At last the day arrived , and every one gathered for the inauguration of the Council which was to be by the Emperor  himself. The Chamber prepared foe the meeting was a long, oblong hall in the palace. In the centre of the room were placed copies of all the known Gospels, which at that time numbered about three hundred.  Every eye lay upon the Imperial throne, which was carved in wood and richly covered in gilt. It was placed at the upper end of the hall between two rows of seats which faced each other. The deep silence was disturbed by the faint sounds of the distant procession. It was approaching the palace. Then the officers of the court came in one by one. At last a signal from without announced that the Emperor was close at hand. The whole assembly stood up, and for the first time set their wondering gaze on Constantine, the conqueror, the Augustus , the Great. His towering stature, his well-built frame, his broad shoulders, and his handsome features were all in keeping with his grand position. His expression was one that many thought him to be the manifestation of Apollo. the Roman sun-god. Many of the bishops were struck by the dazzling, albeit barbaric, magnificence of his dress. his long hair was crowned with the imperial  diadem of pearls. His scarlet robe blazed with precious stones and gold  embroidery. He was shod in scarlet  shoes, then worn only by the Emperor and now worn by the Pope.

Hosius and Eusebius sat on either side of the Emperor. Eusebius started the proceedings with an address to the Emperor . The Emperor replied with a short  speech translated  from Lain to Greek which very few understood., including the Emperor, whose knowledge of Greek was sparse. With the meeting under way, the flood - gate of the controversy was opened wide. Constantine with his broken Greek concentrated all his energy on one point , which was to achieve a unanimity of decision. He informed everyone that he had burned all the petitions which he had received from different parties a few days earlier.  He assured them that since he had not read any of them, he had an open mind and was not inclined one way or the other.

The representative of the Pauline Church wanted to put three "parts" of God on the Divine Throne, but could produce arguments from the Bible in favour of only two. In spite of this , the third "part" of  God, namely the Holy Ghost, was declared to be the third person of the Trinity , although no reasons were given in support of this innovation. The disciples of Lucian, on the other hand ,were sure of their ground , and forced the Trinitarians to shift from one impossible position to the next.

The Trinitarians found it difficult to define a Christian in such a way as to exclude Arius and the other Unitarians from their definition, especially since belief in the doctrine of the Trinity ,which they asserted was the distinguishing factor between the two parties, was never actually mentioned in the Gospels. They said that the "Son" was  "of God". The Arians replied that  they themselves were "of God", since it is written in the Bible , "All things are of God" ( Arius, Prof. Gwatkin) . Therefore , if this argument was used, then it also proved the divinity of all creatures. The Pauline bishops then argued that Jesus was not only "of God", but also "of the Essence of God". This distinction roused opposition from all the orthodox Christians since, they said, these words were not to be found in the Bible . Thus, this attempt to prove that Jesus was God, instead of uniting the Christians, further divided them. In desperation, the Trinitarians argued  that the Bible says that, "Jesus is the eternal image of the Father and True God"( Arius, Prof. Gwatkin). Therefore , if this argument was used, not only Jesus but all men could claim to be Divine.

The discussion continued, not only in the meeting hall but also within the Imperial Palace : Helana ,the Queen mother, supported the Pauline Church. She was a political animal, and administrative expediency ran in her blood. On the other hand , Constantina , the sister of the Emperor, was a believer in the Divine unity and supported Arius. In her opinion, Arius followed the teaching of Jesus. She hated politics and loved and feared God. the debate spread throughout the court. What had started as a Council, had also developed into a palace intrigue, in which the imperial eunuch and the palace cook also played a significant role. The Emperor, a master of strategy, remained aloof from the two factions, and kept everyone guessing. Being a pagan, he did not belong to any of the sects. This was the strongest point in his favour.

As the debate continued, it became evident to both parties that no clear-cut decision would be reached on the floor of the Council . However, they still both desired the support of the Emperor since, for the Pauline church , it would mean an increase in power, and for the North African Church an end to persecution. In order to keep the favour of Constantine, all the bishops present agreed to make some changes in the religion. Princess Constantina had advised Eusebius of Nicomedia that the Emperor strongly desired a united Church, since a divided one endangered his Empire. However, if no agreement was reached within the Church, he might lose patience and withdraw his support for Christianity altogether. Should he take this course of action, the situation of the Christians would be even worse than before, and the teaching itself would be endangered even further. Counselled in turn by Eusebius, Arius and his followers adopted a passive role, but disassociated themselves from the following changes which the Council agreed to : since worship of the Roman Sun-god was very popular throughout the Empire at this time , and the Emperor was considered to be the manifestation of the Sun-god on earth, the Pauline Church therefore :

-Declared  the Roman Sun-day to be the Christian Sabbath.
-Adopted the traditional birthday of the Sun-god, the twenty -fifth of December , as the birthday of Jesus
-Borrowed the emblem of the Sun-god, the cross of light ,to be the emblem of Christianity :
-And decided to incorporate all the ceremonies which were performed at the Sun-god's birthday celebrations into their own ceremonies. 

It must have been very comforting to Constantine to see the gulf which existed between Christianity and the religion of the Empire narrowed so considerably. The Church must have gone up in his estimation, and the likelihood of his support of the Church , once apparently weak, was now much firmer.

Finally, the dogma of Trinity was accepted as a fundamental doctrine of Christianity. It is possible that at this state some of its adherents still had direct experience of the Divine Unity and affirmed.  For them, the doctrine of Trinity was no less than the means by which they attempted to describe what they witnessed. Since the language of Unity which Jesus had used was by now lost, they had restored to using  the terminology of neo-Platonic philosophy which, although it was not really adequate for the purpose, was all that they had left to indicate what they knew. However, this perspective was only open to very few people. " I pass over in silence", wrote Apuleius, "those sublime and Platonic doctrines understood by very few of the pious, and absolutely unknown to every one of the profane" (Tetradymus, J.Toland) ,Plato said that, "To discover the Creator was difficult, but to explain it to the vulgar is impossible", (Tetradymus, J.Toland) , . Pythagoras said,  " To tell of God among men of prejudice opinion is not safe. To tell the truth or falsehood is equally dangerous"(Tetradymus, J.Toland) .

Although the use of this terminology was justified by some of those who were attempting to express the nature of the Divine Unity, in fact the attempt was doomed to failure. There was no way in which the Greek  concept of "theos",  which was not base on any revealed message, could successfully encompass the superior teaching revealed to Jesus. It was only the innovations made by Paul and his followers that made this marriage even seem possible in the first place.  For those who could not grasp the ideas of the Greek philosophers there was only added confusion. This was the case with the majority of people who came into contact with the doctrine of Trinity. The Confusion they fell into led to endless speculation, as the course which the Council itself had so clearly demonstrated. It is understandable how the doctrine came into being and why it was accepted, informally to begin with , and then officially at the Council of Nicea. It is also clear, on account of the confusion which the doctrine caused, why Arius insisted on returning to the source of Christianity for guidance, rather than restoring to the thinking of the Greek philosophers, which did not stem from the revelation of the prophet Jesus.

Once these changes had been secured at the Council of Nicea, the step away from Jesus's teaching was made possible, and what  is today known as the Nicene Creed was drawn up and attested to in writing by those present with the full support of the Emperor Constantine . It enshrined the view of the Trinitarians and had the following anathema appended as a direct rejection of Arius's teaching:

But as for those who say, "There was when he was not, and, before being born he was not, and that he came into existence out of nothing ", or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or is created , or is subject to alteration or change,-these the Catholic Church anathematises.

Of those who signed the creed, some believed in it, some did not know what they were putting their names to , and some , the majority of the delegates in the Council , did not agree with the doctrine of Trinity, but , nevertheless, signed with mental reservation, to please the Emperor . One of them said: "The soul is nothing worse for a little ink" (Tetradymus, J.Toland) .Referring to this statement, Professor Gwatkin moans that it was not a pleasant scene for a historian. Perhaps this is because Professor Gwatkin does not write as a historian, but  as an advocate who accepts a brief to plead to weak case !

These were the people who decided , under a pagan Emperor , what should be the test for an orthodox Christian. The result was as much a surprise to the Trinitarians as to the Arian party. No one had expected the turn events would take. The idea of a universal test was a revolutionary change. It was not like by anyone. The insertion of a direct condemnation of Arianism  was still more serious step. Even those who had consented to attesting the creed, did so with misgiving. When it came to signing in support  of a term not found in the Scriptures, and without the authority of Jesus or his companions, they told themselves that they had signed  under duress. The Council which had begun with such a fanfare had in reality completely failed to achieve anything. 

The one person who knew what he was doing was the Emperor. He knew that a creed which was based not on conviction but on votes could not be taken seriously. One could believe in God, but could not elect Him by the democratic method. He knew how and why the bishops had signed the creed. He was determined not to create the impression that he had forced the bishops to sign against their convictions. So it was decided to take resort  to a miracle of God to affirm and support the decision of the Council : the pile of the Gospels - the written record of Jesus's teaching -still lay in the middle of the hall where they had been placed at the beginning of the Council . According to one source , there were at least 270 versions of the Gospel at this time, while another states there were as many as 4,000 different Gospels. Even if one accepts the most conservative record, the number must have been quite overwhelming for a literate Christian of that time.  The drawing up of a creed which contained ideas not to be found in the Gospels and, in some cases, in direct contradiction of what was in the Gospels, must have made matters more confusing for some people, while the continued existence of the Gospels must have been very inconvenient for others.

It was decided that all the different Gospels should be placed under a table in the Council Hall. Everyone then left the room and the door was locked. The bishops were asked to pay for the whole night that the correct version of the Gospel might come onto the top  of the table. In the morning , the Gospels acceptable to Athanasius , Alexander's representative ,were found neatly placed on top on the table. It was decided that all the Gospels remaining under the table should be burned. There is no record of who kept the key to the room that night.

It became a capital offence to possess an unauthorised Gospel. As a result, over a million Christians were killed in the year following the Council's decisions. This was how Athanasius tried to achieve unity among the Christians.

On their return from the Council, the bishops soon picked up the threads of the dispute which they had left on being summoned by the Emperor. The battle resumed and the old conflict continued. They forgot that they had signed the creed. The supporters of Arius did not hide the fact that they did not consider the creed  to be an affirmation of true Christianity. Only Athanasius was perhaps loyal to it , but even his supporters had their own doubts. In the West the creed was almost unknown.

Saint Hilary was still a stranger to the Nicene Creed thirty years after the Nicene Council took place. He wrote:

We anathematise those defended. We condemn either the doctrine of others in ourselves or our own in others, and , reciprocally tearing  one another to pieces, we have become the cause of each other's ruin. The translation (of the creed) from Greek to Latin was imperfect, for the Greek terms of Platonic philosophy , which had been considered by the Church, failed to express the mysteries of the Christian faith. Verbal defects in Scriptures might introduce into the Latin theology a long train of errors or perplexity (Tetradymus, J.Toland) 

Sabinas, one of the early bishops of thrace, describes all those who assembled in Nicea as being ignorant simpletons. He brands the faith they declared there as having been set forth by ignorant persons who had no intelligence in the matter. Socritus , the historian, compares the two combatants to armies engaged in battle at night, neither knowing the meaning of the words used by the other. Dr. Stanley writes that if Athanasius, when young, had adopted the moderation which he showed  in his old age, then the Catholic Church would not have been divided, and much bloodshed would have been avoided.

Thus the Council, instead of bridging the gulf  between the Christian sects, succeeded in widening  it , and the bitterness between them was not diminished , but increased. Such was the temper of the Church , that withstanding reason and persuasion. It learned the efficacy of force, and the first major bloodbath of the Arians began. The Goths and the  Lombards were "converted" by the same means. The fearful loss of life, which was the result of the Crusades, followed. During the Thirty years War in Europe, it was established that even belief in the Trinity was not enough : the Church had to be obeyed. By the time of Reformation  the situation was such that Luther's actions were not even directed towards any real attempt to return to the true teaching of Jesus, but demonstrated a mere struggle for power. 

Returning to the events which took place immediately after 325 A.D. , we find that bishops Alexander died in 328 A.D. A stormy  election for the bishopric of Alexandria followed. The Arians and Meletians put up a strong resistance, but Athansius was declared , elected , and consecrated as a bishop. His election was disputed. Those who opposed hi election complained of persecution, political intrigue and even magic.

Meanwhile, at Constantine's court , Constantina , his sister , who feared and loved God, continued to voice her opposition to the killing of the Christians. She never tried to hide the fact that she thought Arius represented true Christianity. she also opposed the treatment  of Eusebius of Nicomedia who had  been banished by the Emperor for his beliefs. At long last, she had her way, and Eusebius was allowed to come back. His return was a great blow to the Athanasian faction. The Emperor gradually began to lean towards the side of Arius. When he received news that the election of Athanasius  was being disputed, he summoned the new Bishop to the capital. Athanasius, however, made excuses and did not go to Constantinople. In 335 A.D. , a Council was held in Tyre to celebrate the thirtieth year of Constantine's reign. Here Athanasius was obliged to attend. He was accused of Episcopal tyranny , and the atmosphere was so changed with feeling against him that he left the Council without waiting  to her what decisions would be made . He was condemned. The bishops then gathered in Jerusalem where the condemnation of Athanasius was confirmed . Arius was taken back into the Church and allowed to receive communion.

The Emperor invited Arius and his friends Euzous to Constantinople. The peace between Arius and the Emperor was virtually complete, and to further this, the bishops again officially condemned Athanasius. In desperation , Athanaisus decided to try and face the lion in his own den. He came in person to Constantinople, and audience was granted to him by the Emperor. Eusebius of Nicomedia was present on this occasion He well knew that the decision made in Nicea had gone against Arius for political reasons. So, instead of starting an ecclesiastical debate which the Emperor would not have understood anyway, he accused Athanasius of hindering the supply of corn to the capital. This caught Athanasius  completely surprise. He discovered that someone else could also play the game at which he was so expert. The charge was easily proved and Athanasius was sent away to Trier in Gaul. Arius was appointed the Bishop of Constantinople .He died soon after, however from poisoning , in 336 A.D. . The Church called it a miracle, but the Emperor suspected murder. He appointed a commission to investigate the death which had taken place in such a mysterious manner. Athanasius was found to be responsible, and was condemned for the murder of Arius.

The Emperor , greatly moved by the death of Arius , and doubtlessly influenced by his sister , became a Christian. He was baptised by Eusebius of Nicomedia .He died only a year later in 337 A.D. Constantine , who had spent so much of his reign persecuting those who affirmed the Divine Unity, died in the faith of those he had killed.

Arius played an important part in the history of Christianity. He was not only largely the means by which Constantine finally accepted Christianity, but also represented those people who have attempted to follow the teaching of Jesus implicitly . At a time when this guidance was beginning to fade. Arius  stands out as a man  who was not prepared to accept this course of events with complacency.

He believed that God is absolutely One, and that therefore this belief is absolutely simple. He believed that God is alone ingenerate, alone eternal, alone without beginning ,alone good, alone almighty ,alone unchangeable and unalterable, and that His Being  is hidden in eternal mystery from the outward eye of every creature. Arius opposed any idea of the manhood of God.

He earnestly pressed in favour of following Jesus implicitly . He was willing to recognise in him every  attribute compatible with the isolation and Unity of God, but refused to compromise with any idea which led to a belief in multiple Divinity. Thus, he felt  bound to reject  any dogma which accept the Divinity of Jesus. Since ingeneration is the very essence of Divinity, there could be no son of God in any strict or primary sense.

If the act of generation is attribute to God, he said, it destroys the singularity of God. It also ascribes to God corporeality and passion which are attributed of man and imply that the Almighty is subject to necessity, which He is not. Thus ,on every ground, it is impossible to ascribe the act of generation to God.

Arius also stated that since Jesus is finite, he is other than God, Who is Eternal. It is possible to visualise a time when Jesus did not exist, which again demonstrates that he is other than God. Jesus is not of the Essence of God, but a creature of God, essentially like other creatures,  albeit definitely unique among men on account of his prophethood. Instead of sharing the Divine Essence, he does not even comprehend his own. He must depend , like every other creature, on the help of God's grace, while God is dependant on nothing. Like all mankind, he was free will and a nature capable of leading him to acts which are either pleasing or displeasing to God. However, although Jesus was potentially capable  of acting in a manner displeasing to God, his own virtue kept him from doing so.

These basic tenets of Arius's belief have survived right up to the present day, and are still foundation of the belief of many Unitarian Christian.

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