What really happened at the council of Nicea?

In class, we talked about the council in Nicea, and how Constantine ruled on matters that were causing controversy in the Christian church and it got me thinking what exactly were those matters that Constantine had to decide on. One thing that they decided on was the trinity, and for those of you who have no idea what that is, which is saying that the God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit are three leader who are equal and they are one Godhead. The most heated issue was the "Who is Christ?" question, people had a hard time understanding who he was and what he was. Constantine made the 300 bishops who attended the council create a doctrine that was later called the Nicene Creed. This creed was adopted by the Church and enforced by the Emperor (Constantine). This creed is similar the Apostle's Creed which is widely used in churches today. It is important to note that the bishops did not invent the doctrine but affirmed the teaching of the Apostles in the Bible. To see some sited passages they used visit this site: http://www.gotquestions.org/council-of-Nicea.html The council came at a time when Constantine's empire was beginning to crumble and he knew that he needed his people to unite and not be fighting against each other but rather uniting against a common enemy.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/nicene.html

All Because of a Sign

Since I missed class on Monday I had to hear about our lecture on Western Christendom and Byzantium through a few friends. While making this blog post I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to discuss, but when I came upon a certain article, Byzantium: The Lost Christendom,I was intrigued. Here I will briefly analyze the information in the article in a hope to entertain and intrigue some other young mind.

It is said that a great event occurred on the farthest west corners of Asia that influenced Christianity everywhere for centuries to follow. This event was centered in Byzantium and begins with the Roman Emperor Contstantine. A church historian, Eusebius, says that Constantine recieved a vision from heaven before a major battle. This vision included the symbol "XP" which, in Greek, are the first two letters of the word Christ.



He claims to have heard the words, "In this sign, conquer." When Constantine won his battle he credited the sign of God with his victory. Until this moment many emperors persecuted the idea of Christianity, while others attempted to tolerate it. Now that this sign was considered "victory-bringing" the emblem of Christ the Savior became a worldwide symbol for Christendom.

Now that Constantine won his battle he set out search for a capital. It is said that he was a genious for choosing an ancient town in Byzantium, "Because this was an easy-to-defend base located as far east as one could go in the Roman Empire, and as far west as Asia could take him." After himself, he named the town Constantinople.



It is decided that if he would have chosen a great city in the Roman Empire, such as Alexandria in Egypt, the Byzantine Empire would have ceast to exist after the seventh century. This would have been largely due to the fact that the Arab Muslim armies were unstoppable and as they killed off the Persian Empire to the east, the town of Constantinople would have been right with it.



http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/n/byzantium_the_lost_christendom.html

I hope that you feel as fascinated as I do right now. Before this article, and my dear friend Katie, I have never given much thought about Constantine. It honestly astonishes me that the entire world can be changed because of one man claiming to see a sign from God.

Have a wonderful weekend and take a little time to think about how you have become the person you are today, because apparantly I have been influenced by a man that I knew very little about.

The age of Justinian I

On Wednesday, we briefly spoke about Byzantium, the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Byzantium continued much of the Catholic tradition, and about Justinian I, whose rule began in 527. I decided to blog about Justianian I because he was one of the most influential rulers of the Byzantium empire during it's rule.

Justinian was successful in conquering many former-held Roman territories, yet he also stirred up long battles of conflict with his empire's usual enemies, like Sassanid Persians, Slavs and Bulgars. Even though it required a large sum of annual gold payment, Justinian secured peace for the eastern Roman empire, by signing an eternal peace treaty with the Sassanid Persian King, Khosrau I, five years later.

Justinian had many western conquests in his rule, but his most ambitious was probably the reconquest of Italy, from the Ostrogoths, in 535. His victories were very succesful at first, tking major cities in Italy and even having the Ostrogoth king, Witiges, being brought before him in chains by one of his brilliant generals, Belisarius. The Ostrogoths however reorganized and were reunited as one and fought back. This exhausted most of the resoures of both the Byzantines and the Italiens. Just when the Byzantine Empire seemed to quite possibly be on the verge of losing all it had achieved in Italy, Justianian eventually gathered enough men to defeat the Italiens in 552. He actaully got 35,000 men, who mostly consisted of Asian and Germanic mercenaries. Following Justinian's resurgence of soldiers, the conquest of Italy was finally finito.

Khosrau I broke the "eternal" peace treaty that was made, possibly as early as 540. After all, sinec Justinian was conquering with much of his forces, he wasn't nearly as concentrated in protecting the eastern border, even though he did have strong forticiations. The only way Justinian could stop him would be to increase the annual gold payment. It mattered not, however. Many Slavs, as well as Kutrigur Bulgars, invaded the eastern empire, mostly in the Balkan area. Eventually, the Roman authority in the Balkans would be completely overwhelmed. Justinian I died in 565.

Even though his reign seemed to be partly falling apart in the end, Justinian I conquered many former Roman territories and fought back against the enemeies when all hope had seemed to vanish. He also did well in reestablishing Roman rule and reforming the administration and the law, It's interesting to note that Justianian was actually the son of a peasant. He was however adopted by Justin I, a former officer in the imperial army who had been chief of the guards to Anastasius I. After Anastasius died, Justin had been proclaimed emperor. So much for the lineage of royalty right?

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend! :)

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Byzantine_Empire_-_The_age_of_Justinian_I/id/5006628

http://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/9/91/Justinian.jpg

http://www.freefoto.com/images/14/26/14_26_4---Trevi-Fountain--Rome--Italy_web.jpg

Christianity

Since my last post was about Constantine and his conversion to Christianity, I wanted to continue with the subject of how Christianity was viewed before and after he switched his religion. I find this to be an important subject because it really shows the impact that people of power had on everyone else. I think people today should look at examples like this and realize that we are all persuaded by others, and we really just need to think for ourselves.

To start off, Christianity was not very accepted when it first came about. In some places, if they found out you were a Christian, you would be killed. “Early Christians, facing scorn at best and persecution at worst, depending on Emperor and the era, were forced to blend in with their Pagan counterparts.” For Christians to even celebrate their holidays, they would have to cover it up from a different celebration that was going on.

Christianity was also not only influened by Constantine; there were many other factors. As talked about in lecture, religions in general were being spread through trade routes (silk road), because they were universal, had morals, and many other reasons. The spread of Chrisitianity through political dynamics goes hand in hand with they way Constantine the Great dealt with Christianity. It started to become more popular after he became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Though he did not punish those who were not Christian, he started giving benefits to those who were.

In conclusion, there were many apsects to the spread of religion (Christianity in particular). Though each person had their own reason for converting to Christianity, it is one of the most popular religions today. People would not have all the morals and faith we have today without all of these events occuring.

http://www.unrv.com/culture/spread-christianity.php

I am a "C"

Have you ever chanted the words to the song, "I am a 'C'?" I grew up in a christian home, went to a Lutheran grade school and high school and can recall singing this song a million times. If you haven't heard it before, it goes a little something like this: "I am a "C"...I am a "C.H." I am a C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. (DOT THE "I"), and I have C.H.R.I.S.T. in my H.E.A.R.T. and I will L.I.V.E. E.T.E.R.N.A.L.L.Y." If you would like to give this catchy tune a listen you can just follow this link and be dazzled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrNM-B_gg4A

During the time of the Byzantine Empire, Christianity was on the rise. I'm sure a lot of Christians in that time were singing their own version of "I am a C." Christianity was an exciting new lifestyle and belief system. As Professor mentioned in class, Christianity was just another hat that people wore. They often cast off other hats that made up their personality and reputation, but the hat of Christianity was worn by many, and for longer durations of time. Christianity was beginning to "catch" on. More and more control was being shifted from the government over to the Christian churches. The Christian church had quite an impact on the Roman way of life.

When it comes to the history of Christianity, one period in history sticks out as the most important stepping stone to the spread of Christianity. This stepping stone is known as the "Christendom" which started out as a society of Jewish Christians. This fellowship of believers then split off into two phases: the apostolic period (when the first apostles started organizing the christian church), and the post-apostolic period (which is when the Christian churches started being governed by bishops that had been placed into power).

So, whether you're a Christian or not, I believe you could recognize that without the spread of Christianity during the Byzantine Empire, there might not be Christians in this world today. Without trade, cultural revolution and communication, ideas would not be able to spread across the waters. Imagine living your life completely in a box, knowing nothing but what you've seen and having no chance to learn or see what others do. Imagine your life without religions. Imagine your life without change. Imagine.

* When I think of "Imagine" I can't help but think of John Lennon....enjoy this link...I think you know where I'm getting at =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okd3hLlvvLw

Thanks for reading! Have an awesome week and be sure to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!!!!!!!!