At the First Council of Nicaea:
The first council of Nicea (Nicaea) [see Map of the Development of Christianity: section e-f/L-M] came to an end on July (or August) 25, 325 A.D. Lasting two months (perhaps having begun on May 20), and held in Nicea, Bithynia, the First Council of Nicea was attended by 318 bishops, according to Athanasius.
Church Councils:
There have been 21 councils of the Catholic Church (17 before 1453). A council is an assembly of theologians and church dignitaries called together to discuss the doctrine of the church. When Christianity took hold in the Roman Empire, doctrine wasn't fixed. Problems of interpretation initially presented themselves when trying to explain the divine and humans aspects of Christ without resorting to pagan concepts. Later councils dealt with church hierarchy and behavior.
Opposing Images of God:
Trinitarian Church fathers, Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and his deacon Athanasius, believed there were three persons in one god. The Trinitarians were pitted against the Monarchianists, who believed in only one indivisible god. These included Arius, Presbyter in Alexandria, and Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia.
Homo Ousion (same substance) vs. Homoi Ousion (like substance):
The sticking point at the Nicene Council was a concept found nowhere in the Bible: homoousion. According to the concept of homo-ousion, Christ the Son was consubstantial (the Roman translation for the Greek, meaning 'sharing the same substance') with the Father. Arius and Eusebius disagreed. Arius thought the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were materially separate from each other, and that the Father created the Son.
Arius and his followers, the Arians, believed if the Son were equal to the Father, there would be more than one God. The opposing Trinitarians believed it diminished the importance of the Son to make him subordinate to the Father.
Wavering Decision of Constantine:
The Trinitarian bishops prevailed. Emperor Constantine was not himself a Christian (although this is a matter of dispute: Constantine was baptized before he died). Despite this, he had recently made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire. This made heresy akin to revolt, so Constantine exiled the excommunicated Arius to Illyria.
Constantine's friend Eusebius, who eventually withdrew his objection, but still wouldn't sign the statement of faith, and a neighboring bishop, Theognis, were also exiled -- to Gaul. Constantine reversed his opinion about the Arian heresy, and had both exiled bishops reinstated three years later (in 328). At the same time, Arius was recalled from exile.
Constantine's sister and Eusebius worked on the emperor to obtain reinstatement for Arius, and they would have succeeded, if Arius hadn't suddenly died - by poisoning, probably, or, as some prefer to believe, by divine intervention.
Arianism regained momentum and survived until the reigns of Gratian and Theodosius, at which time, St. Ambrose set to work stamping it out.St. Athanasius - Four Discourses Against the Arians:
'The essences of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, are separate in nature, and estranged, and disconnected, and alien(6), and without participation of each other(7)....'
St. Athanasius - Four Discourses Against the Arians
Anniversary of the Nicene Creed:
August 25, 2000 marked the 1675th anniversary of the creation of the upshot of the Council of Nicea, an initially controversial document cataloging the basic beliefs of Christians -- the Nicene Creed.
See: "Religion and Politics at the Council at Nicaea," by Robert M. Grant. The Journal of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 1-12.
"Nicaea and the West,"by Jörg Ulrich. Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 10-24.
