Constantine ends the debate between Arianism and Athanasianism in favor of Athanasianism.
Have any saints written about why this matters?
Key Point
Is Jesus begotten and thus cosubstantial (Athanasian view), or created (Arian view)?
Implications
Is love actually implicated in this, or is that a chatGPT hallucination?
From mr. GPT:
To encounter Jesus is to encounter God’s own life
God is not solitary power, but eternal relationship
Love is not created later—it exists within God
Athanasian View
Main character: St. Athanasius of Alexandria
For the Son of God became man so that we might become God - St. Athanasius
ChatGPT says:
If Jesus is a man, worshipping him is a kind of idolatry (need to fact check this).
Points to Clarify
The modern Bible says Jesus was begotten and that God became man, and is the only son of god. But is this because of the council? Or was the council based in this?
My Questions
What was the felt experience of this difference in viewpoints at the time?
Some clues in Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity (4th century)
How did the spiritual life of the two factions differ?
What does it actually mean to "partake in divinity" as a human through relationship with Christ? Isn't the Christian God beyond description? What does it feel like? The mystical experiences of the saints? The beatific visions? Were these different experiences (as Steiner says) BC vs. AD?
Rudolf Steiner's Perspective
- Arianism: man could become divine. Jesus was an attained human.
- Athanianism: Jesus was a divine, un-attainable being, connecting man to the abstract, incomprehensible divine.
Why did Constantine care about this theological distinction?