What are the essentials?

[Della]

Yes, the very basic idea of the Trinity is in the Bible, but I was thinking more of how Christians have defined it since the council of Nicea.(or I think that is where it was formally defined) You know the three persons in one God. Jesus being one Devine person, while having a fully Devine nature, and a fully human nature. that meaning of the Trinity. (If I got it wrong sorry, I am trying to type faster than I think.

The debate over the divinity of Christ was a separate issue from the debate about the equality of the three Persons of the Godhead and their relationship to one another, but it is a related topic that can’t be determined by appealing to the Bible first or alone.

For our Protestant brethren, Sacred Tradition comes first in deciding such issues for the simple reason that it existed, in both the oral and written words of Jesus and the Apostles, long before the NT was compiled. And even when the NT was compiled and agreed upon, it was meant to be used primarily for the liturgy of the Church, not for everyone to read to interpret as he pleased. Bible reading was encouraged for devotional use, not for each person to work out doctrinal, dogmatic, or even disciplinary matters that pertain to the whole Church. The Scriptures certainly play a HUGE part in determining doctrine, dogma, disciplinary matters, and universal devotions, as the Magisterium sees fit, but once again, and finally, the Bible was never meant to be a matter for private interpretation by all and sundry.

 

[Sabda]

I have to agree that there is no list. I have had a protestant say that in the Apostle’s Creed you could leave out the part about “holy catholic church”. So apparently they don’t* all *believe everything that the Creeds state.

 

[cazayoux]

You know … every pun is its own reword.