Council of Nicea 325AD
Part 1: Setting the Stage
In the Year of Our Lord 2025, all Christendom will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. This was one of the most monumental and seismic events in Christian history. It is hard to overstate the importance of this Council. This will be the first part of a multi-part series on the Council of Nicea and how it shaped all of Christianity.
To fully understand the Council, we need to understand the situation and the events leading up to the Council. So with that, lets dive (briefly) into Christian history from the time of the Apostles up to the time of Emperor Constantine.
APOSTOLIC AGE (FROM PENTECOST 33AD TO 100AD)
Much of the events of this period of Christianity are recorded in the books of the New Testament. The Apostles were taking the Last Supper and Eucharist, and crafting the liturgy of the Mass during this time. They crafted prayers for the liturgy and its structure. They were formally laying out Christian beliefs which were being hammered out in real time. Remember that while this was happening, the Apostles were being hunted and persecuted by both the Jews and the Romans.
Through those efforts, the first version of a catechism was written, called the Didache This laid out much of the teachings of the Apostles. It was written in the middle of the first century. Also during this time the Apostles crafted the Apostles Creed.
Tradition says the Apostles Creed was formulated on Pentecost by the Apostles. It was in shorter form and laid out a very basic set of beliefs that was initially for a Jewish audience that had been formed and instructed by the Old Covenant. So taking this formation and adding the new Christian beliefs to it, would have resulted in a shared set of beliefs among all the believers.
This short Creed was made by those wishing to be baptized to declare they believed what the Apostles taught. You can see small references to this in certain Scripture passages.
Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart, unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered.
Romans 10:8 But what saith the Scripture? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. This is the word of faith, which we preach. 9 For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.
Now of course this short Creed would have to be added to and further defined because Christianity soon began to spread to Gentiles. There was also a major heresy that arose during this time that the Apostles were battling, which caused them to expand on the Creed.
GNOSTICISM - ONE OF THE EARLIEST HERESIES
Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge. The Gnostics claimed to have a special knowledge that others did not, and this knowledge is what would save them. Christianity rejected these heresies because Our Lord came for us all. He explicitly does not proclaim that only a select few get to know the Gospel and about Him. He is for all men of good will, both the rich and the lowly. Our Lord is for all people, no matter their education level or level of knowledge.
One of the other thing the Gnostics did was attack the Incarnation. They denied the Incarnation and believed that we are only spirit and what happens with and through our bodies does not matter. (They used this to give themselves license to sin in any manner they pleased, because they claimed it was only their body committing sin, while their spirit remained pure.)
One of the letters of St. John references some of this when he speaks about the Gnostics:
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what He has promised us, eternal life.
26 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him. 28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming.
Many people, especially Protestants, will use verse 19 to justify the doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved, but that is incorrect. They will claim that anyone who later commits grievous sins was never “really” saved. But that’s not what the passage is saying. It is discussing the Gnostics who, from the very beginning, rejected the Incarnation. St. John is telling his students that these people had never accepted the Christian faith. They rejected it from the start.
Gnostics denied the Word became Flesh because they claimed that humans were a dichotomy and the flesh was sinful but the soul was clear. So they taught that a person could sin all they want, because it was just the body sinning. They claimed the soul remained clean through this. Ironically, this is what a great deal of Protestants claim even today. They claim that no amount of sin on their part can ever separate them from God.
If you really study the Apostles Creed, what will jump out at you is how much the Incarnation is emphatically declared so there is no confusion about this. Let’s take a look, line by line, at the Apostles Creed.
APOSTLES CREED - LINE BY LINE
I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY,
Right from the very beginning, the Creed declares there is one and only one God. It declares that He is all powerful. This immediately differentiates the Christian faith from all the other Gentile and pagan religions and gods. It declares there is only one God and all those other religions are false.
CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
God the Father is outside of time and the universe. He alone is the Creator and He is not subject to the universe. He created everything and everything is subject to Him. There is no higher God or power. Unlike the pagan gods who are temporal and simply bigger versions of humans, the Creed declares that God is entirely and completely separate from us and different from us.
AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON OUR LORD
The Creed declares there are no other sons of the Father. Jesus Christ is the one and only Son. There is no other. Now to an audience of Jewish converts this declaration about Jesus being the Son of the Father carries a LOT of extra implications that did not have to be explained. Divinity is implied in this statement, which is also why Jesus was accused of blasphemy when He declared Himself the Son, the Son of Man or the Son of God. Implicit in that claim is a claim of divinity. But that implicit claim became less apparent to those who were Gentiles and less so to those who were a couple of centuries removed from the time of the Apostles. (Hence the Council of Nicea in 325 AD)
WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT,
Jesus Christ is not a normal man nor was He conceived via the normal means. His conception was very different. But also note that this hammers home that the Incarnation is real and that Gnosticism is false. The Son BECAME Flesh. He did not wear humanity as a suit, and He was not using the Body of Christ as a puppet. The Son actually BECAME Flesh. He united His divinity with humanity.
BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
God became man. He lived a real human life. He was 100% human. He was born of Our Lady. She is His mother. The Incarnation is real and not symbolic.
SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE,
Unlike the mythologies of the Roman or Greek pagan gods, the story of Our Lord happened in a definitive time and place. It was not some unspecified and generic time long ago. This happened at THIS TIME. Our Lord lived and walked among us at this specific place. This really happened. He even suffered punishment from this specific man.
WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED
Our Lord willingly chose to experience this suffering and death for us. It was real. The Passion and Crucifixion really did occur and they happened at this specific time and place. Again the heresy of Gnosticism is utterly refuted by detailing out that Our Lord was really human, and became flesh. He suffered and actually died. It was not symbolic. Our Lord was buried.
HE DESCENDED INTO HELL
This is not the hell of the damned. This is the abode of the righteous dead who are awaiting Christ. This is Abraham’s Bosom that Christ speaks about. This is the Paradise that Christ mentions to the Good Thief while on the Cross. On Good Friday, Our Lord descended into Abraham’s Bosom to preach the Gospel and New Covenant to those souls who were waiting for God.
AND ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD
He has risen. He is not in the grave. Unlike all of human existence, Our Lord resurrected and rose again. Death has no power over Him. He is Lord of both Heaven and earth. His humanity has been reunited with His Divinity. His Soul reunited with His Body.
HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN
To further show His might and power, Our Lord ascends to Heaven through His own authority and power. While we shall be assumed into Heaven by Him, Our Lord ascends into Heaven. Our Lord ascended both Body and Soul into Heaven. His Body is in Heaven in glory, further refuting the claims of Gnosticism.
AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY
The Son sits at the right hand of the Father. He is completely united with the Father in all things. Everything the Father has, the Son also has. The Son is Lord of all the universe.
FROM THERE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
The Son will return with all power and authority. He will be King of all the Universe and He will be the one who will Judge everyone and everything. He alone is the Lord. There are no other gods.
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT,
God is the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit conceives Our Lord and reigns in Heaven with the Father and the Son. All of paganism and other religions are declared false. There is only one God and one true religion.
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH,
Our Lord built only one Church. Here the Creed declares the Four Marks of the Church that Jesus build. It is ONE, as it says Church singular, not plural. The Church is HOLY as it was built by God and is His Body. The Church is CATHOLIC, which means universal. It has exactly one authority structure and one set of beliefs. (This line refutes Protestantism, but we will get to that another time.) This last mark is APOSTOLIC. This Creed comes from the Apostles and the Church is built on the foundation of the Apostles. The Church must remain connected to and have a connection with the Apostles.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS,
The Christian faith and the New Covenant are not individualistic. All Catholics are members of the Body of Christ. We are in community with other Catholics. We are united with them through being united to Christ. The saints are in communion with us and we with them. Death does not separate us spiritually with the saints. They are alive in Purgatory or Heaven and we are in communion with them. Unlike in Gnosticism, where only the special people were saved, in the Catholic religion, all are made a part of Christ and His Body.
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Our Lord has power over everything including sin. He has the power to destroy sin and free us from it. We only have to accept His offer of the New Covenant with God and to obey Him. He gives us His Body to feed on and He gives us the sacraments to free us from sin. He gives us priests and grants them His authority over sin so we can become children of God.
AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
Once again the heresy of Gnosticism is refuted. The Creed declares that our bodies will also be resurrected along with our souls. God created man, both body and soul. We are a union of the two. God created our bodies and souls and He declared them good. Gnosticism is false and there is no dichotomy between what actions we take in our bodies and what actions we take in our souls. At the Second Coming of Christ, our bodies will be raised up and united to our souls. Our bodies will join us either in Heaven or in hell. We are not just spirits.
AND LIFE EVERLASTING. AMEN
The Second Coming will be the end of time. This will not be a cyclical story like the Roman or Greek mythologies. As noted above, our beliefs are rooted and grounded in actual time and space. There is an end coming for all and Our Lord will complete everything on that day. Once this happens, we will be in Heaven with Him for eternity. We will experience life everlasting.
This concludes the brief overview of the Apostles Creed and the time of the first century. This gives a decent understanding of how the Creed was formed and how it functioned during this time. Next we will examine the two centuries between the end of the Apostolic Age and the Council of Nicea.
Here are also some further links for more information on the Creed and various other links related to the Council of Nicea if you want further reading.
Councils of Nicaea - Catholic Answers
First Council of Nicaea 325AD - Papal Encyclicals Online