On 19th June 325 AD the Bishops of the Church met at Nicaea, modern day Iznik in Turkey. The Council had been called by Roman Emperor Constantine I. He wished to tackle the problem of divisions in the church particularly over the nature of Jesus Christ.
It is thought that some 318 Fathers were present. There were many issues to be faced, but by far the most serious was the teaching of one Arius. He held that there was a time when the Son did not exist. This was contrary to the orthodox Trinitarian view.
It seems that debate at the Council was at times rather heated. Yet in the end it upheld the orthodox position declaring, as the Nicene Creed has it, that the “one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds”. Later the Creed states, “and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man”.
The Council produced a profession of faith. It is the profession that we recite at mass on most Sundays and Solemnities.
Arius’ teaching outlived him despite the council. It was a threat to the unity of the church, especially in the eastern half of the empire. This continued for a number of years after Arius’ death.
Bishop Athanasius had been an assistant to the bishop of Alexandria at the Council. In 328AD he succeeded him as Bishop of Alexandria. He became a most outspoken critic of Arius and his teaching. He set himself the task to rid the church of the heresy and spent his life trying to do so.
It took years, but eventually Arianism was banished to the margins of Christianity. The Council of Constantinople in 381AD finally stated the orthodox position unequivocally. At Constantinople the bishops unanimously affirmed the orthodox trinitarian doctrine that had been declared at Nicaea. Athanasius died in 373AD, some eight years prior to the proclamation of the Council at Constantinople. .
However, it has not really ever been totally abolished. Even today, strands of Arius’ thought emerge from time to time.
In 2025, we celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of that important Council at Nicaea.
According to a Reuters back in November 2024, the Holy Father is intent on visiting Turkey and Iznik in 2025 to celebrate the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church. Reuters quote the Italian news agency ANSA for the report.
It is to be hopped that we all join the Holy Father in these important celebrations that mark the anniversary of the Nicaean Creed.
