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CHAPTER TWO: IN THE WEST
The road to the First Ecumenical Council begins in the West. The development of the
doctrine begins in Rome, but reaches its zenith in her historical enemy, Carthage.
Rome
The church in the Imperial city began looking into the question of Christ`s role in the
Godhead very early. Four figures were prominent in the development of the doctrine in Rome:
Clement, Justin Martyr, Theodotus and Hippolytus.
At the beginning of our journey we meet the early church father, Clement. Although only
the first century, I Clement contains a clear trinitarian phrase. Have we not one God, and one Christ
and one Spirit of Grace poured out upon us?
6
Despite the omission of the name Father`, this
sentence is clearly a proto-trinitarian statement. Elsewhere in I Clement the term Father is stated and
is consistent with subsequent authors. Clement, steeped in the Septuagint, leans heavily on Scripture
for moral and ethical guidance. Even at such an early date, the concept of a triune God is obvious.
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Our second Roman is Justin Martyr. Focussing on practical over theoretical theology, Justin
stressed the inseparability of the essence of the Word and the Father. However, when he concluded
that the Father was the source of the Godhead, and that the Son and the Spirit must be inferior, he
is condemned as a subordinationist. In reality, his theology was much more complex, holding the
6
Clement, I Clement, 46.6, as quoted in Kelly, The Early Church, 42.
7
Kelly, The Early Church, 42.