Councils & Creeds

PSALMS to God · Councils & Creeds

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27 CSB

After the first century, the Church continued to have disagreements. When the Constantine declared he was a Christian, the Church became mainstream. With that change, there was an influx of people into the Church that may or may not have been truly converted—Christianity was now "hip." It was during this time that modern Christianity took form.

The Roman religion I mentioned and failed to pronounce is Mithraism. It was the dominate religion until the legalization of Christianity.[1] Much of the sun worship that has crept into the modern church comes from Mithraism.

The first 7 ecumenical councils

1. The First Council of Nicea (325ad)
2. The First Council of Constantinople (381ad)
3. The Council of Ephesus (431ad)
4. The Council of Chalcedon (451ad)
5. The Second Council of Constantinople (553ad)
6. The Third Council of Constantinople (680–681ad)
7. The Second Council of Nicaea (787ad)

Important decisions from the First Council of Nicea include a stance against Arianism (the belief that Jesus is a created being) and officially abandoning Passover for the pagan holiday of Easter.[2]

The Council of Laodicea was held in 364ad. Although it is considered a minor council by scholars, the major decision to "move" the Sabbath to Sunday was made.[3][4] (Note: only God can transfer holiness, we will dive deeper into this in the next episode)

Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ. Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea[4]

References

1. Reinhold Merkelbach. "Mithraism". Encycolpædia Britannica. February 5, 2020
2. "First Council of Nicaea". Encycolpædia Britannica. November 29, 2019
3. What happened at the Council of Laodicea?". GotQuestions.org; visited July 8, 2020
4. "Synod of Laodicea (4th Century)" New Advent; visited July 8, 2020
5. "First Seven Ecumenical Councils". Wikipedia; visited July 8, 2020