Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Reformation (The Story of Christianity)

by Justo L. González

But those who say that there was when He was not, and that before being begotten He was not, or that He came from that which is not, or that the Son of God is of a different substance [hypostasis] or essence [ousia], or that He is created, or mutable, these the catholic church anathematizes.

The “Apostles’ Creed,” being Roman in origin, is known and used only in churches of Western origin—the Roman Catholic Church, and those stemming from the Protestant Reformation. The Nicene Creed, on the other hand, is acknowledged both by these Western churches and by those of the East—Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and the like.

The key word, however, and the one that was the subject of much controversy, is homoousios, which is usually translated as “of the same substance.”

This was intended to convey that the Son was just as divine as the Father. But it also provided the main reason for later resistance to the Creed of Nicea, for it seemed to imply that there was no distinction between Father and Son, and thus to leave the door open for patripassianism.

But Constantine added his own sentence to that of the bishops, banishing the deposed bishops from their cities. He probably intended only to avoid further unrest. But this addition of a civil sentence to an ecclesiastical one had serious consequences, for it established a precedent for the intervention of secular authority in behalf of what was considered orthodox doctrine.

Eusebius of Nicomedia was an able politician, and we are even told that he was distantly related to the emperor. His strategy was to court the approval of Constantine, who soon allowed him to return to Nicomedia.

Eventually, the emperor decided that he had been too harsh on the Arians. Arius himself was recalled from exile, and Constantine ordered the bishop of Constantinople to restore him to communion. The bishop was debating whether to obey the emperor or his conscience, when Arius died.

He soon became so identified with that cause that the subsequent history of the Arian controversy is best told by following Athanasius’ life.

Let it suffice to say that Eusebius of Nicomedia and his followers managed to have Athanasius exiled by order of Constantine. By then, most of the Nicene leaders were also banished. When Constantine finally asked for baptism, on his deathbed, he received the sacrament from Eusebius of Nicomedia.

At first the new situation favored the Nicene party, for the eldest of Constantine’s three sons took their side, and recalled Athanasius and the others from exile.

Eventually, however, Constantius became sole emperor, and it was then that, as Jerome said, “the entire world woke from a deep slumber and discovered that it had become Arian.”

Once again the Nicene leaders had to leave their cities, and imperial pressure was such that eventually even the elderly Hosius of Cordova and Liberius—the bishop of Rome—signed Arian confessions of faith.

Interesting, pope signed for Arianism.

Julian, later known by Christian historians as “the Apostate.”

Profiting from the endless dissension among Christians, the pagan reaction had come to power.

Julian had many reasons to dislike both Constantius and the Christian faith that the latter professed. At the time of Constantine’s death, most of the dead emperor’s close relatives had been massacred.

The only notable exceptions were the three brothers who inherited the throne, and their cousins Julian and Gallus—an older brother of Julian.

It is clear that after Constantine’s death there was some question as to who would succeed him, and that the army then killed most of his relatives—not in order to set up another dynasty, but rather in order to make sure that

power would belong undisputably to Constantine’s three surviving sons.

A few years after having made him caesar, Constantius had him arrested and beheaded.

He had definitively abandoned Christianity, and sought after truth and beauty in the literature and religion of classical Greece.

His administration in Gaul was exemplary. And, when the occasion arose to lead a campaign against the barbarians, he proved that he was an able general and gained great popularity in the army.

When Constantius, who was preparing a campaign against Persia, called the troops in Gaul to the East, they rebelled and proclaimed Julian “augustus,” that is, supreme emperor. As soon as Constantius was free of the Persian threat, he marched against Julian and his rebellious troops. When war seemed unavoidable, and both sides prepared for it, Constantius died.

It was the year 361.

Julian’s first action was to seek revenge from those most responsible for his misfortunes, and from those who had sought to keep him away from the seat of power. To that end he named a court that was theoretically independent, but that in truth responded to the wishes of the emperor. This court condemned several of his worst enemies to death.

Yet is is not for such actions that he is most remembered, but rather for his religious policy, which earned him the title by which history knows him: “the Apostate.”

Julian sought both to restore the lost glory of paganism, and to impede the progress of Christianity.

By the time Julian became sole emperor, the ancient temples were practically empty, and there were pagan priests dressed only in rags, trying to supplement their meagre income in a dozen ways and paying scant attention to the ancient rites.

Julian wished to bring about a total restoration and reformation of paganism.

To that end he ordered that everything that had been taken from the temples was to be returned to them. Following the example of the Christian church, he organized the pagan priesthood into a hierar...

Thus, he divided his entire Empire into regions, each with an archpriest who was above all the pagan priests in that region. The various archpriests of a regi...

“supreme priest,” who was Jul...

While rejecting Christianity, Julian actually learned a great deal from it.

By his order there were massive sacrifices in which the gods were offered hundreds of bulls and other animals at a time.

But Julian, who was a wise ruler, was well aware that his restoration of paganism was not as popular as he would have wished.

People mocked his new ceremonies, even while participating in them. For that reason it seemed necessary, not only to promote paganism, but also to hin...

To this end Julian took a series of measures, although in all justice it is necessary to insist that he never decree...

Julian himself was convinced that persecution of Christians would not help his cause.

On the first score, he passed laws forbidding Christians to teach classical literature. Thus, while prohibiting what to him was a sacrilege, he kept Christians from using the great works of classical antiquity to spread their faith, as they had been doing since

the time of Justin in the second century.

With this in mind he wrote a work Against the Galileans, in which he showed that he knew the Bible, and mocked both its c...

He then decided to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, not because he felt any particular liking towards Judaism, but rather as a practical rebuttal of the common Christian argument that the destruction of the Temple ha...

All these projects were moving along as rapidly as possible, when death overtook him quite unexpectedly. Julian was leading his troops in a campaign against the Persians when he was fatally wounded by an enemy spear. A famous legend, but one lacking all historical found...

Of all the opponents of Arianism, Athanasius was most to be feared.

The reasons for this were not to be found in subtlety of logical argument, nor in elegance of style, nor even in political perspicacity. In all these areas, Athanasius could be bested by his opponents. His strong suit was in his close ties to the people among whom he lived, and in living out his faith without the subtleties of the Arians or the pomp of so many bishops of other important sees.

His monastic discipline, his roots among the people, his fiery spirit, and his profound and unshakable c...

These works show the deep conviction that the central fact of Christian faith, as well as of all human history, is the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.

In a memorable passage, he speaks of the incarnation in terms of an imperial visit to a city. The emperor decides on such a visit, and resides in one of the houses of the city. As a result, not only that house, but the entire town, receive a special honor and protection. Bandits stay away from such a place. Likewise, the Monarch of the universe has come to visit our human city, living in one of our houses, and thanks to such a presence we are all protected from the attacks and wiles of the Evil One. Now, by virtue of that visit from God in Jesus Christ, we are free to be what God intends us to be—that is, beings capable of living in communion with the divine.

he saw Arianism as a grave threat to the very heart of Christianity.

Finally, several weeks after the death of Alexander, and much against his own wishes, Athanasius was made bishop of Alexandria.

The year was 328, the same year in which Constantine revoked the sentence banishing Arius. Arianism was regaining ground, and the battle lines were being drawn.