Is the Holy Trinity a Contradiction in Terms?

Have you ever been bothered by the concept of the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost or Spirit? And yet, Unitarians are routinely ridiculed for basing their belief upon the idea that such a thing is contradiction in terms. In fact, for over four centuries Christian leaders routinely grappled with how to reconcile a monotheistic God with three forms. In other words, for the first four-hundred years the Holy Trinity was considered an irreconcilable contradiction in terms. Such was the conflict that the Council of Nicea in 342 AD was convened to resolve the issue.

The Holy Trinity was a regular part of prayer at this point in the history of Christianity, but the interpretation of exactly what it meant varied. For instance, in one interpretation the Holy Trinity took the perspective that the Father and the Son were intended to be viewed as two distinct representations of God, with Jesus placed in position of total equality to God. Another interpretation differenced by placing Jesus in a subordinate position to the God the Father and creator. The Council of Nicea, faced with the resolution of this conflict, found it to be difficult going. Both sides were intensely convinced that their perspective was the only correct interpretation. In fact, the Council not only failed to achieve a rapid resolution, but soon found the debate expanded into an argument over the nature of the Holy Spirit as well. How long did it take for the issue to finally be resolve?