Of course this was determined by a majority vote. If you were in the minority you were a heretic. The Council of Nicea was as much about politics as it was scripture.
I don’t think the majority of Protestants would agree that the heresies I listed are indeed outside of acceptable belief for a Christian. If you believe in the Triune God you sure as heck are not Arians. If you do not believe in the duality of good and evil you are not a Gnostic. If you believe that Jesus is God you are not a Nestorian. If you do not believe that Jesus is either only fully God or only fully human you are not a Chalcedonian ( the last I am a bit fuzzzy on so forgive any error)
OF course I may err and you may reject the divinity of Christ. You may view Satan as a demigod or as a god. You may believe that Jesus is not one person with two natures, divine and human. If you do you are indeed a heretic by Catholic, Orthodox and the majority of Protestant definitions. Or you could just be a member of the Episcopal Clergy. Who can tell these days?
And if you read Christian history you will find out that in many places the Arian heretics were in the majority. Praise be to God for the untiring defense of the faith given by St. Anathasius(sp).
I don’t think the majority of Protestants would agree that the heresies I listed are indeed outside of acceptable belief for a Christian. If you believe in the Triune God you sure as heck are not Arians. If you do not believe in the duality of good and evil you are not a Gnostic. If you believe that Jesus is God you are not a Nestorian. If you do not believe that Jesus is either only fully God or only fully human you are not a Chalcedonian ( the last I am a bit fuzzzy on so forgive any error)
OF course I may err and you may reject the divinity of Christ. You may view Satan as a demigod or as a god. You may believe that Jesus is not one person with two natures, divine and human. If you do you are indeed a heretic by Catholic, Orthodox and the majority of Protestant definitions. Or you could just be a member of the Episcopal Clergy. Who can tell these days?
And if you read Christian history you will find out that in many places the Arian heretics were in the majority. Praise be to God for the untiring defense of the faith given by St. Anathasius(sp).
Please pardon if this is a double post.