What Were the Events That Led to the Council of Nicea?

Let's begin by saying that in the Old Catholic Age (c. A.D. 170-325), Christendom changed from Monotheism toward a belief of Trinitarianism. The trinitarians of that day divided the manifestations of God into a concept of Tritheism. Also, they did not accept the belief of the full deity of Jesus Christ and subordinated Him in their Trinity to the first Person.

Now, by the year 300 A.D., the beginning of trinitarianism and trinitarian baptism had become the prevailing belief in Christendom. However, Orthodox Trinitarianism of today's world had yet to be completed.

In the second and third centuries most Christians believed in Monotheism and that God was Manifested in the Flesh and they did not believe in the Trinity. However, by the end of the third century it was evident that church leaders did not believe in Oneness and taught that there was a difference between God the Father and Jesus Christ. The reason of this thinking was not clear. The Greek Apologists, who were popular Christian philosophical writers during the second century, had referred to Jesus Christ mainly as the Logos (Word). They believed that the Logos (Son) was a second divine Person in the Trinity and was subordinate to the Father. Each One was called God, but they did not see the Son as coequal with the Father.

Now, two men named Tertullian and Origen, were the leading individuals in the third century whom the church eventually condemned as heretics. They debated that there was a Trinity, and they also taught the subordination of Jesus to the Father. They moved even closer to the trinitarian formulation, however, when Tertullian introduced the concept that the three Persons were of one substance and Origen by introducing the doctrine that the Father and Son were coeternal.

It was in 318 A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt, that a conflict began between a certain presbyter whose name was Arius, and Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria. Now, Arius taught that the Logos was created out of nothing before the creation of the world, and could not be of the same substance of the Father. As a matter of fact, He was the first creation of God. This made Jesus a demigod of the Father. Both groups agreed that the Son existed before the incarnation. But, the main debate was about the Son of God. Now, Alexander believed that the Son was coeternal, always with the Father, but the Arians believed that the Son was a creation at a later time.

Similar to the beliefs of the Christian church of earlier times, Arius emphasized, taught that God was One, using biblical Scriptures such as Deuteronomy 6:4 to prove his belief. So, he rejected the trinitarian belief that was becoming popular. However, like the trinitarians, completely opposite of Monotheism, he used a threefold baptismal formula and taught that Jesus was a second Person in the Godhead called the Logos or Son. His way of putting together these different beliefs was to deny that Jesus was God. Also, he believed Jesus was God's first creation.

Arius's belief resemble the teachings of the Greek Apologists during the second century and to that of the dynamic monarchians, a disagreeable or separated group in the third century. It was an extension of the belief of subordination that was a part of trinitarianism up to this point because of the acknowledgment that Jesus was believed to be divine but He was not deity. While Arius believed in monotheism, the believe in only one God, he completely rejected modalism, which is Sabellianism, and he protested against his bishop, Alexander, for his belief in Sabellianism. He rejected Alexander's teaching on the deity of Jesus Christ, although Alexander was really a trinitarian and did not believe in Monotheism.

The main reason for the strife between them was Arius's opinion of the meaning of Proverbs 8:22-31. Arius interpreted that the wisdom mentioned here is actually a Person and is an attribute of God. Beginning in the second century Apologists, along with other theologians together made wisdom in Proverbs to be a second Person, the Son-Logos in the Godhead. Verse 22 says, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old." Since the Hebrew word is translated as "possessed" can mean "created", Arius interpretation of the Scripture was that God created the Son before creation.

Now, in the year 321 A.D., Alexander called for a local synod to take place, in which this meeting openly condemned and excommunicated Arius, along with his companions. After the outcome of this synod, Arius asked for support from other bishops to help him in his cause. He received help for his cause from such men as Eusebius of Nicomedia and from others. This group continued to spread the teachings of Arian, which brought discord among the churches.

Now, Constantine heard about this situation who had just become the only emperor of the Roman Empire after defeating Licinius in the East, in the year A.D. 324. Constantine, who was the first emperor to claim a connection to Christianity, desired to settle this disagreement, most likely to promote unity in the Empire. His decision was to send his advisor, Hosius of Cordova, to Alexandria to try and settle this problem. However, when it appeared that all hope was gone of there being an answer for this situation, Constantine ordered a council for the bishops to convene in Nicea, which is modern day Isnik, Turkey. This city was just twenty miles north of Nicomedia in Bithynia.

Article Source: http://www.christianarticledirectory.org

Hello, my name is Dr. M. Lee Miller. I am married to a beautiful woman named Elizabeth. We have four wonderful children and three fantastic grandchildren. I have a Doctorate in Theology and a Ph.D in Religion. I have been in the ministry for 31 years and a pastor for ten years. I enjoy writing christian articles centered around Biblical research. Author Link: Personal Website: www.millerdoctorofphilosophy.com

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