First Ecumenical CouncilDocumented
First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea I)
Α΄ Οἰκουμενικὴ Σύνοδος
- Date
- 325
- Location
- Nicaea
Condemned Arianism and confessed the Son as homoousios, of one essence, with the Father; gave the Church her Creed.
Historical background
- Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, taught that the Son is a creature, “there was when He was not.” St Alexander of Alexandria convicted him; the emperor Constantine convened the bishops (traditionally 318) at Nicaea.
Principal dispute
- Whether the Son of God is true God of true God, or the first and highest of creatures.
Dogmatic result
- The Creed of Nicaea: the Son is “God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of one essence (ὁμοούσιος) with the Father.”
Heresies and persons condemned
- Arius and Arianism, that the Son is a creature and “there was when He was not.”
- Those who say the Son is of another hypostasis or essence, or mutable, anathematized in the Creed's appendix.
Key canons
- 20 canons
On order, jurisdiction and discipline, including the standing prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and in Pentecost.
Later reception
- Received by the whole Church as the First Ecumenical Council; its faith reconfessed by every council after it.
Related saints
Bibliography
- The Creed and canons of Nicaea (ΡΠΣ 2; Pedalion).
- Socrates & Sozomen, Ecclesiastical Histories (NPNF 2nd ser., vol. 2).