Posted on 06/21/2014 5:30:12 PM PDT by Renfield
Mark your calendars: In 2025, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians may return to Nicaea, the spot in modern-day Turkey where Christianity was literally defined. In 325, early followers of Jesus came together to figure out what it means to be a Christian; the goal was to create theological consensus across all of Christendom. This was way before the faith sub-divided into East vs. West, Catholics vs. Protestants, Southern Baptists vs. Primitive Baptists—these were the early days of the religion, when it still seemed like it could be observed as one, united faith. The council's effect on Christianity was huge; for one thing, most Bible-school students still learn some version of the Nicene Creed, the profession of Christian faith.
On his way home from a meeting with Pope Francis in the Holy Land, Patriarch Bartholomew I, the primary leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, gave an interview in which he said that he and Francis are planning a gathering in Nicaea 11 years from now "to celebrate together, after 17 centuries , the first truly ecumenical synod." That's a pretty big deal; in 1054, theological disagreements led to a schism in Christianity, which is how Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians became separate faith traditions. This is a call back to a time before the schism, before the fundamental disagreements that kept popes and patriarchs from talking to each other for more than 900 years...
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I don’t know!
Please tell us.
| John 17:21 "That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." |
Why doesn't the world believe that Jesus is the One sent by the Father? Because we are not one. We have had the Body of Christ torn apart for 1,000 years.
There have been offenses on both sides. I don't want to wrangle about "He did first" and "No, she did worst," like two ex's fighting. I just want the family together again in love.
"... so that the world may believe that You have sent me."
Amen, and AMEN.
Well said. God bless you.
Chrstianity was defined by Christ ... not Constantine at Nicea!
The lead paragraph neglects to mention the Arian heresy which seriously divided the Church. The need for a council was because of the heresy. Pretty basic early Church history stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arius
That's true: Christianity ws defined by Christ. The Council of Nicaea was convened by Constantine but he did not have the power to control its decisions, which were guided by the Holy Spirit.
Constantine was just an unbaptized catechumen, and did not have or claim the authority to arrange its conclusions. If he had, the Concil would have gone for Arianism, because Constantine inclined that way. But as it was, the Council found in favor of a Biblical, Orthodox Catholic Christology: Christ both true God and true Man, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I think it was more like making sure everybody was on the same page so to speak. The non Christian world doesn't understand that Christ builds the church and sustains it through the Holy spirit. They have to resort to some Dan Brown fiction like Constantine establishing the church.
He himself was not baptized until he was on his deathbed.
We don't owe the Nicene Creed to him, but to the Holy Spirit.
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