“The following year in 325,” Steiger continued, “Constantine convened the first ecumenical council in the city of Nicaea to address growing division within the Christian church that had become a source of political and social instability in the newly unified Roman Empire.”
The Council of Nicaea was “the largest assembly of believers in the world at that point,” said Huff, drawing Christians “from all across the Roman Empire.”
“Many of those gathered at Nicaea bore scars and missing limbs, a visual reminder of the persecution inflicted against Christians,” Huff said. “Some wander in from the deserts, having spent their lives devoted to solitude and prayer in Egyptian caves. Others venture from across the Mediterranean throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.”
“They’re here for one specific reason, to resolve a theological dispute,” he said. “And while smaller regional meetings called ‘synods’ have convened in the past to adjudicate Christian disagreements, this is the first worldwide, or ecumenical, gathering of church leaders.”
The question the council convened to settle was whether or not Jesus was a created being or equal to God himself. The heresy that Jesus was not fully God was propagated by Arius, a priest who “put his ideas of the semi-divine Jesus, who was created and not eternal, to song,” said Steiger. These songs “were carried across the Roman world by sailors and fueled division within the body of believers.”
RELATED: Albert Mohler Says Trump’s AI Image Was ‘Blasphemous,’ Regardless of Intent
“At the council, Arius’ writings were read aloud and, according to reports, were denounced as blasphemous by most of the participants,” Steiger said. There is even one account of Saint Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus, striking Arius in the face.
“What’s key to understand is that Arius and those who opposed him, like Athanasius, both appealed to the authority of Scripture,” said Steiger. “The Bible clearly wasn’t being voted on. It was the shared foundation used to resolve their disagreement.”
“At the council of Nicaea, from the documents that we have, we know that they were referencing Scripture as if it was already binding and authoritative,” Huff agreed. As a result, the 300 to 400 bishops who traveled to Nicaea adopted the Nicene Creed, “basically the benchmark for what it means to be a Christian.”
“The statement produced by the council affirms belief in one God the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” said Steiger. “In response to Arius and his followers, the creed clarifies Jesus’ nature, stating, ‘He is true God from true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father.’”
RELATED: Baptists Have Historically Had ‘No Trouble’ Affirming the Nicene Creed, Says Gavin Ortlund
Regarding the question of Jesus’ divinity, Huff gave several pieces of evidence that the early church believed Jesus was God prior to the Council of Nicaea. “We have early Christian leaders, such as Ignatius, from the first and early second century clearly stating the divinity of Jesus,” said Huff, giving a quote to support his point.
