Religion and Theology

When the Christianity spread throughout the world, its basic concepts clashed with the philosophies and spiritual influences of the East. This created a number of controversies that were subsequently resolved by ecumenical councils. One of the most criticized of the Christian views was the concept of the Holy Trinity and one of its early critics was the Egyptian priest Arius. The Arian heresy sought to prove that Christ was human and not God but this is not true as explained in this paper.

The Arian Heresy and the Nicene Creed
The Arian heresy refers to the theological teaching of the Egyptian priest Arius, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd and the first half of the 4th century. The Arian heresy specifically questions the logic behind the concept of the second person of the Holy Trinity of the Catholic Church. The Arian heresy holds that God the Son, or Jesus Christ, was created by the God the Father as a human being, thus there was when he was not, and only the Father is truly eternal God (Ludwig, 2005). Although this Arian view is widely accepted, it was later on condemned by the Catholic Church in the Council of Nicea in 325 AD as it clearly opposed the statement about the Holy Trinity in the Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed is the statement of the profession of faith of the Roman Catholics. It may be likened to the summary of beliefs that govern Catholics. The Nicene Creed states the nature of the Holy Trinity or the three persons  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit  in one Godhead. The Second Person, in particular refers to Jesus Christ.

The statement of the Nicene Creed about the nature of the second person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, or Jesus Christ, greatly differs from the Arian view. Arianism postulates the Fathers creation of the human Christ. However, according to the Nicene Creed, Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, that He is begotten of his father before all worlds, and that he is begotten, not made. Jesus Christ was, as stated, not made by the Father as a human being. He was begotten which is the past participle form of the word beget which means procreate, generate, cause, or produce as an effect. Being begotten means being produced. This clearly implies that Jesus Christ was not created by God the Father in the same way that Adam and Eve were created. Jesus Christ was, to temporarily replace the word begotten, produced by the Father from His own Being. The words of the Nicene Creed mean that even though He was human, Jesus Christ was also and is completely and fully God thus disproving the idea of the Arian heresy.

The Gospel of John and the Holy Trinity
The opening verses of the Gospel of John provide further support for the Trinitarian view. The first verse of the gospel states that when all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was. With God the Son, or Jesus Christ, represented by the Word, the very first sentence of the Gospel of John clearly implies exactly the same thing that the Nicene Creed states  that Jesus Christ was not created but was originally God even before He became human. The very first line, When all things began, the Word already was is trying to tell us that Jesus Christ has existed long before eternity, thus He was not only human as Arius contended but was fully God even before He was born, that is, even before the Word was made flesh.

The second and third verses of the Gospel of John state that The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, and through him all things came to be no single thing was created without him. All that came to be alive was with his life. This further supports the Trinitarian view, more specifically the nature of God the Son, as this line contends that Jesus Christ was with God throughout the whole course of creation and logically implies that Jesus himself was not created. This also implies that though Jesus Christ was somehow separate in being from God the Father, He was still an indispensable part of creation for without Him there would have been no creation.

The eighteenth verse of the Gospel of John says that no one has ever seen God but Gods only Son, He who is nearest to the Fathers heart, He has made Him known. This very clearly implies that Gods Son was with God the Father and has seen Him. Adam and Eve have heard Gods voice but have never seen him. And though Moses has seen God, still God the Son was, according to John, the nearest to the Fathers heart, which means that Jesus was not treated just like all creatures that were created. This means He was indeed not created as what Arianism holds.

Conclusion
The Arian heresy was no match for the volume of evidence found in the Nicene Creed and the Gospel of John regarding the nature of the second person of the Holy Trinity. All the evidence overwhelmingly points out that Christ was and is fully God and is never a product of Gods creation as what Arianism holds. More importantly, the weight of this evidence in favor of the validity of the divinity of Jesus Christ further strengthens the concept of the Holy Trinity.