Vito’s Council Reflection – Day 2

Most Gracious Constantine and Fellow Council Members,

March 22nd is a date that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. Not only was the council meeting concise and full of unifying compromises, but I was also awarded the Imperial Boon by the Great Emperor Constantine. I could not imagine a higher honor and I will use the recognition to continue to push for unity, haste, and peace during our future council meetings. I wrote to Bishop Sylvester as soon as the meeting was finished, however I have not heard a response. He will be most pleased to hear that his own Vito represented Rome in a positive way. He will also be pleased to know that we will be discussing the powers of Metropolitan Bishops once a creed is established. He is passionate about a unified church and he strongly believes that a distinct hierarchy will benefit our religion. Just as the Great Constantine rules the prospering Empire through a hierarchy, Christianity will also prosper under a better established hierarchy. I just hope his strength and perseverance will keep him with us on Earth until I return to Rome.

All of us council members took Constantine’s word as gold and were eager to compromise and speak more freely. While the Alexandrians were responsible for truncating much of the creed, I believe all other members realized that much of the statement was redundant. I am also glad that there was not as much theological debate. I applaud the Arians for their willingness to compromise on language that describes Jesus and God of the same divine power. However, the one line that remains about God making Jesus exist is still troubling to me. If God and Jesus are of the same unchangeable divine power (that we agreed upon), then they must have always existed together forever. If God made Jesus exist, then this implies that they are separate powers and would thus be polytheism. For our meeting on March 24th, I would like to see that entire line omitted or replaced with: “always existing with God forever.” This may be troublesome for the Arians, but we cannot accept the phrase that is already in the creed because it is polytheistic.

Until tomorrow…

Vito