Church History
4th Century - Part II
Article VI
The Council of Nicea
A major dispute within the Church
While the building of the city of Constantinople was in the completing stages, a major squabble was spreading in the churches throughout the empire. The squabble began with an elder presbyter (also referred to as pastor or priest) in Alexandria, Egypt, by the name of Arius. This "Arian dispute" had grown to cause major divisions within the Church at large in the empire.
Arius
There were certain 4th century Christians who did not believe God could experience emotions. That then raised a question: "If Jesus was fully divine and fully human, could God then, through Jesus the Son, feel sorrow and pain ?" Most church members up to that time believed that God, the Son, meaning Jesus, had experienced emotions. The elder presbyter Arius taught, however, that Jesus was not God. Jesus was, instead, the first being that God created. “Once,” Arius claimed, “the Son did not exist.” Arius proposed that if the Father begat the Son, the latter must have had a beginning, and that there was a time when He was not, and that His substance was from nothing like the rest of creation.
To spread his beliefs, Arius used the power of music. He put his theological ideas to a catchy tune. Within weeks Alexandrian followers of Arius were singing in the streets, “Once the Son did not exist!”
The Bishop of Alexandria sent for Arius and questioned him. Arius, however, remained strong in his position and was finally excommunicated by a council of Egyptian bishops. Arius then went to the capital city of Nicomedia in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey) where he wrote letters defending his position to various bishops. This problem became so intense within the churches that it had cause major concerns for the unity of the Church as a whole.
Constantine wanted a united empire
Constantine did not care whether Jesus was God, but he did care about a united empire. Constantine’s plan from the beginning was that Christianity would unite his empire. Now his empire was divided. Something needed to be done.
Council of Nicea
On July 4, 325 A.D., as a desire to create peace in the empire, Constantine invited every known overseer of the Church, which consisted of 318 church leaders in the empire to settle this dispute. The place for the council was in a little town in northern Asia Minor, called Nicea – now modern Turkey. This council, called the Council of Nicea, was a gathering similar to the Jerusalem Council of the 1st century where the issue of circumcision of the Gentiles was settled. This council, however, was much larger. Emperor Constantine, having proclaimed himself the head overseer, directed the council.
Arius condemned
Two months later, after much debate, the Council officially condemned the beliefs of Arius. The council wrote the first version of the now famous creed proclaiming that the Son was "one in being with the Father" by use of the Greek word "homoousius," which means "of one substance." [1]
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
This creed has been modified through the centuries, but the meaning is the same - Jesus was One with God. A new word was thus created – “Trinity,” one that placed God, His Son, and His Spirit as One. Constantine then condemned Arius of heresy and excommunicated him to Illyria, which is today’s Albania.
A new tune
Church members, who rejected Arius’ ideas in support of the decision of the Council of Nicea, responded with a chorus that drowned out the one Arius had been singing. This song has been sung down through the ages, and sung even today.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning is now,
and every shall be…world without end…Amen, Amen
Athanasius
Athanasius (296-373 A.D.), known as “The Father of Orthodoxy” was a giant leader within the Church at the time of the Arian dispute. After the council convened, Athanasius distributed writings throughout the churches on matters of faith.
Athanasius began his words: "But concerning matters of faith, the Catholic Church believes…” Athanasius thereupon confessed what the results were of the Nicene Council, claiming the position of the Church. This, he claimed, “was not a judgment of recent origin, but writings as coming from apostolic times.” Athanasius reminded the Church of the dispute regarding Gnosticism of the 2nd century and the necessity of creating the “Rule of Faith,” (or Apostles Creed). Even though the empire was divided in matters of faith, Athanasius’ words carried a lot of power within the Church – especially when it was supported by the emperor.
Athanasius was familiar with the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit. He wrote an account of the life of his friend Anthony, recording the many miracles associated with his life. His testimony indicates his familiarity with and the openness to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. His writings revealed his belief that the gifts had not ceased, nor were they reserved for a select saintly few. [2]
Eusebius
Eusebius (314 - 339 A.D.) was the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. He played a key role within the Church during the time of Constantine. He has been acknowledged as the 2nd Christianhistorian - he 1st being the Apostle Luke. His greatest work, Ecclesiastical History, traced the movements of the Church from the time of Christ to the estblishment of the eace under Constantine. Sadly, Eusebius was secretly a supporter of Arius, but for fear of being excommunicated from the Church and exiled away like him, eusibius publicly supported the decision of the Nicene Council.
A New Testament Canon
Emperor Constantine ordered Eusibius to place complete copies of the Scriptures witin every church in Constantinople. Scriptures were only written upon scrolls up to this point of time, so to obey the orders for completed copies of all of the Scriptures, the scrolls needed to be contained on one volume. In other words,the scrolls needed to be placed into a Codex (book). Not all Scripture, however, had officially been recognized as Canon up to this point.
Historians searched for divine Scripture
As was pointed out earlier, under the persecution of Diocletian, all Scripture was to be confiscated and burned. Church leaders, however, at that point of time had not agreed on what was considered divine. Diocletian formed a group of historians to find out what was considered divine so they would know what books to confiscate and burn. No final determination had been made before the conquest of Constantine. It was now only 25 years later and new orders were given. The same search was to be conducted, but not for the purpose of confiscation and burning, but for preservation so the Holy Scriptures could be placed in all of the churches in Constantinople.
Each copy of the Scriptures were to be made on good parchment by trained scribes in elaborately bound volumes. Constantine covered the entire cost of the project and authorized the use of two public carriages to transport the copies to Constantinople.
The New Testament Canon
As several centuries of undecisiveness as to the New Testament Canon, it was Athanasius who finally put forth a list of books that became one of the final approvals on what scriptures were considered divine. Athanasius sent an official letter of the list to the Churches in 367 A.D. His statement was:
“Again it is not tedious to speak of the [books] of the New Testament. These are, the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Afterwards, the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles (called Catholic), seven, viz. of James, one; of Peter, two; of John, three; after these, one of Jude. In addition there are fourteen Epistles of Paul, written in this order. The first, to the Romans; then two to the Corinthians; after these, to the Galatians; next, to the Ephesians; then to the Philippians; then to the Colossians; after these, two to the Thessalonians, and that to the Hebrews; and again, two to Timothy; one to Titus; and lastly, that to Philemon. And besides, the Revelation of John.”
After centuries of arguments to which books would be canonized, God still had His way in what books would come forth as divine. He stated in His Word that only eye witnesses of His Son (Jesus) would be allowed to be remained as spoken.
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.
In addition to the books of the canon, Athanasius told of other books that could not accepted as divine, but were still profitable. These books, known as the Apocryphal, were thus rejected as divine Scripture. Today these books are accepted within the Catholic Canon, but rejected by the Protestant Canon.
Arian’s additional dispute
A few years after the Council of Nicea, Arius discovered a new way to interpret the word "homoousius" that agreed with his doctrines. Arius then asked to be readmitted to communion, but the Church refused. Athanasius, on behalf of the Church, refused to restore Arius as a member of the Church because Arius still denied Jesus’ unique deity.
Arius, assisted by Eusibius, then appealed to Emperor Constantine. Constantine's sister, Constantia (former wife of Maximius Daia, who Constantine earlier hung), on her deathbed implored Constantine to support Arius. Constantine abided by his sister’s wishes and from that day forward supported Arius and his beliefs on the Trinity. He believed he could bring back into the Church the supporters of Arius who had earlier left.
Athanasius and Constantine quickly clashed. Constantine threatened Athanasius with the words, “If I hear that you’ve kept anyone from becoming a church member, I’ll banish you.”
An official ceremony was set by Constantine to re-admit Arius back into the Church. Before Constantine met with Arius, however, Arius stopped to relieve himself and his bowels burst and he died. The edict to accept his teachings, however, were enacted. After five years, Constantine exiled Athanasius to the desert on a false charge of treason. Athanasius, however, was to be heard of again and again.
The death of Emperor Constantine
In 337 A.D. Emperor Constantine died. On his deathbed Eusibius baptized him. Deathbed baptisms had become common, carrying the belief that God did not forgive sins committed after baptism. If the last thing you did was to be baptized, there would be no sins for God to forgive.
In order for Constantine’s sons to be assured of the throne, the brothers had their father’s army kill off most of Constantine’s relatives. There were only a few who had escaped and survived. One of them, being a six year old nephew, was thought be harmless because he only a small child. He was taken away from the court and lived in isolation for fear of one day he and his family would be killed. This young child lived in fear all of his growing up years from those who had claimed to be Christian. He would, however, come on the scene in later years.
Declared Constantine as a pagan god
The throne of Constantine was succeeded by his three sons who ruled in various places within the empire. As a tribute to their father, the sons of Constantine declared Constantine one of the pagan gods. What Constantine had spent his lifetime as an emperor developing, his sons pulled down in a moment of time when they declared their father a pagan god.
During this time Arianism spread throughout the Empire.
The fight for sole emperorship
Each of the brothers sought for the sole emperorship of the Empire. By 350 A.D. Constantius, one of the brothers had gained sole rulership. He was a strong supporter of Arianism and sought to condemn Athenasius to death. He discovered, however, that he could not do so without a hearing. Constantius responded by claiming that what he wanted was to be “canon” of the Church which meant he was sole ruler and he was the one who all made the laws. What he said was Law. Many bishops then signed the condemnation of Athanasius. Those who refused were banished to distant places.
Finding Athanasius was another story. Spending much of his life in monastery living, monks in several monasteries went to his defense and put him in hiding. Only on rare occasions would he would come out.
A relative in hiding
Constantius had no children who could have succession to the throne so he called forth Julian, his cousin to the throne. He was the young cousin who had gone into in hiding as a young child. He had grown up and studied philosophy in Athens. He also had abandoned and hated the Christian belief. Constantius commissioned him to be Caesar under him.
A new emperor
In 361 A.D. Constantius died. After his death Caesar Julian became sole emperor of the Roman Empire. Athanasius came out of hiding and fought to restore Roman Catholic Christanity as was supported by the Nicene Creed. Julian, however, sought revenge from those most responsible for his early misfortunes. He sought to restore paganism and stop the progress of Christianity. He organized the pagan priesthood into a hierarchy similar to that which the Church had at that time. Thus he split his entire empire into regions, each with an archpriest who was above all pagan priests in that region. Then each province had a high priest. He fashioned his pagan priesthood similar to what Constantine had done by creating the Church into various archdiocese.
Another form of persecution against Christianity
This was not, however, widely received by the people at large. The Church had supported the Nicene Creed, and Julian had his hands full with Athanasius. Although he did not officially order persecutions of Christians, many of the local leaders under him quietly did.
Julian ridiculed Christianity. He passed laws forbidding Christians to teach classical literature. He kept Christians from using the great works of classical antiquity to spread their faith as they had been doing previously. He mocked the Scriptures and those who followed it. His persecution was short-lived, however, because Julian ruled for only two years and died from a fatal wound while in battle. [3]
Athanasius was then able to fight for Catholic Christianity until his death in 373 A.D.
A Christian emperor
Jovian followed Julian to the throne in 363 A.D. He was a Christian and proclaimed toleration, as did Valentinian I who succeeded him. Valens, the younger brother of Valentinian, chosen to rule the East, was less tolerant. He did not attack paganism, but felt obliged to proceed against the Nicene party, and exile some of the bishops. He was killed in battle in 378 A.D., and subsequent emperors, both in the East and West were Catholic orthodox in their beliefs.
Ambrose, bishop of Milan
The father of Ambrose held a high position of the prefect (military officer) of Gaul. Ambrose was educated in law for a political career. His family was high in imperial circles in Rome and expected their son to follow the same. In 374 A.D. the bishop of Milan died and the people unanimously wanted Ambrose for the position. Believing this to be the call of God, Ambrose gave up all plans for a political career, distributed his money to the poor, and became the bishop. He also at that time began his intensive study of the Scriptures and theology. [4]
Ambrose proved to be a fearless and able administrator in the affairs of the Church. He spoke against the powerful Arian groups and opposed the present Emperor Theodosius. In 390 A.D. Theodosius gathered the people of Thessalonica in the town square, massacred the governor and 7000 of the city inhabitants. When Theodosius later came to church to take communion, Ambrose refuse him admission to the Lord’s Supper until he humbly and publicly repented of his atrocious deed.
It was Ambrose’s desire to make the State and its rulers respect the Church so they would not transgress on the rightful claims of the Church in the spiritual realm. He was an able preacher; however, his pactical expoitionsof Scripture were marred by his use of allegorical methods.
Allegory
A story that is told to explai or teach somehing, especially long and complicatd, with an underling meaning different from the surface meaning of the story itself.
http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wb/dict?lu=Allegory
Ambrose introduced congregational singing of hymns into the Church. He is perhaps the first writer of Christian hymns with rhyme and (accentual) meter. He used chants in singing, which became known as the Ambrosian chant. He is most recognized at being the one who brought Augustine into Christian conversion. Though Ambrose was highly recognized in the Church, the ministry of Augustine (which will be discussed in another article) far surpassed him in church history recognition. Ambrose died in 397 A.D.
The end of pagan religions
Gratian and Theodosius both came into rule over the empire around 379 A.D. and the fate of paganism was decided. Both of these emperors became strong supporters of the Roman Catholic orthodox faith. Influenced by the great bishop Ambrose of Milan, paganism and heretics were greatly suppressed. All temples in Alexandria were demolished or converted into Christian churches. Private pagan worship was forbidden and paganism died out in the cities and slowly died out in the countryside. In 380 A.D. Theodosius ordered all his subjects to subscribe to the Roman Catholic Christian faith. By this time Arianism had lost its vitality except among the Gothic tribes outside of the Empire. [5]
Jerome (345-420 A.D.)
Jerome was born in a small town in Italy about 345 A.D. and grew up studying the classical disciplines. He went to Rome as a student where he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. He then journeyed through Gaul where he was converted to ascetic Christianity and later joined an ascetic community near his home in Italy. It was there that he had a vision which criticized his pre-occupation with secular learning. In the vision he was chastised for not being a follower of Christ. Jerome then withdrew to an ascetic life in the Syrian desert, southeast of Antioch, where he mastered Hebrew and transcribed biblical manuscripts.
Jerome was ordained at Antioch and then traveled to Constantinople where he studied under Gregory of Nazianzus. In 382 A.D. he then became the secretary to Bishop Damascus in Rome. While serving as secretary, he also became involved in various experiments in monastic living by aristocrats.
Jerome was later commissioned by the bishop of Rome to make an improved Latin translation of the Bible. He went back to the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the Greek New Testament to prepares a better Latin translation. After twenty-three years’ of labor, Jerome completed his revision of the Latin Scriptures known as the “Vulgate Bible.” It was eventually accepted as the authorized Latin version of the Western Roman Catholic Church. [6] He became the leading biblical scholar of his time in the Western Church.
After the death of the bishop of Rome, Jerome visited Antioch, Egypt and the Holy Land, and in 386 A.D. settled down to monastic life in Bethlehem. There he spent the rest of his days in seclusion completing his translation of the Scriptures into Latin and writing commentaries on the books of the Bible.
The Great Cappadocians
A group of people from Cappadocia (in what we know as Turkey) had earlier carried on where Athanasius left off. They became known as the Great Cappadocians who were supporters of the Nicene Creed. They founded the first Eastern communities for nuns and monks, differing from the monks of the Western part of the empire where self abasement was primary. These Cappadocians worked, sang psalms, sold what they grew and made, and all proceeds were used to help the poor. They even built communities in cities so they could reach out to the people. Their living went beyond that of desert monastery living. Because their efforts were to help others, monasteries became very popular within the churches in the Eastern empire.
End Notes
[1] Hyatt, Eddie L. 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity. Hyatt Int’l Ministries. 1996.
[2] http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/godsreligion/p/aa082499.htm
[3] http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/empcont/e210.htm
[4] Caines, Earl E. Christian Through the Centuries. 3rd ed. Zondervan. 1996.
[5] Dowley, Tim. Introduction to the History of Christianity. Fortress. Minneapolis. 1995.
[6] Dowley, Tim. Introduction to the History of Christianity. Fortress. Minneapolis. 1995.