Was Jesus God or Man?
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Three hundred and twelve bishops gathered. In the center of the room, on a throne, lay the four gospels. The emperor himself, dressed in a purple gown and wearing a silver diadem, opened the council. It was he who had called them together. "I rejoice to see you here, yet I should be more pleased to see unity and affection among you." The place was Nicea. It was on this day, May 20, 325. The next few days would be devoted primarily to one purpose: finding a way to describe exactly who Jesus was. Arius had preached that Christ was a creation of God, the first of all his creatures, to be sure, but a creation nonetheless. He was not of the substance or nature of God. "There was a time when the Son was not," he and his followers insisted. They even made up songs with catchy tunes to propagandize their ideas among the masses. Bishop Alexander of Alexandria was horrified. Jesus, the Word, had co-existed eter...