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Contra Mundum For centuries, Christians have wrestled with one of the most central questions of our faith: in what sense is Christ God? This was precisely the question which theologians wrestled with centuries ago at the Council of Nicea. A constant struggle between orthodoxy and heresy, the politics and religion surrounding this significant event are tremendously fascinating and inspiring. It proves that the truth will always stand contra mundum--“against the world.” During the third century, Christians began to speculate as to the nature of Christ’s Divinity. A problem arose: “How could Christ be begotten of God, yet co-eternal with God? And if not eternal, was He very God at all?” (Cowan 26). Two heresies arose in response to this question: a) that Christ was merely a man whom the Spirit gave divine power, and b) that Christ was God, but not distinct from the Father. The latter came to be known as Sabellianism. In response to these heresies, the Christian philosopher Origen proposed a solution that he called “eternal generation.” He claimed that Christ’s begetting does not refer to a specific event in time (implying a previous non-existence), but is descriptive of the eternal Father-Son relationship.