THE NICENE CREED

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:16:00 +0000

The Nicene Creed is a statement of Christian faith established in 325 AD by the bishops of the church. It was brought to light in order to settle the Arian controversy between members of the church over the nature, essence, substance equal to that of the Father, person, and eternal attributes of Christ.[1] This document is extremely important for Christians to, not only know about, but to learn and understand. This document contains key information about Christ, which are foundational to faith in Christ.
Constantine, the Roman emperor in 325 AD, called for a council in order to settle the Arian controversy. Arius and his followers believed that, “There was once when Christ was not.”[2] He said that when scripture speaks of Christ as the “begotten son” it implies that Christ was created by the Father at some time. Arians claimed that because of this fact, Christ was not the same substance as the Father, but was the highest of all God’s creations. Bishop Alexander and St. Athanasius were convinced that this belief was complete heresy and would lead to the destruction of Christianities salvific message. Ferguson says “An overwhelming majority of the bishops did not agree with Arius, but it was harder for them to agree on a positive statement of doctrine.”[3] The most important addition to the creed was the Greek word homoousios, meaning “of the same substance”. This affirmed that the Son of God was like the Father “in every way,” and did not derive from any other substance than that of the Father Himself, as explained by a man named Eusebius. The adoption of this word eliminated the Arian teaching. The members of the council found it necessary to use this word, homoousios which was not found in scripture, in order to stop the Arians from interpreting Biblical ideas falsely. The main theological errors of the Arians that the Nicene Creed refuted were (1) that “There was once when he was not” or “He came to be from nothing” and (2) that the Son of God is “created,” or “alterable,” or “mutable.” [4]
The council at Nicaea was significant because it was the first universal council. Nearly three hundred bishops gathered to discuss this controversy and establish a creed to bring unity and agreement in the church.[5] This council was different than most because the emperor, Constantine, was involved. The age of persecution was over and now the head of political affairs wanted to be involved in Christian religion. The alliance between church and state was set when Constantine stepped in and would remain for twelve to fourteen centuries. The creed of Nicaea was not only a confession of faith but was also a test of fellowship.
In our modern times we still struggle with disagreement in our churches over the nature of Christ as well. Many religions of the present age call themselves “Christian” as they did back then; yet do not believe in the teachings of Christ. Christians need to stand up for the convictions they hold instead of “tolerating” many different beliefs. Our nation has come to believe that we should accept contrasting views regardless of their validity. The more tolerant we become, the further away we get from the truth. We begin to shy away from controversial theologies and philosophies because we don’t want to quarrel. Because of this Christians don’t even know what to believe, or why they believe anything. We may be fighting slightly different battles today, but a lot of the battles we face hold just as much importance in the salvific message of the Bible as the Arian controversy. Some of the scariest beliefs today are that truth is relative and there is no standard; there are many ways to heaven; we should not push our religion on anyone else; and also that each person is a “priesthood” and can interpret scripture in their own way without regard to the church fathers or history. We need to save the souls of the people who are falling into the trap of this myth. We need to stand against the world and not worry about the persecutions we might come into contact with because of our stance. Our church fathers have shown us that it is possible to stand for our values and get results. The battle over Arianism was not easy to win, but it was possible with the help of God.[6] The most important thing is that we save souls from the furies of Hell.
It is important to learn about and understand events such as the Council of Nicaea. Christians should learn the Nicene Creed. It is foundational to the Christian religion. It brought out the theological concepts found in the Bible of who Christ said he was in a more understandable and definite way than ever before. The wording used in the creed could not easily be twisted to mean anything other than what it was intended to mean. These beliefs established in the creed are foundational to the salvific message. Without believing in Christ as God, of the same essence as the Father, eternal, and creator, along with other characteristics mentioned in the creed, one cannot be saved. The statements in the Creed are derived from the theologies found in the Bible.
The reason the creed was established was bring agreement in the church as to what exactly the nature of Christ was. It was extremely important to word it so that one could not misinterpret the nature of Christ. Christ is the center point of salvation. Without understanding who he was, Christians have no foundation for their beliefs and, more importantly, no salvation. This is why it is important for Christians to know the creed, understand where it came from and why it is correct theology. This battle has been fought before. Others have already determined the reason this is important and we must learn from their study of this subject.
[1] Kevin Knight, “Arianism,” New Advent, 2008, www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm. (accessed June 3, 2008).
[2] Everett Ferguson, Church History Volume One (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 193.
[3] Ibid, 194.
[4] Ibid, 195-196.
[5] Rusch, William G, The Trinitarian Covtroversy, trans. William G. Rusch (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), 49.
[6] Taken from my answers on Dr. Phillip Calvert’s Take Home Exam 1, Spring 2008

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THE NICENE CREED