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The Council. The council opened at Nicaea in Bithynia (modern Iznik, northwestern Turkey in Asia), in Constantine's palace, with an address by the emperor. About 300 bishops were present (the number 318 reported by Ambrose of Milan and Hilary of Poitiers is symbolic: cf. the 318 servants of Abraham, Gn 14.14), and almost all were from the eastern half of the empire; more than 100 came from Asia Minor, about 30 from Syria-Phoenicia, fewer than 20 from Palestine and Egypt. Prominent figures were Hosius of Cordoba (who presided with the delegates of Pope Sylvester, the Roman priests Vitus and Vincentius), Alexander of Alexandria (accompanied by his secretary and future successor, the deacon Athanasius), Eustatillus of Antioch, Marcellus of Ancyra, Eusebius of Caesarea in Palestine, Leontius of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Macarius of Jerusalem, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Caecilianus of Carthage, and some "confessors" who had suffered in the persecution of Licinius. In the beginning at least, Constantine was honorary president and even intervened to ensure peaceful discussion.
Doctrinal Definition. Doctrinal issues were the council’s first concern. Arian-minded bishops proposed a formula of faith (contents not extant) that was indignantly rejected by the vast majority. Then Eusebius of Caesarea proposed the baptismal creed of his own Church, the oldest eastern creed now known. Its orthodoxy gained it general approval, but a majority of the bishops insisted on certain additions that would counter the Arian errors more clearly and explicitly. The first, ?κ τ±ς oς?σ?ας τo? nατρ?ς, directly contradicted the Arian affirmation that the Son, not genuinely begotten, did not proceed from the very essence, or nature, of the Father, but only by the Father's will, like other creatures. The second addition, yευυθ?υτα ο? nο?ηθ?υα, confronted Arius’ s statement that the Son is not so by nature, but is “made” by the Father. The third addition, ?μοο?„q?ον τ? nατρ?, comprised the most significant word of the creed, the sword of division for decades after the council.
Not a biblical word, ?μοο?„q?ος appears for the first time in Gnostic literature: they are ?μοο?„q?ο? who belong to the same category of nature. Since in strict generation the son has the same nature as his father, there is always ?μοου„q?α here; this the Arians denied to the Word with understandable logic because they denied His generation. The word “?μοου„q?α” affirms that the Word is God as the Father is God, and this because He is the Father's true Son. And if this affirmation is linked with the first article of the creed, "one God Father," it is clear that the Nicene Creed proclaims numerical identity of the Father's nature and the Son's. The creed does no more than mention the Third Person, for the divinity of the Spirit was not at issue.
The Nicene Creed was the first dogmatic definition of the Christian Church and through the ages has served as a tessera of orthodoxy. Almost all the expressions used are scriptural, with the addition of certain words that are philosophical in origin. The meaning of Scripture is made clear in the light of tradition. The Son's divinity in its strict sense is defined.
Easter Question and Canons. As for Easter, the Fathers decreed (1) that all Christians should observe it on the same day, (2) that Jewish customs should not be followed, and (3) that the practice of the West, of Egypt, and of other Churches should remain in force, namely, of celebrating Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
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