At the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago, the leaders of the Christian churches in the Roman empire accepted the use of state violence to enforce adherence to their interpretation of who Jesus was. This is one of the most tragic moments in Christian history. Ideas about a person who was unjustly executed by the Roman Empire became the basis upon which the Roman Empire now would burn books and unjustly exile, persecute, and execute persons who dared to have differing ideas about Jesus. Rather than being an event to celebrate, the evil twisting of the meaning of Jesus’s life and teaching into grounds for the use of religious violence is something we should lament and from which we should all repent.

As we revisit the 1700-year old tragic irony of Christianity becoming the basis for the use of state violence to enforce doctrinal purity among Christian churches that began at the Council of Nicaea; instead of celebrating Constantine as the first Christian Roman Emperor, it would be more appropriate to remember him as a power hungry dictator who used the enforced unity of the Christian churches for the sake of imperial order, and to remember that just one year after the Council of Nicaea, Constantine murdered his son Crispus with poison and his wife Fausta by boiling her alive. 

The partnership of churches with an evil and murderous emperor/dictator and the Christian church leaders’ acceptance of the use of state violence to benefit one interpretation of Jesus over other interpretations are the antithesis of the way of love, compassion, and justice that we see exemplified in Jesus’ life and teachings as portrayed by the Gospels.

And lest we think the acceptance of state violence by Christian churches to enforce doctrinal purity and punish diverse interpretations of the Divine was just a one-off thing with the Council of Niceae and its immediate aftermath of book burning, exiles, and executions; let us not forget that churches and imperial powers have continued to work together through the centuries to stifle dissent, diversity of thought, and religious freedom through inquisitions, crusades, colonial expansion (often justified as Christian mission), executions, and genocide. And today, we see this dangerous and deadly partnership of relgious intolerance and state violence being expressed again in the rise of Christian nationalism.

Whatever the intent of the bishops at the Council of Nicaea may have been, the practical effect of their work was to tame Jesus for imperial purposes with deadly consequences for millions of persons throughout history (in 2009, Naveed Sheikh estimated that Christians are responsible for killing approximately 177.94 million people, See Body Count:A Quantitative Review of Political Violence Across World Civilizations). One need simply compare the kill count by Christians before and after the Council of Nicaea to see how deadly Nicene imperial Christianity has been for humanity. “You will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16, Common English Bible).

As we live through this time in which the rich and powerful continue to use religion to persecute and oppress the weak and vulnerable throughout the world, it is critical for followers of the way of Jesus to remember that the rich and powerful were much more often than not the ones who ultimately determined what was considered heretical. This is something to think about when you hear people using accusations of heresy to silence theological dissent, and this dissent is so urgently needed as Christian nationalism continues to increase the kill count of imperial Christianity. 

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