At the two-day conference titled “Consubstantial with the Father,” dedicated to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivered an address as part of the celebrations marking the 1700th anniversary of its convocation.
As he emphasized, the convocation of the Council in Nicaea represents the culmination of the Church’s “primordial conciliarity” and its “ecumenical consciousness.” At the same time, it also marks the emergence of a new conciliar structure and practice—namely, that of the Ecumenical Council.
In his speech, he further stated that the Council of Nicaea was a milestone in shaping the Church’s doctrinal identity and has remained the model for addressing doctrinal and canonical challenges on an ecumenical level.
Read below the address of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew:
Most Reverend Hierarchs,
Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador, Consul General of Greece in the City,
Most Honorable Archons of the Great Church of Christ,
Esteemed Scholars,
Distinguished Guests,
Beloved Children in the Lord,
With feelings of joy, we welcome you to the historic Patriarchal Marasli Urban School and to this two-day conference titled “Consubstantial with the Father,” dedicated to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, within the framework of the celebrations marking the completion of seventeen centuries since its convocation. We extend our gratitude to the esteemed speakers for their willing acceptance of our invitation and to all of you participating, whether from Greece or elsewhere.
We express our Patriarchal appreciation to the President, members, and Secretary of the Organizing Committee for their contributions. We are confident that the presentations and discussions will highlight significant aspects of the Council of Nicaea and the contemporary relevance of its message.
The convocation of the Council of Nicaea represents the pinnacle of the Church’s “primordial conciliarity” and “ecumenical consciousness” while simultaneously signifying the emergence of a new conciliar structure and practice—namely, that of the Ecumenical Council.
The City of Constantine, inaugurated five years after the Council of Nicaea, was destined to become the center of ecclesiastical life, hosting four Ecumenical Councils that were decisive for the identity and course of the Church in the world. It is here that the Ecumenical Patriarchate maintains its unwavering Throne as the vigilant guardian of our pure Orthodox faith and sacred traditions.
The Nicene Creed, beginning with “We believe…,” is a proclamation of the Church’s common faith, formulated in response to Arian heresy, which sought to replace the theology of the pre-eternal Word of God—who was “in the beginning” and became incarnate for our salvation—with what has been called a “cosmological philosophizing.”
It is remarkable that the Fathers of Nicaea implemented the principle of “innovating in names.” Although philosophy, in Arius’ thought, was associated with an extreme Hellenization of Christianity, they nonetheless employed a philosophical term to express the faith in the divinity of the Word of God. In doing so, they achieved the Christianization of a philosophical concept, which thereby became “the cornerstone of the entire doctrinal edifice of the Council of Nicaea” (Callinicus Delikanis, The First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Constantinople, 1930, p. 130).
As is well known, the term homoousios (consubstantial) was previously unwritten and had been used by heretics such as Sabellius and Paul of Samosata. However, since the Council regarded itself as the authentic bearer of the ever-living experience and tradition of the Apostles within the Church—and with unwavering faith that only the consubstantial Word of God, “true God from true God,” through His incarnation, opens the way for humanity to deification—it did not hesitate to introduce this term into its Creed, affirming the perfect divinity of the Son and Word of the Father, who “became man so that we might be made divine” (St. Athanasius the Great).
Regarding the astonishing term deification (theosis), the late Fr. Georges Florovsky noted that “there is nothing naturalistic or pantheistic about it… Theosis means nothing other than an inner communion of human persons with the living God. To be with God means to dwell ‘in Him’ and to partake of His perfection” (The Immortality of the Soul, in Creation and Redemption, Pournaras Publications, Thessaloniki 1983, p. 275).
When the philosopher Hegel harshly criticized the Byzantine understanding and experience of the Christian faith, arguing that religion there remained “abstract,” leading to civil conflicts and violent upheavals “in the name of Christian doctrines,” as seen in the disputes over the terms homoousios and homoiousios, where the opposition over the letter “i” (iota) led to many violent deaths (G.W.F. Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History), he failed to grasp the deeply soteriological significance of doctrine in the Orthodox consciousness. Dogmas are not merely theoretical formulations of faith but a call to participation in the life in Christ within the Church, with salvation as their ultimate horizon.
The Council of Nicaea stands as a landmark in the formation of the Church’s doctrinal identity and remains the model for addressing doctrinal and canonical challenges on an ecumenical level.
The 1700th anniversary of its convocation serves as a reminder to Christendom of the principles of the undivided Church and the value of a common struggle against misinterpretations of our faith, with an unwavering point of reference in the God-Word, consubstantial with the Father, who assumed our form, liberated us from enslavement to the adversary, and granted us eternal life. Through His incarnation, “we have come to know the Father, and the Holy Spirit has descended into the world.”
The celebrations should contribute to the rekindling of faith in the consubstantial and indivisible Holy Trinity and in the co-eternal Word, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as well as to the multiplication of its blessings in the world.
Distinguished participants in this conference,
The work of theology is to reveal the soteriological dimension in all things. The correct understanding of the Church’s doctrines and their interpretation in existential terms requires, alongside participation in the ecclesial reality, a sensitivity and genuine concern for humanity and the trials of human freedom. In this sense, the proclamation of our faith in the Triune God and in the Incarnate Word—our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—must be accompanied by a tangible response to His exhortation that we “become neighbors” to those who have fallen among thieves and to His “least brethren,” with whom the Lord identified Himself, linking our eternal salvation to “whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for Me” (Matt. 25:40).
In closing, we once again express our gratitude to all of you and wish the proceedings of this conference abundant fruitfulness. We invoke upon you the bountiful grace and boundless mercy of the Triune God, whom we worship.
Photo: Nikos Papachristou
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
