Did Constantine ‘promote’ Jesus?

Apr 25, 2006
MARK RATHEL
Special to Florida Baptist Witness

Editor’s note: This article by Mark Rathel, a theology professor at The Baptist College of Florida, is the third of five exploring some of the claims of The Da Vinci Code in the weeks leading up to the May 19 release of the motion picture of the same name.

GRACEVILLE (FBW)–The identity of Jesus is the crucial issue in the relationship between the Christian faith and the 21st century religious world. Jesus serves as an important figure in several non-Christian religious movements. Jesus, for example, is an important person in the writing of the Quran and the Muslim religion. The New Age religious movement affirms that as people develop Christ-consciousness the Age of Aquarius dawns. The Jesus Seminar advocates demoting Jesus from divine status to human status.

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In Dan Brown’s best-selling suspense novel The Da Vinci Code, the character Sir Leigh Teabing claims that the Roman Emperor Constantine used a fourth-century council of bishops to promote Jesus from human status to divine status. Brown writes, “…until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a moral prophet…a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal” (p. 233). The close vote of the Council of Nicaea allowed the Roman Empire and Vatican power base to crush opponents.

Brown’s description of the Council of Nicaea grievously misrepresents the history and significance of the Council. Brown’s claims are outrageous. Either he purposefully attempted to rewrite history or he (or his researcher) lacks skills in historical research.

The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D) functions as one of the pivotal events in Christian history and theology. All branches of the Christian church – Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant – accepted the creedal statement adopted by the Council. The Nicene Creed affirms five statements about Jesus: (1) Jesus possesses the same nature as God the Father; (2) Jesus was the Creator of all things; (3) Jesus left the glory of heaven and became incarnate as a human; (4) Jesus died, rose again, and ascended back to heaven; (5) Jesus will come to judge all humanity.

The Council of Nicaea overwhelming affirmed these five truths about Jesus. And yet, The Da Vinci Code contains the following dialogue between Sophie and Sir Teabing. Sophie: “You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?” Sir Teabing: “A relatively close vote at that.” The actual vote of the Council was 316-to-2 in favor of the full deity of Christ.

Brown correctly attributes the initiative for the Council of Nicaea to Constantine. Nicaea, a small town near Constantinople, served as one of the residences of the emperor. From Nicaea, Constantine administered the affairs of the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. Constantine summoned over 500 bishops to Nicaea to deal with a divisive church issue. Further, the Emperor paid the travel expenses of the 318 bishops able to attend. Constantine had more interest in the unity of the Empire than theological debate.

The precipitating issue for the Council was the correct manner to understand the relation between God, the Father, and Jesus. On the one hand, the followers of Arius taught that Jesus was less than fully God. On the other hand, Athanasius and others taught that Jesus had the same nature as God, the Father.

Arius, a church leader from Alexandria, Egypt, and his followers contended that Jesus was a being less than God but more than human. Arius affirmed that God created Jesus as the first act of creation. Jesus, then, created all the cosmos. Arius refused to ascribe the attribute of eternity to Jesus; indeed, Arius claimed that there was a time in which Jesus did not exist. In Arius’ view, Jesus possessed greater power than humanity (He created) but Jesus was not equal to God. Jehovah Witnesses affirm the same teaching about Jesus today.

Opponents of Arius, notably Athanasius of Alexandria, Egypt, argued that the teachings of Arius bordered on polytheism – an affirmation of more than one divine-like being. Further, Arius’ opponents argued that salvation was at stake in a denial of the full deity of Christ. Only one who shared the nature of God – and humanity – could be a mediator between God and man.

Neither the church nor Constantine promoted Jesus at the Council of Nicaea. Early Christians proclaimed the deity of Christ prior to the Council of Nicaea. Ignatius (d. 107 A.D.), an early preacher in the church at Antioch, declared, “Jesus is our God;” described Jesus as “God incarnate” and “God made manifest as man.” Irenaeus, a second century leader from Gaul (France) declared Jesus as the same as the God of the Exodus. The North African leader Tertullian claimed that Christ is God. Thus, these three leaders from divergent geographical areas (Asia Minor, France, and North Africa) proclaimed Jesus Christ as God at least a century prior to the Council of Nicaea.

The biblical evidence affirming the deity of Christ is overwhelming. Four great hymns proclaim the equality of Jesus and God the Father (Jn. 1:1-3; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-20; Heb. 1:1-3). Second, followers of Jesus worshiped Him (Jn. 20:28-29). Third, He performed actions only God could perform (Mk. 2:1-12; Jn. 1:3; 15:26). Fourth, He claimed to be God (Jn. 5:18; 8:58; 14:9).

The person of Jesus is the apologetic issue of our generation. In light of The Da Vinci Code, Christians should challenge their family and neighbors with the following question: In light of the importance of Jesus in numerous religious movements, does it not make sense to examine closely the claims of a religious community in which Jesus is the central person rather than a peripheral figure?

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