Nicaea’s Importance, 1700 Years Later

Council of Nicaea 325, circa 1590. Fresco in Salone Sistino, Vatican. (Source: WikiCommons)

Nicaea, situated in modern-day Iznik, Turkey, was a beautiful town in the perfect spot. It was less than one-hundred miles from the metropolis of Constantinople, but it was also tucked out of the way, situated on the coast of a large and peaceful lake. For both practical and political reasons, it was the perfect site to host this first churchwide, or ecumenical, council.

The council began in May 325 AD. This year marks its 1700th anniversary. In attendance were hundreds of bishops from across the Roman Empire and even beyond it. Each bishop brought with him an entourage of secretaries and staff, so that the total list of attendees likely topped 2,000. Most shocking, however, was the presence of Emperor Constantine. It had been less than thirty years since a persecution of Christians by a previous emperor, but now the emperor himself was sitting in support of the Church.

In addition to the well-known Nicene Creed, the Council of Nicaea also deliberated on other matters. They settled the debate over when Easter was to be celebrated, as some churches had been celebrating it on days other than Sundays depending on the calendar. And like any good church meeting, there were issues of church governance to discuss, including the appointment of bishops and matters of discipline for clergy. The bulk of the Council, however, was dedicated to debating the controversial issues of doctrine. Those debates worked themselves out into what became the Nicene Creed and centered on how the Son relates to the Father.

A Roadmap to Nicaea

At this point, with talk of church meetings and Roman history, plenty of Christians today might ask, “What use could a stale and boring statement like the Nicene Creed have on my faith? Why do I need some ancient group of bishops to tell me how to experience or understand God?” They wouldn’t be alone in asking these questions, which are similar to those that were once asked of author C. S. Lewis by a British fighter pilot. That pilot, after fighting in North Africa during World War II, said he had experienced God in the desert there. In the face of that experience, what good was something like the Nicene Creed?

Lewis responded, “Now in a sense I quite agreed with that man. I think he had probably had a real experience of God in the desert. And when he turned from that experience to the Christian creeds, I think he really was turning from something real to something less real” (Lewis, Mere Christianity). Your experience of creeds like the Nicene Creed might be the same, especially if you’re used to reciting them in a monotone drone during worship. If you agree with that British fighter pilot, listen to how Lewis continued:

In the same way, if a man has once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of coloured paper. But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only coloured paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map. But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.

We can think of the Nicene Creed as a map, one leading us to fuller experiences of God. It is a map drawn up by the experience of holy people under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You may, like that British fighter pilot, already have experienced God at some point in your life, yet the Nicene Creed can lead you to places you haven’t explored and experiences of God that lie still ahead.

If you, like many, have never encountered God in a real, life-changing way, the Nicene Creed is still your faithful map. Your experience of God has been only on the edges, like seeing the ocean simply by walking along a beach. But if you are ready to make the journey from the shore to a transforming encounter with God in the deep waters, then the Nicene Creed can help to guide you there. What is uncharted for you has been faithfully charted by the saints who met in Nicaea 1,700 years ago.

The Power of a Single Letter

For instance, what the Council of Nicaea declared about the nature of Christ, the central controversy tackled at the council, not only gives us greater clarity about our faith. It also witnesses to its power for us and for our salvation. The debate at Nicaea on the nature of Jesus eventually hinged on a single letter. Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria and the defender of what became Nicene orthodoxy, sought to include an assertion that the Son is homoousios, or “of the same being,” as God the Father. This, however, was too scandalous a claim for many. What if, those detractors offered, we say that Jesus is of “similar” nature to the Father? In Greek, that would be the term homoiousios. It may be difficult to see in the dense pack of vowels in the middle of the word that there is an extra i (the Greek letter iota). This was the position advanced in the run-up to Nicaea by priests such as Arius of Alexandria.

While not appearing in Scripture, homoousios is deeply resonant with it. (And for the record, homoiousios isn’t in Scripture, either.) A few of Paul’s words are helpful. Philippians 2:6, which begins what many consider to be the oldest hymn of the Church, says that Christ existed “in the form of God” and had “equality with God.” Colossians 1:19 says that “for in him [Jesus], all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”—not some of the fullness of God, all the fullness; not a similar nature, the same nature; not homoiousios, but homoousios.

The Full Effect

Thus a cornerstone of our faith embedded in the Nicene Creed is that the Son is fully God and of one being with the Father. This foundational doctrine was not made flippantly or for purely semantic reasons. There was a reason, a deep and transformative reason, that people like Alexander fought so vigorously against Arius and his attempts to demote the Son to some lesser status. It makes all the difference in our lives and salvation. If Jesus were not fully God and fully human, then what was accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection? If Jesus is only partially God, then we are only partially saved, partially restored, partially reborn. As the Cappadocian Father Gregory of Nazianzus, born four years after the Council of Nicaea, wrote, “That which is not assumed is not healed. If half of Adam fell, half will be taken up and saved. But if all of Adam, all of his nature will be united to God, and all of it will be saved.”

But we are not partially saved. We are fully saved, fully restored, fully reborn, because Jesus our Lord and Savior is also fully God. Paul wrote in Galatians 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son… in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God” (Gal. 4:4-7). We are children and heirs of God because Jesus, God’s own Son and fully God himself, has redeemed us. We do not receive partial adoption, but full adoption and full redemption. As the hymn “I Surrender All,” written by a Methodist named Judson Van DeVenter, boasts in its final verse:

All to Jesus, I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to his name!

It is a joy-filled, glorious, full salvation which is brought by Jesus. And this full salvation is accomplished not by our own efforts, but in surrendering those efforts to the Son of God who has already accomplished it for us.

The Creed’s Enduring Power

Zooming out from the specific content of the Creed, we can also see immense value in the Creed as a whole and as a liturgical tool. A few years ago at a former church, something incredible happened when we reclaimed the Creed in worship. Such affirmations of faith had been absent in our worship. Adding in a weekly recitation of a creed, such as the Nicene Creed, or alternatively the Apostles’ Creed or portions of the Athanasian Creed, was received very positively by the congregation. Having felt upended and unsettled by the pandemic, the congregation felt anchored, comforted, and supported by turning to these statements of faith which had done the same for Christians for centuries. 

Best of all, though, our teenagers developed a game of it during worship. When I stood to lead the Creed, I directed the congregation to open their hymnals or look at the sanctuary screen to find the words. Our teenagers, however, made unbroken eye contact with me the entire time. They did this not only to show me that they had it memorized; I think they also did it to make sure I did, too.

These young people figured out the life-giving power of the Nicene Creed. They figured out that the words of the Creed aren’t just lifeless phrases to repeat like robots. The words of the Creed are empowering, exciting, and even challenging. They had a passion for worship and for our faith that gives me hope for the Church’s future.

I’m not naïve. I know that, statistically, some of the teenagers in that church won’t stay connected to their faith into their college and young adult years. And yet, I have hope, in part because they’ve memorized the Nicene Creed. No matter what happens in their lives, no matter how long they may live in the “far country” with the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:13 KJV), the Spirit-inspired words of the Creed will be with them. In moments of crisis, they might remember: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty. When they feel alone, they might remember the words: For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven. When they wonder what their purpose in life is, perhaps these words will come to them: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. And like a trustworthy map, the Creed will lead them back to God.

This is the power of the Nicene Creed. This is why Christians have recited and clung to it for 1,700 years. And it is why Christians will still be reciting it 1,700 years from now. The words of the Creed have the ability to burrow into our hearts and the deepest reaches of our minds. They connect us to the living core of our faith. When combined with other elements of the life of the church like Scripture reading, corporate worship, and prayer, the Nicene Creed breathes life into your faith that makes it exciting and joy-filled.

Michael Carpenter is the senior pastor of Lost Creek United Methodist Church in Stillwater, OK. This article is adapted from his forthcoming book, We Believe: How the Nicene Creed Can Deepen Your Faith (Abingdon Press, May 2025).