What was at stake in the church's first general council (325) was the simplest, yet most profound, question: Who is Jesus Christ?
This question brought about a great divide in the church. The emperor, Constantine told the church leaders that they were to come to an agreement on this crucial question and that this division must come to an end. This was remarkable, considering that this was the first time that the church was not under such persecution and an enemy of Roman Empire. Many of these leaders still bore the scars.
To settle divisions in the church the emperors called for church councils that would promote doctrinal unity. The Council of Nicea, would bring together some 220 bishops, who would meet for two months to hammer out a succinct definition of Jesus Christ. It’s interesting to note that the first council held would take on such a critical question. A question that is still being hotly contested today.
The prevailing teaching that brought this about stated that Christ was more than human but something less than God. God started out alone and then created the Son, who then created everything else. Arius, a notable pastor in Egypt, was the one that this false doctrine was attributed to. However, it’s important to note that he did not do this maliciously, but was only trying to make the person of Jesus understandable. This false doctrine became very popular to the many new converts as it was similar to their religions of their youth. This was a religion that looked at there being one supreme God, who dwells alone, and who makes a number of lesser gods who do his bidding. They found it difficult to understand the Christian belief that Christ, the divine Word, existed from all eternity, and that he is equal to the Father.
As the Council met, there were many who were quick to compromise, yet there was one young man, Alexander, who was obstinate that Arius’s doctrine left Christianity without a divine Savior. He called for a creed (statement of faith) that made clear Christ Jesus’ full deity (Jesus actually being fully God in human flesh).
Eventually, they began to hammer out a definition of Jesus Christ that would include some exceedingly important series of phrases – “True God of true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father…” From this came the word homoousion (homo = one, ousion = substance) “of the same substance.” Thus Jesus is the same substance as the Father (homoousion), namely, the eternal, uncreated, and identical substance. He differs in function, not in essence, from the Father.
This first Council of Nicea, laid the foundation for the orthodox understanding of Jesus Christ. That foundation, praise God, has stood ever since.
Bibliography:
Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2003).
Christian History Magazine-Issue 28: The 100 Most Important Events in Church History (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1990).
