Moments before this photo was taken, we stood in silence on the stone floor of an ancient chapel; the very spot where the Council of Sardica took place.
Standing on these same stones, the leaders of the emerging church debated doctrine and established the New Testament Canon. Here they affirmed the Nicene Creed, publishing their council proceedings in both Greek and Latin, the languages of the day.
Our visit was limited to 15 minutes; the original site is now an internal (largely unchanged) portion of a functioning Orthodox church in the capital city of Sophia, Bulgaria. Foreigners may visit briefly.
We were in awe; meanwhile bearded and black-robed Orthodox priests stood very nearby, hovering close so that we did not photograph anything or show disrespect for the site. Disrespect? Our response was the opposite.
Many artifacts from the period encircled us. "The rocks cried out."
Constantine was in this city often. Jerome writes of this very council. All of the early histories record the debates and discussions here. Right here: only a few meters from the place of the fountain, above. It was almost too much to assimilate in a quarter-hour; our hearts and minds overflowed.
In a hushed silence we emerged from the cool darkness of the chapel and stood blinking for a few seconds in the bright Bulgarian sunshine. We then walked the perimeter of the church's exterior, thinking about others who also walked here --- pensively wrestling with how to help us avoid error, how to think about questions of matter and spirit, body and soul, eternity.
As contemporary believers we inherit a well-documented faith; a tradition that has been argued, debated, discussed, clarified and re-thought since the very beginning. Seven Councils -- as the Christian community began to emerge in diverse places and languages -- sought a unified understanding of what core Christian belief and practice looked like, sounded like.
It is not inaccurate to say that Christianity has often been divided and at odds with itself in its two millenia of history. It is also not inaccurate to say that at its core, there is or should be agreement on the essential confession by which we proclaim our faith in the Risen Lord. Here in this place, that seminal affirmation was prayerfully and powerfully refined.
We who travel here rejoice; hoping our journey conforms to His own.
The Council of Sardica, one of seven in which the emerging church defined the New Testament Canon, refuted heresies, and decided church policies, was held in the 340's AD, circa AD 347.
