The Council of Nicea

When Constantine defeated Emperor Licinius in 323 AD he

ended the persecutions against the Christian church. Shortly
afterwards Christians faced a trouble from within the Arian
contro!ersy began and threatened to di!ide the church. "he
problem began in Ale#andria$ it started as a debate between
the bishop Ale#ander and the presbyter %pastor$ or priest&
Arius. Arius proposed that if the 'ather begat the Son$ the
latter must ha!e had a beginning$ that there was a time
when he was not$ and that his substance was from nothing
li(e the rest of creation. "he Council of )icea$ a gathering
similar to the one described in Acts *+,-22$ condemned the
beliefs of Arius and wrote the .rst !ersion of the now famous
creed proclaiming that the Son was /one in being with the
'ather/ by use of the 0ree( word /homoousius./
How Controversial was the Arian Controversy?
"here were some three hundred bishops gathered at the
Council of )icea from all around the world. Eusebius lists
many of them and their country of origin in his writings. 1t
should be remembered that many of those present had$
because of the recent persecutions$ su2ered and had faced
threat of death for their faith. "hese were not wishy-washy
men. 1t might also be remar(ed$ that they were e#tremely
sensiti!e to details of doctrine. As e!idence of this$ the
second ma3or concern of the Council of )icea was to address
the hotly debated 4uestion of what the proper day was to
celebrate the resurrection.
"he bishops of the Council stopped their ears on hearing the
words of Arius and immediately re3ected his teaching as
distant and alien from the belief of the Church. "hey tore to
pieces a letter of Eusebius of )icomedia containing Arius5
teaching$ as well as an Arian confession of faith %see the
appendi# on the Council of )icea in 6a(er 6oo( 7ouse5s$
/Eusebius5 Ecclesiastical 7istory/&.
8riginally se!enteen of those bishops gathered at the council
were unwilling to sign the Creed penned by the Council$ and
all but three of these were con!inced to sign by the end. 1t is
thus apparent that the Arians were a distinct minority among
the bishops. 1nitially there was some resistance to the )icene
Creed$ not because of what it said but because of how it said
it. 9any ob3ected to the use of the word /homoousias/ in an
o:cial document because it was not used in Scripture$
despite their agreement with the meaning it con!eyed.
"he Council interrogated Arius using Scripture$ only to .nd
that he had a new way of interpreting e!ery !erse they
brought before him. 'inally$ they used the argument that
Arius5 !iew had to be wrong because it was new. Athanasius
says$ /6ut concerning matters of faith$ they ;the bishops
assembled at )icea< did not write 51t has been decided$5 but
5"hus the Catholic Church belie!es.5 And thereupon
confessed how they belie!ed. "his they did to show that
their 3udgement was not of more recent origin$ but was in
fact of Apostolic times.../ %=olume *$ 'aith of the Early
'athers$ p33>&. 1n this regard also$ Athanasius as(es
rhetorically$ /... how many fathers ;in other words$ the
writings of the early Christians< can you cite for your
phrases?/ %1bid$ p32+&
1t must be concluded$ then$ that the contro!ersy was
between a great ma3ority who held the belief that the
doctrine e#pressed by the )icene Creed was ancient and
Apostolic$ and a minority who belie!ed that Arius5 new
interpretation of the faith was correct .
The Word Homoousious
"he )icene Creed introduced the word /homoousious/ or
/consubstantial/ meaning /of one substance./ "his word was
not in!ented at the Council. Eusebius writes that some of the
/most learned and distinguished of the ancient bishops had
made use of consubstantial in treating of the di!inity of the
'ather and the Son/ %See document E in the Appendi#$
6a(er&. We do not ha!e the sources that Eusebius must ha!e
had regarding the use of this word. "oday$ the only source is
8rigen who used the word in what seems the orthodo# way
%@ohannes Auastren$ /Batrology$/ =olume 2$ pC>&. 7owe!er$
this phrase of Eusebius stands as a witness to the e#istence
of wider use.
"he bishops assembled at )icea were careful to e#plain how
they used the word$ and what it meant. "his is because it
had been misused by Baul of Samosta. Degarding this
unorthodo# usage$ St. 7ilary and St. 6asil say that it was
said to be /un.t to describe the relation between the 'ather
and the Son/ at a council that met in Antioch %1bid$ p*,&.
Apparently Baul of Samosta applied the word in a manner
that implied di!ision of nature$ as se!eral coins are from the
same metal %6a(er$ p2*&.
The Role of Constantine
"he contro!ersy greatly agitated Emperor Constantine$ and
he sent a letter to Arius and Ale#ander in an attempt to
persuade them to lay aside their di2erences. 7e wrote$ /"his
contention has not arisen respecting any important
command of the law$ nor has any new opinion been
introduced with regard to the worship of 0odE but you both
entertain the same sentiments$ so that you may 3oin in one
communion. 1t is thought to be not only indecorous$ but
altogether unlawful$ that so numerous a people of 0od
should be go!erned and directed at your pleasure$ while you
are thus emulously contending with each other$ and
4uarrelling about small and !ery triFing matters./
1t has been suggested that because Constantine referred to
the issue as /triFing/ that he did not really understand it.
Strangely$ it is recorded in a letter by Eusebius of Caesarea
that the Emperor suggested the (ey word /homoousious/
that appears in the )icene Creed. 7e says the Emperor
e#plained the term as well$ showing its di2erence from the
heretical usage by Baul of Samosta. 1t has been speculated
that the Emperor made his suggestion at the prompting of
7osius of Cordo!a$ the Emperor5s ad!isor and a man who
was persecuted under 9a#imian.
Constantine did play an important role at the Council.
Eusebius of Caesarea reports that he played an (ey part in
calming$ con!incing$ and bringing all to agreement on
contested points. "he account of Eusebius fairly glows in
regard to the Emperor$ and he is portrayed as a (ey .gure. 1t
is nowhere suggested$ howe!er$ that he was permitted to
!ote with the bishops nor that he used any form of force to
obtain an outcome.
1t may be that the elo4uence and glory of the Emperor had
sway with some$ howe!er it should be remembered that he
did e!entually %years after the Council& support the Arian
party. A few years after the Council of )icea$ Arius
disco!ered a new way to interpret the word /homoousius/
that agreed with his doctrines. 7e then as(ed to be
readmitted to communion$ but the Church refused. Arius
then appealed to the Emperor. Emperor Constantine5s
fa!orite sister$ Constantia$ on her deathbed$ implored
Constantine to support Arius and he did so. A date was set
for the forcing of the Church to readmit Arius$ but while he
was waiting for Constantine to arri!e Arius stopped to reli!e
himself and his bowels burst and he died. %See Arians of the
,th Century$ Chapter 111$ Section 11 by @ohn 7enry )ewman&
1t is hard to imagine how a man who had supposedly argued
with elo4uence for the )icene Creed and who supposedly
formulated the (ey phrase and e#plained it would simply
abandon it for a mere submission to the words and not the
meaning of the Creed. 1t is also hard to imagine how the
account of Eusebius can be reconciled to the Emperor5s
apparent failure to grasp the issue apparent in his letter. 1t is
also hard to imagine how a man who had been such a
humble ser!ant of the Church at )icea would attempt to
force the Church to accept his decisions at this later date. 1t
seems reasonable on these grounds to suppose that
Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a less than accurate account
designed to gi!e credit and Fattery to the emperor.
)or was Constantine the last emperor to side with the
Arians. Athanasius writes concerning this in /"he 9on(s5
7istory of Arian 1mpiety5 %AD 3+>& saying$ /When did a
decision of the Church recei!e its authority from the
emperor?/ and /ne!er did the fathers see( the consent of
the emperor for them ;councilar decrees of the Church<$ nor
did the emperor busy himself in the Church./ 7e goes on to
say that the heretics banded with the emperor. %See 'aith of
the Early 'athers$ =olume 1$ by William @urgens&.
"he Church was willing to accept the help of an emperor$ to
listen to what he had to say$ but not to accept the rule of an
emperor in matters of faith. 7owe!er one describes the role
of Constantine at the Council of )icea$ it must be
remembered that the Creed of )icea e#pressed what the
great ma3ority of bishops at the council found to be
traditional$ 6iblical$ and orthodo# of the Christian faith$ a
faith in which they belie!ed so .rmly that they were willing
to die for it.