need some help
Y08904
PPforFriMar27Nicaea-CatholicStuff.pptxHISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Nicaea, Augustine, and Fall of Rome
I. Council of Nicea.
325 CE
A) background
Theology about Jesus and God, in the 300’s
Who IS Jesus?
Specifically, what is the relationship between Jesus and God?
If Jesus is the Son of God….then one could conclude that Jesus is not God.
Men: are you your father?
Sons often obey their fathers…They are often subordinate TO their fathers (at least in this society),
BUT EVERYBODY KNOWS that they are NOT their fathers.
So if Jesus is God’s Son, i.e. NOT GOD,
…it is reasonable to conclude that one should NOT WORSHIP JESUS, but worship God alone.
This would in fact be true in both Islam and Judaism.
Jesus himself, and many of his very first followers were JEWISH, so presumably they might have agreed.
How could a human being “be” God?? How disrespectful to God.
In fact, for OVER 300 YEARS, until this very Council of Nicea, you could be Totally Christian…
…and not believe that Jesus was God or divine.
For over 300 years, the status of Jesus was un-defined.
Since the Trinity = the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the 3 in one God….
…you can tell that for OVER 300 YEARS…you could be Christian and not believe in the Trinity.
Or, maybe the REAL question was: what IS the Trinity? Is it…3 separate beings which are in the same realm? Is it 3 different facets of one God? WHAT IS the “Trinity”??
Christians disagreed; they had different opinions.
And who, or what, is Jesus? Prophet? Half God/half man, like men who had human mothers but were fathered by Zeus? A sort of Ghost, who only “seems” human?
Christians disagreed; they had different opinions.
It really wasn’t clear who exactly Jesus was.
Either way, you can see that keeping Jesus as “not-God” could actually be seen as very appropriate historically as well as respectful to GOD and monotheism in general.
This respect for the “One and Only God” would in fact be retained carefully in both Islam and Judaism.
Jesus himself, and many of his very first followers, were JEWISH….so presumably they might have agreed.
How could a HUMAN BEING every “be” God? Disrespectful to God.
In the next slide, you’ll see some old, early Christian art. Note how HUMAN the figures are….
From what looks like belly-buttons, and soft arms
To them being totally a part of the World, surrounded by animals
Even though yes, they also have halos and one has wings.
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/13XITY.htm#arianism
Note also, on the previous slide, that it this art is part of a….
RELIQUARY.
(And you know what THAT is, from the study of relics).
So when the 300’s rolled around, “Christianity” was not the way it is today.
Christianity in the 300’s is somewhat stranded between Christianity and Paganism…sharing more similarities with Judaism…
and Islam, of course, “had not been invented yet.” Mohammed won’t be born until the late 500’s.
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/13XITY.htm#arianism
