Comparative Theology · Textual History & Manuscripts
The First Council of Nicaea (325 CE) & the Arian Controversy
In short
- 1.The doctrine that Jesus is **co-equal and co-eternal** with the Father was fixed by a **political vote** under Emperor **Constantine** — not by Jesus.
- 2.**Arius** and early non-Trinitarian Christians held that **"there was a time when the Son was not"** — a created being subordinate to the Father.
- 3.**Homoousios** ("of the same substance") is a Greek philosophical term found **nowhere** in the Hebrew or Greek scriptures.
The claim being examined
The Trinity has always been the belief of the church, taught by Jesus himself.
The Islamic position
Co-equality was settled by imperial council three centuries after Jesus, over the objection of a large body of Christians.
Analysis
Nicaea was convened by an emperor for imperial unity, not by apostolic authority. The debate hinged on homoousios versus homoiousios — a distinction of Greek metaphysics — and the losing party was exiled. Doctrine settled by council and enforced by state power is history, not revelation.
From the Qur'an
Qur'an 112:1-4
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
Say: He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.
From the Bible
Mark 13:32
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Read it in their BibleSources
Bart Ehrman — How Jesus Became God · Richard Rubenstein
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