The Road to Nicea: Recent Episodes
Ben Wyatt
Emperors, bishops, monks, riots - and that Creed you hear on Sunday mornings. Join the Rev. Ben Wyatt in a fascinating account of Christ, creed, and controversy in the turbulent 4th century.
It wouldn't be the Road to Nicea without a few U-turns. It's time to meet one of the biggest. Tune in to learn about Julian the Apostate: emperor, philosopher, idealist, nerd.
It's time for a little diversion as we meet the man who was there for all of Nicea's history - and we mean ALL of it.
In which the anti-Nicene forces seem to have the upper hand...and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of ancient history is revealed.
As the empire changes, the theologies of the Church change too. Just what were mid-fourth-century theologians making of Nicea's odd "homoousios" language?
In which we take a look at another member of the Constantinian court: Lactantius, tutor to Crispus and writer of treatises. What does he have to tell us about the Great Persecution and its aftermath?
Persecutor, lucky son, mild-mannered emperor, forgotten bureaucrat. He has so many descriptors. But who really is Constantius II?
Well yes, we've had one creed, but what about a second creed? And a third, and a fourth, and...
In which third century Christians experience a massive rise in membership during Rome's troubled century.
In which we look at the turbulent fourth century through the lens of the chaotic third century: a time when emperors came and went with the seasonal fashions, castrati priests paraded up and down the capital, and patriotism meant having a LOT of steak dinners.
Christ, controversies, and that creed you might hear on Sunday mornings. We begin our journey towards Nicea!