Nicene, << ny SEEN, >> Councils were two councils of the early Christian church held in Nicaea (now Iznik in northwest Turkey).
The Roman Emperor Constantine called the first council in 325 to settle the dispute caused by the Arian views of the Trinity. Arius was a priest of Alexandria, Egypt, who believed that Jesus Christ was not of the same essence (substance) as God. The council adopted the so-called Nicene Creed, which declared that God and Jesus Christ as God were of the same essence. The first council also fixed the time for observing Easter. In some regions, the Christian Easter had been observed on the same day as the Jewish Passover. In others, Easter had been observed on the following Sunday.
The Nicene Creed summarized the chief articles of the Christian faith. It was adopted originally in the following form, but has been expanded since then:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Only begotten of the Father, that is to say, of the substance of the Father, God of God and Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things on earth; who, for us men and for our salvation, came down and was made flesh, was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day, went up into the heavens, and is to come again to judge both the quick and the dead; and in the Holy Ghost.
Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire and her son, Constantine VI, called the second council in 787. The Emperor Leo IV, Irene’s deceased husband, had forbidden the use of images for any religious purpose. Irene and Constantine called the council because of opposition to Leo’s decree. Irene cancelled the decree after the council had established principles governing the veneration (honoring) of images.
