Consubstantial

In the Nicene Creed that we profess at Sunday Mass, we come across a word that is rather challenging: “consubstantial.” This is an indirect translation of the most controversial word in the history of Christianity — the Greek term homoousios.

At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, after intense debates, the bishops chose to use the word homoousios in their profession of faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Orthodox theologians had proposed that the Son is homoousios tou Patri — “of the same Being” as God the Father. The word homoousios, therefore, affirms the full divinity of Jesus Christ, His unity and equality with God the Father, as the true and only Son. At the Council of Constantinople (381 AD), the text of the creed was completed with an expanded section “I believe in the Holy Spirit….” The creed affirms the unity and equality of the Three Persons who are One God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

When the creed was translated from Greek into Latin, consubstantialis was found to be the closest word to homoousios. “Consubstantial with the Father” is a translation of the Latin phrase “consubstantialem Patri.” It is not easy to translate words that reflect Greek or Roman philosophy. There have been various attempts to get across the unity of being between the Divine Persons, particularly between the Son and the Father.

Why was that original word homoousios so important? The identity of the true God revealed in Jesus Christ depends on the word homoousios. If you change a little letter “i” in the middle of the word, a destructive heresy takes over. The changed word homoiousios means that Jesus Christ was “of like being with the Father” or “of a similar being as the Father.” That makes the Father the real God, and Jesus Christ becomes just a lesser Son, like some kind of grand angel. Logically, the Holy Spirit becomes another semi-divine being. There is no longer a Trinity. This was the heresy of the Egyptian priest Arius.

The Council of Nicaea dealt with the threat of the popular heresy of Arianism, which lingered for some centuries. Today, a crude Arianism is found among Jehovah’s Witnesses and takes more subtle forms among some liberal Christians who “nuance,” “demythologize,” or “deconstruct” the divinity of Our Lord.

When we say “consubstantial with the Father,” we affirm our Catholic belief, not only in the divinity of Christ but in God the Holy Trinity. This should remind us that orthodoxy is not getting some sums right, but an adventure of faith, accepting and entering the richness and wonder of God who is revealed in Jesus Christ.