My Catholic faith, part quatro

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

Eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God,

Light from Light,

True God from True God,

Begotten, not made. . .

Then comes a statement that was hotly debated during early Christian history. It has tgo do with the relationship between Father and Son:

One in being with the Father.

This was a debate over one letter. In Greek, the word homoousios means "the same as," or "one in being with." It posits identity between the Father and the Son. The word homoiousios does not suggest such identity. The Father and the Son are very much like each other, but they are not the same.  The answer that classical Christianity settled on was that Jesus Christ was "one in being with the Father" - i.e., homoousios. When we Catholics say the Nicene Creed, we affirm the homoousios position. Most Protestant denominations also subscribe to the Nicene Creed, and affirm the same. Eastern Orthodox do not use the Nicene Creed, but the difference between Eastern Orthodox and Western Christianity does not hinge on this phrase. Eastern Orthodox would also affirm the homoousios position.

The Scriptural backing for such a position is plentiful and, to me, compelling. When Jesus says, "I and the Father are one"; when Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father", he seems clear enough. But this is even clearer if you read in the original Koine Greek. In the Gospel of John, you see frequent "I Am" sayings of Jesus: "I AM the bread of life". . ."I AM the bread that came down from heaven". . ."I AM the living bread". . ."I AM the light of the world". . ."I AM the gate for the sheep". . ."I AM the resurrection and the life". . ."I AM the way, the truth, and the life". . .and, maybe the most emphatic of all, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

The Greek term that is translated as I AM is ego eimi. It's so strongly emphatic that there's really no adequate English translation. It's roughly equivalent to announcing it through a bullhorn" I - and only I - am. . ." And the writer of the Gospel sprinkles Jesus' saying this all over the place. Think he's trying to make a point?

Indeed, he is. The audience to Jesus' saying this wasn't a group of Greek speakers - the New Testament was written in Greek, but when Jesus said this he would have been speaking in Aramaic, a close descendant of Hebrew. He would not have said "ego eimi." He would have used the Hebrew term: YHWH. The ineffable name - the name that was so sacred it could not be pronounced - means "I AM" (or I AM WHAT I AM, or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE - the Hebrew language doesn't use tenses quite like English does.)

Ego eimi = YHWH.

Before Abraham was, YHWH.

And we wonder why the Jewish crowd wanted to run him off a cliff? Homoousios!

Seems pretty persuasive to me, and it seemed so to the early church. But, as I learned in Dr. Healey's class, the first principle of theological history is, "Nothing ever goes away." So there are those groups who maintain the homoiousios postion even today.

Thanks for hanging out for a few! As always, I'd love your thoughts and reactions.