Excepting the apostolic council in jerusalem recorded in acts 15, the council of nicea stands above other early councils of the church as far as its scope and its focus. This is lecture of the history of christian thought and practice 1, taught at garrettevangelical theological seminary, in evanston, il. Maier is a prolific author, biblical scholar, and dedicated christian. How we got the bible the worlds most important book by. The truth is that the book burning in bombay and berlin followed a pattern well established in communities in our 48 states. Constantine entered rome the undisputed ruler of the west, the first roman emperor with a cross in his diadem. Constantine called together a council of the bishops at nicea, a city near the. The study i put into these articles has resulted in a book called decoding nicea. Decoding nicea will answer all your questions about the council of nicea, even including every canon that came out of it, along with explanations of them. Excerpted with permission from templars in america. The horrible, oppressive history of book burning in america. The books of arius and his followers, after the first council of nicaea 325 c. How we got the bible the worlds most important book session 1. Constantine changed christianity and christianity changed the the first seven ecumenical councils 325787.
One of the problems addressed during the first council of nicea was how the church should determine when easter should be held. The council of nicea christian history for everyman. But the council of nicea was only the beginning of the battle over the creed, for the imperial court was full of arians. The story of the council of nicea starts with a priest named arius and a bishop named alexander in a city called alexandria. Another was what to do about the writings of arius, a man who held vastly different ideas from the rest of the church about what exactly it meant to be the son. Yet it would be wrong to blame mccarthy, eisenhower, and dulles, absolve all the others. How 226 words, 44 notes on the canons of the first four general councils. The real story of the council of nicea america magazine. Located in tigard, or, hoshana rabbah offers messianic biblical teachings while advocating yeshua the messiah. Later, two arian emperors constantines son constantius and valens systematically persecuted nicene christians. Through crafty plotting, they induced constantine to banish the nicene leaders. It is available at amazon and most other online bookstores. Come visit us on shabbat for weekly services, live music, teaching, and bible study. The truth about the apocrypha and the lost books of the bible duration.