Council of Nicaea

 In 325 Constantine was the sole Roman Emperor. He had just defeated his adversary Licinius and now ruled over a massive territory. He had become a Christian, in assertion if not in fact. But he now faced his greatest challenge. Not the swords of enemies, but the mouths of bishops. It seemed that each bishop in the East, not the West, had his own view of what a Christian was to believe. In an attempt to deal with this crisis, unlike his many wars, he decided to hold a Council and get agreement. This was the Council of Nicaea in 325.

It was a classic herding of cats. Constantine had just come back from defeating Licinius, greatly wounded, and having to deal with hundreds of interpretation of Scripture, fundamentally were there three Gods or just one, and if one how to rationalize this with Scripture. 

Constantine's solution, unlike his predecessors who sent them to the lions, he decided to write his own Creed and "let them eat cake"!

It worked. He inserted a Greek phrase, never really used, which allowed anyone to interpret it in their own way. He also had a thousand guards with swords drawn, "welcoming" the bishops. Needless to say the acrimony of the East was quieted and we had a Creed! His backers in the West rejoiced, and henceforth the Church used Latin and not Greek! 

Oh yes, he changed the name of the capitol city to Constantinople. (See current mouths)