From the
Son of God
to
God the Son:
How Christ came to be believed as God…
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, the first emperor of Rome to identify himself as “Christian,” stepped in to settle the Arian dispute. His intention was anything but religious. He was not after the truth but the stability of his empire. His politically motivated action had corrupted the pure teaching about the Christ of the Gospels.
IN THE NAME OF THE EMPIRE
Having learned of the facts surrounding the Arian controversy, Constantine wasted no time and acted upon the issue with haste:
“Constantine then called a council of the bishops of the Church to work out a solution to the dispute. This council met at Nicaea in the early summer of 325. Three hundred bishops of the church were present, but less than ten were from the Western section of the Empire. The Emperor presided over the council and paid its expenses. For the first time the Church found itself dominated by the political leadership of the head of the state.“
(Reference: Christianity Through the Centuries by Earle E. Cairns, Pub. 1996, p. 143, Emphasis Mine)
The council at Nicaea was the initiative of the emperor. He sent out invitations and bore every expense. More telling, though, was his guts to preside over the session of the bishops. This he did, not because he knew or cared about what the true nature of Christ really is, but because his pressing concern was the welfare of the empire he headed:
“In the controversy over the doctrine of the Trinity he saw nothing more than unnecessary bickering of theologians, which might best be avoided by eschewing all speculation and by living together in love and harmony. At the same time Constantine was concerned about keeping or restoring ecclesiastical peace. After all, the church had an important service to perform in his empire.”
(Reference: A Short History of Christian Doctrine by Bernard Lohse. Traslated by F. Ernest Stoeffler, Pub. 1966, p.51)
Constantine’s meddling in the Council of Nicaea went beyond addressing the demands of convening hundreds of people from different parts of his empire. This is what is recorded in Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity:
“The Emperor himself presided over the official session, and it was he who proposed the reconciling word, homoousios (Greek for ‘of one essence’) to describe Christ’s relationship to the Father (though it was probably one of his ecclesiastical advisers, Ossius of Cordova, who suggested it to him).”
(Reference: Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity, Ed. Dr. Tim Dowley etal., Pub. 1977, p 134.)
That Constantine suggested the concept of homoousios is highly suspect when we take into consideration his ignorance of theology:
“The first emperor to become a Christian, Constantine had basically no understanding whatsoever of the questions that were being asked in Greek theology.“
(Reference: A Short History of Christian Doctrine by Bernard Lohse. Traslated by F. Ernest Stoeffler, Pub. 1966, p.51, Emphasis Mine)
Here we see how the maneuverings of Constantine hastened the alteration of the truth regarding the true nature of Christ.
THE NICENE CREED
At the end of the gathering of bishops during the summer of 325 AD in Nicaea, the Arian controversy was no more:
“This is what happened at Nicaea. Some six weeks after the Council opened, on June 19, 325, Emperor Constantine insisted that all bishops who had been present should endorse a new creed that confirmed Christ as God and condemned Arius. Anyone who did not sign this document was to be excommunicated and exiled.”
(Reference: The Jesus Establishment by Johannes Lehmann. Translated by Martin Ebon., Pub. 1974 p. 173, Emphasis Mine)
The creed that was produced by the Council of Nicaea came to be known as the Nicene Creed. It categorically declared that Christ is God:
“Thus, for example, it was not until 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicaea, that the Church defined for us that it was an article of faith that Jesus is truly God.“
(Reference: Discourses on the Apostles’ Creed by Rev. Clement H. Crock, Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan; Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Pub. 1938, p. 206, Emphasis Mine)
Ignorance of history would lead one to believe that the council was an initiative of the Church for the sake of the truth and souls. However, neither was it an ecclesiastical initiative nor was it for the sake of souls. From beginning to end, it was the enterprise of Constantine for the sake of his empire. Thus, the gravity of siding with Arius went beyond simply being excommunicated from the Christian community then. It meant becoming an enemy of the state ― a criminal:
“Once this ‘Nicene Creed’ had been publicly signed by all the bishops and promulgated by Constantine, it became the official creed for all Christians. To deny the divinity of Christ in any way was to put oneself outside of the Christian community and was a crime against the state.”
(Reference: The Emerging Church by Ronald J. Dubuque Wilkins, Pub. 1975, p. 110, Emphasis Mine)
No wonder people started believing that Christ is God. First of all, it was defined for them by a Church council. Secondly, to believe otherwise carried not just the penalty of excommunication but also being branded a criminal, an enemy of the state. All these happened in AD 325, under the watchful eye of Constantine. That the emperor was the driving force behind the decision reached by the Council of Nicaea prompted a historian to say that:
“The victor at Nicaea was not the Church, but an Emperor who believed in the sun god as one of several deities, and who did not mind twisting Christianity to conform to his own ideas.”
,(Reference: The Jesus Establishment by Johannes Lehmann. Translated by Martin Ebon., Pub. 1974 pp. 173-174, Emphasis Mine)
Indeed, though the Catholic Church continued to exist and, in fact, has outlived the Roman Empire, yet it stands upon a foundation of lies, primary of which regards the true nature of Christ. The same historian, in his disappointment, quoted yet another historian who also saw, through his research, what really happened in Nicaea:
“Bernard Lohse, writes in Motive in Glauben (Motivation for Belief): ‘Arius reminds us that Jesus, as he is described in the Gospels, was not a God who walked this earth, but truly a human being. Of course, by his very humanity Jesus proved his full community with God.’
“Arius desired nothing else, but the Church chose a different road; as it had done so often, it condemned what was right and retained what was false.“
(Reference: The Jesus Establishment by Johannes Lehmann. Translated by Martin Ebon., Pub. 1974 pp. 175-176, Emphasis Mine)
The ‘right’ that the Catholic Church condemned was the belief in Jesus as He is introduced in the Gospels: a man sent by God to tell the truth (John 8:40). The ‘false’ it retained after condemning this truth is the belief that Jesus is God.
A PROPHECY FULFILLED
In retrospect, what happened in the course of the invention of the doctrine that Christ is God is a fulfillment of a warning that was given by the apostles:
“I know that after I leave, fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.”
(Reference: Acts 20:29-30 Good News Bible)
Apostle Paul spoke of people likened to fierce wolves who would tell lies and who would not spare the flock. This was fulfilled in the false preachers:
“Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves.”
(Reference:Matt. 7:15 GNB)
Indeed, there were men who claimed to be Christians, like Ignatius of Antioch and Alexander of Alexandria who taught that Christ is God. They may have portrayed themselves as Christians but they were false teachers who peddled lies.
Besides false prophets, the Bible speaks of government officials as wolves too:
“The government officials are like wolves tearing apart the animals they have killed. …”
(Reference: Ezek. 22:27 GNB)
Hence, like false prophets, Constantine is among the prophesied wolves who did not spare the flock. The belief about Christ that he promulgated in the Council of Nicaea was a lie. The truth is what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught:
“After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. …
“And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”
(Reference: John 17:1, 3 GNB, Emphasis Mine)
CENTURIES-OLD LIE VERSUS ETERNAL TRUTH
Christ is now worshiped as God because, for centuries, after the Council of Nicaea, people have been made to believe that it is the truth. However, based on the Bible and historical facts, we have learned that it is nothing but a made-up belief concerning the Savior, that took hundreds of years before being finalized. It came about at the behest of Constantine, emperor of Rome. More importantly, it is an erroneous belief and goes against the very truth taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles. Knowing this, it is high time to stop believing in this centuries-old lie. Choose to embrace the eternal truth that Jesus revealed when He prayed to the Father:
“And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:1, 3 GNB, Emphasis Mine)
IN CONCLUSION
1
The Truth about God and Jesus Christ
Reach Out
