There is little doubt but upon that night so many of the council favored the views of the Libyan, that if a vote had been taken upon the point urged by him, the council would have resolved that its own organization was contrary to Christ; was an effort thoughtlessly made to put Constantine in place of Jesus at the head of the Church, and would have dissolved itself, until summoned to convene by the agreement of the bishops only. Almost the whole night was spent in anxious consultation between those bishops who were ready to maintain the freedom of the Church at any hazard, and the great heresiarch, whom they instinctively recognized as leader of the struggle in favor of religious liberty, as to the most available path of escape from the dangerous and unchristian position into which they had been led by their zeal and love for the emperor who protected the Church from persecution. Arius told them plainly that if the Church of Christ was to be governed by an oecumenical or royal council, its independence was gone; and in place of being the "kingdom of heaven" upon earth, which our Lord had organized, the Church must become a human institution--part of the empire of Constantine, or of any other prince or power to whom its members might be subject; its faith and policy dictated by Roman law, not by the word of God; its doctrines dependent upon the mutations of government, not upon the teachings of Jesus: a thing by which the cause of Christ is verily betrayed. There were none in the council who did not perceive this truth, although there were some who were for Constantine, even against Jesus himself. During nearly the whole night, also, Hosius, Athanasius, Eustatius, Marcellus, Constantine, and others, were engaged in eager consultation, but seemed unable to find any solution of the difficulty. And the next morning Athanasius reported to the emperor that the more they had considered the matter, the more difficult and dangerous it had appeared; and that the only way to avoid serious risk of dissolving the council was to avoid all discussion upon its right to sit for the Church, and to let Arius alone as long as he might appear disposed to remain quiet. Many hearts were burdened with anxiety, and Eusebius of Cæsarea was especially oppressed with deep concern. "And if the council when assembled shall sustain the views of Arius," he had once asked Constantine, "what then?" and the emperor had answered, "A religious war, perhaps, or a return to paganism!"