I do not express an opinion on whether or not it is correct. I just point out the historical relationship and the fact that it is probably not a proper litmus test to use for whether any given sect is or is not Christian.
Yes, Emperor Constantine stated that he would hold a HANDS-OFF approach when it came to THEOLOGICAL ISSUES. And, yes, we have no way of knowing what, if any, influence might have been imposed by the government on the wording of the creed.
To take a modern example, the gay mafia, for the most part, all claims that they will honor the concept of freedom of religion and that their agenda will not threaten what we believe on THEOLOGICAL ISSUES. But let any church preach against their lifestyle and suddenly it becomes a HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE. The pink mafia will be there to demand the church loses its tax exempt status or, even worse, is punished for hate speech. It is already happening in Europe.
It would be naive to think that the state controlled church of Constantine's Day would draw such a clear line between THEOLOGICAL ISSUES and POLITICAL ISSUES then just as it would be now.
That is why anyone, such as myself, who has anabaptist leanings in the mold of Jan Hus or Roger Williams instinctively reacts with repulsion when anyone tries to set themselves up as the ultimate authority on who does or who does not belong to the Christian club.
Jesus Christ alone will make that determination when he comes to earth again.
this post is utter nonsense. there was no state controlled Church in 325. anyone who has read history knows the pagans, arians and Catholics all practiced their faiths openly and without control from the “state”
all the bishops of the Church risked death being a Christian prior to Constantine’s change of mind, you think they were going to betray the Lord to curry favor with Constantine??
learn your history before opining on things you know nothing about. dan brown doesn’t count.
you have a way of knowing by seeing the Assyrian Church which was already separated -- being in Parthia. Yet this believes pretty much the same as what is in the creed and completely rejects the Mormon 3 gods philosophy