We Believe: In One God
To Christians today, it seems hardly remarkable that the Nicene Creed should begin with a declaration of monotheism: “We believe in one God.” We tend to gloss over this line, often saying it without thinking. When we do discuss it, we can treat it as boring and basic, as monotheistic milk before the trinitarian meat.
However, for the bishops who gathered at the Council of Nicaea, monotheism was both liberating and dangerous. In doctrine, it was a foundation; in ethics, it was a revolution; and in Roman society, it was an existential threat. Many of the Nicene bishops had even lost their limbs because they stood firm under polytheistic persecution. Properly understood, monotheism is many things, but it is never boring.
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Hebrew Monotheism
In the Hebrew religion, monotheism is the first and most foundational principle. The Bible begins with the world’s creation by one God, pointedly subordinating the sun, the moon, the heavens, the seas, and all the other creatures often worshipped by polytheistic religions (Genesis 1). This subordination of god-like creatures is likewise present elsewhere in the scriptures, as in the creation and crushing of Leviathan, a dragon-monster in the depths of the seas (see Job 41, Psalm 74, Isaiah 27).
We also see monotheism in Biblical law. The first of the Ten Commandments given on Mount Sinai is explicit:
You shall have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3
Here, we see a progression of oneness, in which the truth of the one God is applied in the realm of worship. In its further application, the oneness of God would also have implications for every aspect of Hebrew life. For example:
- Because the one God rested on the seventh day of Creation, the people of Israel should honor the sabbath and keep it holy.
- Because the one God made humans in his image, they should not murder or sin against their neighbor, and when they do, a sacrifice will be required to make things right.
- Because the one God made all, sustains all, and knows all, they should not hide anything from God and should repent and seek his forgiveness and grace.
- Because the one God is holy, they must seek holiness for an intimate relationship with God.
Jesus’ Monotheism
Jesus was a faithful Jew who believed in this one God. When asked about the greatest commandment, he referred to the celebration of monotheism from Deuteronomy.
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Matthew 12:29-30, cf Deuteronomy 6:4
Moreover, when Jesus revealed his divinity as the Son of God, he was at pains to demonstrate his unity with the Father. This is why he said:
I and the Father are one.
John 10:30
Jesus even prayed that this unity would extend to his disciples, a united people pointing to their one God.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:20-21
Though these biblical passages may be familiar, the point in rehearsing them is to show that there is no difference between the Old and New Testaments on the question of monotheism.
Moreover, the two opposed sides at the Council of Nicaea did NOT disagree over monotheism. Although Arius and Alexander differed on Christ’s divinity, they agreed on God’s oneness.
So why did the bishops include the affirmation of monotheism in the Nicene Creed? Why begin here? Why not follow the example of the Apostles’ Creed, and skip over the idea because it is not the question at debate?
Monotheism in Rome and Nicaea
I suspect the Bishops began with monotheism because it was the most consequential doctrine in their lives and for the broader Roman culture.
Like the Israelites in the midst of the Canaanite nations, so the early church lived in a polytheistic culture. The default practice in the world all around them was the worship of many gods. Why was it so important to worship these gods? Because they believed these gods were powerful and capricious. If they were not appeased, they could become displeased. Thus, Roman religion was more a matter of piety than of intimate relationships. It was focused on managing a complex of divine powers, not on repentance and faith in the reception of divine grace.
That is why the Romans were so severely threatened by Christians. From their perspective, the Christian refusal to worship the gods was superstitious, antisocial, and risked the gods’ displeasure. So the Romans branded the Christians as “atheists” and sought with increasing ferocity to enforce polytheism.
The most intense period of persecution was in the early 300s under Diocletian, and it was especially severe in the regions around Nicaea. Needless to say, the Nicene bishops and their churches had suffered much for their commitment to monotheism. Some even bore in their bodies the marks of the persecution: scars, missing limbs, and disfigured faces where eyes had been put out. One of the most dramatic stories from the Council is of Emperor Constantine kissing the wounds of the maimed bishops.
What motivated these bishops to suffer in this way, to lose their eyes rather than worship the Roman gods? Only the deeper vision of the one true God, who sent his Son Jesus Christ for us and our salvation. They had the same conviction as Saint Paul:
There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.
1 Timothy 2:5-6
Monotheism Today
Once we see the truth and significance of monotheism, we cannot continue to be indifferent. We may not live in a culture of explicit polytheism with the worship of physical idols, yet there is no lack of false gods to demand our sacrifice.
We can identify these idols in those things that seek to stand above God in our beliefs, practices, and ethical behavior. Perhaps the most prominent in our own culture is sexual identity and expression, which seeks affirmation of all activity rather than subordination to God’s standard and plan. Others are less obvious, but no less powerful. Here’s a short list:
- Sexual identity and expression, which demand license and full affirmation.
- Money and possessions, which pretend to offer security.
- Alcohol and drugs, which are meant to serve, but can become our masters.
- Influence and reputation, which care for the opinion of man over God.
- Political ideology, which claims greater authority than God’s word.
- Recreation, which takes excessive time and infringes on corporate worship.
The point in listing these idols is not asceticism or legalism. None of these things is bad in themselves, and we cannot save ourselves by using them perfectly. We are all caught in patterns where we serve the creature as the creator, and we need God.
But because the one God has saved us through his Son, he now offers us freedom from all these false Gods.
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
1 Corinthians 8:5-6
Appendix: On Henotheism
Some have argued that early Hebrew religion was actually Henotheistic, believing in the existence of many Gods but requiring the worship of only one. One piece of evidence for this position is the reference to “other gods” in the First Commandment. To my mind, though there is a semantic plausibility to this idea, at a deeper level, it is inaccurate and misleading.
The Hebrew Bible was written in the context of a world full of the worship of various stated gods. The scriptures certainly acknowledge the natural powers and supernatural personalities to which these stated gods were often connected. Moreover, the scriptures repeatedly refer to a divine council, or a gathering of supernatural figures in the presence of the one God. Think, for example, of the conversation God has with Satan at the beginning of Job.
Yet not once does the Hebrew scriptures depict these figures in any comparable light to that of the one true God. Comparison to the ancient Canaanite polytheistic religions only strengthens this perspective. Jewish theologian Benjamin Sommer puts it this way:
The divine retinue we know from the Hebrew Bible differs from those of Mesopotamian, Canaanite, and Greek Literature because lower beings never successfully or even realistically challenge YHWH in the Hebrew Bible.
John Barton (ed.), The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Companion, p. 255
Against the Idols
Moreover, the Hebrew scriptures openly attack and even mock the pagan idols and deities for not having the power that they claim. See, for example, Elijah’s mockery of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18) or the polemic in the Psalms and Isaiah against “worthless idols” (Psalm 31, Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 45, etc.).
Anglican theologian Gerald Bray argues similarly:
The spiritual leaders of Israel clung to the uniqueness of YHWH and did all they could to suppress the worship of other editing. Even if they thought that the pagan gods were real, they believed that they were powerless, which reduced the question of their existence to the level of an academic exercise.
Gerald Bray, God Has Spoken, p. 69
What is not an academic exercise, however, is the fundamental distinction between the power of God as Creator and the power of his creatures. Though many of God’s creatures have a kind of power easily mistaken for divinity, none bear the attributes of the Creator. He alone is omnipotent and entirely transcendent of his Creation. They, therefore, can be omnipresent and entirely immanent to his Creation.
This is a fundamentally different way of thinking about God than any pagan religion can imagine. This is why the one God can be both so powerful and so personal, both the Father and Almighty. We’ll read about those qualities in our next article on the Nicene Creed!
Image: Design by Jacob Davis from photos by WilliamSherman from Getty Images and Raya Design, courtesy of Canva.
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