One of the early and fundamental controversies concerning
the church occurred in 319 AD when a man named Arius tried to reason through
the mystery of the relationship between Jesus and God. Arius came to believe
that a unity between God and Jesus could not exist. His conclusion was that
Jesus was a “lesser deity” that was called into existence by God.
Athanasius, pastor in Alexandria taught that Jesus was
“homoousian” or of the same essence of God. Arius maintained that Jesus was
“homoiousios” or of similar essence to God.
The conflict became so heated that the Emperor Constantine (whom
I am the 55th grandson – if my sister’s genealogy research is anywhere
near accurate) ordered them to settle the argument.
A council was called in 325 AD which we now know as the
Nicaea Council. At this council it was determined that Jesus was in fact
homoousian, or of the same essence as God. In other words, Jesus claim of being
one with the Father was upheld and Jesus was determined to be equal to God
bearing the same divine essence.
And if this is correct, it was at that meeting that a certain bishop named Nicholas got so upset that he actually belted Arius. (watch the video)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timothypauljones.com/2012/10/25/church-history-what-was-the-real-st-nicholas-known-for/
Scott - Loved the video! Thanks for sharing it. I hadn't heard that story before.
ReplyDeleteA great post to read during my break .
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Yvonne - glad you liked it and had something to read on your break!
ReplyDelete