Last day of the Council.

The Council of Nicaea has been most fruitful. We have been able to decide on a Creed but unfortunately it was at the price of Arius voluntarily excommunicating himself from the church. The creed seems to have favored the Alexandrians more but since we as a church aimed to unify all Christians it did not matter which side we leaned on. We also discussed several canons like those that concerned the lapsed, the role of women in the church, the date of Easter, the role of Metropolitan Bishops and the possibility of future councils.

I am pleased to say that the lapsed Christians will face some sort of consequence before being allowed back into church. This was necessary because we have to keep our brothers accountable. However, the clergy are not required to undergo a more severe consequence (they are still able to hold their positions). I was disappointed with this because as scripture says, leaders/teachers are held at a higher accountability than others. Yet we failed to put this into action. This was the only thing that I felt needed another reconsideration but unfortunately, we did not have enough time. Regarding the Palestine Metropolitan, it has now been moved to Jerusalem and Jerusalem’s Metropolitan Bishop is now equal to the Metropolitan bishop of Rome. The council has also decreed that there the Metropolitan Bishops will have power over local Bishops. This was necessary because with the new Creed being put into effect, the bishops will be able to maintain unity by acting as the head to mediate disagreements and being the final say in doctrines. Since the Metropolitan Bishops have the last say, the council also decided that there will not be any ecumenical councils to make decisions for the church in the future.

Now, for when it came to the role of women in influential positions in the church, it is necessary that they do not have these roles. We are trying to convert and spread the word of God in an Empire which does not support the idea of women in high positions, it is wise not to step over all their customs especially since the scriptures do not put the issue of women in high roles as one of the necessary or important factors in Christianity. I feel that we can submit to their culture at least for this issue for the greater good just for some time. Lastly, the council decided that the celebration of Easter will occur according to the Jewish calendar. It will occur on the Sunday after the 14^th day after the first new moon after the Spring Equinox. The council decided that they will set aside astronomers who will calculate the date and announce it each year.

Not all issues that each Bishop wanted to talk about was discussed at the Council however I feel the most important ones were discussed thoroughly. I only wish we had more time to discuss each canon better but maybe the time limit was for the best because we, Bishops with opinions that differ from one another, may have been at it for several decades.