Constantine And The Council Of Nicea

Question 1

When did Constantine become emperor

Answer 1

312 CE(common era)

Question 2

Who was Constantine going into battle against

Answer 2

Maxentius , and it was rumoured that he had help from magical powers so Constantine was afraid he might lose

Question 3

Why did Constantine convert

Answer 3

His mother was Christian. So he decided to pray to her god for help/victory in battle.
When he was praying he looked up and say in the clouds a bright cross with the words “conquer by this”
So Constantine sent his army into battle carrying a cross. And crosses on their shields.
He won and believed that the Christian god had helped him so he converted to Christianity.

Question 4

How likely was it that Constantine would win

Answer 4

Unlikely because maxentius’ army was 4 times stronger

Question 5

Who won the battle

Answer 5

Constantine, so he then converted to Christianity

Question 6

What is the symbol called that Constantine used

Answer 6

Chi-Rho

Question 7

What does the chi rho symbol represent

Answer 7

The Chi Rho symbol represents both Christ and Christianity and exists today in several variations. It is also behind the practice of abbreviating ‘Christ’ in Christmas to ‘X’.

Question 8

What is the name of one of the Greek signs and why did they have to use them?

Answer 8

ichthus
Because of the threat of persecution, the Early Church often had to be secretive. They met in secret locations and they had secret signs.

Question 9

What does each letter of ichthus stand for

Answer 9

I - Jesus
Ch - Christ
Th- god (theos)
U - son
S - saviour

Question 10

What does the ichthus symbol look like

Answer 10

A fish

Question 11

What happened a year later

Answer 11

Constantine passed the edict if milan

Question 12

What was the edict of Milan

Answer 12

This made Christianity legal and allowed Christians to meet and worship freely, without fear of persecution. The edict also banned Jews from owning Christian slaves.

Question 13

What did Constantine order when he passed the edict of Milan

Answer 13

Constantine ordered that any property that had been taken from Christians must be returned to them. He even gave his wife’s palace to the Bishop of Rome.

Question 14

What is the Sabbath

Answer 14

A day of rest on Sunday

Question 15

From the edict of Milan, what changed for Christian’s

Answer 15

Constantine ordered more copies of Christian scriptures to be made and more churches built. Christians were now offered good jobs and given privileged treatment in court. Church leaders were not required to pay certain taxes.

Question 16

Who was arius

Answer 16

He was a man who began causing arguments in the Christian community by raising questions about the identity of Jesus.

Question 17

What did arius claim

Answer 17

Arius claimed that God had created Jesus, so Jesus must be a lesser being than God. This is known as the ‘Arian controversy’.

Question 18

What was discussed at the council of nicea

Answer 18

They discussed the Arian controversy in 325CE and to agree exactly what relationship Jesus had to god.

Question 19

How many bishops were at the council of nicea

Answer 19

220 bishops

Question 20

What was Constantine afraid of about Arius

Answer 20

That his ideas were becoming popular and they might split the Christian Church and the Roman Empire.

Question 21

What did the bishops of nicea agree about arius

Answer 21

That Arius’ ideas were heresy

Question 22

What did they create at the council of nicea

Answer 22

They wrote a creed, known as the Nicene Creed, outlining the beliefs that Christians should hold.

the Nicene Creed states that Jesus is both God and man at the same time.

The Nicene creed states that Jesus is ‘true god’ and “one of substance with the father”