Christian Theological Traditions Through the Years: A Focus on the Belief of God and Jesus and the Church, Essay Example

Through time, the basis of Christianity and its belief has already incurred several developments in relation to the society that it exists with. For instance, God and Jesus and the Church are among the most prominent personas that define the basic foundation of Christianity. Through time, the understanding of Christians with regards their existence and their qualities have changed relatively. In the discussion that follows, a distinctive discussion on how the elements mentioned and understanding of Christians about them has changed through time shall be given particular attention to.

The theological understanding of an existing supreme being has been proven essential in the establishment of the foundations of the proper understanding of Christianity. In Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, he questioned the existed of a higher force, God. His three questions of God existence, his self-evidence, is he demonstrable, and does he exist. Through the years, the term “God” has specifically been used to define someone of a higher force. The consistency of such belief has opened up several ways by which the context surrounding the distinction on who and how God is being reviewed and accepted by Christians coming from different factions of the said belief. To note though there are several points of commonality among groups who claim to be Christian and how they actually accept and understand the being of God. For instance, an unchanging God is considered a foundation of what God is and how he deals with matters from the origin of time to the chances of the changing tides in the society. Many that do not believe questioned if God is real, why does terrible things continue to happen. Aquinas believed that, “since God is the supreme good he would permit no evil in his works unless he were so omnipotent and good that he could produce good even out of evil.”(Aquinas, 1273) This however has been contested by those groups who desire to make some changes in the way certain matters are considered both legal and acceptable in the realms of Christian belief.

One example of the said situation is that of the fact that the relative understanding of how God defines love and how love defines him as an individual. In the past, love is considered as the very being of God as referred to the bible’s distinction of the said characteristic of God. This then entails the idea that he does everything in love and decides upon the matters using the same matter as a basis of his final judgments. In relation to love is the acceptance of its value and how it defines human emotion in an overall context. Note that in the past, the occurrence of same sex marriage is being strongly avoided by the Christian Church. Considering the act as vile and a direct insult to the words of God, the relationship between people belonging to the same marriage are strictly being prohibited. Nevertheless, through time, as the society began to embrace the principles of liberty and freedom, new thinking over the idea of God prohibiting same sex marriage has been developed. Contesting that there is nothing wrong with love and the act of loving, groups that have consistently supported the third gender community imposed that God does change and that his rules about love and relationship between humans could be interpreted the other way around compared to the traditional way of understanding it.

In a way, using logical explanations, these groups have convinced the majority of the church to believe that since God is love, he would not stand in the way of people presenting themselves under the said condition of emotion. Paul wrote, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(Paul’s Letter to Galations, n.d) The high respect for the value of love and how it is recognized by humans to complete them as individuals [regardless of their gender] has been an argument that was strongly pursued by the third genders. Relatively, the different churches enjoined in the group of Christianity began to adjust to the matter and slowly, one by one, they are beginning to embrace the possibility of accepting same sex marriage as something acceptable to God. Whether this thinking is right or wrong is still contested by the main churches that define themselves as the pillars of Christianity. Nevertheless, the condition of difference between the opinion and belief of the traditional versus the modern way of recognizing God’s characteristics and his possible decisions on matters concerning human relationships have been more of a source of debate than a source of equality in the field of the developing assumptions of theological traditions believed then and now.

Another aspect about Godly belief that Christians strongly cling to is that he exists amidst the non-visual presence that he is known for. Utilizing the idea of God being seen through his creation has kept the Christian belief over a Supreme Being more effective and more relatively dependable. Aquinas said that the idea of God existed in the minds. He exists to them. “I am the way, the truth and the life” (Jn. 14:6), therefore it is self-evident that God exists.” (Aquinas, 1273) The attributes of God have been strongly described through this understanding as an individual who knows the best for human kind. Nevertheless, some others who have a hard time understanding the condition of an existing God without seeing him through their eyes have been lead to believe that God exists through them as persons ‘within their hearts’ and his being real depends on how much they are ready to accept his being.

On the other end, Christ, being the God and the Son of God is still contested as a crucial point of ‘traditional Christianity’. Jesus Christ and the Church are indispensable in ironing out the Laws of the bible, and dedication to believing he was the Son of God. Paul saw the Church as a holy temple for Christians, and was angered at the lack of respect that the Galations showed it. His letter was meant as not only chastisement, but the direction of the importance of Jesus Christ and the Church, to follow the laws, and keep faith in Jesus. Following the principles of trinity, Christ is considered as the Son of God or God the Son. According to the Documents of Council of Tenet, believe that Jesus Christ is, “the true God, true man.” Although considered by some as relatively the same, the said terms have huge distinguishable differences. Take for example the grammatical makeup of each term as each suggests who Christ truly is. The first term Son of God simply states the position of Christ in relation to the father who is considered as the Supreme Being. The utilization of the article ‘of’ simply implicates that he came from his father and that he shares a relationship with him therefore imposing that he is a different person from the other. Paul lamented the importance of the Son of God in his letter, “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”(Paul’s Letter to the Galations, n.d)

However, when it comes to the understanding over the term God the Son the meaning changes. The utilization of ‘God’ at the premise of the title sets the position of Christ as the God. Utilizing the article ‘the’ introduces the connection of being a God to being a Son; whereas if explained further imposes the idea that Christ in himself is the son, and yet he is also considered as a God. Within the Church of Christ, Jesus is worshiped and revered, Christians believed that Jesus gave his body as a sacrifice for their sins. During Passover, his blood was used as wine and his body as bread or referred as transubstantiation. The Catholic Church hold Jesus as their highly Sacred Eucharist, “which our Savior left in His Church as a symbol of that unity and charity with which He wished all Christians to be mutually bound and united.” (Doc. Council of Tenet, 1551) Not necessarily as the supreme God yet he also shares a specific position and power in being called and recognized as a God who is able to make things happen. Recognizing that he is God son, he is believed as, “our Savior sits always at the right hand of the Father in heaven.”(Doc. Council of Tenet, 1551)

The difference between Christ and God has been a strong source of argument in the field of Christianity and the way it imposes on the existence of personalities that are not being visually seen by humans at present. The Church serves as a place of worship of Jesus Christ. Relatively, it could be understood that these arguments have become a source of disunity in some churches thus breaking the bonds separating one group of believers from another. Instantiating whom God is, what he is, who he is and how different or the same he is from Christ is still being clarified by theologians. Utilizing both human philosophy and the guidance of the Gospel, several groups of bible researchers intend to establish the basic foundation of the belief that could identify the condition of thinking that the members of the religious groups under the umbrella of Christianity should depend upon. It should be remembered though that it, each individual has the right and the responsibility to search for what is true, understand what is real and become acquainted with the realities that are defined under the conditions of Christianity and the beliefs established under its wing.