If a guy named Arius had succeeded, our Christmas celebrations would be a lot different.
Arius was a 4th century priest in Alexandria. At the time, the Christian church was struggling to understand the nature and person of Jesus Christ.
There were many competing ideas. A gifted speaker who often taught with song and poems, Arius gained a following and preached, “There was a time when the Son was not.”
He taught that Christ was created by God the Father and not equal with God.
As he gained more and more followers, there was a real concern his words would become the accepted doctrine. With the Christian church struggling over the Arian controversy, Emperor Constantine called for a council of bishops to meet at Nicea in AD 325 to solve the problem and unite the church. Over 300 bishops from all over the world came together to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity.
The bishops met for months and the debate got heated. There was a rumor that upon getting upset over Arius’ arguments St. Nicholas got up and slapped him.
I guess he was not feeling too jolly.
At the council, there was a young deacon by the name of Athanius, the assistant to the bishop. He worked hard to help the church understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. He taught God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were coeternal and of one substance. All but a few bishops agreed with him and were able to adopt a statement called the Nicene Creed.
A portion reads: “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and was made human. … And we believe in the Holy Spirit … We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
A number of churches use this creed during the season of Christmas. While he had his supporters, Arius was condemned and exiled from Alexandria by the council.
In a few years, Athanius became bishop of Alexandria. He would go on and write, “On The Incarnation” explaining how God in Christ became a human being and died a human death in order to bring about our redemption.
If the teachings of Arius had won, Christmas would look much different and Christians would be still arguing over the great mystery of the Incarnation.
We wish everyone happy holidays and a Merry Christmas!
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23).
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is the pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church. Email him at ereece@wnccumc.net.