Who Were the Main Characters at the Council of Nicea?

It was in the year 325 A.D. that several hundred bishops from different cities traveled to the city of Nicea at the expense of the emperor. However, this was only about 1/6 of the total number of all bishops in Christendom. Also, each bishop brought others with him, so the exact number who attended this conference is really unknown, but there were thousands who had journeyed to Nicea to be at this council. The majority of these bishops were from the Eastern, Greek-speaking part of the empire. The Council I suppose could be considered to be a whether lengthy meeting, lasting around six weeks.

At the Council of Nicea were three major groups of people who were represented at this meeting. There were a small minority who were convinced of the Arian doctrine. Eusebius of Nicomedia was the spokesman for this view or belief, instead of Arius. Why was this? Because Arius, being only a presbyter, could not sit on the council. There were also another small minority of bishops who believed that Arianism was a threat to the core of the Christian message, such as the full deity of Jesus Christ. Yet, the majority of those present, however, were convinced of neither belief. Now, Eusebius of Nicomedia presented his case before the council, reading a speech he had written. He believed this would be all that would be necessary to convince the majority of he and Arius' views, and therefore, become the champion of orthodoxy over Alexander. He was gravely mistaken! When the bishops present heard him portray the Son as a creature or creation of God, this was completely rejected by these bishops. This caused the mood of the undecided majority to now shift against Arius' beliefs, and towards those of Alexander.

Convinced that they needed to totally reject Arianism, the council searched the terms to define its faith. The Scripture alone was not good enough, because both the Arians and those who confessed that Jesus was coeternal with the Father, used various ways to prove their case, with no success. Therefore, a statement of faith was determined to be necessary.

Now, Eusebius of Caesarea, who was the first church historian, presented to the bishops a compromised creed which he used for the church in his city which said that Jesus is "the Word of God, God of God...the first-born of all creatures, begotten of the Father before all time." Most of the bishops were completely satisfied with this creed. Even the Arians had agreed to adopt it. However, Alexander's party greatly rejected it because it didn't resolve the issue! We must remember that Alexander believed that the Son was coeternal with the Father. In opposition to the Arians, he said that the Father and Son were of the same substance.

Encouraged by Hosius, Constantine suggested to include the word homoousios to the statement, which means "of the same substance." The Arians did not agree with this statement along with those who followed Origen's teachings, because it appeared to much like modalism, which taught that Jesus' deity was really the Father Himself. They recommended that the word homoiousios be used, which means "of similar substance." However, through Alexander's eloquence his beliefs or viewpoint was established. The Creed that was created in its final form at this council was going to include this about the Son: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father..."

"Of the essence of the Father" and "of one substance with the Father" clearly rejected any belief that the Logos was less than complete deity. "Begotten, not made" clearly refuted the Arian rejection of the coeternal existence of the Logos with the Father. The final paragraph, also known as the condemnatory clause, condemned the different ways in which Arius' teachings were even mentioned.

The Council of Nicea is regarded as the first official endorsement of trinitarianism, however, this meeting did not enunciate or settle the full trinitarian doctrine. The debate about the Holy Spirit would be addressed at a later time. This council was the first, but not the final, step in the formulation of orthodox trinitarianism.

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: www.docmiller06.wordpress.com

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