Great Church

Around 213 AD in ''Adversus Praxeas'' ([[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Anti-Marcion/Against Praxeas/III|chapter 3]]) [[Tertullian]] provided a formal representation of the concept of the [[Trinity]], i.e., that God exists as one "substance" but three "Persons": The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.Roger E. Olson, Christopher Alan Hall 2002 ''The Trinity'' {{ISBN|0-80284827-3}} pp. 29–31Eric Osborn (4 Dec 2003) ''Tertullian, First Theologian of the West'' {{ISBN|0-52152495-4}} pp. 116–17 Unlike later forms of the Trinity, however, Tertullian also expressed in [[wikisource:Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_III/Anti-Marcion/Against_Praxeas/VI|chapter 6]] of his work ''Adversus Praxeas,'' a belief in the Son being both "created and begotten", and in his work ''Adversus Hermogenes'' ([[wikisource:Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_III/Anti-Marcion/Against_Hermogenes/III|chapter 3]]) of the Son having a "beginning" and time he did "not exist". The [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 and later the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381 after the 55 year long [[Arian controversy|Arian Controversy]] that threatened to split the Great Church in two over a debate concerning the "nature and substance" of the Son, then formalized these elements, but differing to Tertullian with the affirmation that the Son was also "co-eternal" with the Father without a beginning, being "begotten not made".Donald Fairbairn (Sep 28, 2009) ''Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers'' {{ISBN|0-83083873-2}} pp. 48–50

Around 213 AD in ''Adversus Praxeas'' ([[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Anti-Marcion/Against Praxeas/III|chapter 3]]) [[Tertullian]] provided a formal representation of the concept of the [[Trinity]], i.e., that God exists as one "substance" but three "Persons": The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.Roger E. Olson, Christopher Alan Hall 2002 ''The Trinity'' {{ISBN|0-80284827-3}} pp. 29–31Eric Osborn (4 Dec 2003) ''Tertullian, First Theologian of the West'' {{ISBN|0-52152495-4}} pp. 116–17 Unlike later forms of the Trinity, however, Tertullian also expressed in [[wikisource:Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_III/Anti-Marcion/Against_Praxeas/VI|chapter 6]] of his work ''Adversus Praxeas,'' a belief in the Son being both "created and begotten", and in his work ''Adversus Hermogenes'' ([[wikisource:Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_III/Anti-Marcion/Against_Hermogenes/III|chapter 3]]) of the Son having a "beginning" and time he did "not exist". The [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 and later the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381 after the 55 year long [[Arian controversy|Arian Controversy]] that threatened to split the Great Church in two over a debate concerning the "nature and substance" of the Son, then formalized these elements, but differing to Tertullian with the affirmation that the Son was also "co-eternal" with the Father without a beginning, being "begotten not made".Donald Fairbairn (Sep 28, 2009) ''Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers'' {{ISBN|0-83083873-2}} pp. 48–50

After 381, Christians outside of the Roman Empire living in the [[Goths|Gothic]] Kingdoms, continued to adhere to [[Arianism|Arian]] [[Christology]], but were considered schismatics and heretics by the majority in Great Church and Rome.{{Citation |title=Codex Theodosianus |date=2025-02-15 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Theodosianus#Context |access-date=2025-05-12 |language=en}} The Goth Kingdoms later converted to the "[[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] orthodoxy" of the Great Church by the end of the 7th century.{{Citation |title=Arianism |date=2025-05-07 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism#From_the_5th_to_the_7th_century |access-date=2025-05-12 |language=en}}

After 381, Christians outside of the Roman Empire living in the [[Goths|Gothic]] Kingdoms, continued to adhere to [[Arianism|Arian]] [[Christology]], but were considered schismatics and heretics by the majority in Great Church and Rome. The Goth Kingdoms later converted to the "[[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] orthodoxy" of the Great Church by the end of the 7th century.{{cn}}

In 451, all the bishops of the Great Church were ordered to attend the [[Council of Chalcedon]] to discuss theological issues that had emerged.''Pocket History of Theology'' by Roger E. Olson and Adam C. English (Nov 14, 2005) {{ISBN|0-83082704-8}} Intervarsity Press pp. 46–47 This turned out to be a turning point at which the [[Western Christianity|Western]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] churches parted ways based on seemingly small [[Christology|Christological]] differences, and began the fracturing of the claim to the term Great Church by both sides.''Christ in Christian Tradition'' by Aloys Grillmeier, Theresia Hainthaler and [[Pauline Allen]] (Aug 1995) {{ISBN|0-66421997-7}} pp. 1–2Roger D. Haight (Sep 16, 2004) ''Christian Community in History'' Volume 1 {{ISBN|0-82641630-6}} pp. 212–13

In 451, all the bishops of the Great Church were ordered to attend the [[Council of Chalcedon]] to discuss theological issues that had emerged.''Pocket History of Theology'' by Roger E. Olson and Adam C. English (Nov 14, 2005) {{ISBN|0-83082704-8}} Intervarsity Press pp. 46–47 This turned out to be a turning point at which the [[Western Christianity|Western]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] churches parted ways based on seemingly small [[Christology|Christological]] differences, and began the fracturing of the claim to the term Great Church by both sides.''Christ in Christian Tradition'' by Aloys Grillmeier, Theresia Hainthaler and [[Pauline Allen]] (Aug 1995) {{ISBN|0-66421997-7}} pp. 1–2Roger D. Haight (Sep 16, 2004) ''Christian Community in History'' Volume 1 {{ISBN|0-82641630-6}} pp. 212–13