Book of Isaiah 63:16 (JP) it reads: "For You are our father, for
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
did not know us, neither did
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
recognize us; You, O Lord, are our father; our redeemer of old is your name." According to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, God is attributed with fatherly role of protector. He is titled the Father of the poor, of the widows and orphans. He is also titled the Father of the king, as the teacher and helper over the judge of Israel.
There are three basic forms of the name of
God the Father in the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
: ''Theos'' (θεός the Greek word for God), ''
Kyrios
''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' ( grc, κύριος, kū́rios) is a Greek word which is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures about 7000 times, in particular translating the nam ...
'' (i.e. Lord in Greek) and ''Patḗr'' (Πατήρ i.e. Father in Greek). Also, the Aramaic word
"Abba" (אבא; Father), is used in
Mark 14:36 and in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. The word for ''Father'' was chosen to coin the name of the discipline because Paterology involves particular studies of the person of God the Father, and the works of the Father. In both the Old Testament and New Testament the term "Father" when used for God is a
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
. It is not a proper
name for God, but just one of many titles by which
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
speak of and to God.
In Christian theology, fatherhood of God is seen in a more substantive sense, centered around
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
rather than metaphorical interpretations of various questions about relations between the Father and the Son. Christian sense of participation in the eternal relationship of Father and Son, through Jesus Christ, is symbolically represented by the notion that Christians are ''adopted'' children of God:
In Christianity, the concept of God as the Father of Jesus differs from the concept of God as the Creator and Father of all people.
At the end of the first century,
Clement of Rome
Pope Clement I ( la, Clemens Romanus; Greek: grc, Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Klēmēs Rōmēs) ( – 99 AD) was bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD ...
was referring to the Father regarding creation,
1 Clement 19.2 stating: "let us look steadfastly to the Father and Creator of the universe". Around AD 213 in ''Adversus Praxeas'' (
chapter 3 Chapter Three refers to a third Chapter (books), chapter, but the term may also refer to:
Albums
*Chapter III (Agathodaimon album), ''Chapter III'' (Agathodaimon album), 2003
*Chapter III (Allure album), ''Chapter III'' (Allure album), 2004
*Chapte ...
)
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
was developing a formal representation of the concept of the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
, meaning that God exists as one "substance" but three "Persons": The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and with God the Father being the Head. This, however, is disputed by other scholars, according to whom Tertullian taught only the Father is truly God, as only he is eternal and not derived from any other substance, as the Son and Holy Spirit are. Tertullian was also discussing the relations of Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son. including the notion of procession "from the Father through the Son".
Different
Christian denominations have different theological approaches to various ''paterological'' or ''patriological'' issues, concerning the person and works of God the Father.
Early
creeds in the
Western Church
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
were affirming the belief in "God the Father (Almighty)", the primary reference being to "God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe". This did not exclude the fact that "eternal father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ" nor that he had even "vouchsafed to adopt
he believeras his son by grace".
Creeds in the
Eastern Church
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
began with an affirmation of faith in "one God" and usually expanded this by adding "the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible" or similar words to that effect. The
Nicene Creed, which dates to 325 and 381, states that the Son (Jesus Christ) is "eternally begotten of the Father", indicating that their ''divine'' Father-Son relationship is seen as not tied to an event within time or human history.
See also
*
God in Christianity
God in Christianity is believed to be the eternal, supreme being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God, which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material u ...
*
Monarchianism
Monarchianism is a Christian theology that emphasizes God as one indivisible being,
at Catholic Encyclopedia, newadvent.org
*
Patripassianism
In Christian theology, historically patripassianism (as it is referred to in the Western church) is a version of Sabellianism in the Eastern church (and a version of modalism, modalistic monarchianism, or modal monarchism). Modalism is the belief ...
*
Sabellianism
In Christianity, Sabellianism is the Western Church equivalent to Patripassianism in the Eastern Church, which are both forms of theological modalism. Condemned as heresy, Modalism is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three diff ...
*
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:God The Father
Judeo-Christian topics
Christian terminology
Trinitarianism