“First, if he claims to be God and yet in fact is not, he has to be a madman or a lunatic. Second, if he is neither God nor a lunatic, he has to be a liar, deceiving others by his lie. Third, if he is neither of these, he must be God. You can only choose one of the three possibilities. If you do not believe that he is God, you have to consider him a madman. If you cannot take him for either of the two, you have to take him for a liar. There is no need for us to prove if Jesus of Nazareth is God or not. All we have to do is find out if He is a lunatic or a liar. If He is neither, He must be the Son of God.”
C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)
In AD 325, approximately 318 bishops converged at the Council of Nicaea to examine the Scriptures, witnessing together what God’s Word said concerning Jesus’ identity. Was/is Jesus the 2nd Person of the Trinity (God incarnate), or merely a created being (as Arius believed). Following their reading of the Scriptures, and the (alleged) famous slap from Nicholas of Myra, Arius’ teaching was recognized as heresy. Jesus is so much more than fully human, he is also fully God— Jesus is the homoousios = the same substance as the Father. Jesus is Holy!
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”
Mark 2:5-7
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
John 1:1-3
“I the Father are one.”
John 10:30
“The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’”
John 10:33
“But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’”
Hebrews 1:8
“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”
Titus 3:13
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
1 Corinthians 8:6
Here are some academic resources:
John M. Meade: https://equip.sbts.edu/article/the-council-of-nicaea-did-not-create-the-canon-of-scripture/
Wesley Huff: https://www.wesleyhuff.com/blog/2020/10/13/what-happened-at-the-council-of-nicaea
Michael Kruger: https://michaeljkruger.com/was-the-divinity-of-jesus-a-late-invention-of-the-council-of-nicea/
Hold Fast Apologetics 