Was the deity of Jesus Christ a later historical development in Christian theology invented at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD? Manuscript evidence holds the answer.
The Internet has no shortage of ex-pastors and “woke” individuals who have uncovered the hidden “truth” about the alleged sinister origins of Christianity. One of the biggest myths that continue to get traction is that Christianity, Christ, the deity of Christ, and even the canon of the Bible was created by the ecumenical council in Nicea in 325 AD. Which one is it? No one can get their conspiracy story straight.
Dear friends, a little knowledge of ancient history will quickly demonstrate that the “emperor (this assertion) has no clothes”. For example, the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity a religio licita (a legal religion) was issued in 313 AD (12 years before the Council of Nicea) by emperor Constantine. Before the decree, Christianity was a religio illicita (an illegal religion) and under heavy persecution. Logically, this means Christianity had to exist before the decree.
Now let’s introduce P66, the oldest nearly complete gospel of John, dated around 2nd or 3rd century AD according to the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. The letters are written in uncial- meaning the Greek text is capitalized without spaces and punctuation. I have highlighted John 1:1 in the manuscript, and I have included the Koine Greek in a readable presentation for those that can read Koine Greek along with the corresponding the English translation. It is worth noting that the Greek text for God (Theos) in this manuscript uses a nomina sacrum ΘΣ. A nomina sacrum is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles. This Christian scribal practice was used in Greek manuscripts of the 3rd century and earlier.
You will notice that the English translation for John 1:1 matches the wording that you are likely to see in your English Bible – a feather in your cap for the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts. Save for religious groups that attempt to make an unscholarly, illogical, and inconsistent argument for the anarthrous Theos in John 1:1c (AND THE WORD WAS GOD), it is clear that GOD (THEOS) in this phrase is a predicate nominative and makes a qualitative statement about the WORD (LOGOS). The Word is deity. In John 1:1c, we can also see why Modalism and Sabellianism are heresy since the text does not have a definite article before GOD (THEOS). Including the definite article before GOD (THEOS), changing it to AND THE WORD WAS THE GOD, would make the WORD and GOD the same person. There is a lot more I can say about John 1:1, but I believe have demonstrated how even early manuscript evidence, besides the wealth of other accounts, prove that the deity of Christ, was an established belief within orthodox Christianity well before the Council of Nicea.