Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

Early Unitarians in Christianity 95

Restore me then my quiet days and untroubled nights

that 1 may retain my joy, the gladness of peaceful life.

Else 1must groan and be defused wholly in tears, and

no comfort of mind till 1 die. For while the people of

God, my fellow servants, are thus tom asunder in un­

lawful and pernicious controversy, how can 1 be tran­

quil of mind? 19

This letter demonstrates the profound ignorance of the Emperor,
not only of Christianity, but aIso of any religion, since it assumes
that it is the same whether a man either worships God as he pleases
or in the manner which God has indicated is pleasing to Him. To
say that the controversy between Alexander and Arius was merely
a verbal quarrel over an insignificant and non-essential point is
absurdoToregardthe differencebetweenthetwo as'trifling' clearly
shows that Constantine did not understand what he was talking
about. A certainty in the Divine Unity, on the one hand, and the
belief in a concept which would inevitably lead towards a Trinity
of God, on the other hand, could hardly have been more funda­
mentaIly opposed. The contents of the letter indicate that Constan­
tine was not concernedwiththenatureof Reality, but withhis own
peace of mind and the stability of his Empire. It is not surprising
that his letter achieved nothing. It was carried to Alexandria by
Hosius of Cordoba. After a short stay, he retumed empty-handed
to report the failure of his mission to the Emperor.
While ail this was going on, Constantine had dashed with his
brother-in-law, Licinus, on the battlefield, and Licinus had been
killed. Licinus had been a supporter of Arius, and his death fur­
ther weakenedthepositionof Arius in theEmperor's court. How­
ever, Constantine did reaIise that it is possible to win a war and yet
lose the peace. 5ince the failure of Hosius's mission, the situation
in the East had become very unsettled. The songs and arguments
of Arius had resulted in blood being shed in Alexandria, and un­
rest had spread throughout the eastem parts of the Empire. There
was already turmoil in North Africa. Constantine reaIised that his
friends in the Pauline Church were not powerful enough to dispel
any of this trouble. His experience in deaIing with the North Afri­
cans, which had partly resulted in rus coming east after aImost
burning rus boats in Rome, seemed to have taught him a lesson:
that he should not take sides openly.