Have you ever heard of a lad called Arius of Alexandria? Probably not. Arius was a priest of the early Church. He died in 336 AD. He was a bit of controversial character in the early Church because of what he believed about Christ. He claimed that Christ was not equal to the Father, not divine, and that there was a time when the Son did not exist. That He was a created, finite being. This belief became known as Arianism.
Arius had some followers, quite a few actually, to the extent that it began to get some real traction in the early Church. So much so, that the Church convened its first general council to address the matter. This council took place in 325, 1,700 years ago, at Nicea, now known as Iznik in Turkey.
At the Council approximately 220 bishops – the number of signatures on the document, some 17 of whom supported Arius, gathered to debate this point as to whether Jesus was actually GOD or merely the ‘first of all creatures’ as Arius claimed. After much debate, at which Arius and his followers were given fair hearing, the council determined that Arius was mistaken, that his teaching was wrong and therefore heresy. Arius and his ally Eusebius of Caesarea refused to accept the findings of the council were sent into exile.
The form of words that the council fathers used to affirm the divinity of Jesus, was, in Greek, Homosousis, meaning one in being. In Latin this was translated as Consubstantialis – Consubstantial, meaning of the same substance. In other words, Christ is ‘made’ of the same stuff as the Father, that ‘stuff’ being the Divine Nature.
It is also worth noting that Christ is also fully human. That He is a human being just like us. He felt joy and happiness like us, he felt sorrow and grief like us. He felt pain and bled like us. He was hungry, cold, tired, warm, just like us. He experienced the full range of what it is to be human. But was also fully and completely GOD, just like the Father. This is what Arius, Arianism, denied.
The council wrote down their findings in a formula that could be understood by all people. This became known as the Nicene Creed. It is called a creed because the opening word in Latin is Credemus – we believe.
Why does all this matter? Well, if Christ were only a man, not divine, then the sacrifice He offered would be insufficient for the forgiveness of sin. Furthermore, if Christ is not ‘made of the same stuff – Consubstantial’ as the Father, then it means that GOD is not Trinitarian in nature, which also undermines a core belief of revelation. It also matters because, to this day, we can still traces of Arianism. We will often hear people say things like: “Jesus was just a nice guy; he told us to love everyone and be nice to people.” The only problem with that is that Jesus was not just a nice guy. Jesus is GOD. When we reduce Jesus to being a ‘nice guy’, a ‘wise man’ a ‘good teacher’, we strip Him of His divinity and the honour and respect that is due to Him as GOD. He is then easily placed in the same category as Buddah, Mohammed or any of the other, undoubtably, good and holy people who lived but are not GOD.
This year on 27th Sunday we remember Nicea. Let’s do so by remembering the divinity of Jesus, by honouring Him as GOD and not just a nice a guy.