“Classical theism” is charged with rendering God remote, immovable, unfriendly. But the reality is the opposite; Nicene orthodoxy said God was near, far nearer than Arius wanted Him to be.
Thomas Weinandy writes: “The Creed . . . professes that this God who is Father is almighty and thus, contrary to Arrius’ position that God created through his created mediator - the Son, ‘the maker of all things visible and invisible.’ God the Father is transcendent in the sense of being wholly other than all that he creates and so ontologically distinct from all of creation, but as being creator of all, the Father is not infinitely remote from all that he created. Unlike Arius’ view, there is no longer a cosmological gulf between God the Father and all else. Thus, Nicea secures that God the Father has an immediate relationship to the created realm as its Creator.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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