The Holy Fathers of The 1st Ecumenical Council

 

Well folks, the Sunday of the First Ecumenical Council has once again come and gone for the year, and that means that we are once again discussing the vast amount of wealth that was preserved by the Fathers of the 1^ST Ecumenical Council. All Three Hundred and Eighteen of them, to be exact. These Church Fathers helped pave the way for the faith that was preserved by the Church for the past two thousand years and without their immense faith and courage, the Church would not have remained the way it was. In fact, the church might have agreed to heresy with the Arian controversy and other issues had these brave fathers not met at Nicaea and dealt with the issues at hand. Now today I am not going to discuss Arianism, rather I am going to discuss the 1^st Ecumenical Council and what exactly transpired…and oh yes, St. Nicholas.

Outside of the obvious Arius issue, the 1^st Ecumenical Council had to deal with the Meletian schism, and the formation of the Nicene Creed. You can check out the explanation of the Creed in an earlier article. While the Arian controversy was the focal point of the discussion, we got the formation of twenty canons of the church out of this, and as I am currently going through the canons and explaining a few, it was interesting to note that some of them were written here, especially the organization of the church. So when those who are non-episcopal tell you that the church never had bishops or priests and that each church could decide for themselves, you can direct them to the 1^st Council, where the church formation was solidified, not established, as it was just formality of what the Church already practiced. The Church also determined the date for Pascha, and as was stated in the previous article, that it was not to be celebrated with the Jews.  The formula was established and kept by the Church for centuries until Rome came along and decided they were superior to everyone else. We were given the instructions on reentering the lapsed, the heretics, and the schismatics, and why rebaptism and other practices were put in place.

The Meletian schism was of particular importance outside of the Arian controversy.  . Melitius advocated for the open practice of Christianity in a time of persecution, which seems harmless enough. Peter I of Alexandria, laid down terms for those who were lapsed or had committed sins that would warrant them being labeled heretics and schismatics to return the church. In spectacular “I know better than you” fashion Melitius decided that these terms were too lax for him, and rebelled…which is why a priest should never speak ill of another bishop, nor another bishop speak ill of a fellow bishop. Melitius was then excommunicated and cast out from the Church. He like the protestant reformers who didn’t get their way in 1517, founded his own church because he believed that he had found the true knowledge of the scriptures and was teaching the proper way.  By the time the 1^ST Ecumenical Council rolled around, there were enough issues that the discussion to bring them back into the fold was addressed. The Council of Nicaea agreed that the issues surrounding the schism between the twenty eight Meletian bishops and the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church were not so different as to warrant them any major changes in their theology to be accepted by the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. And while Melitius was accepted back into the fold, as a bishop without a see, he only lasted three more years and died. Thus, the schism was reinstated and was not truly healed.

Of course, though you came for the violence right? We all woke up this morning and chose violence, eh? No of course not, I woke up and chose Christ. And so did St. Nicholas. While I have chosen to leave out the Arian controversy from the gist of this article, because there were certainly other issues at this council besides Arius, I would be amiss if I did not briefly discuss Nicholas and Arius, because it well was the talk of the entire council. Outside of Pacquiao vs Mayweather, or McGregor vs Mayweather, Nicholas vs Arius might be the boxing match of the millennium. Obviously with Arius’ lack of respect for the divinity of Christ and his clear lack of mental fortitude, Nicholas decided that he had heard enough of the ramblings of the heretic. Walking across the floor with three hundred and sixteen other bishops, surrounding him, Nicholas completely and utterly knocked Arius the heck out. While it was illegal to strike another person in the presence of the Emperor, Constantine gave control of the punishment over to the bishops of the Church. The bishops stripped Nicholas of his rights as a bishop and expelled him from the council, and decided that once the council had finished they would finalize his punishment.  In a miracle that only be described as awesome, Nicholas who was locked away from the rest of the world as punishment for his crime of assaulting Arius, was visited by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Theotokos.  After giving Nicholas the gospel book, and revesting him with his vestments, the Bishops came to look for Nicholas. Astonished, the bishops told Constantine of this development, and Nicholas was reinstated to the Bishopric of Myra. Nicholas of course is one of Greece’s most beloved saints, and no Greek home is complete without an icon of St. Nicholas.

The Orthodox Church along with most protestant churches and the Latins recognize the 1^ST Ecumenical Council. Though issues have arisen between the three over the past 2000 years, it is nice to not argue against either for a change. The 1^ST Ecumenical Council determined what the Church had already practiced for the first hundred years of its founding. Placing it right before the Feast of Pentecost reminds us that the Church is Universal, and that it is everlasting. The gates of hell cannot overcome it, as Jesus quotes in Matthew. We pray that these Fathers of the 1^ST Council would intercede on our behalf and that the bishops of today would see the wisdom of coming together and discussing issues when the need arises.  I pray that our leaders will be as wise and courageous as the 1^st Ecumenical Council.

Amen.