First Council Of Nicaea
The first council ecumenical stood at Nicaea (in Turkish Iznik, Turkey today) in the 325.
Summary |
This means that united all the churches. Indeed, each patriarchate was independent and had its own magisterium ensure that patriarchy was excommunicated in to lift his excommunication in patriarchy neighbor (which never failed to do).
Circumstances
The Roman Emperor Constantine I convened the council. It has indeed meet the Roman Empire after defeating Licinius in Adrianople in September 325. Traveling in the East, it finds quickly the large number of divisions within Christianity. To restore peace and build religious unity of the Church, and probably also to achieve its political purposes, he decided to convene a council. This brings together representatives of almost all the trends of Christianity shortly after the end of persecution (those launched by Diocletian lasted until 313 , and some bishops still bear the scars of torture inflicted on this occasion).
After several months during which the bishops were unable to agree on a text of deciding the nature of the relationship of Christ to the Father, the emperor fourteen recalcitrant threat. Three remain faithful to their designs, including Arius and are excommunicated.
However, the Arianism was not the first division to incur the excommunication. The novelty of the situation is that the excommunication pronounced against Marcion by the board of presbyters of Rome, Valentin and Montanus , had no validity in the diocese where it was pronounced. In this situation, the bishops undertake not to lift the excommunication by another diocese. Following the Arian conflict shows that this undertaking is not tenable.
Canons of the Council
- The council recognizes the preeminence of the siege of Alexandria in all the churches of Egypt and Libya and pointed out that there is a similar custom in connection with Rome and Antioch , without specifying the boundaries of zones of influence of these two seats (probably Italy to Rome for the Diocese of East Antioch). This is the origin of patriarchy.
- The council says the foundation of every local church around a single bishop, the holder of the Episcopal, which is responsible for the communion of his Church with all other Churches.
- The council created the concept of "confession", which, from the point of view semantics , brings the word "faith" in the word "belief".
- The council shall fix the date of Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon of spring, ie one that follows on March 21 . Previously, as in the herem, excommunication was valid only in the diocese who had passed and it was possible for example to raise an excommunication in the Diocese of Alexandria by the bishop of Antioch.
Despite the commitment not to lift the excommunication promulgated by their colleagues, it happened that the bishops go beyond the convention. Arius and Athanasius in turn benefited from the transgression of the canons of the council.
Nicene Creed
A confession of faith adopted at the Council of Nicaea:
"We believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of God, begotten of the Father, that is to say, substance the Father. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial to the Father by whom all things were made in heaven and earth. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate and became man, suffered, rose again the third day, ascended into heaven, will come to judge the living and the dead. We also believe the Holy Spirit. "
This confession will be completed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 to become the " Nicene-Constantinople "and" Creed. "
The principle of the creed is simple: to be Christian, must adhere to the confession of faith. Contrapositive: whoever does not adhere to the confession of faith is not Christian and is therefore at the whim of the prince:
This is a significant change in the definition of "being Christian" in effect until the Council of Nicaea, the baptism was a Christian. This design has not disappeared from all the churches: the Church professes, often Anabaptists , and more widely churches of the Reformation , retain the idea that baptism is a Christian, because of free inquiry.
Trinitarian Controversies
A controversy occurred during this council has become famous, and remained in the phrase "does not change one iota" . The Nicaeans supported the thesis that the Son was "like substance" (, homoousios) that the Father, while the (semi-) Arians (who were excommunicated) argued that the Son was "substantially similar" ( , with the Father. The two terms were distinguished by a small iota.
Decisions taken at the council lead to the definition of the dogma of the dual nature as a result of Trinitarian controversies and inaugurate the process of dogmatization. Subsequently, some churches who disagree with the conclusions of the councils are based " churches of the two councils , following the Council of Ephesus in 431, and separation with the " Churches of the three councils , following the Council of Chalcedon of 451 that defines the Trinity.
References
- The gun does not refer to the astronomical spring but the date of 21 March. This fact explains that the date of Easter can differ depending on whether the fixed from the Julian calendar (only existing when the council) or from the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope of Rome in 1582.
- (en) Alan F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven: early rabbinic reports about Christianity and Gnosticism, Alan F. Segal, 2002.
- Which used a quotation from the New Testament : "not an iota, not a detail of the law will not pass until all self-done," Matthew 5:18.
Bibliography
- Richard E. Rubenstein, the day when Jesus became God, Bayard, 2000, repr. La Dcouverte, 2004.
- Frdric Lenoir, How Jesus became God, Fayard, 2010.
See also
Related articles
History
- Late Antiquity
- Arianism
- Constantine I (Roman emperor)
- History of the Catholic Church
- Monophysitism
- Nestorianism
- Nicolas of Myra
- Ossius Cordoba
- Spyridon of Trimythonte
Theology
Dogma and barrel
External Links
- Article "Council of Nicea I" of universal and comprehensive dictionary of councils
- Decisions of the Council of Nicea
 The 10 councils general Christianity prior to 1054 | |
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| * Council not ecumenical |
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