Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God,
and him whom you have sent, Jesus, the Christ

On the weekend between the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and the feast of Pentecost our Church remembers the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. This is the foremost of the first seven Councils of the Church since it not only anathematized Arius but also undertook to find the appropriate words to describe exactly who we believe Jesus Christ is. He is equally and fully both God and Man. In addition to settling the issue of the nature of the Son of God and His relationship to God the Father, it set forth the first part of the Creed which expresses exactly what Christians believe, established a system for calculating the date of Easter and promulgated early canon law, the law of the Church.

Convened by Emperor Constantine the Great, it is historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus in the Church through an assembly of all the then known leaders of Christendom. It became the model which the Church used for almost a thousand years to settle debates about the faith.

When you reflect upon the action of this Council, you realize that it was the fulfillment of the Prayer of Christ for His Church since, as Jesus prayed, eternal life is to know the Father and to know Him, Jesus Christ. This Council began the Church’s reflection on Jesus as a Person. It clearly stated that He is equally both God and Man, making it possible for us to worship Him as God and also to imitate Him as a man.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not merely an article of faith which Christians are called to believe. It is not simply a dogma which the Church requires its members to accept on faith. Neither is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity the invention of scholars and academicians, the result of intellectual speculation and philosophical thinking. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity arises from man’s deepest experiences with God. It comes from the genuine living knowledge of those who have come to know God in faith. It is the doctrine which allows us to believe that Jesus is both God and Man and that we are connected in a very intimate manner with God. God joined Himself to humankind and we share His life. As we pray the Creed today, let us express our belief in our Triune God.