100 Jesus, Prophet ofIslam
His towering stature, his weIl-built frame, his broad shoulders,
and his handsome features were all in keeping with his grand po
sition. His expression was such that many thought him to be the
manifestation of Apollo, the Roman sun-god. Many of the bishops
were struck by the dazzling, albeit barbarie, magnificenee of his
dress. His long haïr was crowned with an imperial diadem of pearls.
His scarlet robe blazed with precious stones and gold embroidery.
He was shod in scarlet shoes, then worn only by the Emperor
and now worn by the Pope!
Hosius and Eusebius sat on either side of the Emperor. Euse
bius started the proceedings with an address to the Emperor. The
Emperor replied with a short speech translated from Latin into
Greek which very few understood, including the Emperor, whose
knowledge of Greek was sparse. With the meeting under way, the
floodgates of the controversy were opened wide. Constantine with
his broken Greek concentrated all his energy on one point, which
was to achieve a unanimity of decision. He informed everyone that
he had burned all the petitions which he had received from differ
ent parties a few days earlier. He assured them that sinee he had
not read any of them, he had an open mind and was not inclined
one way or the other.
The representative of the Pauline Church wanted to put three
'parts' of God on the DivineThrone, but could produee arguments
from their Scriptures in favour of only two. In spite of this, the
third 'part' of God, namely 'the Holy Ghost', was declared to be
the third person of the Trinity, although no reasons were given in
support of this innovation. The disciples of Lucian, on the other
hand,weresureof theirground, and foreed theTrinitariansto shift
from one impossible position to the next.
The Trinitarians found it difficult to define a Christian in such a
way as to exc1udeArius and the other Unitarian Christians from
theirdefinition, especiaUy sinee belief in the doctrineof theTrinity,
which they asserted was the distinguishing factor between the two
parties, was never actuaUy mentioned in the Gospels. They said
thatthe 'Son' was'of God'. TheAriansreplied that they themselves
were ' of God' since it is written in the Scriptures, 'Ali things are of
God.,2l Therefore, if this argument was used, they argued, then it
also proved the Divine nature of all things.
The Pauline bishops then argued that Jesus was not only 'of
God', but also 'of the Essence of God'. This distinction roused op
position from aUthe orthodox Christians sinee, they pointed out,
http://www.islamicbulletin.com