The Council of Nicaea Revisted:Competing Theologies and Doctrinal Decision

Please join St. Joseph's as we welcome Fr. Samuel Fernández graduated at the Istituto Patristico “Augustinianum” Rome and is Professor of Theology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as he speaks about the theological and historical dynamics of the Council of Nicaea (325), moving beyond the oversimplified “Arian crisis” narrative. Drawing primarily on contemporary sources, it situates the controversy within the diverse theological legacy of Origen and highlights three competing explanations of the Son’s origin: Alexander’s doctrine of eternal begetting, Eusebius of Caesarea’s assertion of the Father’s timeless priority, and Philogonius of Antioch’s two-stage Logos theology. The analysis shows that the Council’s debates were less about affirming or denying Christ’s divinity than about clarifying the eternal relation between the Father and the Son. The insertion of homoousiosinto the Nicene Creed marked the rejection of any conception of God existing “before” the Son, affirming instead that divine fatherhood and sonship belong to God’s eternal identity.

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