To be honest, there’s a lot we don’t know about the Council of Nicaea. If any minutes were kept of the Council’s deliberations, they’ve been lost. We do have the final decrees, and the later writings of some of the participants. We don’t know how many bishops attended: one eyewitness said 250, another 300; later, a symbolic number of 318 was given (that’s the number of Abraham’s armed servants in Genesis 14:14). Church historians do have a record of some of those bishops, but the only one you’d recognize was a man from a small town in Turkey who was known for his charity. His name was Nicholas; most people call him Santa Claus.

It appears the first business of the Council was to deal with the false teaching of Arius. The bishops who favored Arius proposed a creed worded in such a way that was favorable to their views (that the Son of God was a creation of the Father before the creation of the world, thus not fully and truly “God”). The orthodox bishops countered, seeking wording that would exclude the Arian position as clearly as possible (upholding the full deity of the Son of God).

Contrary to what some modern writers have suggested (such as Dan Brown in his book, “The DaVinci Code”), Emperor Constantine didn’t try to tell the church what its theology should be. When he summoned the Council, he simply wanted their divisions resolved so his empire could be united. As he presided over the Council, it appears that the Emperor chose to follow the example of the Roman Senate: he took part in the discussions, but did not claim any right to vote. The bishops would make the decisions, which would then be confirmed by the Emperor, and the Emperor would then make those decisions binding under Roman law.

Eventually, the orthodox bishops won out over the Arians, and the Council of Nicaea agreed on the following creed:

“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, becoming man, suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended to the heavens, will come to judge the living and the 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 is subject to alteration or change—these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.”

While many of those phrases stacked up against the false teaching of Arius, the most important and powerful words were, “begotten not made, of one substance with the Father,” and, of course, the final paragraph which “anathematizes” (“condemns”) the Arian teaching directly.

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Wait a minute. This isn’t our Nicene Creed.”

No, it’s not. But it is the creed of the Council of Nicaea. And that creed had its own problems, not the least of which was the word “substance.” That word had a lot of theological baggage from previous theological controversies in the church.

But, for the time being, Arius and his supporters were deposed and sent into exile. The Council turned its attention to other matters, and finished its business around August 25th.

But that didn’t end the conflict. Arius and Arianism didn’t just go away. And we still haven’t arrived at the final text of the Nicene Creed.

… to be continued!