22
May 359 A.D. Council
of Sirmium
Mr. Graves gives the following
account
Graves, Dan. “Semi-Arians Ridiculed for
Their `Dated Creed.’” Christianity Today.
Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/semi-arians-ridiculed-for-their-dated-creed-11629668.html.
Accessed Apr 23, 2014.
One of the greatest wars of all
times was fought with pens and speeches, councils, ridicule and exile. It was
the battle to define the central doctrine of Christianity: who Christ is in relation to
God the Father. The battles raged for most of the fourth century.
Arius claimed that Christ was a
created being. "There is a time when Christ was not," he said. This
view became known as Arianism. The council of Nicea rejected it. Christ is of
the same substance and essence as God the Father; in other words, Christ is
God, said the delegates.
Arius had gained a strong
following. Although the Emperor Constantine had supported the creed of Nicea
while he lived, some of his successors did not. They fell under the spell of
Arian advisors. Arians appointed their own bishops throughout the empire and so
Arianism maintained a strong footing.
However, there were many voices
raised for unity. They felt that the empire could tear itself apart over theology. As crazy as it may sound,
theologians tried to work out formulas which would satisfy both sides.
Logically, Christ either is truly God who took on the form of a man, or he is a
created being. If he is "almost God" or some other in-between being,
then he is not God, but a created being. The formulas tried to get around this
with vague wording.
One attempt at compromise took
place on this day, May 22, 359 at
Sirmium in the eastern empire. A council which did not represent the entire
church, consisting mostly of a number of Bishops who leaned toward Arianism,
issued a creed. While on the surface it condemned Arianism, it objected to the
Creed of Nicea for saying that Christ was of the same essence as God the
Father. Christ, said this new creed, was begotten of the Father--but how or
when we do not know. Jesus is only like God, it said.
However, the writers of the creed
made a tactical mistake. In their preface, they stated "The Catholic
[Universal] Faith was published ... on May 22." This opened them to
ridicule. The faith had already been around for three centuries. Those who
favored the Nicean creed with its clear statement of Christ's divinity, heaped
ridicule on the creed, nicknaming it the "Dated Creed." That is the
name it goes by to this day.
Pressures for unity were great,
starting with the emperor on down. And so churches east and west signed on to
the new creed, although some made changes in its wording first. On the whole,
the Dated Creed wasn't much different than the Nicean creed, except in a few
lines. However, the Dated Creed did not stand. Athanasius, Bishop of
Alexandria, and other pro-Nicean theologians refused to accept any compromise
that made the Son less than equal to God the Father. Later church councils
settled the matter once again in favor of the divinity of Christ.
In the end orthodox logic won: As
someone has remarked, God the Father could not be eternally a Father unless God
the Son were eternally a Son.
Bibliography:
1. Chapman, John. "Semiarians
and Semiarianism." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New Yrok: Robert Appleton,
1914.
2. "Introduction to de
Synodis." http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-04/ Npnf2-04-63.htm
3. Steenberg, M. "A World Full of
Arians; A study of the Arian debate and the Trinitarian Controversy from AD
360-380." http://www.monachos.net/patristics/ arians_360-380.shtml
4. "Various Christologies. Part
c. An Attempted Compromise. The 'Dated Creed', 353." [sic]
http://www.bu.edu/religion/courses/ syllabi/rn301/creeds.htm
5. Other internet articles.
Last updated July, 2007
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