Church History Part 17
First Ecumenical CouncilLast week I introduced a priest from Alexandria, Egypt named Arius. Arius taught that God was wholly singular and beyond human comprehension. He was suggesting that Jesus, Son of God, was less than the God the Father and not equal to Him. In other words, he was questioning the divinity of Christ. This means that there was a time when Christ didn’t exist and only God the Father existed. He taught that Jesus was special, but a creature and not part of the Godhead. Alexander, Arius’ bishop heard about his erroneous preaching and arranged for council meeting in 318 A.D. In the meeting Arius’ teaching was condemned as heresy. This was too late, however. Some bishops and priests of Greek speaking cities took the side of Arius. We can even see these teachings creeped into Muhammed’s teachings in Quran. Eventually this matter reached emperor Constantine’s ears. He decided to step in and adjudicate the matter. He summoned a council of bishops to meet in Nicaea. Invitations were sent to bishops all over the world. Tradition says that about 318 bishops attended. This was the first ecumenical council. Typically, bishops met locally to make important decisions, but this council was worldwide. So, this was called ecumenical council. Emperor Constantine attended this council personally. The key point of discussion was the relation of Christ, the Son, to the Father. This is the council in which the bishops decided on the articles of the Christian beliefs. While Arius taught that God the Father created Jesus from nothing, bishops at the council pointed to the Gospel of John (John 1:1). In the beginning was the Word and the Word was from God. Epistle to the Hebrews also states that Christ is the exact substance of God. This is the council in which the Nicene’s Creed that we pray during the mass right after the homily and the universal prayer was partially decided. You may recall, “true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” As you can see this statement in the profession of our faith, affirms that Jesus is “true God from true God”, He was “begotten” not made. Jesus is “consubstantial” with the Father. This means, Jesus and His Father are of the same substance. In addition to our Muslim brothers and sisters, Witness of Jehovah’s also deny the divinity of Christ.
First Sunday of Lent – Year A
First Reading: Gn 2:7–9; 3:1–7Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51:3–4, 5–6, 12–13, 17Second Reading: Rom 5:12–19 or 5:12, 17–19Gospel: Mt 4:1–11 In today’s selection from the Letter to the Romans, Paul connects the first reading and the Gospel by proposing that we look at Jesus...
Church History Part 1
Why Church history? C.S Lewis said, the growth of the Church is like a long conversation. If the conversation started at 10 AM and if we joined the conversation at 3 P.M, we would hardly follow the discussion unless someone updates us. To fully grasp where we fit...
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
First Reading Sirach 15:15–20 Response Psalm 119:1b Psalm Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 17–18, 33–34 Second Reading 1 Corinthians 2:6–10 Gospel Acclamation Matthew 11:25 Gospel...
Church History Part 2
It is generally believed that the birth of the Church was on the day of Pentecost; Fifty days after our Lord’s Ascension to Heaven. However, I would like to take this opportunity and go back to the Old Testament and point out couple of historical events. Our Church...
Church History Part 3
From 54 A.D to 68 A.D emperor Nero was ruling Rome. His mother was the great granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When he became the emperor, he was guided by his mother and senate. Nero, however, was not happy about the restrictions imposed by his mother and the...
Church History Part 4
While Emperor Nero was still alive, Peter was accepted as the leader of the apostles. Our Lord, in Matthew 16:18, assigned Church leadership to Peter. Peter and the apostles were performing miracles and performing plenty of good deeds in addition to spreading the...
Church History Part 5
While the apostles were making inroads in evangelization, there was a pharisee called Saul of Tarsus who was working against them. Tarsus is in present day Turkey. He was also a Roman citizen. He was from a wealthy family. His dad was a tent maker. He studied...
Church History Part 6
I ended last week’s article with a question why the Jewish scriptures were translated to Greek. Alexander the Great had conquered most of the known world, taking the Greek language with him. Around the same time because of persecution, Jewish Christians fled to other...
Church History Part 7
Last week we saw why and how the Greek Translation of the Scriptures were done. I pointed outed out that we should not view ancient historical events with the same expectations as reading present day history. There is another reason that is of interest regarding the...
Church History Part 8
Because the early Church in Jerusalem was growing at a rapid pace, the apostles were being stretched thin by preaching, praying, administering the money and land given to them, and distributing necessities to those in need. In Acts 6:2, the apostles say: “It is not...
Church History Part 9
Towards the end the article published on August 28th we saw St. Paul proposing that Gentiles can become Christians without first converting to Judaism. Apostles, who were all Jews, were shocked. Circumcision was required to become a Jew. On the one hand the apostles...
Church History – Part 10
After the council of Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas had a difference of opinion and they parted ways. From this point on, Timothy became Paul’s closest companion. His remarkable missionary journeys, which had already begun before the council of Jerusalem with visits to...
Church History – Part 11
Bartholomew, according to a non-Biblical document “Martyrdom of Bartholomew”, was martyred in Armenia by King Astyages. Historian Eusebius who lived in the 4th century has recorded that Bartholomew preached in India too. His remains are currently located at the...
Church History – Part 12
According to tradition, St. Linus was appointed by St. Peter and St. Paul as the successor of St. Peter. In 2 Timothy 4:21 St. Paul writes about a Linus passing on his greetings to Timothy. It is generally believed that the Linus that Paul writes about is the same...
Church History – Part 13
In last week’s article we saw one of the internal issues that the early Church fathers had to address was Christianity’s relationship with Judaism. While reflecting on the disputes between different group of Christians on various practices and interpretations of...
Church History – Part 13
In last week’s article we saw one of the internal issues that the early Church fathers had to address was Christianity’s relationship with Judaism. While reflecting on the disputes between different group of Christians on various practices and interpretations of...
Church History – Part 14
The Church in the second century was made up of local communities from the Mediterranean Sea to the Middle East. They had a strong sense of unity even though they were loosely organized. This is when another controversy arose. This controversy is called Gnosis. ...
Church History – Part 15
Around A.D 285 Diocletian became the Roman emperor. He realized that the empire had grown too large to be governed by one person. He divided the kingdom into two (East and West). He kept the ultimate power and appointed governors and assistants. In the West, they...
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