This year saw Disney see 100 years of its existence. A lot has changed in the span of 100 years. Disney is an institution that has been through ups and downs. It has the paradox of having a large involvement in outlining some of the greatest amination television shows, shorts, and movies in all of human history along with many controversies (during the past and present). Disney has been an entertainment hub for men, women, and children who seek joy along with an entity being criticized by Ron DeSantis for bigoted, reactionary reasons (hiding behind religion when most religious people don't believe that certain people should have 2nd class citizenship in contradiction of treating your neighbor as yourself. We have to fight to maintain and strengthen our democracy as democracy is readily fragile). I imagined writing on Disney for a long time. Now, it's time to show a fair portrait of the history, legacy, and culture of Disney. It is true that tons of workers in Disney locations are filled with grace and character and Walt Disney is a controversial person (with debates on his ideologies and his legacy as a man). Likewise, it is truly right to show it all about Disney and I do mean all. The only way to evaluate history is to see it with a clear picture filled with context, sources, and information that drive curiosity and understanding in a cogent fashion. Minnie Mouse, The Lion King, Mickey Mouse, and other characters are part of the world lexicon, and Disney will continue to exist in a changing 21st-century era indeed.
To start, in the time of October of 1923, Walt and Roy Disney worked together to open their studio together. This was in the early stage of Hollywood and the modern-day entertainment industry. Years ago, from 1921 to 2922, Walt and Ub Iwerks worked at Gray Advertising Company. Both had a studio called Laugh-o-gram Films Inc. from 1921 to 1922. Roy introduced Walt to the Gray Advertising Company. The studio became bankrupt. Walt Disney moved to Los Angeles in August 1923 to promote his new series of The Alice Comedies. Winkler Pictures gave him a contract for 12 Alice cartoons, and it was time for Walt and Roy to make a name for themselves. Walt handled the creative side. Walt Disney came to LA in Hollywood with 40 dollars in his pocket according to him. During the 1920s, the animation studio had more content like Alice, Oswald, Mickey Mouse, and the Silly Symphonies. The Alice Comedies was inspired by a little girl named Virginia Davis being contacted to play Alice. Alice's Wonderland was part of the films as well. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was born being a cross between Felix the Cat and Disney's Julius the Cat. Winkler Pictures gave him a contract for 12 Alice cartoons, and it was time for Walt and Roy to make a name for themselves. Walt handled the creative side. The first Silly Symphony was called The Skeleton Dance in August 1929. The Silly Symphonies cartoons lasted from 1929 to 1939. By the 1930's, Disney shifted to using more experimentation, showing new characters, and having feature-length movies with animation. Flowers and Trees was part of the Silly Symphony series and was number 29, to be released on July 23, 1932. Technicolor technology was used for future films by 1935. Flowers and Trees won the first ever Best Cartoon Short Subject at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932. It was also the first of the series to be distributed by United Artists when Disney made the switch from Columbia Pictures.
Disney came about to promote new characters in the 1930's like Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Pluto was Minnie's dog originally. Clarence Nash was the voice behind Donald Duck. Donald Duck made his first appearance in The Wise Little Hen on June 9th, 1934. Donald appeared in 10 more shorts from 1934 to 1936 before his appearance changed to the anthropomorphic duck in the short Moving Day. 1937 is notoriously linked with the release of the world’s very first animated feature-length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It premiered on December 21, 1937, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California. It was a film that won 8 honorary Academy Awards in 1938. The Animator's strike came about in 1940's. People wanted to have better working conditions and just payments. The strike kicked off after Art Babbitt and Walt Disney’s relationship was strained due to Babbitt’s agreement to have a union set in place for the employees falling through. A Federal mediator was brought in after 5 weeks and agreed that a union would solve many of its problems. Ever since this 1941 strike, Disney has been part of a union. Labor strikes existed nationwide in America during the 1930's and the 1940's. Walt Disney worked in WWI as an ambulance driver. He was part of wartime propaganda films during WWII. They produced propaganda films featuring popular Disney characters, educational videos, training videos, and more. These ranged from Why We Fight, which catered to soldiers, Victory Through Air Power, an educational film for a broader audience, and Der Fuehrer’s Face, a way to expose the Axis Powers. Films like Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, and Dumbo. Shorter films existed like Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Make Mine Music (1946), Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad (1949). One of the most controversial films of Disney was Song of the South in 1946. The movie shows a child listening to the story of Uncle Remus (during the time of Reconstruction) about B'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'eear. Many people criticized the film as promoting racist stereotypes about African Americans and glorifying plantation life as not a joyful occasion. As a result of the film's controversial legacy, Disney has not released Song of the South in any home video format in the United States, and the film has never been available on its streaming platform Disney+.
Racist imagery in Disney's early cartoons and films (and in movies plus cartoons in general not just in Disney back in the day) aren't new. Other characters that have been called racist are Sunflower, a black centaurette who serves a white centaurette in Fantasia; the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, who are considered to be over-exaggerated as Asians, stereotypes of Native Americans in Peter Pan, and crows in Dumbo, who are depicted as African Americans who use stereotypical "slang" talk. Their leader being named Jim Crow, which is considered to be a reference to racial segregation laws in the U.S. When watching a film on Disney+ considered to have wrongful racist stereotypes, Disney added a disclaimer before the film starts to help avoid controversies.
The 1950's saw the Silver Age or a return to the fairytale princess image with Cinderella and Alice and Wonderland. Ilene Woods played these roles. Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, and the Jungle Book used diverse amination. Disneyland was opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California. It was a theme, entertainment park. The plans for the locations were formed by Harriet Burns, Fred Joerger, and Wathel Rogers. Walter Elias Disney Enterprises or WED Enterprises was founded by Walt Disney in December 1952. WED Enterprises owned property in Glendale. It still exists today. It is now Walt Disney Imagineering in 1986 being used to improve Disney parks. This was the original park, so it acted as the trailblazer for the other Disneyland parks that were to come later on, including Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Shanghai, and Disneyland Hong Kong. During the 1960's, there was the experimentation of with audio-animatronics. There were more films like the Enchanted Tiki Room (1963), Greatest Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1964), It's a small world (1964), and Pirates of the Caribbean (1967). Mary Poppins was one of Disney's most successful projects. At its release in 1964, it was a huge success. At the 1965 Oscars, the film cleaned up, with Julie Andrews winning Best Actress in a Leading Role, Cotton Warburton winning Best Film Editing, Peter Ellenshaw, Hamilton Luske, and Eustace Lycett taking home Best Special Visual Effects, and the Sherman Brothers winning Best Music Original Song for “Chim Chim Cheree.” The film has won 13 other awards since then, many recognizing Julie Andrews as a top-up-and-coming lead film star. The controversial Jungle Book film was released on October 18th, 1967. Walt Disney passed away from lung cancer on December 15, 1966.
The 1970's saw the 50th year anniversary of Walt Disney. Disney started to collect historical artifacts, original amination cells, photos, and more. These Walt Disney Achieves were created by Dave Smith. Walt Disney, before his passing wanted Walt Disney World to exist in Florida. His older brother, Roy, knew of his plans. Roy would use this information moving forward and the plans already set in motion for the newest park to lead the team to the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971. 10,000 people gathered to experience the Magic Kingdom and its 19 opening-day attractions, some of which were the Skyway, the Country Bear Jamboree, and the Grand Prix Raceway. 3 more parks would be added over the next 2 decades, including EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Roy O. Disney would pass away in December of 1971 after leading the charge of this massive project. More parks existed like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain to celebrate nature. There was the Walt Disney Home Video collection. First, there was the Laserdisc system and then VHS tapes existed by 1980. Some of the first films to be released in Walt Disney Home Video were Pete’s Dragon, The Black Hole, The Love Bug, and Escape to Witch Mountain. They expanded the program by adding rentals and releasing Black Diamond editions of their films. As an expansion of Walt Disney World, EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982. This was one of Walt’s biggest personal dreams, something he wanted to invest in with the profits made from his theme parks. EPCOT celebrates the different world cultures. Disney’s Hollywood Studios, originally called Disney-MGM studios due to a marketing contract Disney had with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, would open on May 1, 1989. By the 1980s, there was the Disneyland Fantasyland with a Renaissance Fair theme. There were many rides started in the 1980's.
By the 1990's, new styles of animation existed in Disney. Pixar worked with Disney to make many advanced aminated films. High-resolution 3D images were part of this movement in Pixar. In 1982, The Adventures of Andre & Wally B. is shown at a conference, and it is the first short film to be created by the Pixar department. Following shortly after, they produced Luxo Jr. and Knick Knack. In 1989, they signed on for a 3-movie deal with Disney, which commenced in 1990. On June 15, 1994, The Lion King was released and was a massive success, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all time behind Jurassic Park and the highest-grossing animated film of all time, with a gross total of $968.5 million. It was critically praised and garnered two Academy Awards—Best Score and Best Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." Soon after its release, Katzenberg left the company after Eisner refused to promote him to president. After leaving, he co-founded film studio DreamWorks SKG.
In 1995, Toy Story was released and was the first ever computer-animated feature-length film. Disney then signed off on a 10-year, 5-movie deal, which included A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Monsters Inc. (2001). Disney's Animal Kingdom was opened on Earth Day 1998. Many animal species were there and it was inspired by the jungles of Africa and Asia. Disney began releasing DVDs of some of their live-action movies in 1998 and created a plan for some of their animated features for the year after. They chose a selection of just a few of their classic animated films for their first release, including Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, and more. During the late 1990's, popular Disney films would be Mulan, A Bug's Life, Hercules, and Tarzan.
By the 2000's, Disney expanded into Japan with Toyko DisneySea and Anaheim with California Adventure. By 2004, nearing the end of Michael Eisner’s reign as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the momentum of acquiring other entertainment companies was picking up. The franchise The Muppets, originally founded by Jim Henson in 1955, was officially trademarked and owned by Disney in 2004. In 2006 with the transition from Eisner to Iger, Iger was able to repair relationships that had been broken during the Eisner era, specifically with Steve Jobs at Pixar. Iger made a point to meet with Jobs to discuss the potential of Disney purchasing Pixar, and after Jobs convinced Pixar’s board of directors, Disney acquired Pixar in January 2006 for $7.4 billion. Disney's 2006 live-action film of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was a popular film making over $1 billion at the box office. The Disney Channel released High School Musical 2 by 2007.
After just a few short years as CEO, Bob Iger then made the remarkable decision to purchase Marvel Entertainment with cash and stocks. In August 2009, Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion. Marvel had films like Blade in 1998, and Iron Man in 2008 to start the MCU movement that continues to this day. The MCU movie culture expressed movies from The Avengers: Endgame to the historic film of Black Panther. Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September 12, 2005. It is the second most recent Disney theme park to ever open. It is one of the smaller parks in comparison to those in North America but has seen many expansions over the years with plans to expand even further.
By the 2010's, Bob Iger and Tom Staggs approached James Cameron, the world-famous filmmaker and mind behind The Terminator, Titanic, and Avatar. After the major success of Titanic, Cameron began work on Avatar, a sci-fi film based in the fictional land of Pandora. It would be another decade until the film could be released as they adapted the film to new technologies. Avatar took $237 million to make, which was nothing in comparison to what it made at the box office, $2.923 billion. It reached the $1 billion mark after just 19 days of being released worldwide. Instead of simply building an attraction based on Avatar, Disney created the world of Pandora, set in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Pandora - The World of Avatar, officially opened on May 27, 2017. Disney programs continue to exist. Disney once again started to relapse in the early 2000s with some of their films such as Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, and Home on the Range. In 2010, the Revival Era began for the studio, seeing more wins than ever. The Revival Era began with Princess and the Frog, followed by Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, and Frozen. Frozen was a very popular film. It has since received two Academy Awards, a Bafta, and a Golden Globe, and has been turned into a Broadway musical. Its sequel, Frozen II, has surpassed its successes and is the #1 highest-grossing animated film of all time until 2019 (when the remake of The Lion King took place in 2019).
On March 20, 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox's assets for $71.3 billion from Rupert Murdoch, making it the biggest acquisition in Disney's history. After the purchase, The New York Times described Disney as "an entertainment colossus the size of which the world has never seen." Through the acquisition, Disney gained 20th Century Fox; 20th Century Fox Television; Fox Searchlight Pictures; National Geographic Partners; Fox Networks Group; Indian television broadcaster Star India; streaming service Hotstar; and a 30% stake in Hulu, bringing its ownership on Hulu to 60%. Fox Corporation and its assets were excluded from the deal because of antitrust laws. Disney also became the first film studio to have seven films gross $1 billion: Marvel's Captain Marvel, the live-action Aladdin, Pixar's Toy Story 4, the CGI remake of The Lion King, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point at $2.797 billion Avengers: Endgame. On November 12, Disney's subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service Disney+, which had 500 movies and 7,500 episodes of television shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and other brands, was launched in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Within the first day, the streaming platform had over 10 million subscriptions; and by 2022 it had over 135 million subscribers and was available in over 190 countries. At the beginning of 2020, Disney removed the Fox name from its assets, rebranding them as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures
The new attraction of Avengers Campus existed on June 4th , 2021. In the last week of April 2023, Disney will implement the second and largest wave of job cuts, affecting Disney Parks, Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and the Experiences and Product division. This move is part of the company's plan to cut costs by $5.5 billion. In 2023, Disney began its "100 Years of Wonder" campaign in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the company's founding. This included a new animated centennial logo intro for the Walt Disney Pictures division, a touring exhibition, special events at the parks, and a well-received commemorative commercial that aired during Super Bowl LVII. In 2023, there was The Little Mermaid 2023 film which was history casting a young black woman Halle Berry as the Little Mermaid character. The film was an American musical romantic fantasy movie directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by David Magee. It was co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, and Marc Platt Productions. It came after the 1989 animated film of the same name. The 2023's The Little Mermaid was about mermaid princess Airel (played by Halle Berry) who trades her voice for human legs to impress Prince Eric after making a deal with sea witch Ursula. The film also starred Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Art Malik, Awkwafina, Melissa McCarthy, etc. The film grossed over $556 million worldwide. Let's talk about the elephant in the room. The same racist ones who object to the casting of Ariel as a black woman need to realize that this is a fictional story. A black woman has the right to achieve her own sense of creativity or destiny just like anyone else. Brand Norwood was the first black human being to play Cinderella in the 1997 Disney television film of the same name and Anika Noni Rose was Disney's first African American Princess as Tiana. Both Brandy Norwood and Anika Noni Rose praise the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel.
1999 was the end of the 1990's filled with music influenced by techno, hip hop, electronic, R&B, soul, neo-soul, jazz, gospel, rock fusion, and other genres. By January 1999, the London, England DJ and producer Fatboy Slim (a.k.a. Norman Cook) has his first #1 UK solo single with "Praise You." The hit video for the single features guerilla-style videography of flash mob dancers outside a theatre. The song is from Slim's second album You've Come A Long Way, Baby #1 UK. At the same time, the Swedish singer Eagle-Eye Cherry has a hit with his single "Save Tonight" reaching #5 US and #6 UK more than a year and a half after its initial release. Cherry is the son of jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and the half-brother of singer Neneh Cherry. In 1998 and in early 1999, Britney Spears was a superstar in the pop industry. The McComb, Mississippi actor, and singer Britney Spears, a former cast member of The Mickey Mouse Club, hit's #1 in the US and UK with her debut single "...Baby One More Time." The song is the title track from her debut album which hits #1 US, #2 UK and sells 25 million copies worldwide. The Orange County, California alternative rock band Lit found success with their second album A Place in the Sun which goes platinum in America. By February 1999, the rapper Eminem (Marshall Mathers) had his major label debut album The Slim Shady LP #2 US, #10 UK. Produced by Dr. Dre and others, the album goes 4X Platinum in the US and multi- Platinum UK. The album's lead single "My Name Is" hits #36 US and #2 UK. In February 1999, there was the third album from Silkk The Shocker (Vyshonn Miller) a New Orleans, Louisiana rapper debuts at US #1. The single "It Ain't My Fault Pt. 2", featuring labelmate Mystikal, reach #18 US Hot 100 and #1 US Rap. The album is the second in a row to reach US Platinum for The Shocker. Blondie and NYSNC released music. By April 1999, after declaring bankruptcy at the height of their success in 1995, Atlanta R&B/hip hop group TLC are back with their third album Fanmail #1 US, #7 UK. The album produces two US #1 singles "No Scrubs" #3 UK and "Unpretty" #6 UK. The album goes 6X US Platinum and sells 14 million copies worldwide. Sugar Ray has the song Every Morning, Buckcherry had its debut album and the Dublin, Ireland woman band of B*Witched had the hit "C'est La Vie." By May 1999, Kiss was the song from the Christian Rock band Sixpence None the Richer from New Braunfels, Texas. The group breaks into the US Top 100 at #2 with their single "Kiss Me" #4 UK. The song is from the group's self-titled third album which goes US Platinum. The group's cover of The La's song "There She Goes" hits #32 US, #14 UK.
Latin music star Ricky Martin, who began his music career at age 12 in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, hits #1 in both the US and UK with the single "Livin' La Vida Loca". The song is from Martin's self-titled fifth studio album which charts at #1 US, #2 UK and sells 15 million copies worldwide. Ricky Martin's music was shown everywhere. By May of 1999, Backstreet Boys released the Millennium album. It would be 13 X platinum in America and sells over 24 million copies worldwide. Jacksonville, Florida nu metal, rap rock band Limp Bizkit hit #1 US with their second album Significant Other #10 UK. The album features two of the band's biggest hits "Nookie" #3 US Alternative and "Re-Arranged" #1 US Alternative. The album goes 7X Platinum in the US. By June 1999, the Pioneering digital peer-to-peer file sharing application Napster debuts. The software allowed users to easily share MP3 audio files across the internet. The company ran into legal issues related to copyright infringement initiated by major record labels and were later forced into bankruptcy. Napster was gone, but Napster gave birth to future streaming services (after CD sales drop in the 21st century) like Spotify. Other services like Limewire and Gnutella followed too. Bronx, New York City singer and actor Jennifer Lopez hits #1 US, #4 UK with her first single "If You Had My Love." The song is from her debut album On The 6 which charts at #8 US, #14 UK and goes US Triple Platinum. The second single "Waiting For Tonight" also goes Top Ten in both the US and UK. Canadian country singer Shania Twain has another crossover pop hit with her single "That Don't Impress Me Much" #7 US, #3 UK. It is the third US/UK Top Ten hit from her third album Come On Over which goes 2X Diamond in the US and sells over 23 million copies worldwide. 98 Degrees, from Los Angeles, released their song of The Hardest Thing. Groups like Slipknot and Pearl Jam released music and albums. Blink 182 had music. By July 1999, the Houston, Texas girl group Destiny's Child have their first US #1 hit with the single "Bills, Bills, Bills" #6 UK. The song is the lead single from the group's second album The Writing's On The Wall #5 US, #10 UK. The album's third single "Say My Name" also hits #1 US in early 2000. The album goes 8X Platinum in the US. Destiny's Child by the end of the 1990's were already iconic and outstanding with their impact on R&B culture. Macy Gray had the song of I Try and Christina Aguilera had the song of Genie in a Bottle. By July of 1999, there was the Woodstock '99 is held in Rome, New York 100 miles away from the original site. MTV provided live coverage and headliners included Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, DMX, and many others. 400,000 attended, but the festival is marred by vandalism and violence. LFO had the single Summer Girls and Smash Mouth had the song All Star.
In August 1999, Las Vegas, Nevada R&B girl group 702, named after the Vegas area code, hit #4 US, #22 UK with their single "Where My Girls At?". The song is from the group's self titled second album on the Motown label which charts at #34 US and goes Platinum. Canadian singer-songwriter Tal Bachman has a hit with his debut single "She's So High" charting at #14 US, #30 UK. Bachman is the son of former Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive co-founder Randy Bachman. The single is from Bachman's self-titled debut album #124 US. David Bowie had the album of Hours. Ben Harper, Enrique Iglesias, and Eiffel 65 had hit songs. On October 1999, New York singer Mariah Carey has her 14th US #1 single with "Heartbreaker" #5 UK which features Brooklyn rapper Jay Z (Shawn Carter). The track is from Carey's seventh album Rainbow which charts at #2 US, #8 UK, and sells eight million copies worldwide. The first Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is held in Indio, California over two days. The event featured almost 80 acts with headliners Beck, Tool, and Rage Against The Machine. Attendance was well below expectations at 20,000 per day, causing the concert promoters to take an $850,000 loss on the event. This was in October of 1999. Scar Tissue was a hit song from LA band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smooth was a song by Santana and Rob Thomas. P Diddy had the song of Satisfy You with R. Kelly. The song is from Combs' second album Forever which charts at #2 US and #9 UK. The album goes Platinum in the US. The hit song of Mambo No. 5 came from Munich, West Germany singer Lou Bega. Marc Anthony had the song of I Need to Know and Jessica Simpson had the song of I Wanna Love You Forever. Signed to New Orleans label Cash Money Records at the age of 12, Lil Wayne (Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) releases his solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 and charts at #3 US. The album's title track charts at #24 US Rap and the album goes Platinum in the US. This was in November of 1999.
The Nicene Council story is one of the most important stories in Christianity and in spirituality in general. It is about a heroic young bishop against heretics like Arius and Constantine who wanted control and power. The lie is that the Nicene Council invented the Trinity, but the Trinity doctrine existed in the early church centuries before the Nicene Council. Jehovah's Witnesses, Gnostics, and other people in various faiths are anti-Trinitarian, but I do believe in the Trinity. Constantine was once a pagan, and he never invented the doctrine of the Trinity. The term Trinitas was used by Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch in ca. 180 A.D. The term of Trinity was also used by Tertullian almost 100 years before the Nicene council. Athenagoras said the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit simultaneously exist as one God. Praxeas promoted the heresy of Monarchianism or that the Father became the Son, and the Son became the Spirit. This is modalism or what the Oneness teaches now. The Trinity was resisted by Gnostics and Arians. Modalism was promoted in Rome. Roman Catholicism as we know it today never existed in the early church as the early church never embraced purgatory, Mary being the Ever Virgin, or the Pope being the head of the church. Even the apostle Peter was married and had children. The early church had bishops and institutions functioning in equal space as Cyprian said no man is a bishop among bishops. It would be after the 300's A.D. when the Catholic Church formed claiming falsely that the Bishop of Rome has primacy over all churches of the world. By 312 A.D., Emperor Constantine of Rome claimed to have witnessed a vision of God of seeing the shape of a cross in front of the sun. Then, he saw the Greek words of toutoi nika or in this sign conquer. Constantine then put his soldiers with the X on their shields to defeat his enemies. He told his friend Eusebius this story. Constantine allowed the end of the persecution of Christians that existed since the edict of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Constantine unified church and state which is against what Yeshua said of renders things to God things belong to God and render things to Caesar separately. Then, we saw a paganism infiltrate certain churches. Soon, icon, relics, veneration of images, and other heresies came into the apostate church (not the true church). Constantine didn't care about theological issues that much. Many future popes called themselves the Vicar of Church is blasphemous as God needs no representative on Earth. Arius was a bishop who opposed the bishop Alexander. Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, Egypt believed in the Trinity, but Arius was a heretic who thought that Jesus Christ was a created being. Bishop Alexander had a synod and denounced Arius's views. Arius forgets that Jesus in the NT is called the only Begotten Son of God and other views show Jesus Christ's existence before Creation. Arius believed that Yeshua was a created being not the eternal God in the flesh. Arius's friend Eusebius knew of Constantine and his family, so Constantine wanted this piece. Constantine convened the Nicene Council to deal with theological questions. It ended by Juen of 325 A.D. Arius debated Alexander. Alexander believed that Jesus Christ was the of the same substance (or homoousia) being God. Bishop Alexander and the young deacon Athanasius worked hard to debate and defend the Trinity. Athanasius said that the Scriptures prove that Jesus Christ was the same substance of nature as God. Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia believed that Christ was a created being. At first, Constantine banished Arius. By 333 A.D., Constantine agreed with Arius not being banished with the help of his friend Eusebius. Constantine was baptized on his death bed in 337 A.D. Arius suddenly died on his way to visit Constantinople where his friend Eusebius lived at. Constantine's son Constantius was a total Arian. He bashed Athanasius from Alexandria. Athanasius was attacked during his church service by Arians who brought 5,000 Roman soldiers with them in 353 A.D. Other creeds like in Constantinople would disavow the term substance. This would change after Constantius death in 361. Arians split apart. Athanasius passed away in 373 A.D. after writing books to refute the Arian heresy. His other important works include his Letters to Serapion, which defends the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you know the truth.
By Timothy
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