Council of Nicaea
- When
- 325 AD
- Where
- Nicaea
- Kind
- Council
Called by Constantine, it affirmed the Son as of one substance with the Father against Arius, and produced the first form of the Nicene Creed.
Arius held that the Son was the first and greatest of God's creatures, so that there was a time when he was not. The council answered with homoousios, of one substance with the Father — a term with no scriptural warrant, chosen precisely because no Arian could sign it. Constantine called and paid for the council and pressed for agreement, which is the first time imperial power shaped a doctrinal decision, and nearly everyone present had lived through the persecutions that had ended twelve years earlier. The creed did not settle the matter: Arian emperors followed, Athanasius was exiled five times, and it took another half century.
Bodies it bears on
Party to it
Who stands here
- Athanasius of Alexandria
c. 296–373
Present as a young deacon, and spent forty-five years defending the result
Either side of it
The whole timeline, from the apostolic communities to the present.