Nicaea: 1700 years of orthodoxy
A brief summary of the circumstances of the first ecumenical council.
One of the earliest controversies in the history of the Church was concerning Christ: His deity and His humanity. I don't think it can be overstated that it was only after the major persecutions ceased and the emperor became a professing Christian that the controversies over doctrine really ramped up. This makes sense. When anyone who won't burn incense to the emperor is being strung up as human torches, one does not have time or concern for the finer philosophical points of theology.
It has been 1700 years since the first Council of Nicaea in 325. It was the first ecumenical council and the creed and controversies that came of it shaped the church as we know it today. It produced the first iteration of the Nicene Creed and led to a theologically robust understanding of the Trinity. The historical narrative that I will reiterate below is taken from 2,000 Years of Christ's Power, vol. 1 by Nick Needham. It is a great read; I highly recommend it.
The lead up to Nicaea is a classic case of reactions. Origen (185-254) had taught that Jesus was slightly less divine than God the Father. Arius (256-336) did not appreciate this "less divine" language and started teaching that Jesus was the first created being. This is what he had been taught by Lucian of Antioch, the "Father of Arianism."
Arius was deposed by the bishop of Alexandria, Alexander, in 320 who maintained that Jesus was equal with the Father. But Arius rallied others in the East who were sympathetic to what Lucian had taught regarding Jesus as the greatest created being. To those who followed Arius, it seemed that Alexander was advocating for two Gods, Jesus and the Father, whereas Lucian and Arius were faithful to the Jewish monotheistic religion that Christians had inherited in the New Covenant.
In order to bring stability to the empire, the newly converted Constantine (337-361) called for a council to settle the issue. 300 bishops were assembled (miraculous in itself! The Christian religion went from 11 in Jerusalem, to 300 called to assemble by the ruler of the known world), and the first creed of Nicaea was written. The creed explicitly states that Jesus is of the same divine nature as the Father and therefore would be impossible for an Arian to sign.
"We believe...in one Lord Jesus Christ...begotten, not created, of the same essence as the Father..."
The beauty of a creed or confession is that it makes explicit where the battle lines are. No one has to guess where someone stands. The Arians were against this statement because, in their view, it taught that there are two Gods. The Origenists were reluctant to sign the statement because saying that Jesus was of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father was not a Biblical idea, per se. So now, the theological landscape could be more accurately assessed. Where a potential bishop or presbyter fell on the word homoousios would determine whether or not they were considered orthodox.
These three parties, Arian, Origenist, and Nicene battled it out for the next 50 years. Arianism became quite strong throughout that time in the East, gaining political prominence, and eventually, it seemed as though it was only one man standing against a world of Arians: Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373). He boldly withstood both political and ecclesiastical pressure as the bishop of Alexandria.
"It was Athanasius's courageous and indomitable opposition to Arianism, in spite of persecution and exile, which did more than anything else to bring about the defeat of the Arians in the Church." (2,000 Years of Christ's Power, Needham, vol. 1, pg. 234).
It was the next generation of theologians, however, that produced the final form of the Nicene Creed at the second ecumenical council in Constantinople in 381. The Cappadocian Fathers - Basil of Caesarea (330-379, Gregory of Nyssa (335-394, and Gregory of Nazianazus (330-390) - developed the Cappadocian formula which both the Nicene and Origenist parties were able to affirm. This formulation stated that there were three divine persons who share a single divine nature. With the Origenists and the Nicenes coming together, Arianism was finally defeated in the Catholic church and Nicene orthodoxy has reigned ever since.
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only- begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin, Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. (Nicene Creed, 381, Governing Documents of the CREC, 2024, pg. 32-33)
"According to this truth and this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is the one single essence, in which are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct, according to their incommunicable properties; namely, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." (Belgic Confession, Article 8, 1561)
"There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory." (Westminster Shorter Catechism, #6, 1646)