Slideshow image

This year marks the 1700 th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and the
Nicene Creed it produced. This council was the first of many efforts to
attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all Christendom. The
key issues in contention were 1) the divinity of God the Son, and 2) his relationship to
God the Father. The remarkable thing about the creed this council produced is that it
was supported by nearly all of more than 220 bishops who had gathered from across
the Roman world at the request of the Roman emperor, Constantine. While this was not
the earliest Christian creed or statement of faith, it has been remarkably widely
accepted. Currently more than 98.5% of all Christians are members of churches that
accept the Nicene Creed.

There were two main ideas about the nature of the Son of God and his relation to the
Father: One party, led by bishops Alexander and Athanasius of Alexandria, in Egypt,
taught that Jesus as God the Son was eternally generated from the Father. Their view
was opposed by Arius, a priest and theologian originally from North Africa (Libya), who
with his followers asserted that the Father alone was eternal, and that the Son was
created or begotten by the Father, and thus had a defined point of origin and was
subordinate to the Father.  Emperor Constantine became aware of the controversy
between Alexander and Arius and wrote a letter to the two, urging them to end their
dispute and to reconcile. This attempt at reconciliation was not successful and
consequently Constantine called for a council that met in Nicaea. Constantine, in
addressing the opening of the council, "exhorted the Bishops to unanimity and concord"
and called on them to follow the Holy Scriptures. He did join in the debates of the
council, but did not see himself as a voting member as he was not a bishop.
A statement of faith based on earlier creeds was drafted (by a smaller committee), and
each line was debated by the council. All but two bishops subscribed to the final form of
the creed as adopted. In the Council of Nicaea, one specific creed was used to define
the Church's faith clearly, to include those who professed it, and to exclude those who
did not.

The initial Creed of Nicaea was extended and slightly modified by the subsequent First
Council of Constantinople in 381 that produced the creed we use today. Adoption of this
creed by the whole church was a complex process requiring several centuries, but it is
now affirmed by nearly all Christians.

Here is a link to an excellent comparison between the creed of 325 and the creed of 381
that we use today.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea