As you recall, young people, in our last article we looked at the work of God in the life of the young minister Timothy. We saw how God worked mightily in and through Timothy at a young age. He shouldered the work we would have expected a more seasoned minister to carry. Especially noteworthy were […]
In the summer of A.D. 325 the Council of Nicea brought men of the church together from all over the world. Their task? To write a creed stating the true nature of Jesus Christ. It would be a creed that would stand for centuries as basic doctrine of the church of Christ everywhere. It is […]
The year was 325. The city was Nicea. The issue was—is Jesus God or not? The Arians were winning. There were more of them. They spoke the loudest. They would surely be able to sway the many church leaders who were undecided. “Jesus was created,” they said. “He is not of the same substance of […]
Arius was not a man to give up. He had very influential and outspoken friends. He and his followers stirred up divisions in the church. Their heresies and lies worked as a cancer in the body of Christ. The divisions even threatened the unity of the whole Roman Empire. Constantine the emperor would have to […]
Alexander had no choice. Now it was public. Everyone knew what Arius said, and what he said was heresy. Arius ought to be excommunicated from the church. But—such an action would put the whole city in an uproar. Arius was much-liked by many people. As archbishop of Alexandria, what would Alexander do? Alexander was an […]
A short young man with thin red hair found a seat in the spacious lecture hall. Though an unlikely-looking fellow, Athanasius’ eyes watched the stage with all seriousness. Others crowded in around him until there was no room left. It seemed as if the whole city had come out for the special debate! Indeed, at […]
On occasion, as the times demand, there appear on the stage of church history unusual men, highly gifted, stalwart in the faith, not afraid to stand alone against an army of those arrayed against them. God puts these men on the center of the stage because the times are critical. The faith needs defending and […]