Reflection on Council Day 1

Greetings Emperor Constantine and fellow Bishops,

I am very pleased with the final result of the first day, the creed on the nature of God. I think that many of the listed characteristics are redundant, however they do not detract from the meaning of the creed. If it means bringing dissenting factions into the fold of a unified church, I am willing to sacrifice conciseness. At its foundation, the creed does establish what all Christians know to be the ultimate truth: that there is one almighty God. Despite the overall passing of this part of the creed, I am disappointed that we could not achieve a more unanimous vote. The purpose of this council is to create a unified church and we cannot accomplish that if one side continues to find favor by a few meager votes.

I am delighted by the vigorous discussion that occurred. It showed that everyone present is incredibly passionate about their faith. However, I would like to hear more voices and opinions because each is important and necessary to hear if we hope to create a unified church. Many times the debate devolved into two or three members arguing between themselves. I understand that some are more vocal than others thus we will be instituting rules to create a more orderly system of debate.

What surprised me the most was the intensity of the debate around whether or not to include the description of God as “the Father” in the creed. I had originally not given any thought to it’s importance. In the end, I was convinced by the Alexandrians that it is not our responsibility, as humans who cannot fully understand God, to assign Him a gender. Even though Jesus refers to God as “the Father,” not every individual will have the same relationship with God that Jesus had. However, what concerns me most is the seemingly random flip-flopping of opinion on the Arian’s side. When the issue of including “the Father” was first brought up, the Arians agreed to remove it. But after other debate, Arius switched his vote to “no” without reason. I urge all council members to state their concerns at the time we are debating each topic so we do not waste precious time returning to already resolved points. With that said, I am greatly anticipating the remaining days of the council.

Brightest Blessings,

Ossius