The Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople I: a Response to Arianism

Abstract

As ages passed by after the death of Christ Jesus, various questions started to be raised with regards to the nature of Jesus Christ. One of the major questions that emerged about the nature of Jesus Christ was whether he was human or divine. In a quest to answer such questions there are some who strayed from the teachings of the apostles and the orthodox teaching. It is out of such questions and controversies that the early Church Fathers had to define the faith of the Church through a formulated creeds. Such questions also included the unity of Christ and God the Father. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity began to be developed due to arising questions on the
person of Jesus Christ and due to rise of unorthodox teachings which were termed heretical positions. Thus, it is plausible to state that the doctrine of the Trinity evolved out of Christology. One of the earliest heresies is Arianism which was suggested by Arius who questioned the divinity of Jesus Christ. Hence the purpose of the following piece of work is to expose
the Arian heresy and to respond to it focusing on the responses that were
given by the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople I. To achieve this, the
paper will first define what a heresy is, secondly the paper will expose
the Arian heresy and lastly the paper will respond to it considering the
Councils of Nicaea of 325 AD and Constantinople I of 381 AD.