Council Day 3 Reflection (Athanasius)

Emperor Constantine, Ossius and fellow men of God,

I know many of you are overjoyed by the Council’s ability to come to a consensus on the Creed the other day. In an ideal world, I would be one of you.  Do not mistake me for being against unity. I am for unity. I would love nothing more than a unified Church, but I do not believe we have unity- we have a creed that is neither decisive nor strong. We cannot consider this creed to be unified because it does not take a stance. And while that appealed to many of you, I cannot sit idly by and allow heretics to remain among us, discussing and voting on canons that are no longer applicable to them, as they are not true Christians. As an Alexandrian, I do not feel satisfied with the creed as it currently stands, and I believe we are failing God and our fellow Christians by passing a Creed that does not take a stand for the true faith and does not eliminate heretics from our midst.

Constantine, I beseech you to understand that position is not in opposition to yours, as Arius and his sheep may try to convince you. I truly do not believe you will be able to have a unified Empire if you allow this creed to pass. You will be allowing Arian heresy to live and take deeper root in your Empire, and not only will that cause more conflict and a greater division between those who are true Christians, and those who have fallen prey to Arius, but you will be allowing many of your subjects to perish without salvation. How can you consider yourself a true Christian if you do not deny those who are false?

I feel as though I speak for Alexander and myself, as well as other faithful Christians when I urge the council to amend the creed and add language that takes a strong stance in favor of the co-eternity and co-equity of Christ and God.  We cannot consider the Alexandrians to have won if there is no opinion stated in the creed. More than that, can we consider ourselves to be doing our duty to God if we do not push harder for a creed that is true to His Nature?

I pray for our council, and pray that we can please God and forge a creed that is as strong as God’s love for His children.

Athanasius