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The evolution of the concept of God and Gods nature is an important theological issue. In part II of his book on Christianitys history, Gonzalez (2010) explains that more modern understandings of God as a caring entity and humanitys father have been preceded by earlier concepts perceiving the Sun, which supports life, as a form of deity. The early Christian Church came to the realization of Gods multi-dimensional nature, including the Trinity doctrine, gradually and mainly emphasized Gods and Jesuss divinity without stating their oneness explicitly (Gonzalez, 2010). The opportunity for salvation and Gods impartiality in saving individuals was another point of philosophical development for the church. Particularly, the Christian Church has gradually expanded its understanding of Gods ability to grant salvation regardless of ones social status (Gonzalez, 2010). They claimed that wealthy individuals could be saved just like their poorer counterparts. This can be perceived as the realization of Gods love for everyone devoted to the avoidance of sin.
The early churchs methods to develop such understandings and declare them present another crucial research question. Such methods might include the leaders true devotion to the concept of an omniscient and omnipotent entity. It resulted in the inability to place human figures, even those with the noblest character, above God and the readiness to denote a clear hierarchy between the creator and the creation.
As for the involved methods, the conversion of Constantine to Christianity and his nephew Julians rise to power challenged church leaders to proclaim their priorities and opinions on Gods place above any human. Despite the associated risks, church leaders preferred to be open about Gods nature as an entity deserving their ultimate loyalty that outperformed the devotion to any leader, including emperors (Gonzalez, 2010, p. 148). Therefore, for church leaders, remaining firm in their priorities was a consciously selected strategy to avoid rhetorics that would make God the loyal helper of the powerful.
Reference
Gonzalez, J. L. (2010). The story of Christianity: The early church to the dawn of the reformation (Vol. 1, 2nd ed.). HarperOne.
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