Bible Study A

Constantine Drives Priests to Agreement

Sozomen Ecclesiastical History
1.20.1b Finally all the priests agreed with one another and
conceded that the Son is consubstantial with the Father. At the
conclusion of the conference there were only seventeen who
praised the opinion of Arius, but eventually the majority of these
yielded and agreed with the general view. 1.20.2 The emperor
deferred to this ruling. He regarded the unanimity of the
conference to be a divine approval and he declared that anyone
who rebelled against it would be immediately sent into
banishment as guilty of trying to overthrow the Divine
definitions.
Arain Party Has Creed Ripped up and Are Bullied to Switch Sides
Sozomen Ecclesiastical History
1.7.13 There were, however, a few, whom I mentioned before,
who opposed these doctrines and sided with Arius; among them
were Menophantus, bishop of Ephesus, Patrophilus, bishop of
Scythopolis, Theognis, bishop of Nicaea, and Narcissus, bishop of
Neronias, which is a town of the second Cilicia, and is now called
Irenopolis; also Theonas, bishop of Marmarica, and Secundus,
bishop of Ptolemais in Egypt. 1.7.14 They drew up a formulation
of their faith and presented it to the council. As soon as it was
read, it was torn to pieces and was declared to be spurious and
false. Such a great uproar was raised against them and they
were rebuked so many times for betraying their religion that all
of them, with the exception of Secundus and Theonas, became
afraid and stood up and took the lead in publicly renouncing
Arius. 1.7.15 In this way the ungodly man was expelled, and,
with unanimous agreement, an official confession of faith was
drawn up. To this day, it is still received by the churches. As soon
as it was signed, the council was dissolved. The bishops named
above, however, did not sincerely consent to it; only in
appearance.
Death to Those who didn’t destroy Arian Books!
Sozomen Ecclesiastical History
1.21.4 The emperor punished Arius with exile, and dispatched
edicts to the bishops and people of every country, denouncing
him and his adherents as ungodly, and commanding that their
books should be destroyed, in order that no remembrance of him
or of the doctrine which he had taught might remain. Whoever
was found hiding his writings and who did not burn them
immediately on the accusation, would undergo the penalty of
death and suffer capital punishment. The emperor wrote letters
to every city against Arius and those who had received his
doctrines.
Decision on the Canon -Old and New Testament
The 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius (367 AD)
These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be
satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone is
proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these,
neither let him take ought from these. For concerning these the
Lord put to shame the Sadducees, and said, 'You err, not
knowing the Scriptures.' And He reproved the Jews, saying,
'Search the Scriptures, for these are they that testify of Me
Matthew 22:29; John 5:39.'
-Removed The Wisdom of Solomon and The Wisdom of Sirach
which were in the Greek Old Testament that Jesus and the
Apostles used.