Vito’s Council Reflection – Day 1

Our first meeting may have had some rough moments, but these are the trials we must face for the sake of our Lord and His religion. The initial creed that was proposed was a strong one; we must thank Eusebius for developing that. I would have been content with voting on the creed regarding God right then and there, but I respect my fellow council members and will always listen to what they have to say. Theclus’s proposal about the omission of ‘Father’ from the creed did not take me by surprise, however Arius’s incessant push for ‘unalterable and unchangeable’ was concerning. As others have picked up on, I was initially indifferent towards the omission of the ‘Father.’ Leaving all things aside, I would probably have voted with the Arians in their push to keep the ‘Father’ in the creed. However I was disappointed when they were unwilling to compromise. Alexander, Theclus, Marcarius and I were clearly opposed to the use of “unalterable and unchangeable,” but we took Constantine’s advice and compromised. And initially the Arians did compromise, but Arius himself became opposed at the last minute. It only seemed right to defend Theclus in his push to omit the ‘Father’ because he was so willing to compromise. I cherish his passion for this cause. And in hindsight, it is better that we refrain from something as confusing as gender in order to promote as much cohesion as possible. Unalterable and unchangeable are words to describe God that can be interpreted in ways that would be detrimental to Church cohesion. It is clear though that his divine power is single and unchangeable.