January 25 - Superman?

January 25 - Superman?

It wasn't enough that Christians had to run for their lives every time they saw a Roman soldier, but they were also desperately trying to deal with powerful men in the faith defining what it was the church would believe.

Arius taught that Jesus was a created being of God. Oh, he taught that Jesus was superhuman, but not quite God. Since he was a powerful pastor in Alexandria, Egypt, people listened to him and his teachings started making waves throughout the church. God was the supreme being, who created Jesus and then Jesus walked among men. This teaching made a lot of sense to the people of that day and age who had just converted to Christianity. They came from pagan religions that taught a lot about one powerful god who created many lesser gods to deal with mankind and the world.

This teaching didn't sit too well with a young man - a deacon, not even a bishop - named Athanasius. He was pretty upset that Arius' teaching left Christianity without a divine Savior and wanted a creed developed that affirmed Christ's divinity.

Constantine heard the trouble happening throughout his empire and called a council of the bishops. Where did they meet? Nicea on July 4, 325 AD. About 300 bishops showed up to this council and walked into a room prepared for them. Constantine walked in with all of the regalia of his position, but with no soldiers in order to assure the bishops that they were safe. Many of these same men had been dealt terrible blows during the Roman persecutions.

He didn't stay long, but told them “Division in the church is worse than war" and informed them that they had troubling questions before them and needed to deal with them.

The bishops, though some thought to compromise with Arius at the beginning, were stirred into action by Athanasius and decided that they needed to develop their beliefs. The Nicene Creed was born.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things came to be, those things that are in heaven and those things that are on earth, who for us men and for our salvation came down and was made flesh, and was made man, suffered, rose the third day, ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.

Over the next one hundred years, this teaching battled with Arius' teaching within the church. The bishops were not finished and would meet again and again to fully develop the teaching of the church. But, Christ's divinity was affirmed.