When Scripture and tradition afforded no incontestable solution to the issue that arose between Arius and Athanasius concerning the nature of Christ, recourse was possible only to the consenss of the Church. Constantine therefore summoned a council, which met at Nicaea, in Asia Minor in 324 CE. It is called the First Ecumenical (or universal) Council because it included bishops from the East and from the West. To celbrate the twentieth anniversary of his reign, Constatnine invited the assembled bishop to dine with him. When those who had survived the great persecution filed between ranks of Roman soldiers to sit down with the emperor, on of their number wondered whether the kingdom of God had come or whether he dreamed. Here was another of those historical moments great with hope. The council did not resolve Constantine's problems with the church or the Church's own inner disputes. It rejected any subordination of the Son to the Father. The Greek work used to express their full equality was homoousios, meaning "of the same substance or being.: The English equivalent (derived from the Latin) is " Constubstantial." The Fahter and the Son were described as two persons sharing in one being or substance. With the Holy Spirit they constiture the Trinity.
The doctrine of the Trinity, as it was developed, is a formula that embraces a concept of great richness. It ascribes to God both unity and plurality: He is on and three. It ascrives to Him both being and becoming; as the ultimate ground of being, He is static and changless; yet ther in in Him an eternal, timeless process of generation, for the Son is begotten by the Fahter, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone (according to the Orthodox Church) or from the Fahter and the Son (according to the Roman Church). God is above time and within time; in the incarnation and throughout the whole history of Israel and of the Christian Church, eternity impinges upon time. God is ultimate being, indescribable save by negatives, yet He has the personal characteristics of the God of Moses, the God who speaks. Christ is the very godhead become flesh, suffering and dying for the redemption of mankind. The doctine of the Trinity was unifying, as indeed all Orthodox Christian thought was unifying. The heretics were commonly dualists. In the second century the Gnostics had separated body and spirit. Now the Arians separated the creature from the creator. Later, as we shall see the Nestorians tended to split the divine and the human natures of Christ.
But, although the Athanasians were able to unite God, as it were, they could not unite the Church. The Council of Nicaea pronounced in their favor. Constantine banished five dissidents, including Arius, and threatened with death anyone who did not deliver up his books to be burned. But, after the coundil had disbanded, Constantine discovered that the buld of the popultasion in the heavily Christianized area of Asia Minor had Arian leanings. Ten years later, in 335 CE, a synot met at Tyre, and this time the Arians won; Arius was restored and Athanasius was exiled. But the struggle was far from over.
Source: Christendom Vol 1: Roland H Bainton: A short history of Christianity and its impact on the Western Civilization.
The doctrine of the Trinity, as it was developed, is a formula that embraces a concept of great richness. It ascribes to God both unity and plurality: He is on and three. It ascrives to Him both being and becoming; as the ultimate ground of being, He is static and changless; yet ther in in Him an eternal, timeless process of generation, for the Son is begotten by the Fahter, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone (according to the Orthodox Church) or from the Fahter and the Son (according to the Roman Church). God is above time and within time; in the incarnation and throughout the whole history of Israel and of the Christian Church, eternity impinges upon time. God is ultimate being, indescribable save by negatives, yet He has the personal characteristics of the God of Moses, the God who speaks. Christ is the very godhead become flesh, suffering and dying for the redemption of mankind. The doctine of the Trinity was unifying, as indeed all Orthodox Christian thought was unifying. The heretics were commonly dualists. In the second century the Gnostics had separated body and spirit. Now the Arians separated the creature from the creator. Later, as we shall see the Nestorians tended to split the divine and the human natures of Christ.
But, although the Athanasians were able to unite God, as it were, they could not unite the Church. The Council of Nicaea pronounced in their favor. Constantine banished five dissidents, including Arius, and threatened with death anyone who did not deliver up his books to be burned. But, after the coundil had disbanded, Constantine discovered that the buld of the popultasion in the heavily Christianized area of Asia Minor had Arian leanings. Ten years later, in 335 CE, a synot met at Tyre, and this time the Arians won; Arius was restored and Athanasius was exiled. But the struggle was far from over.
Source: Christendom Vol 1: Roland H Bainton: A short history of Christianity and its impact on the Western Civilization.
