Jesus is “true God from true God,” “begotten not made,” and “of one substance with the Father.” These truths that lie at the heart of our Christian faith were formed into these words 1700 years ago, at Nicaea, now Izmir, in southern Türkiye. This gives this year, 2025, a great anniversary to celebrate and a good reason for pastors to break out their church history notes.
A “council” of church leaders had been convened to settle a dispute. Arius, a presbyter and priest, had begun to teach that the Father was alone was eternal and Jesus was a created being. He was opposed by Athanasius an often exiled theologian who taught that Jesus as God the Son was eternally generated from the Father. What became the Council of Nicaea was convened to settle the dispute. Emperor Constantine, the first ruler of the Roman Empire to be converted to Christianity, had it moved to Nicaea in Türkiye, a place convenient for him as it was near his capital.
The Arians who did not believe Jesus Christ was fully God were more numerous at the council and throughout the world. Yet they lost the debate, and while it took some time for orthodoxy to win the day throughout the universal church, it did so.
This time in church history, when the tussle over whether Jesus is a created being or God eternally, was a live dispute well beyond Nicaea. This fight came alive to me when I visited Ravenna in northeast Italy. There, you will find orthodox and Arian church buildings dating from the fourth and fifth centuries. The theological battle between the Arians and orthodox Christianity is depicted in the mosaic murals inside these churches. I took the image of Christ the Good Shepherd in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia with the pattern in the barrel vault ceiling representing the garden of Eden.
It would be great if the anniversary encouraged churches to use the creed this year.
The Creed
The council passed a first draft of the creed we use today.
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 from 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 came into being,
things in heaven and things on earth,
Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down,
and became incarnate and became man, and suffered,
and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the heavens,
and will come to judge the living and dead,
And in the Holy Spirit.
But as for those who say, There was when He was not,
and, Before being born He was not,
and that He came into existence out of nothing,
or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance,
or created, or is subject to alteration or change
– these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.
When is the anniversary?
Some celebrations of the anniversary have already occurred, with some slated for early March. The council of Nicaea ran from May to July in 325. The Orthodox Church’s Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, has announced a joint celebration with Pope Francis in Türkiye “for the end of May 2025.”
Image: Ravenna mosaics – Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Image Credit John Sandeman