CHRISTIANITY. 147 



pagan persecution, than it was agitated by the doctrines of Jlrius of 

 Alexandria ; who maintained that Christ was a created being, entirely 

 distinct from the Father, who alone was truly God. On this account, 

 Constantine assembled the General Council of Nice, which met in 

 325 at Nice, (east of Constantinople), and almost unanimously de- 

 clared that Christ, the Son, was coeternal and consubstantial with the 

 Father, and with Him and the Holy Ghost to be worshipped as the 

 one and only true God. To enforce this doctrine, the creed was 

 adopted, which, in a modified form, is still used as the Nicene Creed. 

 Arius was banished, but afterwards recalled ; and notwithstanding 

 this decision, JJrianism afterwards prevailed for some time in the 

 East. 



To oppose the heresies of Jlriits, Sabellius, and others, a second 

 General Council was held at Constantinople, A. D. 381. The sect 

 of the Pelagians next arose, founded by Pelagitis, a Welch monk, 

 who went to Rome, and in 410 to Africa; maintaining that Adam's 

 descendants are not affected by his sin, and that salvation may be 

 merited by our own good works. His tenets were refuted by Au- 

 gustin, bishop of Hippo, and condemned by the General Council of 

 Ephesus, in 431. At this Council, Nestorius was also condemned, 

 for refusing to call Mary the mother of God, and for maintaining the 

 existence not only of two natures, but also of two persons in Jesus 

 Christ. From him are named the Nestorian or Syrian Christians, 

 in the East, called also Christians of St. Thomas. There were other 

 Councils held in the East, at Chalcedon, in 451 ; at Constantinople, in 

 553 ; at Constantinople, in 680 ; at Nice, in 787 ; and at Constanti- 

 nople, in 869 ; making in all eight (Ecumenical or general councils, 

 called by the Byzantine or Greek emperors. 



3. The bishops of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constanti- 

 nople and Rome, had at an early period taken precedence over the 

 others ; and they received, about A. D. 400, the title of patriarchs ; 

 which the Eastern metropolitan bishops still retain. The name of 

 pope, (or papas), from the Greek, rfarfTtaj, father, was common, in 

 the third century, to all the bishops ; and is still given to the Greek 

 priests in Russia. Though applied to the bishop of Rome, it was 

 not monopolized by him, till the time of Gregory VII., in 1073. 

 The bishop or pope of Rome, at length claimed, as the successor of 

 St. Peter, the primacy over all the others ; which was confirmed by 

 the provincial synod at Sardica, in 344 ; as also by the Council of 

 Constantinople, in 381, which made the bishop of Constantinople 

 second in rank ; and again, by the western emperor Valentinian III., 

 in 445. The General Council of Chalcedon, in 451, conceded to the 

 Roman bishop a precedence in rank, but refused to admit that he was 

 vested with any superior authority. At length, disagreements arose, 

 which led Pope Felix II., A. D. 484, to excommunicate the patriarchs 

 of Constantinople and Alexandria; and thus the Eastern or Greek 

 Church was separated from the Western or Roman : though both 

 assumed the title of Catholic or universal. They were afterwards 

 united, at intervals, till the downfall of the Byzantine empire ; but 

 never in a cordial, intimate manner. 



The farther progress of the Roman papal power, we must reserve, 



