This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, the convocation of bishops in present-day southeastern Turkey at which Jesus Christ was officially declared to be of one substance with God the Father. Before the year 325, many Christians led by the Eastern bishop Arius thought the Savior was a creation, even if a special one.
The council was convened by the Emperor Constantine, who could draw from a long Roman tradition of men creating gods that went back to the senatorial deifications of Julius Caesar (44 BCE) and Augustus (14 ACE). Did Constantine really care about the full divinity of Jesus? Probably not; he cared mostly about the unity of his empire, which was wrangling over the subject. Constantine himself wasn't even a proper Christian, receiving baptism not until he was on his deathbed, and then from a bishop known to be an Arian sympathizer and therefore an enemy of peace.
Councils would not secure peace. In 518, 350 monks were killed in a dispute over Christian factionalism at a council city ironically bearing Constantine's name. From 1209 to 1229, Pope Innocent III's Crusade against the Albigenses, a meek, wealth-despising Christian sect in southern France, resulted in possibly a million casualties and 20,000 targets slaughtered. Its rallying cry, "Kill them all, God will recognize his own!," was adopted, among other ways, to title Metallica's debut album, "Kill 'Em All."
Martin Simson's Destroyer of Death asks a better question than "How godly was Jesus?" First thing in the new heavy-rockin' song "Rescue Me," former Kamelot vocalist Roy Khan wonders, "Why did You send Him?" Humanity clearly was not worthy and neither is he, he says, but the singer wants to be rescued. From what? From his dissatisfaction with the world, portrayed as chains (drugs?), gold nuggets, hooded Death (what comes after that?), and best of all, a desert of tits. The song blasts along without a single worry as to whether God yanked Jesus from His pancreas or built Him from a virgin-injection kit He ordered on Amazon. What's at stake is the sudden, unexpected belief that came over the writer. No emperors or popes required.
Oh, and best wishes to Pope Francis. As popes go, we probably won't get a better one next, "Conclave" or no.
Watch "Rescue Me" here.