After the first three hundred years or so of the life of the Church, things began to settle down. During that time Christianity had been persecuted. It was split up into small, often secretive, communities. Each community had developed its own local traditions and thoughts on what a Christian life was all about. Over the same period, the Church had spread across all kinds of boundaries, social, cultural and political. The Church family now included people from every stratum of society from the meanest most ignorant slave to the best educated and finest minds of the Roman Empire. Now that Christianity had become the official religion of the Empire it was time to bring all the thoughts and insights together into a consistent whole which could satisfy the faith of all.
In the year 325 Emperor Constantine called together a Council in Nicea (present day Iznik in Turkey). The Council had two main aims. It had to make a straightforward universal statement of the elements of Christian belief and it had to persuade everyone to sign up to it. Other statements like the Apostles’ Creed were not clear enough to prevent divisions within the Church and the Council formulated a new Creed, The Nicene Creed, which is the basis of what the Church uses today when it says, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty …”
The major division in the Church at that time centred on what people thought about the relationship between God the Father and Jesus. Many people followed the teaching of a Libyan priest called Arian who said that Jesus was not of one substance with the Father and that there had been a time before he existed. Some interpreted this to mean that Jesus was like a junior god, similar to God but not the same. Most believed in the mystery of the Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: one God, three persons. The Council declared that Arian and his various interpreters were mistaken and that the Trinity was the most sensible declaration of faith.
Theology ought not to make faith more difficult. Arian’s ideas meant reinterpreting a great deal of scripture and tradition while ignoring inconvenient bits. His ideas suggested that Jesus was not ‘God with us’, risking everything to save the world. The Council chose the solution that preserved scripture and tradition but just making a statement was not enough. The whole Church had to be convinced that it should reject Arian’s error.
Two of the best minds set to work. Saint Basil, born into a whole family of saints, was one of the most intelligent and best educated people of the age. He became a successful lawyer and opened a school of oratory. At the age of 25, however, he met a charismatic bishop who converted him from his comfortable life as a cradle Christian into a man of active faith. He wrote: “I had wasted much time on follies and spent nearly all of my youth in vain labours, and devotion to the teaching of a wisdom that God had made foolish. Suddenly, I awoke as out of a deep sleep. I beheld the wonderful light of the Gospel truth, and I recognised the nothingness of the wisdom of the princes of this world.” He was baptised and spent the rest of his life teaching and helping the Church understand the fullness of the Gospel.
Basil’s lifelong friend was Gregory Nazienzen. He had the reputation of being the best, most accomplished, speaker of the age. Gregory formulated the Church’s thoughts on the Trinity in a way that set a standard that used to this day. He and Basil took part in a great public speaking contest with the supporters of Arian. Their skill and consistency won the day and even though Arian’s ideas were slow to die away and are still influential today, Basil and Gregory can be credited with setting the Church on the path it still follows so that it can appeal and be relevant for everyone from the simplest to the most intellectual. They are recognised as saints because of their invaluable contribution to the life and faith of the Church.
Author: C B Whittle