Unity through strife
The development of the creed
The development of the creed
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...This is the second part of our celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. The council sessions began at the beginning of June 325, in the emperor’s summer palace. Constantine attended, greeted the bishops in Latin, and then participated in the debates, even though he still was not baptized by this point. He noted that his imperial victory would not be complete if the Church were not united.
This is the second part of our celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. The council sessions began at the beginning of June 325, in the emperor’s summer palace. Constantine attended, greeted the bishops in Latin, and then participated in the debates, even though he still was not baptized by this point. He noted that his imperial victory would not be complete if the Church were not united.
There was a lot of animosity among some of the delegates. Several proposed creeds were presented and discussed. Some believed one could only use scriptural terms for a creed, a position which the Arians loved. Finally, a group from northern Palestine presented a creed which served as a basis for what finally emerged. This final text reads as follows:
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down and became incarnate, and was made man, suffered and rose on the third day, and ascended into heaven, and is coming with glory to judge living and dead, and in the Holy Spirit.
But those who say, there was when the Son of God was not, and before he was begotten he was not, and that he came into being from things that are not, or that he is of a different hypostasis or substance, or that he is mutable or alterable — the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes.
The key word in this text “of one substance (homoousios) with the Father,” that the Father and Son of one divine substance. This the Arians did not accept, but it was the term accepted by the emperor and encouraged by him to be accepted by all. However, the emperor also viewed the term in its broadest sense, seeking to enlist the support of most of the bishops. This term would then cause many problems down the road, as it could be interpreted as denying any distinctiveness between the Persons of the Trinity. But that is a story for another day. In addition, this was not a term found in the Scriptures. But Constantine urged the acceptance of this creed with this word, even threatening exile for those who would not sign on, which happened to a few of the members. It seems that the Creed was accepted on June 19th.
There were further actions taken by this council and we will present them next month.
Bishop Earl Boyea is the fifth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.