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1700 Years of the Council of Nicaea – A Dubious Anniversary Celebration

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The church year 2025 is accompanied by the anniversary of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. An occasion for celebration for the Roman Catholic Church. And, not surprisingly, also for the supporters of ecumenism. The year 325, a turning point in church history and the beginning of an unprecedented tyranny.

The “Holy Year 2025”

The year 2025 is an extremely important anniversary year for the Roman Catholic Church. In addition to the proclamation of the “Holy Year 2025”, 2025 will mark the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea. In 325, the “clergy” of the relatively young church came together to confirm or redefine a whole series of points of faith. However, this council was not called by a leading figure of the church, let alone the Bishop of Rome, but by the Roman Emperor Constantine.

Nicaea can now be found in Turkey as the town of Iznik. Not far from Istanbul, which was then Byzantium (later Constantinople). Emperor Constantine left Rome and moved his residence to this city. In doing so, he left a certain vacuum in Rome, which was, however, immediately filled again by the Bishop of Rome in a quick succession.

Sun god representative Constantine

Emperor Constantine
Emperor Constantine – The first ‘inter-Christian ecumenist’

Only around four years earlier, in 321, Emperor Constantine had declared the Sun Day (the first day of the week) a public holiday. As emperor, Pontifex Maximus and representative of the “invincible sun” (“Sol Invictus”) from the Mithras cult, he ordered the observance of the first day of the week in honor of the sun. The Roman Empire was divided between the followers of the Mithras cult and the still young Christianity. Not exactly reconcilable groups and a very high potential for an explosion in society. Constantine tried to initiate reconciliatory steps. As Pontifex Maximus, he also had supreme authority in religious matters.

The Sunday law was a compromise between Christianity and the followers of the Mithras cult. The church, which was still “somewhat” Christian at the time, declared Sunday to be a “Christian holiday” and also the “Lord’s Day”. (Info). An attribute that was already used in ancient Egypt for the worship of their sun god Ra (“Horus”). The Council of Nicaea was intended to establish a number of points that must be believed in the future. Regulations for the church were also on the agenda.

Established belief

The focus was on the question of the date of Easter, among other things. Then there were the problems with Arianism that had arisen in the area. The vast majority of the 200 to 300 church representatives present came from the east of the empire. The rules established in Nicaea represented a further compromise with the Mithras cult.

This particularly applies to celibacy. Priests were forbidden to marry and to live with women in the same household, except with direct relatives. The Bible says something different on this point, however. Elders of a community were certainly allowed to marry. The only restriction was only with “one” woman and not with several (Titus 1:5-6). The priesthood in the sense of the Roman Catholic Church does not even appear in the New Testament.

In the Mithras cult, on the other hand, priests were strictly forbidden to marry. The celibacy of the Roman Catholic Church therefore corresponds to the Mithras cult, but not to the requirements of the Gospel (Info).

Foundation stone for “spreading the faith”

torture
This is what mercy looks like in the Church of Rome

Apparently, the idea of ​​a “campaign of faith” was already predominant in the young Catholic Church. At the Council of Nicaea, Canon 12 stipulated that a Christian who had previously renounced military service but returned to the army should be excluded from communion for thirteen years. During this time, he or she must do penance. According to the (erroneous) teaching of this church, exclusion from communion is the perishing of the soul. After all, communion was a sacrament. Thus, the Church of Rome believed very early on that it could determine who would be saved and who would be lost, and thus that it could override God’s justice.

The relocation of Constantine’s main seat of government to Constantinople had the “side effect” that the Eastern churches in this catchment area viewed the rebellion of the Bishop of Rome with even more suspicion. After all, the Emperor of Rome was in “their” territory, so why should the Eastern churches then recognize the Bishop of Rome as their head? This ongoing dispute ultimately led to the Great Schism in 1054. The division of the Catholic Church into the Roman Catholic Church and the so-called Orthodox Churches.

The conscience was still there

But there were also quite reasonable voices from the ranks of the Council of Nicaea. Eusebius of Nicomedia wrote a warning letter to the emperor: “We acted sinfully, O prince, when we agreed to a blasphemy out of fear of you.” The baptism of Constantine as a “true Christian”, which the Roman Church holds in high esteem, did indeed take place, but only when Constantine was on his deathbed.

The only thing that could be conceded to the “unchristian activities” at this council is the fact that many of the bishops present were still affected by the massive persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian. This may have led to a greater willingness to compromise with the “imperial Mithras cult” for preventive reasons. It was not until Emperor Galerius in 311 that the persecution of Christians ended, and one year later Emperor Constantine put his seal on the declaration that Christianity was an approved religion.

Mithraism as Catholicism

The bottom line is that the Council of Nicaea was about the “spiritual” mixing of Christianity and the Mithras cult (Info). The official “birth certificate” of the Roman Catholic Church. Further extensive compromises with paganism were made around the year 500. In the year 476, the Western Roman Empire collapsed. Germanic tribes remained. All of a pagan nature. In order to bring these under the wing of the Church of Rome, the Bishop of Rome showed great willingness to accept pagan rites.

However, three Germanic princes opposed this. They were the leaders of the Ostrogoths, Vandals and Heruli. But the extremely submissive Merovingian and Frankish king Clovis placed his military power at the disposal of the Bishop of Rome in order to eradicate the rebellious peoples. From the year 538, the then Pope Vigilius (537 to 555) was able to use absolute ecclesiastical and secular power for the first time to initiate the tyranny of this church that lasted for centuries.

ACK is “of course” involved

Serpent
The Serpent at Work

The Council of Nicaea was certainly a turning point in history. Or to be more specific, the beginning of a dark time unique in human history. It is therefore not surprising that the Roman Catholic Church is celebrating the 1700th anniversary with particular lavishness. The ambitions of the Association of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK), an ecumenical association for the containment of (formerly) Protestant churches under the leadership of the Church of Rome, to also celebrate the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea with a separate event are becoming less and less surprising.

The ACK states, among other things: “Although there was no homogeneous church then, just as there is no homogeneous church today, the Council’s decisions show the normative ideal of a single, organizationally united, uniform in doctrine and practice and, in this sense, ecumenical church.” (Source)

Who is surprised? By recognizing the Charta Oecumenica, the ACK and its members have committed themselves to striving for “the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” (Info). Highlighting and celebrating this Council clearly shows the spirit behind it and also of those who joined it (Info).

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 20:10

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)

1700 Years of the Council of Nicaea – A Dubious Anniversary Celebration
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