For the Sake of Unity
Bob Wickizer
Acts 9:7-20
We need to do some teaching, preaching and proclamation today. We will start with some history of the development of the Nicene Creed and then we will talk about human sexuality. Somehow we will tie this all together with the abundant haul of fish.
First the creed: Ancient historians wrote that in the fourth and fifth centuries, you could not go for a haircut on the streets of ancient cities like Rome, Corinth, Alexandria or Jerusalem with getting into a heated discussion with your barber whether Christ was fully human, fully divine or both. Christianity in its first four centuries was as diverse and divided as it is today. Each geographical region had its own understanding of the nature of Christ, who Jesus was, why he was crucified, what the crucifixion/resurrection meant and so on. There were never any outright wars because the occupying army of the Roman Empire kept a firm grip even on local flare ups. But there were heated disagreements about the nature of Christ and his relationship to God the Father.
Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire with Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313. Although the Council of Nicaea was convened twelve years later, paganism was legal and flourished throughout the empire. Four years before Nicaea, Sunday was declared the Empire-wide day of rest in honor of the Roman sun-god, Sol Invictus we maintain that pagan tradition even today although the Christian god has replaced Sol Invictus, the unconquerable sun.
Constantine did not want religious unrest to become civil unrest in his Empire so the Council of Nicaea was called with over 300 bishops attending from all over the Empire. Constantine paid for the travel expenses and two months of lodging for the hundreds of bishops and their delegations. He arranged the meeting hall and called the meeting to order saying ''Let all contentious disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-insp ...
Bob Wickizer
Acts 9:7-20
We need to do some teaching, preaching and proclamation today. We will start with some history of the development of the Nicene Creed and then we will talk about human sexuality. Somehow we will tie this all together with the abundant haul of fish.
First the creed: Ancient historians wrote that in the fourth and fifth centuries, you could not go for a haircut on the streets of ancient cities like Rome, Corinth, Alexandria or Jerusalem with getting into a heated discussion with your barber whether Christ was fully human, fully divine or both. Christianity in its first four centuries was as diverse and divided as it is today. Each geographical region had its own understanding of the nature of Christ, who Jesus was, why he was crucified, what the crucifixion/resurrection meant and so on. There were never any outright wars because the occupying army of the Roman Empire kept a firm grip even on local flare ups. But there were heated disagreements about the nature of Christ and his relationship to God the Father.
Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire with Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313. Although the Council of Nicaea was convened twelve years later, paganism was legal and flourished throughout the empire. Four years before Nicaea, Sunday was declared the Empire-wide day of rest in honor of the Roman sun-god, Sol Invictus we maintain that pagan tradition even today although the Christian god has replaced Sol Invictus, the unconquerable sun.
Constantine did not want religious unrest to become civil unrest in his Empire so the Council of Nicaea was called with over 300 bishops attending from all over the Empire. Constantine paid for the travel expenses and two months of lodging for the hundreds of bishops and their delegations. He arranged the meeting hall and called the meeting to order saying ''Let all contentious disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-insp ...
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