As the church entered its four-hundredth year, controversy arose about the mysteries of God. The beliefs that are taught today were debated then. Most of the debates centered around the mystery of Christ being both human and divine, as well as topics pertaining to the Trinity. A group of heretics known as Arians headed the debates. The head of this group was a man named Arius. Because of the debates, the Council of Nicea was held to conclude the exact standing of the Church on such issues.

Arius, the head of Arianism was born in Libya around 250 AD. After studying theology at Lucian of Antioch, he was ordained a priest in Alexandria in 319. As a priest, he gained many followers accepting his beliefs. Their beliefs rejected the idea of Christ as divine. Their beliefs had roots in Neoplatonism. Arius had four main ideologies, which attempt to logically conclude that Christ was not divine. His first belief centered around the concept that Christ could not be divine, since Christ was created after God. Since God is omnipresent, unbound by time and space, Christ could not be God. His second principle stated that Christ is the Son of God, making him less than God, ther

Athanasius stressed the idea that the Father and the Son were made of the same substance, or homoousios. This idea was a major attack on the ideas of Arians. Athanasius also defined the Holy Trinity in a way that did not contradict that of the definition of monotheism (68,71). Thanks to the defense of Athanasius, the Church still stands by the beliefs it set at the Council of Nicea. Had it not been for him, the beliefs of the Church may be drastically different.

er of the Church's standing on these issues.

More than 1500 years after Athanasius, the Church still stands by what he defended. He is a great figure in the Church, as well as in history. The Nicean Creed still stands, virtually unchanged, and largely due to his contributions. Athanasius fought for what he knew to be right at a pivotal point in the Church's history. Were it not for his efforts, and those like him, the face of the modern day Church would not be the same.

Convened by the emperor of Rome, "Constantine the Great" called 318 bishops to attend this council. The Nicean Creed was formed out of this council to lay to rest the questions pertaining to what the Church believes and to give the congregation a definitiv

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