As we observe this Jubilee Year and celebrate the recent election of Pope Leo XIV, the Church also marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which came the Nicene Creed, the profession of faith we proclaim every Sunday at Mass.
A pillar of our faith
In 325, Emperor Constantine summoned the bishops to his royal palace in the city of Nicaea, which now lies in Turkey, to resolve the conflict that the Arian heresy had created both within the Church and the empire.
The Arians asserted that Jesus Christ was the holiest man who had ever lived, chosen by God for the mission of salvation, but fundamentally denied the reality of His divinity.
In the early fourth century, the majority of the Church’s members, even including some bishops and priests, had fallen into this heresy, obviously creating major problems for ecclesial mission and unity.
At the Council of Nicaea, theological giants like St. Athanasius courageously and eruditely articulated and defended the Catholic orthodox position that Jesus Christ is both divine and human, and that the three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity were equal in their majesty and divinity.
The Nicene Creed, written by the bishops assembled 1,700 years ago in a distant land, serves as a trustworthy pillar of our faith as it expresses the fundamental doctrines we believe about God.
We can understand why some early Christians drew erroneous theological conclusions about the divine when we realize that Jesus Christ introduced some radical and profound revelations concerning both the nature of God and Himself.
The Jewish people, surrounded by pagan cultures that worshiped a plethora of diverse gods, uniquely understood God as One Being, who is invisible, omnipotent, omniscient, and transcendent.
While upholding the unity of the Godhead, Jesus proclaimed the whole mystery of the Trinity as God’s integral identity, revealing God as His Father, Himself as the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the Consoler whom He would send upon the Church.
This great Trinitarian mystery of faith, the cornerstone of Christian belief, manifests that God is radically One and yet abides as a plurality of Three Persons within that unity.
Believing in the Trinity
Our doctrine of the Most Blessed Trinity makes Christianity absolutely unique.
Jesus also revealed Himself as both fully divine and fully human in all aspects but sin.
This wonder of the Incarnation, whereby the Second Person of the Trinity fully united Himself with our humanity, is at the center of the Gospel.
We believe that, in this one person, living in one place and at a specific time in history, the fullness of God embraced our humanity.
The Church theologically expresses this profound mystery in the language of the Hypostatic Union, meaning that Jesus Christ is One divine Person with two natures, one human and the other divine.
Again, this doctrine is absolutely unique to Christian faith.
The Church needed centuries to both correctly express these fundamental truths and to imbue them in the minds and hearts of believers.
Because of the novelty of these sublime doctrines, heresies erupted, false and misguided expressions of the Gospel, which caused great divisions certainly, but also inspired the Church to work out our understanding and expression of the wondrous gift of divine revelation given to Her by the Lord.
In my next column, I will reflect further on the implications of our belief in the Most Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation of the Word in the person of Jesus Christ.
These beliefs are so fundamental to our understanding of God, the truth of the Gospel, the mission of the Church, and our own identity, they bear much reflection, thought, and prayer on our part, especially as we celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed.
We praise the Holy Spirit for infallibly guiding the Church all these centuries and keeping Her free from fundamental error.
Our Catholic faith is such a precious gift!