, Gregory’s pro-Nicene conception of the nature of divine perfection finds a perfect corollary in his discussion of the nature of human perfection. Thus, in his anthropological writings, Gregory interprets humanity as a living and active mirror of the characteristic goodness and love of divine power. Similarly, in his ascetical literature, he suggests that the goal of the Christian life is the attainment of godlikeness through participation in divine perfection, and that the form which this participation takes is an imitation of the virtues of Jesus Christ. And in his writings on the spiritual ascent of the soul, Gregory identifies the summit of the virtuous life as active participation in the philanthropic goodness of God. Christian virtue, therefore, is nothing other than imitation of and participation in the perfection of the one whom Gregory calls “the God of the gospel,” the God of Nicaea, the God made known in the person of Jesus Christ. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This thesis argues that the covenant idea was more significant in the writings of particular ante-Nicene theologians than has generally been admitted in patristic research or general surveys of the history of the covenant idea in the Christian tradition. Indeed, this survey of the covenant idea in the ante-Nicene period demonstrates a significant usage, development, and modification of the covenant concept as it is found in the OT and NT writings and in early Judaism. This investigation reveals that the covenant idea functions in several arenas of early Christian thought. It is employed (1) to stress moral obligations incumbent upon Christians; (2) to show God's grace in including the Gentiles in the Abrahamic blessings; (3) to deny the reception of these promises to the Israel of the flesh, that is, Israel considered merely as an ethnic entity; (4) to demonstrate continuity in the divine economy; and (5) to explain discontinuity in the divine economy. In reviewing the role of early Christian covenant thought in these areas, this thesis argues that (1) the pre-Nicene theologians usually take OT covenant passages (not NT passages) as the starting point in their applications of the covenant concept to Christian living; (2) the early Christian use of the covenant idea evidences that they understood the covenant to be both unilateral and bilateral, promissory and obligatory, to bring divine blessings and entail human obedience; (3) these writings also show that, from the very earliest times, Christian authors (following OT and NT examples) have employed the covenant concept as a key structural idea in their presentations of redemptive history; (4) contrary to the suggestions of previous studies, there is no evidence of a gap in the usage of the covenant idea after the era of the NT writings; (5) the covenant idea was closely linked to the early Christian self-understanding as the people of God; (6) the covenant idea is not monolithic in the thought of the authors surveyed. It is employed with differing emphases and takes on varying shades of meaning in their respective writings; (7) genetic connections in specific usages of the covenant idea can be found in different pre-Nicene authors (e.g., Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian). The argument of this thesis proceeds by first reviewing the role of the covenant idea in the writings of the NT, the Apostolic Fathers, and Justin. This provides background for comparison and contrast with subsequent theological reflection on the covenants in Christian theology. Then we consider, in turn, the covenant idea in Melito, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, and Novatian. In each, specific employments of the covenant idea are inventoried. In the epilogue, our findings are summarized and conclusions are drawn. This study is significant for at least these following reasons: (1) It confirms current research on the Jewish matrix of early Christianity, from a vantage-point not yet exploited. (2) It reviews in greater detail the early Christian covenant thought which is now being acknowledged to have been influential on the sixteenth-century Reformers (such as Bullinger and Calvin). (3) As the first extensive patristic survey of the covenant idea, it fills a significant lacuna in the history of ideas. (4) It lays the groundwork for more detailed considerations of the covenant concept in the pre-Ni cane and post-Nicene eras.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study traces the first steps of how divine simplicity entered into Christian Trinitarian discourse. It is the burden of this thesis to demonstrate that divine simplicity emerged in the ante-Nicene period with a distinctive status quaestionis concerning (a) the meaning of the doctrine, and (b) its function in reflections on the Father-Son relation. The first part argues that simplicity emerged in the ante-Nicene period with two possible trajectories of interpretation, anticipated by Plato’s Republic and Phaedo respectively. In the apologists, divine simplicity emerged as a purely metaphysical doctrine. However, a richer interpretation of the doctrine is also available in ante-Nicene theology, as exemplified in Origen’s understanding of divine simplicity as a metaphysical-ethical synthesis, meaning that (a) God’s nature is perfectly incorruptible, and (b) God’s character is perfectly free from contradictions. The second part argues that divine simplicity acquired a role in ante-Nicene reflections on the Father-Son relation within two significant ante-Nicene contexts: (a) polemic against Valentinian emanation (prolatio/probolē) and (b) polemic against Monarchianism. The genius of Origen is to utilise divine simplicity for avoiding the Monarchian identification between the Father and Son on the one hand, and the Valentinian separation between the Father and Son on the other. Consequently, we find the surprising conclusion that divine simplicity serves as a principle of differentiation as well as unity between the Father and Son. This thesis raises new questions for both modern theologians and patristic specialists. For modern theologians, the ante-Nicene developments suggest the Son’s generation as a fruitful site for further analysis on the relation between divine simplicity and Trinitarian theology. For patristic specialists, ante-Nicene developments highlight the need to account for the transition from the ante-Nicene to the post-Nicene status quaestionis: how did divine simplicity change from being attributed to the Father (ante-Nicene) to being attributed to the divine essence (post-Nicene)?

Since the beginning of Christianity, the debates over the nature of God have been frequent and ardent. Augustine, John Calvin, and John Wesley, with others, supplemented the generally accepted view of the Godhead as established at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Correctly understanding the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is one of the most critical aspects of religious worship. The Savior said, "And this is life eternal, that they may come to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Joseph Smith, the first Latter-day Saint Prophet, taught a correct understanding of God was required for any man or woman to receive eternal life. The Latter-day Saint teachings regarding the Godhead were fitted into place one piece at a time. Those that followed Joseph Smith, over time, added to the doctrinal foundation that he established from 1820 to 1844. Elder James E. Talmage added to the foundation left by previous Church leaders. The leaders of the Church utilized James Talmage's abilities, specifically as a writer, to explain and clarify important principles of the gospel. The efforts of Elder Talmage resulted in three monumental works. First, his book Articles of Faith was published and publicly endorsed by President Lorenzo Snow, the fourth President of the Church. Next, Jesus the Christ was published by the Church and endorsed by Lorenzo Snow's successor, President Joseph F. Smith. Finally, at the request of President Joseph F. Smith, Elder Talmage authored "The Father and The Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve" in 1916. The official declaration is still referred to by Church leaders when they comment on the relationship between Jehovah and Elohim. The document answered questions regarding the Book of Mormon's use of "Father" when referring to Jesus Christ. Generally, members of the Church today understand these teachings. Nearly a century passed before Church leaders taught them in their entirety and they could be compiled into one declaration. Elder Talmage's efforts, as directed and overseen by the First Presidency, assisted in clarifying his predecessors' teachings on the Godhead.

As a key contributor to the current discussion of the Catholic theology of religions, Gavin D'Costa's writings represent a consistent attempt to utilize the resources of the doctrine of the Trinity to address a number of issues regarding the theological significance and function of religions in the salvific plan of God. The aim of this thesis is to examine critically his Trinitarian theology of religions through the lens of a main proponent of patristic theology, Basil of Caesarea, and through a historical-systematic study, address the question of whether his underlying Trinitarianism is consonant with classical Trinitarian theology. After a discussion of Vatican II and post-Conciliar sources, the main contours of D'Costa's theology are highlighted through an interpretive grid of particularity/universality (Christology/Pneumatology) with a second-order universality/particularity. Despite his distancing from the three-fold typology of exclusivism-inclusivism-pluralism, we analyzed that much of his theology continues to fall within the category of traditional inclusivism, particularly since his recent proposal of the limbo of the Fathers contained serious difficulties pertaining to his intention to maintain a singular OT Judaism-Christianity relationship. Next, we examined the main features of Basilian Trinitarianism, and proposed that three major themes are of relevance for a comparative analysis with D'Costa's theology, namely, (1) the doctrines of divine simplicity and inseparable operations, (2) the enlightening work of the Spirit, and (3) the theology of baptism and theosis. Throughout the discussion, in recognition that Basil's thought is part of the patristic theological matrix of his time, we will also reference the writings of other Church Fathers, including Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine. We concluded that while in Basil's theology, economy, relationality and ethics are intricately woven into each other, D'Costa's system, despite its significant merits, was at risk of disaffiliating the connections between the three.

Nearly 300 years before the rise of a ‘Christianized,’ Eastern Roman Empire, generations of inhabitants in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East had witnessed a considerable variety and evolution of religious thought. As a result of the expansion of Christian sects throughout the Near East and Mediterranean, in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine I convened a theological council to unite his vast kingdom in the East under a single religious creed. While revisions to the text of the first ‘Nicene Creed’ and subsequent councils would be organized, many dissenting factions refused to relinquish their long-held beliefs and traditions. Some of these ‘heterodox’ sects resisted the religious arm of the Empire and concealed their practices while continuing to worship in secrecy. Clues to the subversion of ‘orthodox’ ecclesiastical mandate may still persist in the mosaic programs of extant churches in the Mediterranean and Transjordan. In particular, the general design of mosaics in the Transjordan (e.g., the Petra Church, Petra; the Church of SS. Lot and Procopius, Khirbet al-Mukhayyat; and the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Jerash) are somewhat similar, yet divergent from designs found within churches from the Italian Peninsula (e.g., the Theodorean Basilical Complex, Aquileia; the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna; and the Church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Classe). The purpose of this thesis is to use the principles of semiotic theory to re-evaluate the use of symbols and icons within sacred mosaic programs, juxtaposed against the historical and ecclesiastical context surrounding their creation.