{"id":881,"date":"2024-07-30T18:38:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T18:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppschum1021earlycivilizations\/chapter\/7-8-relics-of-faith\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T16:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:58:03","slug":"7-8-relics-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppschum1021earlycivilizations\/chapter\/7-8-relics-of-faith\/","title":{"raw":"7.8 Relics of Faith","rendered":"7.8 Relics of Faith"},"content":{"raw":"
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The Nicene Creed<\/h2>\r\n

Before the days of the Emperor Constantine, the Roman government didn\u2019t care about faith-based religion. Ritual was important; it was necessary to honor the gods who could assist and protect you, who could influence the outcome of any process that was risky, uncertain or incomprehensible. Proper performance was essential. With proper ritual the gods could grant health and prosperity. In contrast to pagan religions, Christianity was a religion of belief, not of cultic ritual. Its controlling principle, how to be right with God, was set with the belief in Jesus as God and in the sacrifice of his life.<\/p>\r\n

While Constantine was a pragmatic politician, using whatever means available to achieve a stable empire, Jesus was non-political. As demonstrated in the Sermon on the Mount <\/em>he was a pacifist and condemned worldly authority. But the Emperor ruled over an empire with a strong military tradition. Theologians had to rethink Christ\u2019s previous and uncompromising hostility toward warfare of all sorts. If Christianity was going to work in a state ruled by a monarchy, it would have to change.<\/p>\r\n

To solidify his power, in 325 Constantine called the First Ecumenical1<\/sup><\/a> Council at Nicaea (near the Eastern Imperial residence at Nicomedia; modern Iznik, Turkey) to formalize Christian belief about the divinity of Jesus. Giving his active support to Trinitarian Christianity, the emperor covered all travel and accommodation expenses and presided over the Council. Foremost among the Council\u2019s concerns were the heretical Arians, who were understood as \u201cpagan\u201d because they denied the divinity of Jesus and rejected the concept of the Trinity.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTrinitarian Christianity\u201d accentuated all possible opportunities to promote the three-part nature of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Trinitarian practices were expressed in a standardized creed<\/strong>, authoritative scripture<\/strong>, and approved hymns<\/strong>, performed to a rhythm of \u201c3.\u201d Additionally, there were to be no more than three sacred languages (Greek, Latin and Hebrew).<\/p>\r\n

Jesus\u2019 Jewish heritage had established a precedent for both a creed and a sacred text. The Jewish \u201cshema\u201d was recognized as the fundamental expression of Jewish belief: \u201cHear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.\u201d Jesus\u2019 sacred text was the Torah, the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Pentateuch). Had Jesus lived longer perhaps he, himself, would have been the authority, the scripture, but he didn\u2019t write anything.<\/p>\r\nIt was at this Council that the creed, to be known as the Nicene Creed was written. The statement, as used today2<\/sup><\/a>:\r\n

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NICENE CREED, 325<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.<\/p>\r\n

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.<\/p>\r\n

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.<\/p>\r\n

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.<\/p>\r\n

Amen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Notice that the Nicene Creed\u2019s essential definition of the divine was in three parts: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit, which were unified into one statement of belief. The fourth section refers to the believer. The statement pledges commitment to additional miraculous phenomena, including:<\/p>\r\n\r\n