The Council of Nicea (325): Lessons from the 1700th Anniversary
By Dr David Gwynn, Reader in Ancient and Late Antique History, Royal Holloway, University of London. The following is a reprint of the talk he gave at the 2025 AGM.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 – for which 2025 is the 1700th anniversary – is remembered as the first ecumenical council of the Church, its decisions recognised by all branches of Christianity. Above all, the council is remembered for composing the original Nicene creed, which is still used every Sunday in many modern churches.
Canon 20 of Nicaea
While some bend the knee on Sundays and during Pentecost, the holy council, in order that all things may be observed in the same way in every diocese, decrees that prayers are to be offered to the Lord standing.
Constantine, Letter to the Churches after Nicaea
When as many as possible had gathered together (and I myself was present as if one among them, for I would not deny something about which I am especially happy, that I was your fellow-servant) every matter received a proper examination to the point where a doctrine pleasing to God who supervises all things was brought to light for agreement in unity, in such a way that no scope was left thereafter for dissent or controversy over the faith.
There was also a discussion about the most holy day of Easter, and it was resolved by common consent that everyone everywhere should celebrate on one and the same day. For what could be better for us and what more hallowed than that this feast, from which we derive our hope of immortality, should be observed by all without fail in a single rule and with a clear rationale? More…