Introduction:
The clash between Arius of Alexandria, the brilliant defender of monotheism, and Nicholas of Myra, later sainted as “Santa Claus,” at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. was more than a personal dispute—it was a turning point in Christian history. Arius, renowned for his intellect and spiritual discipline, stood against the rising tide of Trinitarian doctrine, while Nicholas embodied its fiercest defense. Their confrontation, remembered in legend and contested in scholarship, symbolizes the struggle between the unity of God and the doctrine of the Trinity.
This essay revisits that moment not only through historical accounts but also through the lens of Bahá’í interpretation, contrasting Abdu’l‑Bahá’s emphasis on unity with Dr. Leland Jensen’s uncompromising indictment of Trinitarianism. In doing so, it explores how Arius’s defense of pure monotheism resonates across centuries and why this debate remains vital for understanding the foundations of faith today.
The purpose of this composition is to demonstrate the error of Trinitarian rejection of Dr. Leland Jensen’s explanations and commentary regarding Arius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, aka, Santa Claus, and to elucidate the station of Dr. Leland Jensen.
It is safe to presume that after the Manifestation of Jesus Christ and before the Manifestation of Mohammed, Arius (250-336 A.D.), the ascetic librarian of Alexandria, also known as the “Patriarch of Alexandria,” was the most intelligent man alive. Arius was also the Presbyter of the Baucalis district in Alexandria, where the apostle Mark had been martyred. Home to over 500,000 papyrus documents, the Great Library of Alexandria was the ancient world’s largest and most significant library.
The Clash at Nicaea (325 A.D.)
Arius was certainly smarter and more spiritual than the barbaric Nicholas, the Trinitarian bishop of Myra, who history recounts, clobbered Arius at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Nicholas was later sainted by the Trinitarian church. Nicholas was a criminal, as it was a crime to strike a person in the presence of the Emperor. He was imprisoned for the deed and later pardoned.
After having been battered by Nicholas, Arius was unable to continue functioning as the Librarian at Alexandria, or as the Presbyter of the Baucalis District. He resigned to the west in Tunis and later retired to Constantinople to the East where many modern historians believe he was poisoned to death by his opponents. (Kirsch) He died a sudden death from hemorrhaging bowels.
There seems to be confusion about this matter, even amongst some Baha’is. The sentiment, in agreement with Trinitarians, is that Dr. Leland Jensen, the Establisher of the Baha’i Faith, was wrong in his explanation, which confirmed that Nicholas battered Arius at the Council of Nicea. The Trinitarians, who are the largest segment of religion in the world, have for centuries joked about the incident in one breath while denying it happened in the next breath. Trinitarians have a great stake in this matter because Arius was a staunch defender and promoter of monotheism. If Arius was correct in his arguments for monotheism, then arguments in favor of the polytheism of the Trinity collapse, because if God is One, He would not at the same time be three.
Arius’s Teachings
Arius was not alone in his monotheistic views. He is joined by the great prophets throughout history. The Manifestations of God, who are the founders of the world’s religions each taught that God is One, that is, they were all monotheists.
For instance, Adam taught of Father Sun, Moses of the LORD God, Krishna of Brahma, Buddha of Amita, Jesus the first Christ of Eloi, Mohammed of Allah, the Bab and Baha’u’llah of the Glorius God.
Adam:
“And they heard the voice of the LORD God” -Genesis 3:8 “O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me! I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy – myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes, so when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.” -Lakota Prayer to Wakan Tanka
Moses:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me.” -Exodus 20:2-3“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” -Deuteronomy 6:4
Buddha:
Amita “Infinite One” – Rigveda and Mahabharata.
Jesus Christ:
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, is one.” –Mark 12:28–2
Mohammed:
“Why say three? There is but one.” -Surah An-Nisa (Chapter 4), verse 171
And even Baha’u’llah’s son, Abdu‘l-Baha wrote:
The Creator of all is one God; the Provider, the Giver, the Protector of all is one God.
-The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 169
However, Abdu’l-Baha then said:
“Were one to consider the events of the previous cycles, the attempts to break the Covenant in this Dispensation are of no importance whatsoever. Sometime after Christ, Arius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, founded a new sect. He was an orator, articulate of speech and a very audacious and powerful person who succeeded in bringing one and a half million people under his influence. He even secured the allegiance of the Emperor Constantine. But since he deviated from the Covenant of Christ, at the end he faded away and perished. This Covenant was based on the words addressed to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” And though these words attributed to Christ are based only on the report of some of His disciples, nevertheless Christian unity was preserved for eight hundred years through this implicit Covenant.” (Light)
According to a Copilot AI query, historical records and scholarly research estimate that the population of Alexandria in the 4th Century A.D. never exceeded 500,000 people. The majority of Arius’s followers lived in Alexandria, so an estimate of 1.5 million followers seems impractical.
After Arius was carried out of the proceedings [1] the Nicene Creed was formulated and ratified. Two main things were decreed. First, keeping the holiday Easter was mandated. Easter had it’s origins in Egypt and Babylon over a thousand years before the appearance of Christ.
1. Leland Jensen often told the story of Nicholas battering Arius at the Council of Nicea. He recounted this at Baha’i Forums, and he used the story to supplement the Proofs for Jesus Fireside class. He referred to the strike as “The fatal blow to true Christianity.”
Easter was called Ishtar in Egypt, and Eostre in Babylon, and was celebrated as a fertility holiday in honor of Semiramis, the queen of Babylon. (Hislop) Second, the concept of “Homoousias,” was declared, claiming that God the Son was equal to God the Father. Thus, the Trinity, which began in ancient Babylon, with the third part being God the Holy Spirit, was made the official religion of the Roman Empire, and to preserve the “religios.” [2] The punishment for other worship became severe.
2. Constantine knew that “religios” in Latin means “to bind the people together,” Thus he chose religion to be the means of unity for his empire.
Nicholas of Myra: Champion of the Trinity
Today, most Trinitarians claim that the story of Nicholas slapping Arius is not historical, that it is just a legend that started 1000 years after the Council of Nicea, and that the slap didn’t happen, that it is just apocryphal or metaphoric, about how Christians should defend their faith. But this has been refuted as there is a record of Nicholas attending the Council of Nicea, as he was one of the signers of the Nicene Creed, Nicholas of Myra. (Davis) Nicholas’s name is also on the long roster of attendees provided by the ancient historian, and reader, from the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Theodorus the Lector. (English) Most authorities consider the Theodorus list the most complete and accurate list of the 300 bishops in attendance.
As well, there is a record of the assault. Nicholas confessed at his hearing and was punished by being stripped of his miter and gown, and thus his status as a bishop, which was later restored.
Shortly after the Nicene Creed was enacted, due to his injury, Arius was unable to respond to a call for a follow-up meeting, consequently, Emperor Constantine issued a decree against Arius and his followers which involved capital punishment for any person caught with writings containing the monotheistic teachings of Arius. (Fourth)
In addition, if any writing composed by Arius should be found, it should be handed over to the flames, so that not only will the wickedness of his teaching be obliterated, but nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him. And I hereby make a public order, that if someone should be discovered to have hidden a writing composed by Arius, and not to have immediately brought it forward and destroyed it by fire, his penalty shall be death. As soon as he is discovered in this offense, he shall be submitted for capital punishment […] — Edict by Emperor Constantine against the Arians (Fourth)
It’s all Greek to me!
The text from The Star of the West/Light of the World states that “Arius had the allegiance of Emperor Constantine,” but actually, Constantine rejected Arius for the conclave of Bishops, and he accepted the Trinity. The Nicene Creed was made official, decreeing the Trinity as the religion of Roman Empire. Constantine spoke only Latin and he did not understand one word of the proceedings at Nicea which was entirely held in Greek. His translator was a Trinitarian bishop. This is where the term, “it’s all Greek to me” originated. Although Constantine converted to Christianity in 312, and accepted the Trinity as official doctrine in 325, It was not until he was on his deathbed, and at the urging of his sister Anastasia, that he repented and was baptized by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337. Since Arius died a year earlier, in 336, the statement about “Allegiance” is dubious.
Two Valid Interpretations of History
The natural question that arises in light of the historical facts should be, was Abdu’l-Baha wrong? Or was something else going on? Something on a higher level that requires out-of-the-box, spiritual critical thinking to understand?
As the author of this essay, I am certain that it is the latter, as I know that Dr. Jensen was not wrong in his explanation. Abdu’l-Baha was teaching Christians, who were Trinitarians. I believe he used the opportunity to teach Trinitarians a lesson about the Covenant and Unity, while also not alienating anyone, as he wished to attract all people to the Baha’i Faith without offending his audience. His teaching style and methods in no way meant that a full century later, Dr. Jensen “got it wrong.” [3] How can we all be certain of this? Let us revisit the roles of Abdu’l-Baha and Dr. Jensen.
3. This is similar to how Abdu’l-Baha, in his work Some Answered Questions, which was written for Christian audiences, when teaching about the Manifestations, omitted Krishna and Buddha, and included Abraham and Noah, as a favor to Christians so as not to alienate them, or trigger religious prejudices that could deter them from the Baha’i Faith.
Abdu’l‑Bahá’s Emphasis on Unity
Abdu’l-Baha was the son of the prophet/founder of the Baha’i Faith. Because of his mastery at teaching the Baha’i Faith, he was called the “Master.” Baha’u’llah also called him the “Mystery of God.” This title is relevant to this conversation about why he would favor Trinitarians regarding Arius, when he himself was a monotheist, like Arius. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Abdu’l-Baha is known to all Baha’i as the “Exemplar” of the Faith, that is, he is the “example” by which Baha’i should live their lives, without strife or conflict, always attracting others to the faith and the Cause while working towards unity and the oneness of humanity.
Dr. Leland Jensen, however, had many titles, aka diadems in his crown. Each Manifestation of God prophesied the coming of two people in the plan of God, during the Adamic Dispensation. These were Baha’u’llah, and Dr. Leland Jensen.
| Adam | Moses | Krishna | Zoroaster | Buddha | Jesus | Mohammed | |
| B/A | Father Sun | Messiah | 9th Avatar | Shah Bahram | Amitabha | Return of Christ | Al-Masih |
| Doc | Bahana | Joshua | Kalki Avatar | Saoshyant | Maitreya | Melchizedek | Return of Jesus |
Additionally, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá spoke about the coming of Dr. Jensen, as the 7th Angel, who would establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. He even explained that this “Establisher” would appear 100 years from the proclamation of Baha’u’llah, that is, in 1963, which is the year Dr. Jensen began his ministry:
The seventh angel is a man qualified with heavenly attributes, who will arise with heavenly qualities and character. Voices will be raised, so that the appearance of the Divine Manifestation will be proclaimed and diffused. In the day of the manifestation of the Lord of Hosts, and at the epoch of the divine cycle of the Omnipotent which is promised and mentioned in all the books and writings of the Prophets — in that day of God, the Spiritual and Divine Kingdom will be established, and the world will be renewed; a new spirit will be breathed into the body of creation; the season of the divine spring will come; the clouds of mercy will rain; the sun of reality will shine; the life-giving breeze will blow; the world of humanity will wear a new garment; the surface of the earth will be a sublime paradise; mankind will be educated; wars, disputes, quarrels and malignity will disappear; and truthfulness, righteousness, peace and the worship of God will appear; union, love and brotherhood will surround the world; and God will rule for evermore — meaning that the Spiritual and Everlasting Kingdom will be established. Such is the day of God. For all the days which have come and gone were the days of Abraham, Moses and Christ, or of the other Prophets; but this day is the day of God, for the Sun of Reality will arise in it with the utmost warmth and splendor.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 56)
Dr. Jensen has completed his ministry and mission and has ascended to heaven. Where is the Kingdom of God? Did Abdu’l-Baha “get it wrong?” Or is this another case that requires spiritual eyes to see, and spiritual ears to hear? That is, understanding this mystery requires spiritual critical thinking. In these matters, doubting accomplishes nothing, and inevitably leads to disappointment.
Dr. Jensen’s mission was threefold: 1. To indict the Beast, 2. To Educate the elect, and 3. To establish the Kingdom, with the line of David/Baha’u’llah. [4]
4. The Kingdom of God is a King and a domain. The king is from the line of David and the line of Baha’u’llah, the domain is all of God’s Earth. The Baha’i world government is a democratic monarchy.
Was Dr. Jensen successful? Did he succeed? Did God get it right? Is it possible for God to fail in His divine Plan?
Concerning the Covenant, the “Greater Covenant” is God’s promise to never leave his creatures without divine guidance, that is, God will always send another Manifestation to Earth periodically to instruct mankind so that we are ever spiritually evolving and to deal with the specific needs of the people at that time. These Manifestations are born with infallibility, that is, they have innate infallibility. And they know everything about everything in creation, they have the knowledge of God, and at some point they receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit directly from God, and begin giving their Revelation to the world until the day they pass, and ascend.
The ”Lesser Covenant” is that God will make sure that we know who to turn to for guidance and protection in the interim between themselves and the appearance of the next Manifestation. These successors are from the Lesser Covenant and have infallibility conferred upon them, that is, they are free from error concerning the execution and fulfillment of their mission and duties.
For example, Baha’u’llah is the Manifestation for our day, and he comes from the Greater Covenant with a golden criteria; fulfilling prophecy by name, date, address, and mission by which we can positively recognize that he is the one sent by God. Baha’u’llah “conferred” infallibility on Abdu’l-Baha, and by proxy the unique Guardian Shoghi Effendi, and then the Universal House of Justice with the Aghsan Guardian working in union and harmony with the body, which represents all the nations of the World. This is what God has given his creation to last at least the next 1000 years at which time another Manifestation could appear and reveal more direction and instructions from God.
Because the hands of the Cause under Shoghi Effendi broke the Covenant, and led the world astray, God pulled an ace from his sleeve. He sent us Dr. Leland Jensen, like a lightening bolt from heaven, and from the Greater Covenant, fulfilling the Golden Criteria like the all-important Manifestations, with a mission so important that although he was not a Manifestation, with the fullness of the Holy Spirit like Baha’ullah, he certainly had infallibility conferred on him by God to fulfill his mission. Dr. Jensen teaching us about Arius and the fatal blow to Christianity, did so in fulfillment of two parts of his threefold mission. The story both indicts the Beast, and educates the elect, thus his explanation was free from error.
Dr. Jensen also enjoyed the third type of infallibility. This is the type of infallibility that any person is capable of attaining; it is an “acquired” infallibility, like a surgeon who goes to college for ten years then practices for another 30. They are so expert at their craft that they can perform it without error. Dr. Jensen’s parents were Baha’is, and he pioneered the Mauritius Islands with his wife Opal, and he dedicated his entire life to perfecting his teaching and thus acquiring infallibility.
Dr. Leland Jensen’s Indictment of Trinitarianism
Trinitarianism is a full pendulum swing in the opposite direction of the Baha’i Faith. Should a Baha’i feel a need to embrace a trinity, let it be this:
Baha’ullah/the second coming of Christ, His Establisher Dr. Leland Jensen/High Priest After the Order of Melchizedek, and Dr. Jensen on his first coming/Baha’u’llah-Christ on his first Coming/Jesus Christ. To reiterate:
Jesus Christ
Bahaullah – Return of Christ
Dr. Jensen – Return of Jesus
The Melchizedek Connection
I feel this is an appropriate time to revisit the significance of Dr. Jensen being the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Zedek means Righteousness. Zedek is what the First manifestation Adam was called by his family. Circa 4000 B.C. Zedek began teaching “God Consciousness.” Every 2000 years Zedek has returned as the great educator of mankind. That is, 2000 years after Adam, there was Shem, the son of Noah and the founder of Jerusalem. Thus, he was the king of Jerusalem. The Bible says that Shem was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. [5] In Hebrew, “melek” means “king” and “melchi” means “my king.” Melchizedek means “my king is Adam.” Thus, Shem was both king of Jerusalem and the high priest Melchizedek. 2000 years later Jesus appeared. He was not the king of Jerusalem or Israel. He said, “my Kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus was the reappearance of Melchizedek, meaning that Jesus had the greatest teaching authority on planet earth. Nineteen centuries later, the King of Kings appeared in Baha’u’llah who was the return of Christ, referring to his messiah lineage from King David. 2000 years after Jesus, the high priest Melchizedek returned in Dr. Leland Jensen.
5. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth
– Genesis 14:18-19
Including Adam, over the past 6000 years, there have been 9 Manifestations who have appeared and given the world revelations direct from God for the spiritualization and edification of mankind. In the same period, there have been only four appearances of Melchizedek specifically to educate mankind. The priesthood of Melchizedek is by leagues the greatest and most important priesthood in the history of humanity. I hope that the reader can see now that Dr. Jensen did not get his teaching wrong. If fact, it could not have been given to us any better at any time in history than it was perfectly delivered to us by Dr. Jensen, the return of Jesus, the high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
The Kabbalah, Tree of Life and Point of Adoration
Lastly, let us look at the Kabbalah, which comes to us from the Sefer Yetzirah, the “Book of Formation,” which is the principal work of Abraham, and is the origin/source of all Kabbalistic studies. The image derived from this study has ten circles.
These are called the “Sephirot,” also referred to as the “realms of God” and the “Universal Spheres of Consciousness.” The nine spheres above the horizontal line are the Celestial Sephirot, each representing one of the Manifestations who gave us Revelations direct from God. The tenth sphere, below the horizontal line, is the Terrestrial Sephirot, and is named “Ha Aretz”, which is Hebrew for “The Land.” It represents the appearance of Leland, who infallibly taught the world about the nine above him and clarified the reality of the Kingdom of God through his divinely ordained and sanctified explanations and commentaries. The invisible sphere belongs to Shem.
The Apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ would each have sacrificed their right arm just to trade places in time with the Apostles and disciples of Jesus on his return! Such is the greatness and glory of this Cause and of this era.
Conclusion
Dr. Jensen is Jesus. All of his words about teaching Christianity or anything related to Jesus Christ are authoritative, meaning “from the Author.” In the matter of teaching about Arius, Doc outranks Abdu’l-Baha.
Taken literally, if Arius was wrong to defend the true monotheism of true Christianity, as revealed by Jesus, and should he have just gone along with the Trinitarian bishops for the sake of protecting the unity of the early church, as Abdu’l-Baha stated, then Doc and Opal would have been guilty of the same thing for opposing the violation of the Covenant by the administrative Hands who Satanically twisted God’s Plan for their own aggrandizement. Likewise, the entirety of Dr. Jensens’ spiritual polity would be wrong today for not just joining the Haifa Baha’is in order to “protect the unity’ of the Faith.
NAY! What a false supposition. Neither Doc, nor Abdu’l-Baha were ‘wrong.” Abdu’l-Baha used the story of Arius to demonstrate the importance of unity in the covenant in a way that would not offend his Trinitarian audience. A century later, Doctor Jensen used the story of Arius to indict the Beast and expose the corruption of the Babylonian Trinity infecting the churches of the world.
I sincerely pray that the reader of this essay be given the wisdom and discernment needed to fully understand this situation.
Sources
Constantine the Great, “On the Keeping of Easter, Quoted by Eusebius”, The Life Of
Constantine.
Davis, Leo Donald (1990). The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787) Their
History and Theology. Liturgical Press. p. 58.
English, Adam C.; Crumm, David (2 December 2012), “Adam English Digging Back Into
the Real St. Nicholas,” ReadTheSpirit online magazine.
Fourth Century Christianity – Constantine’s Edict Against Arius and his Followers
https://www.fourthcentury.com/urkunde-33/
Hislop, Alexander. The Two Babylons, Chapter 3, Section 2, Easter.
Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein, Smith, The Making of the West 7th Edition-Glossary G-2,
Macmillan Learning
Kirsch, Jonathan (2004). God against the gods : the history of the war between
monotheism and polytheism. New York: Viking Compass.
Light of the World. Bahai Reference Library.
https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/light-of-the-
world/6#105500030
This essay was researched, compiled, and authored by Robert “Peace” Wright, Knight of Baha’ullah, from December 20–25, 2024.
Published on CloseoftheAge.com — November 25, 2025. © Robert Wright, 2025–present.