The Council of Nicaea of 325

The Council of Nicaea of 325 AD (CE) has always interested me, as has the ancient world after the early disciples and apostles were gone.  

In my local library I recently discovered a book called Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler. (Some may have heard his insightful and entertaining interviews on ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] Radio National.) The book recounts a 2014 trip to Istanbul (via a few other notable destinations) by Fidler and his teenage son Joe and intertwines a lot of complicated history into a very readable story. 

Of special interest is how the Roman Emperor Constantine "adopts Christianity and shifts the capital [of the Roman Empire] east to Byzantium, which is remade as Constantinople" (p. 22). 

Now, readers of Mary Baker Eddy's writings will remember how Eddy writes: "A courtier told Constantine that a mob had broken the head of his statue with stones. The emperor lifted his hands to his head, saying: 'It is very surprising, but I don't feel hurt in the least'" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 224: 7). Well, Fidler writes about seeing such a statue and wonders which god is being worshipped. 

Constantine became emperor in 306 CE when, recounts Fidler: "the faithful were in furious disagreement ... on the maddeningly complex issue of the nature of Christ" (p. 45). Meanwhile, in The Reforming Power of the Scriptures, Mary Trammel and William Dawley explain that this prompted the emperor to assemble the "important ecumenical the Council of Nicaea ... to meet a crisis in the Church -- the spread of the 'Arian' heresy about the relationship between Christ and God" (p. 71). The result was that the "council condemned the heresy but agreed on a set of theological beliefs now known as the Nicene Creed -- a creed still used in many churches today" (p. 72).

Readers may enjoy two interesting articles about this early period.

The first is an article in the November 1995 issue of The Christian Science Journal called The Ante-Nicene Fathers: their role in early Christian healing by Frank C. Darling. The article gives insight into some of the thought-trends which preceded the 325 Council decision and pays tribute to the brave and faithful work of those early church workers, the majority of whom had been raised in pagan families and later became Christians.  

The second is an article in the October 1996 issue of The Christian Science Journal called "A historical perspective on church affairs: then and now" by Thomas O. Poyser. (Find it at Christian Science Reading Rooms or online to subscribers at jsh-online.com.) This article speaks directly to the 325 Council decision and some of the political motivations behind it, while also addressing the problem of divisions. In this regard Poyser quotes Mary Baker Eddy: "Mrs. Eddy counsels in No and Yes, "I enjoin it upon my students to hold no controversy or enmity over doctrines and traditions, or over the misconceptions of Christian Science, but to work, watch, and pray for the amelioration of sin, sickness, and death."" (No and Yes, p. 8).

Julie Swannell