What was the Council of Nicaea?

It was a tough time for Constantine.

Six years prior, he ascended the imperial throne of Western Rome after the death of his father, Constantius. 

But not everyone recognized this.

A political opponent, Maxentius, claimed the power for himself and, after years of tension, the two men met for a decisive battle at Rome’s Milvian Bridge.

The evening before the battle, it’s said that Constantine had a vision, one that would change not only his life but the entire course of Western history.

“By This Sign, Conquer”

There are many claims to what Constantine saw, but the most common goes something like this:

Constantine looked at the sky and saw the Greek letters “chi” and “rho” merged as a divine voice told him:

“By this sign, conquer.”

The interesting thing was that this “Chi Rho” symbol was long associated with Jesus Christ (“chi” and “rho” being the first two letters in the Greek word for Christ). 

Through his Christian mother, Helenea, Constantine was familiar with the faith but now found a much deeper connection to it.

Convinced God was on his side, Constantine commanded his men to paint the Chi Rho on their shields and head into battle.

What followed was a stunning victory for Constantine, who would soon become the sole emperor of Rome.

Rome’s First Christian Emperor

From the Milvian Bridge on, Constantine got closer and closer to Christianity.

In the past, emperors ranged from apathetic to outright hostile towards the faith.

But now the Emperor himself was embracing it, even granting its leaders positions of power. 

But there was an issue.

Pretty quickly, Constantine realized that Christians disagree on a lot of issues.

The major disagreement of that time was between theologians Alexander of Alexandria and Arius from Cyrenaica.

Arius claimed that Jesus, God the Son, was a created being. Meanwhile, Alexander said Jesus was coeternal with the Father - i.e., uncreated.

And in order to make Christianity the imperial religion he wanted it to be, Constantine knew this theological squabble had to be resolved.

So what did he do?

He called together a “who’s who” of theology to settle not only this matter but many more.

And so, the Council of Nicaea was born.

Join us this week as we commemorate Nicaea’s 1700th anniversary by exploring its history and relevance for today.

Because, whether we like it or not, we’re the result of the generations before us. The Church isn’t stagnant, and Nicaea is a great example of that.

Until tomorrow,

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

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