NICiEA
45
NIC^A
Cssarea and his two abbrcviators, Socrates and Sozo-
men, as well as Rufinus and Gelasius of Cyzicus, re-
port no details of the theological discussions. Rufinus
tells us only that daily sessions were held and that
Arius was often summoned before the assembly; his
opinions were seriously discussed and the opposing
arKuinriit.s uttentively considered. The majority,
e.spci'i.illx' I 1m ISO who were confessors of the Faith, ener-
gotirally iloclared themselves against the impious doc-
trines of Arius. (For the part played by the Eusebian
third party, see Edsebius of Nicomedia. The adop-
tion of the term 6/iiooi5crios by the Council is fully
treated under Homoodsion. For the Creed of Euse-
bius, see Eusebius of C^sarea: Life.) St. Athana-
sius assures us that the activities of the Council were
nowise hampered by Constantine's presence. The em-
peror had by this time escaped from the influence of
Eusebius of Nicomedia, and was under that of Hosius,
to whom, as well as to St. Athanasius, may be attrib-
uted a preponderant influence in the formulation of
the symbol of the First (Ecumenical Council, of which
the following is a literal translation : —
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of
all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, that
is, of the substance [(k tti^ oi)(r(os] of the Father, God
of God, light of light, true God of true God, begot-
ten not made, of the same substance with the Fa-
ther [biiooiuiov Tif) irorpi], through whom all things
were made both in heaven and on earth ; who for us
men and for our salvation descended, was incarnate,
and was made man, suffered and rose again the
third day, ascended into heaven and cometh to
judge living and dead. And in the Holy Ghost.
Those who say: There was a time when He was
not, and He was not before He was begotten; and
that He was made out of nothing (i^ ow 6yTwv) ; or
who maintain that He is of another hypostasis or
another substance [than the Father], or that the
Son of God is created, or mutable, or subject to
change, [them] the Catholic Church anathematizes.
The adhesion was general and enthusiastic. All
the bishops save five declared themselves ready to
subscribe to this formula, convinced that it contained
the ancient faith of the Apostolic Church. The op-
ponents wore soon reduced to two, Theonas of Mar-
marica and Secundus of Ptolemais, who were exiled
and anathematized. Arius and his writings were also
branded with anathema, his books were cast into the
fire, and he was exiled to Illyria. The lists of the sign-
ers have reached us in a mutilated condition, disfig-
ured by faults of the copyists. Nevertheless, these
lists may be regarded as authentic. Their study is a
problem which has been repeatedly dealt with in mod-
ern times, in Germany and England, in the critical edi-
tions of H. Gelzer, H. Hilgenfeld, and O. Contz on the
one hand, and C. H. Turner on the other. The lists
thus constructed give respectively 220 and 218 names.
With information derived from one source or another,
a list of 2.32 or 237 fathers known to have been present
may be constructed.
Other matters dealt with by this council were the controversy as to the time of celebrating Easter and the Moletian schism. The former of these two will be found treated under Easter, Easier Controversy; the latter under Meletius of Lycopolis.
Of all the Acts of this Council, which, it has been maintained, were numerous, only three fragments have reached us: the creed, or symbol, given above (see also Nicene Creed); the canons; the synodal decree. In reality there never were any official acts besides these. But the accounts of Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodnrot, and Rufinus may be considered as very important soun-cs of historical information, as well as some data pnx r\ cd by St. Athanasius, and a history of the Council of Nictea written in Greek in the fifth century by Gelasius of Cyzicus. There has long
existed a dispute as to the number of the canons of
First NicEea. All the collections of canons, whether in
Latin or Greek, composed in the fourth and fifth cen-
turies agree in attributing to this Council only the
twenty canons, which we possess to-day. Of these
the following is a brief resume: Canon i: On the admis-
sion, or support, or expulsion of clerics mutilated by
choice or by violence. Canon ii : Rules to be observed
for ordination, the avoidance of undue haste, the de-
position of those guilty of a grave fault. Canon iii:
All members of the clergy are forbidden to dwell with
any woman, except a mother, sister, or aunt. Canon
iv: Concerning episcopal elections. Canon v: Con-
cerning the excommunicate. Canon vi: Concerning
patriarchs and their jurisdiction. Canon vii confirms
the right 6f the bishops of Jerusalem to enjoy certain
honours. Canon viii concerns the Novatians. Canon
ix: Certain sins known after ordination involve invali-
dation. Canon x: Lapsi who have been ordained
knowingly or surreptitiously must be excluded as soon
as their irregularity is known. Canon xi: Penance to
be imposed on apostates of the persecution of Licinius.
Canon xii: Penance to be imposed on those who up-
held Licinius in his war on the Christians. Canon xiii :
Indulgence to be granted to excommunicated persons
in danger of death. Canon xiv: Penance to be im-
posed on catechumens who had weakened under per-
secution. Canon xv: Bishops, priests, and deacons
are not to pass from one church to another. Canon
xvi: All clerics are forbidden to leave their church.
Formal prohibition of bishops to ordain for their dio-
cese a cleric belonging to another diocese. Canon xvii :
Clerics are forbidden to lend at interest. Canon xviii
recalls to deacons their subordinate position with re-
gard to priests. Canon xix: Rules to be observed with
regard to adherents of Paul of Samosata who wished
to return to the Church. Canon xx^ On Sundays and
during the Paschal season prayers should be said
standing.
The business of the Council having been finished Constantino celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his accession to the empire, and invited the bishops to a splendid repast, at the end of which each of them re- ceived rich presents. Several days later the emperor commanded that a final session should be held, at which he assisted in order to exhort the bishops to work for the maintenance of peace; he commended himself to their prayers, and authorized the fathers to return to their dioceses. The greater number hast- ened to take advantage of this and to bring the reso- lutions of the council to the knowledge of their provinces.
II. Second ConNciL op Nic^ba (Seventh fficumeni- cal Council of the Catholic Church), held in 787. (For an account of the controversies which occasioned this council and the circumstances in which it was con- voked, see IcoNOCLASM, I, II.) An attempt to hold a council at Con.stantinoijle, to deal with Iconoclasm, having been frustiHtcd by the violence of the Icono- clastic soldiery, t lie pajial icgiitcs left that city. When, however, they liud reai'licd Sicily on their way back to Rome, thoy were rci-allcd by the Enil)ress Irene. She replaced Ihc mvitinous troops at Const<uilinuple with troops commanded by officers in whom she had every confidence. This accomplished, in May, 787, a new council was convoked at Nica>a in Bithynia. The pope's letters to the empress and to the [latriarch (see Iconoclasm, II) prove superabundantly that the Holy See approved the convoi-ation of the Council. The pope afterwards wrote to Charlemagne: "Et sic synodum istam, secundum nostram ordinationem, fecerunt" (Thus they have held the synod in accord- ance with our directions).
The empress-regent and her son did not assist in person at the sessions, but they were represented there by two high officials: the patrician and former consul, Petronius, and the imperial chamberlain and logo-
