In 325 AD, The Founding Fathers of Our very most Sacred Religion Sat Down Together They Knew Why THEY were there. They had a mission to accomplish. They KNEW THEY, and ONLY THEY KNEW They were the chosen ones. They would decide the very most important task the most important task of all history.............................................. WHO AMONG US Could be burdened with the TASK THE TASK OF Decision The decision of which books WHICH BOOKS Will go into the the THE THE BIBLE WHO COULD?! The council of Nicaea? Wait who are they- Whoa slow down the whole bible had to be approved by some random council of aristocrats in 325 ad- that is the whole thing wait wait- cutoff
what do you think a conclave is? as for the who can? each and anyone can. ie... in them days, about half a dozen could read. and then perhaps a total library could fit into the trunk of a car. most children before high school read more information and are exposed to more data than the whole conclave combined in the days of the babble creation (by men). I could have been called a god, if i walked up with a bic lighter in my hand during that period of time. heck a child with an iphone is more capable of compiling information than moses, jesus, newton and einstein combined. 'we the people' are in that time of revelation
The OP seems sort of POINTLESS because the Council of Nicaea didn't SET THE CANON and I don't know why you say they were aristocrats................. The formation of the canon was more GRADUAL The Muratorian Fragment
To understand the Council Nicaea, one must understand the History of Byzantine Rome. At this time, Christianity was extremely politicized and a Bishop's position was not only over a church, but often over entire cities. There was much power to be gained as Bishops were not just Churchmen, but they were appointed officials of the Empire, often with taxation collection duties. However, these Bishops all had different ideas that they were teaching, and it was leading to serious riots in Alexandria, Constantinople, Antioch and other cities all over the Eastern Empire. The lack of a common religious doctrine was causing severe disagreements and emperors would come to power, sack one Bishop and replace him another one. Often you would find two or even three bishops competing in one city, and their individual supporters would riot with each other in the streets by the thousands. It was anarchy! It was an absolute political necessity for all to sit down and come up with a compromise that would restore social order in the empire. The main details were heavy disputes of the nature of the Divinity of Christ. Was he a separate being from the Father, or was he one with the Father? Was he the actual Son of God, a separate entity, or was he God himself in human form. These kinds of disagreements would lead to outright wars in the streets of the major cities of the empire with Bishops teaching whatever ideas could get them the most power over their competing Bishops. Imagine a world full of religious cults, and the cults control the resources and taxation of the city for the empire. As a result of this the cults would go to war with each other. Unfortunately, the Council lead to even more warfare as many Bishops after the Council stood to lose power due to theological illegitimacy, and not all the emperors to come agreed with the Council and often would suspend it, sack the Bishops in the cities and replace them with more like minded clergy. Remember, in the East the Emperor was the head of the Church, who appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople, and laid out the religious dogma of the Church by fiat. It was all about political control of the cities. People ignorant of the true world history often dismiss the vital importance of the church in the administration of Government at this time. Were it not for the Church, the empire itself couldn't have existed for as long as it did. We would be reading about a fall in the East just as equally devastating as the one in the West. Like or not, the fact is the Church saved Western Civilization and the Council of Nicaea was part of that.
What in the hell are you talking about? "Western Civilization" has never ended. Empires have risen and fallen, but the closest thing to a gap in "Western Civilization" was the black plague, when a 1/3 of Europe died. So if you're going to talk about "understanding history" maybe you should actually understand history. And what is this fetish you have for social order? "The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints." Albert Einstein
I'm a big fan of these replies, sorry for not returning sooner. I bet the Council of Nicaea was very helpful in consolidating power in a way that caused fewer deaths to take place in the long run, and fewer civilizations being rocked by horrible revolutions. The idea of that consolidating was almost certainly unavoidable, and humans as we know them would not have gone through that part of history without such a unifying action of some kind. Luckily it was not some "great man" like alexander the great or some warlord. The point I wanted to make was that God had nothing to do with it. Therefore, there is no religious authority in the bible or probably anywhere. I like the one gnostic idea where the god of the old testament was actually the devil, and only with Jesus did we finally achieve victory over him; I find this idea amusing as water cooler conversation. I am glad that this idea was not included in the divinely-official cannon because it would probably cause more violence. Good job, Council of Humans and Not God. Well I went to the link and it describes that this is a fragment of the bible. (edit - it is a list of the books of the new testament) I believe the Dead Sea Scrolls of 972 AD are the first complete bible. I do not know if there is a record before the council of nicaea that says "the books that in the bible should be 1. genesis 2. exodus.... etc" (edit- oops I didnt read the link hard enough. Looks like this fragment IS A LIST of the books of the new testament. Well my argument is so easy to defend because I can just say 'ok fine well i bet the council just used this fragment as their guide and whatever. Who gave the writers of this document their superpowers and why would I believe that? The Apocalypse of Peter is included in this list, with the warning that it should not be read in church) I don't think there is. I do think that the Dead Sea Scrolls are what we should measure, since they could modify the books in a giant soviet/1984 style campaign to manipulate knowledge... in theory I guess. Over the course of 500 years it seems to make sense that such a gigantic Orwellian manuever might be easier. Especially when you can be punished with eternal torture if you ever translate the books out of latin? Better believe it. That is what I am talking about. Who are these aristocrats in 400 AD that I should listen to them? Nobody that's who. I am only allowed to do it with my wife if my intention is to have children? No getting drunk? Destroy the Earth because God said it's cool and we should trust him? Certain races are intended to be slaves? I'm sorry but that just seems like something something blah thanks for responding!
