In 325 AD, the Nicean Council was convened at the behest of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
He saw Christianity as one way to reunite the empire.
Constantine had come to a deeper political understanding that a new form of "Roman"
Christianity best suited his purposes to reunite and rejuvenate the empire.
A brilliant politician, Constantine was aware of the pervasive influence of the old families in Rome and their use of the traditional Roman Gods to further their aims. Over 200 years earlier in 70CE, the Jerusalem rebellion had been crushed resulting in the diaspora of Jews and the spread of "cult" of Christianity throughout the empire.
At this time, members of "the faith" had many "schools"
and the name "christian" was considered an insult.
Believers would say: "I follow 'The Way'" adding their particular teacher or leader, such as "I follow The Way, as taught by the disciple Mary" or "I follow The Way as taught by the disciple Thomas ". Some were even known to draw a curved line and add a dot, this being completed by another who would say "Fish swim in schools." Then the first would declare his particular school: "I belong to Scola Maria."
Early Christians, adherents to a particular disciple or a disciples' "school" were not a cohesive group but rather highly factionalized with different Gospels and viewpoints. Buddhism had been around for over 500 years at the birth of Christ and caravans to and from the Far East brought both goods and ideas.
Constantine was well educated and keenly aware of the challenges that faced the now divided empire. The Diocletianic Persecution had demonstrated clearly that Christianity was emerging as the most potent new "cult' in the modern empire. Scholars stated that the more you hammered this new religioun the more it grew. You could feed them to the lions, crucify them by the thousands and yet it seemed that the more you did so, the more it grew.
Due to the powerful stewardship of Saul / Paul, Christianity shared certain similarities with other powerful cults in the empire, including Mithraism and the cult of Isis. This was a wonderful development which had helped to make Christianity more Universal. Men no longer had to be circumcized to join!
read more about Constantine's Insightful Politics & Early Christianity
|
