Father and the Son

 

https://landmarkevents.org/athanasius-escapes-attack-on-church-356-ad/

As we discussed the Christian city in class on Thursday, the concept of the distinction between the father and the son, or the combination of the two, stuck out to me. The council of 324 BCE meeting to speak of the controversy of Jesus and other things in Christianity is something I’ve never heard of. When doing more research I found more details on the council meeting. Constantine called the council to “solve the problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism, a heresy first proposed by Arius of Alexandria that affirmed that Christ is not divine but a created being,” (First Council of Nicaea). The first council debating that topic shows separation in Christianity. Arius of Alexandria, being a “moral leader” in the time period, straying away from typical thought proved to be a problem (Arius). He believed that Jesus and God weren’t one entity, and his stance within the religion probably made more people susceptible to going along with his train of thought. The church ending up calling him a “heretic” depicts the church’s dislike of his train of thought (Arius).

Then, the Nicene Creed that we read in class, states “begotten, not made, being one substance with the father,” and continues with the punishment of thinking differently by being “condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic church,” (Nicene Creed). 

This response by the church of drawing a line for what can be thought about Jesus and God reflects the time period they were in. During this time Christianity was trying to differentiate itself from Judaism. Doing that, it would make sense that the church wants the followers of God to be on the same page about things and limit the straying thoughts of certain people. To outsiders, the differing opinions on the relationship between God and Jesus could be a bad look for the religion. They would look less real, or organized, than the other religion that was in the restraints of Jerusalem. 

The differing opinions on topics that are the base of Christianity are very common nowadays. They carry on from the debates that happened early in Christianity as shown above. I think these debates are just a part of practicing a belief system. People’s minds and thoughts work in different ways so these debates are basically inevitable. 

Sources:

Antiochian.org. 2016. The Nicene Creed | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. [online] Available at: <http://www.antiochian.org/content/nicene-creed> [Accessed 27 July 2016].

“Arius.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arius.

“First Council of Nicaea.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Nicaea-325.