1,700 years ago, bishops and an emperor wrote a creed. Millions still recite it in church

Centuries of church schisms show that if there is a doctrine worth fighting for, there is a good chance that Christians will fight for it.

These repeated divisions are what makes the Council of Nicaea – a meeting of bishops 1,700 years ago in present-day Turkey – so important today. And why Pope Leo XIV will visit the site of this founding moment of Christian unity on November 28, as part of his first major trip abroad as pope.

In 325, the council wrote the first version of the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that millions of Christians still recite every Sunday.

“The occasion is very, very important: the first global ecumenical council in history and the first form of belief recognized by all Christians,” said church historian Giovanni Maria Vian, co-author of “La Scomessa di Costantino,” or “Constantine’s Wager,” published in Italy in conjunction with the anniversary.

Summoned by the Roman emperor, Nicaea marked the first – but certainly the last – time that a powerful political leader played a leading role in shaping large-scale church policy. This was a first collaboration between Church and State.

Leon will commemorate the 1,700th anniversary with Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Most historically Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant groups accept this creed. Despite later schisms over doctrine and other factors, Nicene remains a point of agreement – ​​the most widely accepted creed in Christendom.

Other events have commemorated the council, from global to local levels. The World Council of Churches, which includes Orthodox and Protestant groups, marked the anniversary in Egypt in October. At an ecumenical celebration in the Pittsburgh area in November, the ironic slogan was: “Party like it’s 325.”

The Council of Nicaea is important both for what was done and how it was done.

It was an unprecedented gathering of at least 250 bishops from across the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine had consolidated his control over the empire after years of civil war and political intrigue.

Constantine did not officially convert to Christianity until the end of his life. But in 325, he was already showing tolerance and favor towards a Christian sect emerging from the last great spasm of Roman persecution.

Constantine wanted a unified Church to support his unified empire. But the Church was tearing itself apart.

It is sometimes called the “Trinity controversy”, although the debate was not so much about the existence of a Trinity – God as Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit – but about how the Son was related to the Father.

Historians debate exactly who taught what, but an Egyptian priest named Arius gave his name to the influential doctrine of Arianism.

It depicts Jesus as the highest created being, but he is not equal to God. The opposing view, held by an Egyptian bishop, said that Jesus was eternally equal to the Father.

Constantine called a council to sort things out. This is what is called the first “ecumenical” or universal council, as opposed to regional councils.

The bishops almost unanimously supported a creed approved by the emperor. This is a shorter version of the Nicene Creed recited in church today. He declared Jesus “true God” and condemned those who proclaimed Arian ideas.

The creed described Jesus as equal to the Father, of “one substance” – “homoousios,” a term taken from Greek philosophy rather than the Bible.

The council also adopted a formula for determining the date of Easter, which had been controversial. The council approved the calendar favored by Arian sympathizers, setting Easter on the Sunday after the first full moon of spring. That gave each side a victory, said David Potter, author of “Constantine the Emperor” and professor of Greek and Roman history at the University of Michigan.

“The Council of Nicaea was an extraordinary diplomatic success for Constantine, because it allowed both sides to come to an agreement,” he said.

As a result, an emperor’s theological legacy endures.

“I have often thought it was good that a text of Imperial Law was read every Sunday,” Potter said.

When the council established its formula for determining Easter, it insisted on distancing the observance from that of the Jewish Passover. He used very derogatory language towards Jews.

“Institutional anti-Semitism was absolutely a hallmark of the Church,” Potter said.

He noted that such harsh language was common on all sides in ancient religious conflicts between early Christians, Jews and pagans. But it helped set a precedent for centuries of persecution of Jewish minorities in Christian countries.

Despite agreement on the creed, this did not resolve matters. In fact, Arius made a comeback, returning to political favor.

The doctrinal debate raged for a few more generations, even in the streets of the new capital, Constantinople.

“Old merchants, money changers, food sellers, they are all busy arguing,” wrote Saint Gregory of Nyssa at the end of the 4th century. “If you ask someone to give you change, he philosophizes about the Begotten and the Unbegotten. If you ask the price of a loaf of bread, you are told… that the Father is greater and the Son less.”

In 381, another emperor called a council in Constantinople. It affirmed an expanded Nicene Creed, with additional lines describing the Church and the Holy Spirit. The final version became the standard text used today. It is sometimes called the Nicene-Constantinople Creed.

This largely settled the Arians problem, but further controversies arose in subsequent centuries.

Some churches in Asia and Africa, including Eastern Orthodox bodies, accepted the Nicene Creed but rejected later councils due to disputes over how to speak of Jesus as both human and divine. Pope Leo, during his stay in Türkiye, also plans to meet with representatives of two Eastern Orthodox groups, the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox churches.

The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches experienced their own schism in the 11th century. They had already drifted apart on issues such as papal authority, but a big controversy was that the Western churches had added a clause in the Nicene Creed that the Eastern churches had not accepted. Specifically, the original creed said that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father,” but Catholics added “and from the Son.”

Protestant churches later divided on other issues, although most held to the Nicene Creed. Historic churches such as the Lutheran, Anglican, and Presbyterian explicitly affirm this creed. Many modern evangelical churches that do not officially affirm this creed, like many Baptists, have their own statements of faith that are largely in agreement with it.

Some notable exceptions, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do not accept the Nicene Formula.

The Catholic and Protestant Churches also began observing Easter differently from the Orthodox a few centuries ago, using an updated solar calendar – thus opening a new breach in Nicene unity.

Still, Nicea offers hope to a divided church, said the Rev. John Burgess, professor of systematic theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian minister and a scholar of Eastern Orthodoxy.

“An event like the 1,700th anniversary of Nicaea is really a celebration not of a reality but of a hope – of what Christians at their best know should be the case, that there is a deep call to unity,” he said.

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