Section 510
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28 COUNCIL OF NICE. The remarkable unanimity of the synod on the subject of our Saviour's true and proper divinity, the only one examined by that convention, which excites much interest at the present day, may be considered, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, as affording1 a powerful confirmation of the truth of this important doctrine. Every part of the Christian world was virtually repre sented by men, who, from their commanding station and favor able opportunities, must be supposed to have been well acquainted with what was understood to have been the doctrine of the apos tles, on this important article of our faith. Most of them, probably, lived within two centuries of the death of St. John. Could the original doctrine have been lost in a period so comparatively short? Could it have been corrupted? Could it have been generally corrupted throughout the Church ? If not, the fathers of Nice must have held, in this respect, the faith delivered by the first preachers of Christianity, and consequently the true one. They could not have been ignorant of what was, and had been, believed, in their respective countries. The agreement, therefore, on this point, of so many different nations, as expressed by their representatives, nations of such various characters, pursuits, man ners, customs and prejudices, can be satisfactorily accounted for only on the supposition, that they had received their belief from a common source, and preserved it pure by tradition, during the few generations which had elapsed from the time when they first received the gospel from the apostles themselves, or from those who lived not long after the apostolic age. It may be said, that many of the members of the council might have been deterred from expressing their real belief, as some few of them undoubtedly 1 . 'were, from the fear of exile or deposition. But they appear to have been almost unanimous on this subject before any threats of that kind were held out, and therefore such an apprehension could have operated on a very small number only ; and if even a mere majority had been Arians, the danger would obviously have been on the other side. St. Chrysostom remarks, that it would be absurd to charge the council, composed as it was, in a great measure, of saints and confessors, either with ignorance or fear. Nor does this reflection seem to be unfounded. For, how can it be reasonably supposed, that in the situation in which they were