LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGY SEMINARY

THE MEN OF THE NICAEA COUNCIL OF 325

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED

TO PROFESSOR GREGORY TOMLININ PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR CHHI 520

DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH HISTORY

BY

JOHNNY CARTER

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINAOCTOBER 7, 2012

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….1

THE ARIAN CONFLICT…………………………………………………………………….1

THE PURPOSE OF THE COUNCIL………………………………………………………...2

CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE TRINITY……………………………………..4

THE NICENE CREED……………………………………………………………………… 5

THE MEN OF THE COUNCIL………………………………………………………………6

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………….12

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………….13

iii

1

INTRODUCTION

On account of the growing Arian controversy, that was causing a rift in the church.

Emperor Constantine assembled the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. The purpose of

the council was two-fold. First, the council was to discuss the teachings of Arius of Alexandria a

very popular presbyter in the Alexandrian church. Arius had a problem with the deity of Jesus

Christ. Second, Emperor Constantine wanted to mend the growing rift in the church and form a

united church front. From this historical gathering The Council of Nicaea was able to produce a

theological confession called the Nicene Creed.

THE ARIAN CONFLICT

The Arian conflict began because of a fundamental difference over the deity of Jesus

Christ. The Church had always confessed their belief in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus

Christ. The church believed that God was divine and therefore Jesus was divine. The act of water

baptism was performed in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. This belief spoken of

in the Apostles Creed, boldly states, “We believe in God the Father, Almighty . . . and in Jesus

Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord.” 1 The church also spoke out against all pagan beliefs.

1 Aswin-Siejkowski,Piotr, The Apostles’ Creed: The Apostles’ Creed and it’s Early Christian Context (New York, T & T Clark International, 2009),7-35

2

The Apostle’s Creed appeared to be too much for the Arians, for their interpretation of

the deity of Christ was much different than the views of the church. The Arians led by their

leader Arius of Alexandria, simply could not get over the “philosophical difficulty that one who

is man cannot be also God.”2 The Arians believe that “Christ can be worship as the begotten Son

of God, who became flesh, died and rose again, and who sits at the right hand of the Father.” 3

Arius did everything in his power to try and show the general council that Jesus could not be

equal to God. Arius quoted “John 3:15 to show that Jesus was referred as God’s only begotten

Son, he also referenced Hebrews 1:5-6 which speaks of Jesus being begotten of God. Finally

probably out of frustration Arius stated flatly, Jesus is in no way part God”4 The Arians just

could not support the deity of Christ because if they did it meant that Christ was God. Arius and

his followers held firm to their belief that “Jesus the Son of God, was created before the

foundation of the world by God; thus Jesus is not eternal, He is but a creature.”5 Despite the

backlash that was coming from the church and its followers the Arians continued to preach their

message of heresy. Arius continued to teach to anyone that would listen that “the dignity of

being the Son of God was bestowed on Jesus as a gift from the Father; however it is the Father

we must worship for He alone is God.”6 It was because of these teaching that Arius and his

followers were excommunicated from the church.

2 Gwatkin ,Melvin,Henry, The Arian Controversy, (BiblioBazaar,2007),chap 1,Under “The Beginnings of Arianism” Kindle ebook

3 Ibid, The Arian Controversy4 Stephens,William,H, Athanasius and the Nicene Creed (Brentwood, Authors Book Nook,2012),chap 1,

Under “ Arianism is born” Kindle ebook5 Gray, Derwin, L “Arianism” in The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Hindson, Ed and Caner,

Ergun (Eugene, Harvest House Publishers, 2008), 73. 6 Ibid,73

3

THE PURPOSE OF THE COUNCIL

The 15th chapter of Acts gives a good example of a council coming together to discuss a

problem that was causing a division within the church. In the Christian church when “bishops

and pastors and other elected leaders of the church assembled together to consider and rule on

questions of doctrine, administration, disciple, and other matters,”7 this group is usually referred

to as the general council. The Nicaea general council did not operated on any regular schedule,

whenever there was a need to meet the council would assemble. The general council did not

react to everything that might have come up within the church. However, “if something was

important, the issue found its way into the general council’s meeting.”8 According to Socrates

this “council was convened at the request of Constantine, the current emperor of Rome, because

the Christian sovereign hated discord, and he therefore set three tasks that he want to resolve

during this gathering.”9 Constantine officiated the meeting and he told the bishops that were in

attendance. “You are the bishops whose jurisdiction is within the church. But I also am the

bishop, ordained by God to oversee those outside the church.”10 The three issues Constantine

wanted to resolve were the issue of the deity of Christ, establishing a date for Easter and to bring

7 Encyclopedia Britannica Online, s.v. “council”, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/140136/council accessed October 05,2012

8 Bellitto,Christopher,M The General Councils: A History of the twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II (Mahwah,Paulist Press,2002), “Introduction” Kindle ebook

9 Edwards, Mark. "The First Council of Nicaea." Origins to Constantine. Eds. Margaret M. Mitchell, Frances M. Young and K. Scott Bowie. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Cambridge Histories Online. Cambridge University Press. DOI:10.1017/CHOL9780521812399.033 http://histories.cambridge.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/uid=2451/extract?id=chol9780521812399_CHOL97805218

12399A033&cited_by=0 accessed October 5, 201210 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashvile,Christianity Today,2000),387

4

unity to an already fragile church body. “The assembling of the council was a sign that

Christianity had assumed a new mode of government, as well as a new position in the empire.”11

CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE TRINITY

In John 10:30-Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”12 According to the Jews, Jesus had

just committed blasphemy, and for that, the Jews were ready to stone him. How could Jesus and

the Father be one? This question was becoming a headache for Constantine and the general

council. To this day the deity of Christ is a hot topic among many in the secular world. There are

those who still have a hard time grasping this theory. To the secular world Christ was just “a

humble rabbi, or insightful teacher, or just a good man. Others go as far as to insinuate that Jesus

was radical, egotistical, or even insane.”13 However, this growing controversy was more of a

theological issue than anything. The relationship between the Father and the Son was the main

issue and there was no easy way to explain this unique process. Arius, himself a Christian, now

found himself at odds with Bishop, Alexander of Alexandria. Arius “did not want to lower the

person of God or to refuse him worship, but to defend from the charge of polytheism (many

Gods).”14 It was the concept of many God’s that was keeping Arius and his followers from

accepting the deity of Christ. Arius and his followers failed to see the spiritual significant of the

Trinity. Which was “God is one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each

5

11 Edwards, Mark “The First Council of Nicaea”12 Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are from The Holy Bible New International Version (NIV)13 Hindson, Ed, “Christ, Divinity Of” in The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Hindson, Ed and

Caner, Ergun (Eugene, Harvest House Publishers, 2008), 121. 14 Gwatkin ,Melvin,Henry,ebook

member of the Trinity is completely God. As part of the Trinity, Jesus Christ who is God

the Son is deity. “15 “This is the Christian doctrine of the trinity. God in his infinite mercy

looked up his finite creatures and knew that they would have a hard time comprehending him

and believing in him. So, he revealed himself to everyone in three different aspects.”16

THE NICENE CREED

“A Creed, or Rule of Faith, or Symbol is a confession of faith for public use, or a form of

words setting forth with authority certain articles of belief, which are regarded by the framers as

necessary for salvation, or at least for the well-being of the Christian Church.”17 The creed may

cover the whole area of the Christian doctrine and process, or embrace only such points as

believed to be essential and acceptable. Creeds are generally used at baptisms, or used for

instructional purposes; they can be more elaborate and theological, for ministers and teachers.

Creeds give everyone a chance to speak out with a loud voice what they believe. The Nicene

Creed would go on to become one of the most important Christian texts ever to be produced. The

Nicene Creeds goes as follows…..

“We believe in God the Father almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only- begotten of the Father, that is, begotten of the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true, begotten God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father, through whom all things were made, in heaven and earth; who for us humans and our salvation came down, took flesh, and was made human, suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit.”18

6

15 Towns,Elmer,L. Theology for Today (Belmont,Wadsworth / Thomson Learning,2002),15816 Hyde, M.R. Exploring The Nicene Creed ( M.R.Hyde,2011),chap 1,Kindle ebook17 Schaff, Philip; Schaff, David S. Creeds of Christendom : CD-ROM Bible Explorer 4.0 Wordsearch

Corp.200418 Hill, Jonathan, Zondervan Handbook To The History of Christianity (Oxford, Lion Publishing,2006),80-

81

By citing the Nicene Creed the general council and the followers of the Christian faith

were affirming their belief in the deity of Jesus Christ.

THE MEN OF THE COUNCIL

At the invitation of Emperor Constantine three hundred and eighteen bishops assembled

for what would become the first official gathering of the Nicaea Council. The council “lasted for

two months and twelve days. It was held in the spring of AD 325 in what is now northwest

Turkey.”19 “The church had waited for over “three centuries to officially call its first general

council meeting, because Christianity was still officially outlawed.”20 This moment has been

declared the first ecumenical council of the Christian church and “historically it marked the end

of early church history and the dawning of the middle Ages.”21 The Council of Nicaea was held

during the first year of the reign of Constantine the Great. Out of all the men in attendance at

the council there were few men who stood out.

EMPEROR CONSTANTINE

7

19 Daniels, Warren, Councils of the Church A History of the Ecumenical Councils of The Roman Catholic Church, (2012),Part 1,Under “Eastern Councils First Council: Nicaea 1 (AD 325) ” Kindle ebook

20 Bellitto,Christopher,M Chap, 1 Under Developing Doctrine: Nicaea I (325) to Constantinople III (680-681)21 Grant, Robert M. Religion and Politics at the Council at Nicaea The Journal Of Religion, Vol.55, No 1 (Jan., 1975),pp.1-2 Published by: The University of Chicago Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/1202069

accessed October 7,2012

Besides being called Constantine the Great, the emperor was also known as the first

Christian Emperor. There have been some debates by historians whether Constantine was even a

Christian at all. He was born in Illyria, a region around the Balkans in A.D. 280. His father

Constantius Chlorus, was already a Roman official who was moving up the ranks. His mother

was Helena, the daughter of an innkeeper. Constantine was in line to become emperor of the

western empire by the time he was 31. Spring of 311 Constantine and his army of 40,000

soldiers rode toward Rome to confront an enemy who had four times the men he did. The battle

was for supremacy in the west. “While riding into battle it is said that Constantine saw a vision

in the sky: a bright cross with the words By This Sign Conquer. Constantine believes that this

was a sign from God telling him to take the cross into battle so he ordered his men to mark their

shield with the now famous cross which became known as the Chi-Rio ”22 With renewed hope

Constantine was victorious over his enemy. He would enter Rome as the new ruler of the west;

Constantine became the first Roman emperor with a cross in his crown. Once Constantine had

established himself as emperor “he met Licinius, the ruler of the Balkan provinces, and he issued

the now famous Edict of Milan that gave Christians the freedom to worship.” 23 “The reign of

Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion from under persecution by

the secular government to union with the same; the beginning of the state-church system.”24 For

fourteen years Christians under the rule of Constantine enjoyed the freedom of worship however

Constantine wavered back and forth with his faith, because he was considered a friend of the

8

22 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted,38623 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted,38724 Schaff, Philip History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity. A.D.

311-600 Part 1Under “Introduction and General View” Kindle ebook

Christians, and because his Christian convictions grow over the years Constantine now

proclaimed himself a Christian. Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end, and it ended

with a resounding thud. Controversy had to rear its ugly head around A.D.325. A fundamental

issue regarding the deity of Christ was threatening to divide the church, after Constantine had

worked so hard to establish unity. To settle the matter Constantine, called together a council of

bishops at Nicaea to discuss the matter. Constantine told the bishops that “division in the church

is worse than war.”25

ATHANASIUS

“Athanasius of Alexandria was born in the last decade of the third century AD and he

died in May of 373. He lived during a period where considerable change was happening in the

Christian church.” 26 Athanasius grew up in a fatherless home, his mother a very rich woman;

was a worshipper of idols. Once Athanasius had become an adult his mother’s desire was that he

would marry, Athanasius had no desire to get marry. As with most mothers she continued to

press her son to get married even suggesting that he get with a young lady that was a sinner so

maybe she would be able to convince to get married. Again Athanasius refused “for the Lord

was keeping him for great.”27 His mother didn’t give up for she found different women to send

her son’s way but each time he would refuse them. She finally stopped trying to get him to marry

someone after a magician told her that her son might be a Christian. Maybe it was hearing that

25 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted,2226 Gwynn,David,M Athanasius of Alexandria: Bishop, Theologian, Ascetic, Father (Oxford, University

Press,2012),127 Ibid,1

9

her son might be a Christian that changed her heart. She immediately took Athanasius to

see Alexander, once there she told Alexander everything that she had done to get her son to

marry and how he refused. That day Alexander baptized both mother and son. Athanasius lived

during the period of pagan worship nevertheless; over time he saw how Christianity was having

a major effect on the Roman Empire, mainly due to the conversion of Constantine the Great.

While under the rule of Constantine the Roman Empire increased in size, wealth and the

Christian church increased in popularity. However, during this time of prosperity for the church

there were some significant changes taking place. The fourth century saw the redefining of

Christianity, church architecture, liturgy, clerical hierarchies, doctrinal creeds, and the canon of

Scripture.” 28 With these changes came some resistant which eventually led to divisions within

the church. Through all these changes Athanasius saw himself suddenly being thrust into the

spotlight when he became bishop of Alexandria in 328. “It was during his time as Bishop of

Alexandria that he would fight for his vision of Christianity, his conception of correct Christian

belief and practice, and his leadership of the Egyptian Church.” 29 Athanasius did not know what

trouble was until Arius, a presbyter from Libya started to speak out against the deity of Christ.

Arius announced, “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in

existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not”30 The argument

caused a fundamental split to rise up within the church. Athanasius spoke out against Arius and

his belief, by saying that it would deny the Trinity. Athanasius was not going to stand for this

28 Ibid,229 Ibid,230 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted,22

10

type of heresy; there was no reason to question the deity of Christ. When you see Christ

you see God because they are of the same substance. Arius’s view begin to catch on and soon he

had followers and soon word got to Constantine about the growing divide in the church. It was at

the council that Alexander and Athanasius signed a letter attacking Arius’s statement regarding

the deity of Christ. While at the Council of Nicaea, Arius was exiled from the church and it was

a major offense if anyone was found in possession of his writing. After few months Arius’s exile

was lifted. While everyone was still at the council a statement of faith called The Nicene Creed

was written and everyone in attendance agreed to sign the creed even Arius. Athanasius was

ordered by Constantine to restore Arius to full fellowship, however Athanasius refused and

because of his refusal false rumors started to spread around the empire. These rumors eventually

made their way to the emperor and because of the rumor of treason Athanasius was sent into

exile. When in exile the Constantine died and Arianism had taken over.

ARIUS

“Arius, the North African priest who gave his name to one of Christianity’s most

troublesome schisms, was born ca. 250, apparently in Libya.”31 He was a pupil of Lucien of

Antioch. Under the bishopric of Peter of Alexandria, he was made deacon. However, Arius’s

path up the ranks of the Christian ladder was a rocky one. It started off with him being

excommunicated for his involved with Melitians (a self-proclaimed movement with no church

authority), being restored back to the fellowship by Bishop Achillas of Alexandria and given

11

31 Elwell,Walter,A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic,2001),95

priestly orders in the church of Baucalis. It appeared that things may have been going

well until Arius decided to speak out against Bishop Alexander over the deity of Christ. In

deciding to speak out against the theology of the church Arius took to the streets and he started

teaching his views to those who would listen. Now the church had just gone through some major

transitions, the Christians were no longer being persecuted; they were allowed to worship freely,

the emperor himself proclaimed to be a Christian, was considered a friend of the Christians. The

church was seeing some of the best times it had ever seen. Well this did not sit well with the

Bishop Alexander and he started to speak out against the teaching of Arius. What was Arius

teaching that was causing this big of a divide in the church? The church had decided that Jesus

and God was one, Arius said this cannot be true because the Son was the begotten Son of God.

The debate went on for a while with each side gaining support the longer it went on. “Bishop

Alexander enlisted support of various bishops throughout Palestine and Syria. For his part Arius

gained the backing of several high-placed churchmen, including Eusebius of Nicomedia.”32 As

the debate grew Arius’s teachings became known as Arianism and his followers became known

as Arians. This debate went back and forth until it made it was to the ears of the emperor. A

meeting of the general council was called to address this heresy. At the council Arius stated his

case and to no avail he was exiled. During the meeting of the council Eusebius of Caesarea,

whose name means faithful, attempted to mediate of behalf of Arius. It did not matter because

the council had already made its decision and Arius was anathematized. Eusebius was not too

happy with this decision and he even had some reservations about signing the statement of faith

document that the council had drawn up. In the end Eusebius signed the document because

12

32 Hass, Christopher, The Arians of Alexandria Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 47 No.3 (Sep.,1993),p.p.234-245 Published by: BRILL http://www.jstor.org/stable/1583805 accessed October 7th 2012

The council said “Peace is the object which we set before us.”33

CONCLUSION

It is really amazing how something as trivial as the interpretation of a Scripture can

cause so much chaos in the church. The word of God does not produce confusion. Confusion

comes about because people refuse to accept the Word as being true. There is nothing wrong

with a person having a different view, however when it brings confusion and chaos into the

house of God it is wrong. Confusion is what the Emperor Constantine was trying to avoid by

assembling together the general council. With prayer, faith and patience the council was able to

over this confusion and bring peace once again to the church body

13

33 Galli,Mark,Olsen,Ted,423

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