The Impact of Athanasius on the Church's Doctrine.
As the church entered its four-hundredth year, controversy arose about the mysteries of God. The beliefs that are taught today were debated then. Most of the debates centered around the mystery of Christ being both human and divine, as well as topics pertaining to the Trinity. A group of heretics known as Arians headed the debates. The head of this group was a man named Arius. Because of the debates, the Council of Nicea was held to conclude the exact standing of the Church on such issues. .
Arius, the head of Arianism was born in Libya around 250 AD. After studying theology at Lucian of Antioch, he was ordained a priest in Alexandria in 319. As a priest, he gained many followers accepting his beliefs. Their beliefs rejected the idea of Christ as divine. Their beliefs had roots in Neoplatonism. Arius had four main ideologies, which attempt to logically conclude that Christ was not divine. His first belief centered around the concept that Christ could not be divine, since Christ was created after God. Since God is omnipresent, unbound by time and space, Christ could not be God. His second principle stated that Christ is the Son of God, making him less than God, therefore making Christ not truly divine in a monotheistic religion. Another point argued that Christ and God were not made of the same substance, therefore not the same. Because of the controversy raised by Arius and his followers, the Council of Nicea we held in 325 AD to come to a definite answ!.
er of the Church's standing on these issues.
Convened by the emperor of Rome, "Constantine the Great" called 318 bishops to attend this council. The Nicean Creed was formed out of this council to lay to rest the questions pertaining to what the Church believes and to give the congregation a definitive answer to what they should believe as Christians. The creed discredited Arians and their beliefs and gave explanations to why the Church feels their views were false.
