Dear friends,
Last week I learned that the season of Lent may be rooted in a Christian tradition the Church formally declared to be heretical at the Council of Nicaea nearly 1700 years ago. It turns out you never know what you will find in history’s attic.
I came across this juicy bit of possible historical trivia while putting together a short presentation on Lent for a meeting of our “Faith Trio”, a gathering of folks from MPC, Kehilla Synagogue and the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California. I started by trying to figure out when the tradition of observing Lent for 40 days started (turns out the practice was formally established in 325 CE or thereabouts), and why we say Lent lasts for 40 days when it actually lasts 46 days (two possible answers: some people say Lent is 40 days plus Sundays; others say Lent is 40 days plus Monday through Saturday during Holy Week, which is even more solemn than Lent).
But I also learned that no one knows for sure why Lent is 40 days in the first place. Originally, Christians prepared for Easter by fasting for forty hours before Resurrection Day, and some scholars think the hours were changed to days by those who were extra pious. This could be correct, but I am more attracted to an explanation that involves heresy.
Prior to the Council of Nicaea a significant portion of the Christian community believed Jesus was not eternally divine, but that he was an exceptionally good person upon whom God conferred divinity at baptism (this is a tradition called “Adoptionism” because these Christians believed Jesus became God’s son during his baptism). Members of this Christian sect observed Jesus’ deification at baptism by fasting for forty days–as Jesus did–after the feast of Jesus Baptism.
Apparently (according to the theory I like), this practice of fasting was popular enough that the Council of Nicaea knew it could not be abolished without serious pushback from Adoptionist Christians who despite being called heretics still existed in large numbers, so even while the Council of Nicea declared as heresy a belief that Jesus became God at baptism, they held on to the most important Adoptionist spiritual practice, the forty day fast.
It probably is worth noting that even now, centuries after the fact, many churches still read the story of Jesus’ fast and temptation in the wilderness on the first Sunday in Lent, and I find that to be confusing, because Jesus’ fast and temptation are about the beginning of Jesus ministry not the end; but am also comforted by the Nicene Council’s appropriation of the Adoptionist fast. I’m glad to know that the Christian Church, even in its most traditional expressions and despite protestations to the contrary, still has room for a certain amount of heresy, because where there is room for heretics there is room for curiosity and spiritual exploration and where there is room for curiosity and spiritual exploration there is room for me and there is room for you.
So, as we move though Lent, have a little heresy with your tradition, and know that you are blessed.
God’s Peace,
Ben