Early Unitarians in Christianity 103Similarly, Plato observed that, "Io discover the Creator was dif
ficult, but to explain it to the vulgar is impossible.' 25 Pythagoras
said, "Io tell of God among men of prejudicial opinion is not safe,
To tell the truth or falsehood is equally dangerous.' 26
Although the use of Greek terminology was justified by sorne
of those who were attempting to express the nature of the Divine
Unity, in fact the attempt was doomed to failure. There was no
way in which the Greek concept of'theos " which was not based on
any revealed message, could successfully encompass the superior
teaching which had been revealed to Jesus. It was only the innova
tions made by Paul and his followers that had made this 'marriage'
of concepts even seem possible in the first place.
And for those who were unable to grasp the ideas of the Greek
philosophers, there was only added confusion. This was the case
with the majority of people who came into contact with the new
beliefs and concepts which eventually syncretised into and gave
birthto the'official'doctrineof Trinity. Theconfusioninto which
they fellied to endless speculation - as the course which the Coun
cil of Nicea itself had taken so clearly demonstrated. Thus even
though the doctrine of Trinity itself remains unintelligible to any
one who is intellectually honest and sincere, it is at least possible
to understand how the doctrine came into being and why it was
accepted, informally to begin with, and then officially at the Coun
cil of Nicea. It is also clear, on account of the confusion which the
doctrine caused, why Arius insisted on returning to the source of
Christianity for guidance, rather than resorting to the thinking of
the Greek philosophers, which clearly did not stem from any of
the revelation which was granted to the Prophet Jesus.
Once these changes had been secured at the Council of Nicea,
the next step away from Jesus's teaching was made possible, and
what is today known as the Nicene Creed was drawn up and at
tested to in writing by those present with the full support of the
Emperor Constantine. It enshrinedthe view of the PaulinianChris
tians and had the following anathema appended to it as a direct
rejection of Arius's teaching:
But as for those who say, 'There was when he was not,
and, before being born he was not, and that he came
into existence out of nothing,' or who assert that the Son
of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or is
created, or is subject to alteration or change - these the
Catholic Church anathematises.