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A Paper for Church History

The following is a paper I recently submitted for my Church History class:

COUNCIL OF NICAEA, 325 A.D.

Controversy between Arius the presbyter and Alexander the Bishop spawned a somewhat state of disillusionment for the fourth century Christian church in Alexandria. This circumstance compiled with Constantine’s gain of power to all of the Roman Empire made way for a certain meeting that would regain a bit of an axial relationship between the church that Paul sought after in the early days and the early fourth century church as it were. Linking what the church had become back to what Paul intended for the church was well needed because during the persecutions, interchurch communication was lessened quite a bit allowing for a rise in disharmony. A likening of minds was absolutely necessary. This meeting called by Constantine in roughly May of 325 A.D. was named the Council of Nicaea, also known as the First Ecumenical Council.
The church preached of in the New Testament was that of a Trinitarian belief system. This would prove both the full deity and full humanity of Christ, clearly verifiable by the New Testament texts. The issue that Alexander and Arius squabbled around dealt with the Trinitarian status of Christ and God and their relationship to each other. Constantine attempted to regain unity on the issue by writing and request a unity be sought after by Arius and Alexander but his attempt was unsuccessful. Therefore he saw fit to bring forth a general council to heal the divisions by settling authoritatively the different questions by which it was agitated. The resolution to the issue was that the Arians and their leader were exiled. As far as the teachings and beliefs, they were ridded of as well, “Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father.” This provides for the first and heaviest issue of the Council’s deliberations.
Another question on their table was which day to celebrate Easter. It was a practical difficulty in which several different calculations were being used to formulate the proper day of celebration for the Lord’s resurrection. The decision made by the Council was that it was to be celebrated by all Christians on the same day. This would give unity in practice. The day that was selected for the Easter celebration was the Lord’s Day directly following the Jewish Feast of the Passover.
The third issue covered was the Meletian Schism. Basically Meletius wanted a higher power. His greedy selfishness led to a split in the church. He did have some twenty-eight bishops under his leadership. The council chose to grant recognition to their ordinations against the trepidation of Alexander. Meletius was sent away satisfied with the decision and was ordered to ordain no one else.
Lastly, the contribution of the Council was significant though much has not come down through history in terms of texts. Though the Nicene Creed and twenty church discipline canons came forth from this meeting. This statement of the church, the Nicene Creed, was catholic in nature and meant to bring unity upon the believers of Christ as well as their leaders. Therefore, the creedal statements born of the Council of Nicaea declare the truths of scripture thereto and forever to be believed. While variations of belief and practice have come about, the Nicene Creed continues to set the stage for belief in the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and the Father Almighty.


References
John Kaye, Some Account of the Council of Nicaea in Connection with the Life of Athanasius (London: Gilbert and Rivington Printers, 1853), 28.
John Kerr, Readings in Christian Thought, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 76.
J.W.C. Wand, The Four Councils (London: The Faith Press, LTD, 1951), 4.
Elizabeth Sewell, History of the Early Church (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1860), 337.

posted by Bryan Laramore @ 8:51 PM