WWUTT Wednesday - Don't Slap the Heretic

Nicholas of Myra smacks Arius

During the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, Bishop Nicholas of Myra got a little upset with a fellow named Arius. Arius was a Christian presbyter from Alexandria Egypt and was teaching at the Nicaean council that Jesus the Son was not equal to God the Father. Arius claimed that Jesus was created by the Father, is distinct from the Father, and is therefore subordinate to the Father, This belief is called Arianism and it undermines the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. 

Angered with Arius' heretical teaching, Nicholas got up, walked across the room and slapped Arius in the face. Shocked that someone would commit violence in his presence, Constantine had Nicholas locked up in prison and allowed the Bishops to choose the appropriate punishment. The Bishops banished Nicholas to the North Pole, forced him to change his name to Santa and required him to raise reindeer and distribute toys for all eternity. And that's why on St. Nicholas day we're allowed to slap heretics.

Ok, I made bit about the North Pole and reindeer up. And please don't slap anybody, even on a Monday. To a Christian the ending of the actual Nicholas myth is just as weird. And to be honest the whole story is contrived, there's no evidence that Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea or that Arius did either. The best evidence says that  Arianism was discussed and determined to be a Heresy

What is a heresy? As Amy Spreeman at Berean Research so perfectly says "Heresy is a false teaching about the essential doctrines of our faith" and to understand what a heresy is, we must first understand what those doctrines are first. The good folks at WWUTT have discovered that to remember what those doctrines are, you simply need to remember that DOCTRINE is an acronym for our doctrines. Please watch the video and don't slap any heretics. If they upset you I suppose it's ok to put coal in their stocking