First Council of Nicaea

== Procedure ==
The Council was formally opened 20 May 325, in the central structure of the imperial palace at Nicaea, with preliminary discussions of the Arian question. Emperor Constantine arrived nearly a month later on 14 June.<ref name="The First Council of Nicaea">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11044a.htm|publisher=New Advent|title=''The First Council of Nicaea''|access-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> 

=== Arian presentation ===
In these discussions, some dominant figures were Arius, with several adherents. "Some 22 of the bishops at the Council, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia, came as supporters of Arius. But when some of the more shocking passages from his writings were read, they were almost universally seen as blasphemous."<ref name="Carroll 1987 11" /> Bishops Theognis of Nicaea and [[Maris (bishop)|Maris of Chalcedon]] were among the initial supporters of Arius.

=== Eusebius' creed ===
Eusebius of Caesarea called to mind the baptismal creed of his own [[diocese]] at [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] at Palestine, as a form of reconciliation. The majority of the bishops agreed. For some time, scholars thought that the original Nicene Creed was based on this statement of Eusebius. Today, most scholars think that the creed is derived from the baptismal [[creed of Jerusalem]], as [[Hans Lietzmann]] proposes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gollahon |first=Mickey |title=Moses, the ten commandments & the council of nicaea |date=2018 |publisher=lulu.com |isbn=978-0-359-05203-5 |pages=24 |oclc=1057650590}}{{sps|date=April 2022}}</ref>

=== The Nicene Creed ===
The orthodox bishops won approval of every one of their proposals regarding the creed. After being in session for an entire month, the Council promulgated on 19 June the [[Nicene Creed#Original Nicene Creed of 325|original Nicene Creed]]. This profession of faith was adopted by all the bishops "but two from [[Ancient Libya|Libya]] who had been closely associated with Arius from the beginning".<ref name="Carroll 1987 12">{{harvnb|Carroll|1987|p=12}}</ref> No explicit historical record of their dissent actually exists; the signatures of these bishops are simply absent from the creed. The sessions continued to deal with minor matters until 25 August.<ref name="The First Council of Nicaea"/>