Today we ask the question how many Christians even know what the Nicene Creed is all about. We'll overview the history of the early Christian church and show how creeds had this way of unifying Christians who were often persecuted in the Roman empire. We briefly see how ecclesiastical structure developed and how baptismal creeds developed, such as the Apostles' Creed. All this will set up the time period of the Nicene Creed, when conflicting understandings of Christ's person and work began to develop. Our goal for today is to respond to the "deeds, not creeds" viewpoint by establishing why we still need creeds today.

Download the study guide here: L1_Early_Church_Unity.pdf

Today we introduce the person of Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor who arranged for the Council of Nicaea. We'll read some of his writings about calling the council of Nicaea and discuss why he would be interested in it in the first place. We'll gain familiarity with the secular claim that Constantine created the doctrine of Christ's divinity and suppressed all the other divergent views. Our goal for today is to answer this objection: because of Constantine's power play, Jesus became viewed as the Christ.

Download the study guide here: L2_Constantine.pdf

Today we introduce the person of Arius, a Christian bishop in Alexandria, Egypt, whose teaching was the biggest impetuous for the Council of Nicaea. We'll read some of his writings about how he understood the divinity of Jesus, particularly his relationship with God the Father. We'll assess his contention that since Jesus is God the Son, begotten from God the Father, he must have existed at a time after God the Father. Our goal for today is to answer why this debate is worth our time and effort today. 

Download the study guide here: L3_Arius.pdf

Today we delve more deeply into the content of the Nicene Creed, especially how it responded and corrected the views of Arius. We will explore how creeds need to properly address false teaching, especially the tricky balance of expressing truths comprehensively yet concisely. Our goal for today is to answer the attitude, "We don't have creeds. We have the Bible."

Download the study guide here: L4_Nicene_Content.pdf

Today we look at more practical church issues that the Council of Nicaea dealt with, especially how to bring unity to various church practices. We will explore the aftermath of Nicaea, especially how it did not really bring doctrinal unity to the issue of Arianism. Amid Nicaea's goal of bringing unity to various churches, our goal for today is to answer the attitude, "We can do what we want. We don't need the synod telling us what to do."

Download the study guide here: L5_Aftermath_of_Nicaea.pdf

Today we look at the life and writings of Athanasius, who defended the doctrine of Christ's deity in the aftermath of the Council of Nicaea. We'll gain a familiarity with his life and read a selection of one of his famous works. After Nicaea, the debate only continued and expanded to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. This lead to a further council in 381 A.D., which gave us the Nicene Creed as we know it today. Today's goal is discuss the pros and cons of crafting new doctrinal statements to address additional issues that arise.

Download the study guide here: L6_Athanasius_Council_of_381.pdf