Notes on Catholics: Who’s the real heretic.

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Constantine and pagan god Sol Invictus

Generally accepted today as fact most specially by Catholics is the alleged heresy of Arius. According to most historians, Arius of Alexandria in Egypt held the teaching that Jesus was not co-equal with God the Father, and did not exist in “the beginning”. This teachings was said to cause a dispute with his Bishop, Alexander who believed on the contrary. Historians claim that the dispute boiled over and reached a fever pitch up to the time when Emperor Constantine took control of the empire. Constantine, an astute politician, saw religion as a more powerful unifying factor than force or fear, and least expensive and destructive at that. He knew that to maintain “peace” throughout his empire, this dispute needed to end and to end it is quite simple: find out which side has the majority of adherents and adapt and enforce this side throughout the empire. Emperor Constantin by all accounts is a pagan and did not have the basic understanding of the Christian faith as preached by Jesus and the Apostles themselves.

Council of Nicaea

And so in 325 AD, the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine I convened a council in Nicaea in an effort to attain “consensus” in the church. This council will come to be known as the First Council of Nicaea.

Constantine supposedly “invited” bishops of the “Christian” church, among them were Eusebius of Caesarea and Athanasius of Alexandria. It may not be known how many were in attendance but some historians put the number at more than 1,500 with all expenses paid for by the empire.  The pagan Emperor Constantine was also in attendance in this supposedly “Christian” gathering.

Emperor pope

“Resplendent in purple and gold, Constantine made a ceremonial entrance at the opening of the council, probably in early June, but respectfully seated the bishops ahead of himself.” As Eusebius described, Constantine “himself proceeded through the midst of the assembly, like some heavenly messenger of God, clothed in raiment which glittered as it were with rays of light, reflecting the glowing radiance of a purple robe, and adorned with the brilliant splendor of gold and precious stones.” Constantine organized the Council along the lines of the (pagan)Roman Senate.

source:wikipedia.org, emphasis mine

Who’s the real heretic

Webster.com defines “heretic” as someone who “dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine”. In the case of the council, we can safely assume that Arius was pronounced a heretic before a doctrine was officially accepted. Sneaky.

Destroying evidence!

The First Council of Nicaea’s purpose was supposedly to “create” the first uniform Christian doctrine, which later was to be called the Creed of Nicaea. (This runs contrary to the teachings of the bible! But I digress.) The council supposedly affirmed  the teachings of the Apostles regarding who Christ is; that Christ is the one true God in Deity with the Father. The disagreement started from the church in Alexandria, Egypt over the nature of Jesus.  Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius his assistant took the position that Jesus was co-equal, and co-eternal with God the Father. Arius on the other hand maintained that Jesus was not eternal and that he was a created being.  The council decided against the Arius and so the doctrine that Jesus was God was created and adopted.

So was Arius really the heretic? Or was it the Catholic “church fathers” and their host, the pagan Emperor Constantine? The answer depends on who you ask.  If you ask the bible it would be very clear who the real “heretic” is. According to the Lord Jesus himself, who is God and who is Jesus.

1 These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.  3 Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

source: Douay-Rhimes; emphasis mine

The verse is clear, Jesus said the Father is the only true God. If the Father is the ONLY true God, Jesus cannot be God because if he was he would be talking to another God, which would then contradict his own pronouncement that there is ONLY ONE true God, the Father.

So, who now is the “heretic”?

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