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PPforWedApril01_NicaeaAugustine-CatholicStuff.pptxCouncil of Nicaea
When you see the next slide, you’ll recognize it!
Notice the Bishops in their black and white robes.
Icon from the Mégalo Metéoron
Monastery in Greece,
representing the First Ecumenical
Council of Nikea 325 A.D.,
with the condemned Arius
in the bottom of the icon.
Wikipedia
Also, notice that the GUY IN THE CENTER IS ACTUALLY NOT part of the Church.
He is Constantine, the Roman Emperor.
Yet, he is at the Center and Head of the Church council! (Church = also culture, power, and money)
Icon from the Mégalo Metéoron
Monastery in Greece,
representing the First Ecumenical
Council of Nikea 325 A.D.,
with the condemned Arius
in the bottom of the icon.
Wikipedia
And down below in the black, you’ll see ARIUS…the guy who lost.
Poor Arius! Cast into the darkness of error and heresy.
He thought that Jesus was BETTER THAN HUMANS…but still less than God. Sort of “God’s first creation.”
Icon from the Mégalo Metéoron
Monastery in Greece,
representing the First Ecumenical
Council of Nikea 325 A.D.,
with the condemned Arius
in the bottom of the icon.
Wikipedia
Arius lost the vote.
The Bishops voted, and Arius lost. Jesus was voted to be divine.
The majority won. “Think there were any politics in that vote?”
Athanasius WON!!! He stated that Arius was WRONG.
Jesus IS equivalent to God and should be worshipped as God. The Trinity triumphed.
…And that is what we affirm every Sunday in Church (or you did, if you ever went to a Catholic Church)…
…When we say the NICENE CREED:
“(“God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten, Not Made, One in Being with the Father”…)
Icon from the Mégalo Metéoron
Monastery in Greece,
representing the First Ecumenical
Council of Nikea 325 A.D.,
with the condemned Arius
in the bottom of the icon.
Wikipedia
Copies of Arian Christian texts were burned in order to state very clearly that yes, THIS IS WRONG…
this is Not Christian.
You can see the documents piled in a heap, at the bottom, being burned…and the words “Heretici Ariani” (“The heresies of Arius”) written next to them in Latin.
Emperor Constantine and the Council
of Nicaea. The burning of Arian books
is illustrated below. Drawing on
vellum. From MS CLXV,
Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli, a
compendium of canon law produced I
in northern Italy ca. 825
"[of?] the synod of Nicaea
[where the] number / of holy fathers
[was] 318 [.] and all / subscribed." "Constantine the emperor." "Arian heretics condemned."
Wikipedia
As you can guess, however, the idea that Jesus was BETTER THAN HUMAN but not God….didn’t die out.
It was clear and easy to understand, as opposed to…ummm…The Trinity. (3 in 1? Which? So, one? Or 3? What?)
People outside the Roman Empire liked it a lot,
and groups like the Goths (who sort of lived near present day France) continued to practice Arian Christianity.
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/slides/13xity/mapspreadofxity.jpg
Augustine of hippo
Augustine was born in 354, in an area which we now know as Algeria.
He, like many, went to school, fell in love, had a child, and then lived with his little family for 13 years.
His religion was Manicheanism: a religion which stated that the world is a battleground between good and evil.
The human being embodies this conflict within herself:
her spirit is good,
but she is trapped in a body which enjoys evil (wine, sex, rich houses…).
Fighting against his desires for fun, good body stuff was hard for Augustine!!! (Just like it probably was for the Desert Fathers).
His famous prayer to God, even in later years, was “Lord, make me chaste…but not yet.”
By the age of 30, Augustine had moved to Italy,
… lived in Rome, and then taught in Milan.
Then in 384…
he met Bishop Ambrose, the guy who WON in the Council of Nicaea!
and Augustine learned about the monks (Desert Fathers) who lived in Egypt.
THEY stood up against the temptation of the world!!!
He had heard about Christianity, but he was still very conflicted. He loved fame, and sex, and good food…you know,
he Loved the Life.
While feeling torn into 2 pieces while trying to make a decision as to how to live….
he wandered into a garden and heard a voice telling him to pick up a Bible.
He did.
The book opened to the page:
“Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in sexual license and wantonness, not in conflict and desire,
…but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh…” (Rom 13:13-14).
He immediately felt at peace.
He converted to Christianity, was ordained a priest, and then by age 43 (even though, he really wanted to be a monk),…
…. he became a bishop.
“Tiffany stained-glass window of St. Augustine, in the Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, Florida.”
(Detail) Tiffany = 1848-1933. Wikipedia
