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The First Ecumenical Council: why Arius was slapped in the face. I Ecumenical Council

Tomorrow the Church will celebrate the memory of the holy fathers of the First (Nicene) Ecumenical Council. It was at this council that the heresy of Arius was exposed and the first Creed was compiled; Saints took part in it. Nicholas of Myra and Spyridon of Trimifunt.

I Ecumenical Council was convened in 325 in the city of Nicaea under Emperor Constantine the Great. His main task was to expose the false teaching of the Alexandrian priest Arius, who rejected the Divinity and the pre-eternal birth from God the Father of the Son of God and taught that Christ is only supreme creation.

Arius was supported by the Bishop of Nicomedia (Palestine) Eusebius, very influential at the royal court, so the heresy received very widespread at that time. And to this day, the enemies of Christianity, taking the heresy of Arius as a basis and giving it a different name, confuse the minds and lead many people into temptation.

The First Ecumenical Council was attended by 318 bishops, among whom were:, and others. The false teaching of Arius was brilliantly refuted by Archdeacon Athanasius, who, being an assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, eventually replaced his teacher in this very influential department in the Christian world.

The Council condemned and rejected the heresy of Arius and affirmed the immutable truth - the dogma: the Son of God is true God, born of God the Father before all ages and as eternal as God the Father; He is begotten, not created, and is of one essence with God the Father. So that all Orthodox Christians could accurately know the true teaching of the faith, it was clearly and concisely set forth in the first seven members of the Creed. At the same Council, it was decided to celebrate on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon, it was also determined that priests should be married, and many other rules were established.

The memory of the First Ecumenical Council has been celebrated by the Church of Christ since ancient times. The Lord Jesus Christ left a great promise to the Church: “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against It” (Matthew 16:18). In this joyful promise there is a prophetic indication that, although the life of the Church of Christ on earth will take place in a difficult struggle with the enemy of salvation, victory is on Her side. The holy martyrs testified to the truth of the Savior's words, enduring suffering for the confession of the Name of Christ, and the sword of the persecutors bowed before the victorious sign of the Cross of Christ.

The Local Council, convened at the insistence of Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria, condemned the false teaching of Arius, but he did not submit and, having written letters to many bishops complaining about the ruling Local Council, spread his false teaching throughout the East, for he received support in his error from some eastern bishops.

To investigate the troubles that arose, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (May 21) sent Bishop Hosea of Corduba and, having received from him a certificate that the heresy of Arius was directed against the most fundamental dogma of the Church of Christ, he decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. At the invitation of Saint Constantine, 318 representative bishops gathered in the city of Nicaea in 325 Christian Churches from different countries.

Among the arriving bishops there were many confessors who had suffered during the persecution and bore marks of torture on their bodies. Participants in the Council were also the great luminaries of the Church - (December 6 and May 9), (December 12), and other holy fathers revered by the Church.

Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria arrived with his deacon Athanasius, later Patriarch of Alexandria (May 2), called the Great, as a zealous fighter for the purity of Orthodoxy. Emperor Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, attended the meetings of the Council. In his speech, delivered in response to the greeting of Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said: “God helped me to overthrow the wicked power of the persecutors, but incomparably more regrettable for me is any war, any bloody battle, and incomparably more destructive is the internal internecine warfare in the Church of God.”

Arius, having 17 bishops as his supporters, held himself proudly, but his teaching was refuted and he was excommunicated by the Council from the Church, and the holy deacon Alexandria Church Athanasius in his speech finally refuted the blasphemous fabrications of Arius. The Council Fathers rejected the creed proposed by the Arians. The Orthodox Creed was approved. Equal to the Apostles Constantine proposed to the Council that the word “Consubstantial” be added to the text of the Creed, which he often heard in the speeches of bishops. The Council Fathers unanimously accepted this proposal.

In the Nicene Creed, the holy fathers formulated the apostolic doctrine of the Divine dignity of the Second Person Holy Trinity- Lord Jesus Christ. The heresy of Arius, as a delusion of a proud mind, was exposed and rejected. After resolving the main dogmatic issue, the Council also established twenty canons (rules) on issues of church government and discipline. The issue of the day of celebration of Holy Easter was resolved. According to the resolution of the Council, Holy Easter should be celebrated by Christians not on the same day as the Jewish one and certainly on the first Sunday after the day spring equinox(which in 325 fell on March 22).

The heresy of Arius concerned the main Christian dogma, on which the whole faith and the entire Church of Christ is based, which constitutes the only foundation of the entire hope of our salvation. If the heresy of Arius, which rejected the Divinity of the Son God's Jesus Christ, who then shook the entire Church and carried away with her a great multitude of both shepherds and flocks, overcame the true teaching of the Church and became dominant, then Christianity itself would have long ago ceased to exist, and the whole world would have plunged into the former darkness of unbelief and superstition.

Arius was supported by the Bishop of Nicomedia Eusebius, very influential at the royal court, so the heresy became very widespread at that time. To this day, the enemies of Christianity (for example, Jehovah's Witnesses), taking the Arius heresy as a basis and giving it a different name, confuse the minds and lead into temptation of many people.

Troparion of St. to the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, tone 8:

Most glorified are you, Christ our God, / who founded our fathers as a light on the earth, / and taught us all to the true faith, / Most gracious, glory to you

Since the time of the apostles... Christians have used "articles of faith" to remind themselves of fundamental truths Christian faith. The ancient Church had several short creeds. In the fourth century, when false teachings about God, the Son and the Holy Spirit appeared, the need arose to supplement and clarify the previous symbols. Thus, the symbol of faith now used by the Orthodox Church arose. It was compiled by the Fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils. The First Ecumenical Council accepted the first seven members of the Symbol, the Second - the remaining five. Based on the two cities in which the fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils gathered, the Symbol is called Nicene-Constantinopolitan. When studied, the Creed is divided into twelve parts. The first speaks about God the Father, then through the seventh inclusive - about God the Son, in the eighth term - about God the Holy Spirit, in the ninth - about the Church, in the tenth - about baptism, in the eleventh and twelfth - about the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.

SYMBOL OF FAITH of the three hundred and ten saints, father of the First Ecumenical Council, Nicaea.

We believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, that is, from the essence of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were, even in heaven and on earth; For our sake, man and for our salvation came down, and became incarnate and became human, suffered, and rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven, and will again come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit. Those who say about the Son of God that there was a time when there was no time, or that there was no first being born before, or that they were from those who do not exist, or from another hypostasis or essence who say that they were, or that the Son of God is convertible or changeable, these are anathematized by the Catholic Church and Apostolic Church.

SYMBOL OF FAITH (now used in the Orthodox Church) of one hundred and fifty saints by the father of the Second Ecumenical Council, Constantinople.

We believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were; for our sake, man, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human; crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and again the one who comes will judge the living and the dead with glory, and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, who is with the Father and the Son, worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We confess one baptism for the remission of sins. Tea resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen.

How great was the wisdom of Saint Spyridon, who followed Divine Wisdom, is evidenced by historical event The First Council of Nicaea, convened in 325, where the heretic Arius was put to shame by Emperor Constantine the Great and his supporters. The main dogma of Christianity is the truth about the Holy Trinity given through Divine Revelation. The First Ecumenical Council was convened in order to put an end to the dispute between the Bishop of Alexandria Alexander and Arius. Arius rejected the Divinity and the pre-eternal birth of the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, from God the Father; and taught that the Son of God is only the highest creation. According to Arius, Christ was not God, but the first and most perfect of the creatures created by God. Arius had many supporters. Bishop Alexander accused Arius of blasphemy. The convening of the Ecumenical Council was a huge event in the life of the Church. For the first time, representatives of all Local Churches met to discuss the most important affairs of the Church. 318 bishops were present at the Council. Pope Sylvester did not personally take part in the Council, but delegated his legates there - two presbyters. Delegates from territories that were not part of the empire arrived at the Council: from Pitiunt in the Caucasus, from the Bosporus Kingdom (Kerch), from Scythia, two delegates from Armenia, one from Persia. In addition to bishops, many presbyters and deacons took part in the work of the Council. Many of them had recently returned from hard labor and had signs of torture on their bodies. At the Council there were many bishops who were later glorified by the Church as saints, including St. Nicholas, Bishop Myra of Lycia, Jacob, Bishop of Nisibius, Athanasius the Great, who at that time was still in the rank of deacon, and others. St. Spyridon also arrived at the Council. Tradition has preserved some amazing stories about what happened to him on his way to Nicaea.

“When Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Trimifuntsky, was going to the Ecumenical Council,” said Elder Barsanuphius of Optina, “he stopped at a hotel along the way. The monk accompanying the saint, entering him, asked:

Father, I can’t understand why our horse doesn’t eat the cabbage that I bought for it from our owner. The cabbage is good enough for a person to eat, but a horse won’t eat it?

Because,” said the saint, “the horse feels the unbearable stench emanating from the cabbage for the reason that our owner is infected with the passion of stinginess.”

A person not enlightened by the Spirit does not notice this, but saints have the gift of God to recognize passions.”

Another time, when Saint Spyridon stopped for the night, the Arians killed the saint’s horses (cut off their heads), on which he was riding to the Council. The saint ordered the driver to put the heads of the horses to their bodies, prayed fervently, and soon the horses came to life. But the driver was in a hurry or was careless - those he met were surprised to see on the road a white horse with a black head, and a black one with a white one.

When the saint arrived at the port, by order of the Arians, he was not allowed onto the ship. The twelve Arian bishops feared that the saint would convince Emperor Constantine of his advantage Orthodox faith before the Arian, to which the emperor was inclined, and persuaded him to issue a decree prohibiting ship captains from taking Bishop Spyridon on board. When the Arians set sail, the saint took off his monastic cloak, laid half of it on the water, and attached the other half to his staff as a sail, and, standing on this structure, sailed along the waves and reached Nicaea before his opponents, who were very amazed to see the saint on Cathedral.

At the Council, well-known bishops took the side of Arius: Eusebius of Nicomedia, Marius of Chalcedon, Theognius of Nicea and others. Two of those who defended the purity of the Christian faith caused particular irritation among the heretical bishops - Saint Alexander (then a presbyter and assistant to Mitrofan, Patriarch of Constantinople St. Mitrophan - Patriarch of Constantinople (315-325), St. Alexander - his successor, served as patriarch from 325 to 340) and Athanasius the Great (at that time a deacon of the Alexandrian Church). Both were not ordained to a high rank, but were superior in wisdom to other holders of it. The retinue of Spyridon was generally revered as a simple man and unsuitable for conducting a theological debate. With the permission of the emperor, Greek sages called Peripatetics were also present at the Council. Peripatetics were the followers of Aristotelian philosophy. This philosophical school appeared at the end of the 4th century. BC and existed for about 8 centuries; This philosophical direction subsequently had followers among Christians. The Perepatheticians got their name from the fact that the founder of this school, Theophrastus, gave the school a garden with an altar and covered passages (Peripaton - colonnades, covered galleries). : the wisest of them, Eulogius, spoke in defense of Arius and was proud of his especially skillful speech, cunningly answering any question. The Council Fathers were faced with such a convincing “presentation” of heretical doctrine by the philosopher Eulogius that, even being convinced of the falsity of this teaching, they were unable to resist the well-honed rhetoric of the heretic. During one of the most intense and heated discussions, Saint Nicholas became so angry, listening to these blasphemous speeches, which caused so much confusion and disorder, that he gave Arius a resounding slap in the face. The meeting of bishops was indignant that Saint Nicholas had struck his fellow cleric, and raised the question of banning him from ministry. However, that same night, the Lord and the Mother of God appeared in a dream to several members of the Council. The Lord held the Gospel in his hands, and Holy Virgin- episcopal omophorion. Taking this as a sign that the boldness of Saint Nicholas was pleasing to God, they restored him to ministry.

Finally, when the skillful speeches of the heretics flowed in an uncontrollable, all-crushing stream, and it began to seem that Arius and his followers would win, the uneducated Bishop of Trimifuntsky rose from his place, as they say in the Lives, with a request to listen to him. But the holy fathers, knowing that he was a simple man, completely unfamiliar with Greek wisdom, forbade him to do this. However, Saint Spyridon, knowing what power wisdom from above has and how weak human wisdom is before it, turned to the sage and said: “In the name of Jesus Christ, O philosopher, listen.”

When the philosopher agreed to listen to him, the saint began to talk.

“There is one God,” he said, “who created heaven and earth, and created man from the earth, and created everything else, visible and invisible, by His Word and Spirit; and we believe that this Word is the Son of God and God, who, having mercy on us, the lost, was born of the Virgin, lived with people, suffered, and died for our salvation, and was resurrected, and resurrected the entire human race with Himself; we expect that He will come to judge us all with righteous judgment and reward everyone according to their deeds; we believe that He is of one being with the Father, of equal power and honor with Him... So we confess and do not try to explore these mysteries with a curious mind, and you do not dare to explore how all this can be, for these mysteries are above your mind and far away exceed all human knowledge."

Then, after a short silence, the saint asked: “Isn’t that how all this seems to you, philosopher?”

But Eulogius remained silent, as if he had never had to compete. He could not say anything against the words of the saint, in which some kind of divine power was visible.

Finally, he said: “You are right, old man. I accept your words and admit my mistake."

Then the philosopher, turning to his friends and students, declared: “Listen! While the competition with me was carried out through evidence, I set up others against some evidence and, with my art of argument, reflected everything that was presented to me. But when, instead of evidence from reason, some special power began to emanate from the mouth of this old man, evidence became powerless against it, since a person cannot resist God. If any of you can think the same way as I do, then let him believe in Christ and, together with me, follow this elder, through whose mouth God Himself spoke.” Subsequently, Eulogius renounced heresy and accepted Holy Baptism.

At the same Council, Saint Spyridon presented against the Arians a clear proof of the Unity in the Holy Trinity. Having created sign of the cross, he took in right hand plinth, an ordinary clay brick, and squeezed it: “In the name of the Father!” - and at that moment fire burst out of the plinth. The saint continued: “And the Son!” - water flowed down, “and the Holy Spirit!” And, opening his palm, he showed the dry clay remaining on it, from which the plinth was fashioned. “Here are three elements, but one plinth,” said St. Spyridon then, “so in the Most Holy Trinity there are Three Persons, but the Divinity is One” [ibid., p. 21].

With such a wonderful proof, Bishop Spyridon explained to the Arians the Unity of the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity professed by the Orthodox. Everyone understood a simple idea: just as three natures are united in simple matter - fire, water and earth, so in God the Three Hypostases are united: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The victory of Orthodoxy was so certain that only six of the Arians present, including Arius himself, remained in their erroneous opinion, while all the others returned to the confession of Orthodoxy.

According to some information, Saint Spyridon, together with other eleven bishops of Cyprus, took part in the local Council in the city of Serdika (the current capital of Bulgaria, Sofia) in 343 (344).

At the end of the Ecumenical Council, Saint Spyridon began to be revered and extolled in everything Orthodox world. However, he returned to Cyprus, where he wished to humbly continue his pastoral duties. IN hometown sad news awaited him - while the saint was at the Council, his daughter Irina died; She spent the time of her blooming youth in pure virginity, demonstrating chastity and being awarded the Kingdom of Heaven. Meanwhile, one woman came to the saint and, crying, told him that she had given him to her daughter Irina for safekeeping. gold decoration and now she cannot return it, since Irina has died and what she gave has gone missing. Spiridon searched throughout the house to see if the decorations were hidden somewhere, but did not find them. Touched by the woman’s tears, Saint Spyridon, together with his family, went to his daughter’s grave. Then, finding himself as if not in a crypt, but in the chamber of his living daughter, he called her publicly by name, saying: “My daughter Irina! Where are the jewelry entrusted to you?” At that same moment, a voice from the depths of the grave answered: “My lord, in such and such a part of the house there is a golden ornament entrusted to me.” And she pointed out the place where the treasure was hidden. Then the saint said to her: “Rest again, child, until the common Lord, together with everyone else, resurrects you.” At the sight of such a wondrous miracle, everyone present was filled with fear. And the saint found in specified location hidden and gave it to that woman.

First Ecumenical Council was assembled by Emperor Constantine the Great in 325 in the city of Nicaea, a suburb of Constantinople, which is why it is also called Council of Nicaea. Commemorated on May 29 and the 7th week of Easter.

The Council was convened primarily to resolve the theological dispute between the supporters of the Alexandrian protopresbyter Arius with the Bishop of Alexandria, Alexander and his supporters, regarding the Triune Essence of God. This dispute quickly spread beyond the borders of Alexandria and captured a large part of the Roman Empire, threatening the peace of the Church. Emperor Constantine, seeing in the Church the basis of the stability of the Roman Empire, hastened to convene bishops from all over the continent to resolve this dispute and establish peace in the Church and the Empire.

Participants of the cathedral

Liturgical tradition fixed the number of participants in the Council as 318. Holy Tsar Constantine the Great in his speech to the Council expressed: “More than 300.” Saint Athanasius the Great, Pope Julius, Lucifer of Calabria speak of 300. A participant in the Council, Saint Eustathius of Antioch, speaks of 270. Another participant, Eusebius of Caesarea, calls the figure “more than 250.” In the handwritten lists that have reached us in Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic and other languages, we find up to 220 names.

First Ecumenical Council. Icon of the 17th century.

The minutes of this council have not reached us. However, what the debates were about at this Council and its decisions are known quite well from the works and correspondence of its participants.

From the Arians side, in addition to Arius himself, his closest associates Eusebius of Nicomedia, Eusebius of Caesarea, as well as the local bishop of the city of Nicaea, Theognis, Marius of Chalcedon, came to the Council. Together with Eusebius of Caesarea, his conciliar like-minded people were present: Peacock of Tire and Patrophilus of Scythopolis, and there were also fellow countrymen of Arius, Libyans who supported him: Secundus of Ptolemais (Cyrenaica) and Theona of Marmaric.

The Orthodox side was represented at the Council by outstanding bishops, both in scholarship and in asceticism and confession: Alexander I of Alexandria, Athanasius the Great, Eustathius of Antioch, Marcellus of Ancyra. Leontius of Caesarea of Cappadocia and James of Nisibius were known for the holiness of their lives. The confessors were Amphion from Epiphania of Cilicia, Paul of Neocaesarea with burnt hands, Paphnutius of Thebaid and Potamon the Egyptian with gouged out eyes. Potamon's legs were also dislocated, and in this form he worked in exile in the quarries. He was known as a miracle worker and healer. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky arrived from the island of Cyprus. He was a holy simpleton who continued to shepherd while in the bishopric; he was known as a seer and miracle worker. (According to some evidence, Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra of Lycia, took part in the Council. But strictly speaking, there are no exact indications of the participation of Saint Nicholas in this particular Ecumenical Council. There is a legend about the “strangulation” of Arius by Saint Nicholas, which we give below.)

Since the Arian disputes disturbed the peace only in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, then western church did not consider it necessary to send many of its representatives to this Council. Pope Sylvester delegated two presbyters as his deputies: Vincent and Viton. In addition, from the Latin-speaking provinces only Saint Hosius of Corduvia from Spain (according to some reports - the chairman of the Council), Mark of Calabria and Eustathius of Milan from Italy, Kekilian of Carthage from Africa, Nicasius of Dijon from Galia, and Domnus of Stridon from Dalmatia arrived.

From outside the Roman Empire, delegates arrived at the Council from Pitiunt in the Caucasus, from the Vosporan (Bosporus) kingdom (Kerch), from Scythia, two delegates from Armenia, one - James of Nisibius - from Persia.

Progress of the Council

According to Socrates, the Council opened on May 20, and the ceremonial closing of the Council was timed by the emperor to August 25, the day he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his reign. But some historians name June 14 as the beginning of the Council. The acts of the Council of Chalcedon (451) date the adoption of the Nicene Decree to June 19.

Historians propose to coordinate the stages of the Council by date as follows:

“May 20 is the opening parade of the Cathedral. A church parade, inserted into the framework of a court parade, an unprecedented “review of the forces” of the church. The plenum of the Cathedral was determined and formal voting began only on June 14. And on June 19, the main definition of religion was voted on. On August 25, it took place already the celebration of the closing of the Council. At the same time, Eusebius of Caesarea delivered his speech of praise to the emperor, which he placed in his “Life of Constantine.” The celebration ended with a magnificent dinner.

The council began with a speech by Emperor Constantine on Latin. “Do not hesitate,” said the emperor, “oh, friends, servants of God and servants of our common Lord the Savior! Do not hesitate to consider the reasons for your differences at their very beginning and resolve everything controversial issues peaceful resolutions. Through this you will accomplish pleasing to God and bring the greatest joy to me, your colleague."

There are references to the fact that Saint Nicholas and Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, who was then still a deacon and suffered from them all his life for his zealous opposition to heretics, were the most active in refuting the ungodly Ariev Teaching.

Other saints defended Orthodoxy using their enlightenment and theological arguments. Saint Nicholas defended the faith by faith itself - by the fact that all Christians, starting with the Apostles, believed in the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

According to legend, during one of the council meetings, unable to tolerate the blasphemy of Arius, Saint Nicholas struck this heretic on the cheek. The Fathers of the Council considered such an act an excess of jealousy, deprived St. Nicholas of the advantage of his episcopal rank - omophorion - and imprisoned him in a prison tower.

But they were soon convinced that Saint Nicholas was right, especially since many of them had a vision when, before their eyes, our Lord Jesus Christ gave Saint Nicholas the Gospel, and Holy Mother of God placed an omophorion on him. They freed him from prison, restored him to his former rank and glorified him as the great Pleasant of God. The adoption of the Creed was quite dramatic.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea, on the issue of the creed during the debate, Arius and his like-minded people expressed their position directly and boldly, counting on the emperor’s toleration and hoping to convince him and win him over to their side. Their blasphemous speeches outraged the Orthodox. The intensity of passions grew. At the right moment, Eusebius of Caesarea made a cunning diplomatic proposal, which consisted of taking as the basis for the definition of the Council the text of the baptismal creed, familiar to most:

"We believe in One God the Father, Almighty, Creator of all (άπάντων) visible and invisible. And in One Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Word of God, God from God, Light from Light, Life from Life, Only Begotten Son, Firstborn of all creation ( Col. 1:15), before all ages, begotten of the Father, through whom all things came into being... Who became incarnate... We believe in one Holy Spirit."

Eusebius’s cunning plan was to help Arius reduce this Council to the formal adoption of a formula familiar to all, to which the majority could easily agree. However, the formulation left room for the heretical teachings of Arius.

But Emperor Constantine did not allow this trick to take place. Having approved the text, he casually proposed to enrich it with only a small addition, one word “consubstantial” (omousios). With the support of authoritative Orthodox bishops, the majority of the episcopate, who, being Orthodox, were nevertheless not educated enough to delve into and understand all the subtleties of this issue, supported and voted for this addition proposed by the emperor, which reliably cuts off the Arian heresy from Orthodoxy.

Results of the First Ecumenical Council

At this Council, which lasted about two months, the Creed was introduced into general church use (later supplemented and completed at the Second Ecumenical Council, which took place in Constantinople in 381 after the Nativity of Christ).

At the same Ecumenical Council, Meletius was condemned, who arrogated to himself the rights of a bishop, being himself a violator of church rules.

Finally, at this Council the teachings of Arius and his followers were rejected and solemnly anathematized.

First Ecumenical Council

Convened on the Arius heresy at Nicaea in 325.

/Sources To depict the activities of the Council of Nicea and present the Arian teaching, in the absence of official acts, which were not carried out at either the First or Second Ecumenical Councils, the works of the participants and contemporaries of the Council - Eusebius of Caesarea, Eustathius of Antioch and Athanasius of Alexandria can serve. Eusebius contains information in two of his works, “The Life of King Constantine” and “The Epistle to the Caesareas in Palestine.” Of the works of Athanasius, “On the Definitions of the Council of Nicaea” and “Epistle to the African Bishops” are especially important here. Of quite large number We have almost only fragments of the works of Eustathius of Antioch - his one speech, an explanation of Genesis 1:26 and “On the Acts of the Council of Nicaea.” In addition, there are legends of historians - not contemporaries of the Council: Greek - Philostorgius, Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret, Latin - Rufinus and Sulpicius Severus. Then, we should mention the news about Arianism and the Council of Nicaea by Epiphanius of Cyprus, then the anonymous work “Acts of the Council of Nicaea” and the complete history of the Council of Nicaea, compiled in little famous author Gelasius of Cyzicus in last quarter 5th century (476). There are other brief references to the Council of Nicea, such as the speech of Gregory, presbyter of Caesarea, about the 318 fathers. All this is collected in one exemplary publication: Patrum Nicaenorum latine, graece, coptice, arabice, armenice sociata opera ediderunt I. Gelzer, H. Hilgenfeld, Q. Cuntz. Adjecta et tabula geographica (Leipzig. 1898). There is an essay by Rozanov in Russian. The historian O. Seeck, who generally has a negative attitude towards him, speaks a lot about the nature of Eusebius’s special messages.

Arius, perhaps a Libyan by birth, received his education at the school of the martyr Lucian. In Alexandria he appears during the Galerian persecution. His zeal for the faith makes him a supporter of the rigoristic Meletius, Bishop of Lycopolis, an opponent of Bishop Peter of Alexandria (300-310) on the issue of accepting the fallen into the Church. However, according to Sozomen, he soon left Meletius and joined Bishop Peter, by whom he was made a deacon. But when the latter excommunicated the adherents of Meletius from the Church and did not recognize their baptism, Arius rebelled against these harsh measures and was himself excommunicated by Peter. After the martyrdom of Peter (310), he united with the Church of Alexandria, under the new bishop Achilus. According to Philostorgius, Achilus was made presbyter by Arius and, after his death († 311 or 313), he was allegedly considered a candidate for the See of Alexandria. According to Gelasius of Cyzicus, on the contrary, the successor of Akhila, Bishop Alexander (from 311 or 313) made Arius a presbyter and assigned him to one city church, called Gavkalian. According to Theocritus, Arius was entrusted with the task of interpreting Holy Scripture. He was revered by Bishop Alexander. The respect for him on the part of pious women is attested to by Bishop Alexander. By appearance, Arius was tall, thin, like an ascetic, serious, but pleasant in address, eloquent and skillful in dialectics, but also cunning and ambitious; He was a man with a restless soul. In general, Arius is portrayed as a richly gifted person, although not without shortcomings. Obviously, subsequent generations, as Loofs noted, could not have said anything bad about him if he, having already become old (?????, according to Epiphanius), had not become the culprit of a dispute that forever turned his name into a synonym for the most terrible retreat and curses. His further life passed in this dispute. This same dispute probably put a pen in his hands for the first time to defend his teaching, making him a writer and even a poet.

When Arius, in a clash with Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, turned to the eastern bishops for support, he called Eusebius of Nicomedia a “Sollucianist,” that is, his fellow student, colleague in the Antiochian school. In general, Arius considered himself a follower of the Antiochian school and sought sympathy in his situation and actually found it - from his former colleagues at school. Alexander of Alexandria and Philostorgius also call Arius a student of Lucian. In view of this, we must say a few words about the founder of the Antiochian school, Prester Lucian. Very little is known about him and his teachings. He received his initial education from Macarius of Ephesus. In the 60s of the 3rd century, he acted in Antioch in unanimity with his fellow countryman Paul of Samosata. The latter was condemned at the Council of Antioch in 268-269. However, apparently, Lucian of Samosata, the head of the Antioch school in 275-303, did not agree with such a condemnation; he remained faithful to Paul and remained out of communication, and even in excommunication, from Paul’s three successors - Domnus, Timaeus, Cyril. Lucian's collaborator at the school was probably the presbyter Dorotheos, of whom Eusebius also speaks very highly (Eusebius, Church History VIII, 13: IX, 6). At the end of his life, Lucian apparently reconciled with the Antiochian Church and was accepted into communion. His glorious martyrdom finally reconciled him with the Church, which Eusebius so enthusiastically mentions (Ibidem). His differences with church teaching were forgotten, and his disciples could freely occupy episcopal sees in the East. In the absence of historical data, it is extremely difficult to talk about Lucian’s dogmatic beliefs. Since all the “Sollucianists” rejected the co-eternity of the Son with the Father, it means that this position was one of the main dogmas of Lucian’s teaching. The characterization of Lucian’s teaching is somewhat helped by his close connection with Paul of Samosata. On the other hand, one must think that Lucian, working on the text Holy Books, thoroughly became acquainted with Origen and, on the basis of the theological method, coming close to him, combined his doctrine of the second person with Pavlov. From this could result the union of the Logos of Christ with Jesus the man, the Son of God by adoption, after gradual perfection. Epiphanius names the Arians Lucian and Origen as teachers. Arius hardly added a “new heresy” to the teaching he had previously received: he invariably referred to the sympathy of his fellow students, which means that he did not introduce anything new or original into his teaching. Harnack emphasizes in particular the importance of the Antiochene school in the origin of the Arius heresy, calling it the bosom of Arian teaching, and Lucian, its head, “Arius before Arius.”

Teachings of Arius was largely determined by the general premises of the Antiochian school from the philosophy of Aristotle. At the beginning of theology there was a position about transcendence God and (as a conclusion) His non-involvement to whatever emanations- whether in the form of outpouring (?????????, prolatio) or fragmentation (?????????, divisio), or birth???? ?????????. From this point of view there could be no talk of ???? ????, How co-eternal God; the idea of birth(i.e. some emanation) of the Son from the Father, even if in time. You can talk about the Son only in time appeared and not originating from the being of the Father, but created from nothing(?????? ?? ??? ?????). The Son of God, according to Arius, came into being by the will of God, before time and centuries, precisely when God wanted to create us through Him. The main provisions of the teachings of Arius are as follows:

1. Logos had a beginning of its existence(?? ???? ??? ??? ??, erat, quando non erat), for otherwise there would be no monarchy, but there would be a diarchy (two principles); otherwise He would not be the Son; for the Son is not the Father.

2. The Logos did not arise from the being of the Father - which would lead to a Gnostic division or fragmentation of the Divine being, or to sensory ideas that bring down the Divinity into the human world - but He was created from nothing by the will of the Father («???????? ??? ?????? … ?? ??? ????? ??????? ? ?????»).

3. True, he has a pre-peaceful and pre-temporal existence, but by no means eternal; He, therefore, is not truly God, but is essentially different from God the Father; He is a creature(??????, ??????), and Scripture uses such expressions about Him (Acts 2:36; Heb. 3:2) and calls Him the firstborn (Col. 1:15).

4. Although the Son is essentially a creature, He has an advantage over other creatures: after God, He has the highest dignity; through Him God created all things, even as time itself (Heb. 1:3). God first created the Son as “the beginning of ways” (Prov. 8:22: ? ?????? ?????? ??). There is an infinite difference between God and the Logos; between the Logos and creations is only relative.

5. If the Son is called equal to the Father, then this must be understood in such a way that by grace and by the good pleasure of the Father he became such - He is the adopted Son; somewhat incorrectly, in a broad sense, He is called God.

6. His will, as created, was also initially modified - equally capable (disposed) of both good and evil. It is not immutable (?????????); only through the direction of his free will did He become sinless and good. His glorification is the merit of His holy life foreseen by God (Phil. 2:9).

Bishop Alexander's teaching set forth in his letter to Bishop Alexander of Byzantium (Theodore C. History I, 3), in the encyclical (Socrates C. I. I, 6), in his speech preserved in Syriac - sernao de anima - and in the transmission of Arius in his letters to Bishop Alexander himself and to Eusebius of Nicomedia. “We believe,” he writes in the first district message, as he teaches apostolic church, into one unbegotten Father, Who has no author of His being... and into one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born not from the unbearable, but from the existing Father, not in the likeness of a material process, not through separation or flow... but inexpressibly, since His being (?????????) is incomprehensible to created beings" ... The expression "was always before the ages", ?? ??? ??? ??????, is by no means identical with the concept of “unborn” (not = ????????) So, one must attribute to the unborn Father, Him only the dignity peculiar to Him, (??????? ??????) recognizing that He has no one as the author of His existence; but we must give due honor to the Son, attributing to Him a beginningless birth from the Father, (??? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ?), not to deny His divinity, but to recognize in Him the exact correspondence of the image of the Father in everything, and to assimilate the sign of ungeneracy only to the Father, which is why the Savior Himself says: “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). For Bishop Alexander there was no doubt that to say that there once was no Son means the same thing as admitting that God once existed ??????, ??????.

As you can see, the teaching of Bishop Alexander is very closely connected with the theology of Origen, but in contrast to Arianism, representing its development to the right. It softens Origen's harsh expressions. In this case, it is necessary to recognize the influence on the dogmatics of Bishop Alexander of the Asia Minor traditions preserved from St. Irenaeus and partly from Meliton.

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Since the 4th century, the persecution of Christians ceased, but heresies arose within the Church itself, and the Church convened Ecumenical Councils to combat them. One of the most dangerous heresies was Arianism. Arius, the Alexandrian presbyter, was a man of immense pride and ambition. He, rejecting the Divine dignity of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father, falsely taught that the Son of God is not Consubstantial with the Father, but was created by the Father in time. The Local Council, convened at the insistence of , condemned the false teaching of Arius, but he did not submit and, having written letters to many bishops complaining about the determination of the Local Council, spread his false teaching throughout the East, for he received support in his error from some eastern bishops. To investigate the troubles that had arisen (May 21), he sent Bishop Hosea of Corduba and, having received from him a certificate that the heresy of Arius was directed against the most fundamental dogma of the Church of Christ, he decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. At the invitation of Saint Constantine, 318 bishops - representatives of Christian Churches from different countries - gathered in the city of Nicaea in 325.

Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria arrived with his deacon, later the Patriarch of Alexandria (May 2), called the Great, as a zealous fighter for the purity of Orthodoxy. Emperor Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, attended the meetings of the Council. In his speech, delivered in response to the greeting of Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said: “God helped me to overthrow the wicked power of the persecutors, but incomparably more regrettable for me is any war, any bloody battle, and incomparably more destructive is the internal internecine warfare in the Church of God.”

Arius, having 17 bishops as his supporters, held himself proudly, but his teaching was refuted and he was excommunicated from the Church by the Council, and the holy deacon of the Alexandrian Church Athanasius in his speech finally refuted the blasphemous fabrications of Arius. The Council Fathers rejected the creed proposed by the Arians. The Orthodox Creed was approved. Equal to the Apostles Constantine proposed to the Council that the word “Consubstantial” be added to the text of the Creed, which he often heard in the speeches of bishops. The Council Fathers unanimously accepted this proposal. In the Nicene Creed, the holy fathers formulated the apostolic teaching about the Divine dignity of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity - the Lord Jesus Christ. The heresy of Arius, as a delusion of a proud mind, was exposed and rejected. After resolving the main dogmatic issue, the Council also established twenty canons (rules) on issues of church government and discipline. The issue of the day of celebration of Holy Easter was resolved. According to the resolution of the Council, Holy Easter should be celebrated by Christians not on the same day as the Jewish one and certainly on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox (which in 325 fell on March 22).