The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1869-12-23

The FIRST GC um0n1 cal COuncA
At the splendid city of Nicaa, in Bith
yniA in the year 325, assem- bled the frst Of
those great Ecumenical Councils, whose
DEGREES have so often controlled the dss-
tiny of Christianity and Of mankind. II
vas an occasion of triumph and fond con
graduation, for the Christian church had
Just risen up from period Of unexampled
humiliation and suffering to rule over the
Roman world. For nearly three centuries
aimee the death Of their Divine Head his
pious disciples had toilsd in purity and
love, prosecuted or scornsd by the doml-
nant paRans, for the conversion Of the
human race; and the HURDLE but psrsis-
tent missionaries had sealed with lnnu-
merable nartyrdems and scssslsss woes
che Anal triumph Of their faith.
Yet never in ell Ii early history had
the Christian church seemed 20 Rsar Its
perfect extinction 90 in the universal per
secution of DieclstiAa and his CHsars
when the pagan rulers could boast with
an appearance Of truth that they had sx
terminated the hated sect with fire and
sword. In the year 304, in Gaul, every
Christian temple lay in ruinA and the
terrified wershipsrs no longer vsntured to
meet in their sacred assemblies; the holy
books had been burned, the church prop
erty confiscated by the pagan magistrates,
the church members had persisted In
fearful fortunes, or fed for safety to the
savage wilderness; and throughout all the
Roman world no mau dared to call him
self Christian. aga tj5 n
Gradually, with the slow prevalence Of
Constantine the Great as his victorious
Iegions passed steadily onward from Gaul
TO Italy, and from Italy to Syria, the
MANNED and bleeding victims Of persecu-
ton came out from their hiding places,
and bishops and people, purified by suffer-
ing, celebrated once more their holy rites
In renewed simplicity and faith. Yet it
was not until the year preceding the
first Gcumenical Council that the East
ern Christians had ceased to be roasted
with slow fires, lacsrated with iron hooks,
or mntilated with fatal fortunes; and
Lactautius, contemporary, could point to
the ruins Of city in Phrygia, whose
whole population had been burned to
ashes because they refused to sacrifice to
Jupiter and Juno. And now by a strange
and sudden revolution the martyr bishops
and presbyters had been summoned from
their distant retreats in the monasteries
of the Thebaid, of the sands of Arabia,
from Africa or Gaul, to cross the danger
Gus seas, the inclement mountains, and to
meet in a general synod at Mecca, to
Iegislate for the Christian world.
The bishops, In number 318, together
with many priests and other officials,
assembled promptly at the call of the
Emperor, and in June, 1926, met in bas-
ilica or public hall in the centre of the
city Few particulars are preserved of
the proceedings of the great council. and
we are forced to gather from the illu-
sions of the historians a general concep-
ton of its character. Yet we know that
it was the purest, the wisest, as well as
the first Of all the sacred synods; that its
members tested in affection and humbled
by persecution, preserved much of the
grace and gentleness of the Apostolic
age; that no fierce anathemas, like those
that fell from the lips of the papal bish
ops of Trent or Constance, defled those
of Eusebius or Hosius; that no Huss or
Jerome of Prague died at the stake to
crafty the hate of dominant sect, and
that no Luther or Calvin was shut out
by the dread of similar fate from sbar
ing in the earliest council of the Christian
world.
The proceedings went on with dignity
and moderation, and men OF various
shades of opinion, but cf equal purity
of life, were heard with attention and
respect; the rules of the Roman Senate
were probably initiated in the Christian
assembly the Emperor opened the coun-
Gil in speech intoxicating moderation,
and an era of benevolence and love seem
ed about to open upon the triumphant
church.
A striking simplicity marked the pro
ceedings of the first council. Hosius,
bishop of CordoYa, presided, the only
A prelate opened the meeting with q
short address, hymn was sung, then
Constantine delivered his well-tlmed
speech on harmony, and the general
debate began. 1t was conducted always
with yigor, sometimes with rude asperity
but when the war of recriminarion ros7
too high, the Emperor, who seems to have
attended the sittirgs regularly, would
interpose and calm the strife by soothing
words
The question of clerical marriages was
discussed, aud it was determined, by the
argument of Paphnutius the Egyptian
ascetic, that the lower orders should be
allowed to marry. The Jurisdiction OF
the bishops was defined all were allowed
to be equal but Rome, Antioch, and AL
exandria, the chief cities of the empire
before Constantinople was built, held
each cartain supremacy. The primacy
OF st. Peter was never mentioned; the
worship of Mary, Queen of Heaven was
yet unknown; but the earlier form of the
Nicen Greed was determined, and Arins
was condemned. Twenty canons were