4/8. Ironically, Celsus never argues that Jesus didn't exist.
Instead, he accepts Jesus as a real historical person and focuses his attack on who Jesus was and what he did.
3/8. Celsus attacked Christian claims by:
• Mocking the virgin birth
• Claiming Jesus was illegitimate
• Alleging Jesus learned magic in Egypt
• Rejecting Jesus' divinity
• Ridiculing the worship of a crucified man
2/8 Celsus wrote The True Word (c. AD 170-180), the earliest known comprehensive critique of Christianity. Although the original work is lost, much of it survives through Origen's response, Contra Celsum (c. AD 248).
1/8. Celsus was one of Christianity's earliest critics. Writing in the late 2nd century AD, he attacked Jesus as a fraud and Christianity as irrational. Yet his hostile criticism accidentally confirms several important historical facts about Jesus.
Post 8
Nearly 1,700 years later, the question that sparked Nicaea remains as important as ever:
"Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15)
The bishops at Nicaea gave their answer.
The question still confronts each generation
Post 7/8
Nicaea's impact went far beyond theology.
The council also addressed church unity, set guidelines for church governance, and worked toward a common date for celebrating Easter.
Its influence is still felt today.
Post 6/8
One common myth:
❌ Nicaea did NOT invent the divinity of Jesus.
Long before the council, Christians worshipped Jesus as Lord and God.
The council addressed how Christ's divinity should be understood and defended against Arianism.
Post 5/8
The council's answer was decisive:
Jesus Christ is "begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father."
This became the heart of what we now call the Nicene Creed.
A statement still recited by millions every week.
Post 4/8
The bishops wrestled with a single Greek word:
homoousios
Meaning "of the same substance."
Was Jesus merely like God?
Or was He fully and eternally God?
One word would become a defining line of Christian belief.
Post 3/8
Enter Emperor Constantine.
Concerned that theological division could fracture his newly unified empire, he summoned bishops from across the Christian world to meet at Nicaea in AD 325.
History, theology, and politics collided in one room.
Post 2/8
The controversy centred on a priest named Arius.
His argument sounded simple:
"There was a time when the Son did not exist."
In other words, Jesus was God's greatest creation, but not fully God Himself.
The debate exploded across the Roman Empire. ⚡
Post 1/8
What if I told you one meeting in AD 325 helped shape Christianity for the next 1,700 years? 👀
The Council of Nicaea wasn't just a church gathering. It was a battle over one question:
Who is Jesus, really?
The Law of Moses is misunderstood. From the perspective of other Ancient Near Eastern cultures, it raised the moral bar considerably. However, in the light of standards set by Jesus in the new covenant, OT laws about slaves, women and corporal punishment appear primitive to us.
We are citizens of secular states where elected leaders develop legislation. For us, the law of the land and the Law of the Lord are separate. But for the Israelites, they were one and the same. This explains a big chunk of the 613 laws given through Moses.
Post 6/6
Whether Thallus was trying to explain away the event or simply record it, his account shows that reports associated with Jesus’ death had become noteworthy enough to enter broader historical discussion.
Post 5/6
Thallus never explicitly names Jesus, but the timing and context of the darkness strongly suggest he was referring to the crucifixion described in the Gospels.
Post 4/6
What makes Thallus significant is that he was not a Christian. His reference comes from outside the New Testament tradition and appears to have been written within a few decades of Jesus’ death.
Africanus challenged Thallus’s explanation, arguing that a solar eclipse is impossible during Passover, because Passover occurs at a full moon, while solar eclipses require a new moon
According to later historian Julius Africanus, Thallus mentioned a remarkable darkness that occurred during the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Thallus reportedly attempted to explain the event as a solar eclipse.