Ancient Descriptions of the Council of Nicaea
The following charts display English translations of the Greek and Latin texts by various ancient writers concerning the Council of Nicaea (325). We also offer the charts with the original Greek and Latin texts. Because we desired to place the various accounts side-by-side when they address the same topics or events, the texts of individual writers had to be divided, sometimes in the middle of sentences. We have maintained the numbering for each document from the sources of the Greek texts (see the bibliographical information below). When two or more of the writers present the exact same Greek text, we have used the same English translation to denote this and have applied the translation for a single writer to the other writers. We have not applied this principle in places where Rufinus’ Latin and another writer’s Greek text appear to be presenting an identical text. Athanasius is the only writer from whom we have included selections from several works, so the Athanasius text being referenced is introduced with an italicized and underlined heading. Everything that follows that heading comes from the same text until a new heading appears. The shaded headings introducing sections of the table are our own. The documents can be accessed in PDF format via the links below:
Nicaea Table 1 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 2 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 3 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 4 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 5 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 6 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Nicaea Table 7 (English) (Greek/Latin)
Organization
The following table displays the major subdivisions of the ancient texts in our seven tables. The organization of the English tables is identical to that of the Greek and Latin tables. The abbreviation ACH is used to refer to the Anonymous Church History. A column has not been included for Jerome, since he is cited in only one location (Table 2, Bishops debate with Arius).
Socrates | Sozomen | Theodoret | ACH | Athanasius | Eusebius | Rufinus | Philost-orgius | ||
Table 1 | |||||||||
Constantine Summons a Council | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
Notable bishops attend | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
Most noteworthy bishops | x | x | x | ||||||
Philosopher debates with bishops before council begins* | x | x | x | x | |||||
Debate with Arius before Council | x | ||||||||
Table 2 | |||||||||
Council begins when Constantine arrives | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
Constantine’s opening address | x | x | x | ||||||
Constantine addresses grievances | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
Constantine’s provisions at the council | x | ||||||||
Bishops debate with Arius | x | x | x | x | |||||
Praiseworthy conduct of Constantine | x | x | x | x | |||||
Table 3 | |||||||||
Council makes its decision | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
Arians resist council’s decision | x | x | x | ||||||
Some of Arius’ former supporters subscribe | x | x | x | x | |||||
Creed of Nicaea | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
Reception of Creed and exile of dissenters | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
Eusebius explains his subscription | x | x | x | ||||||
Table 4 | |||||||||
Council condemns Thalia | x | x | |||||||
Constantine rebukes Acesius | x | x | x | ||||||
Concerning the celebration of Easter | x | x | x | ||||||
Canons of Council of Nicaea | x | x | x | ||||||
Table 5 | |||||||||
Issue of Meletius | x | x | x | x | |||||
Council’s letter to church of Egypt | x | x | x | ||||||
Paphnutius convinces council not to impose celibacy | x | x | x | ||||||
Various ecclesiastical rulings | x | ||||||||
Conclusion of the council | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||
Constantine’s farewell address | x | ||||||||
Table 6 | |||||||||
Constantine writes letters concerning the council | x | x | x | ||||||
Constantine’s letter to church in Alexandria | x | x | |||||||
Constantine’s letter concerning Arius and Porphyry | x | x | |||||||
Constantine’s letter concerning the date of Easter | x | x | x | x | |||||
Constantine institutes imperial allowances for the church | x | x | |||||||
Table 7 | |||||||||
Duration of the Council | x | x | |||||||
Athanasius’ letter to bishops of Africa | x | x | |||||||
Eustathius’ account of the Nicene Council | x | ||||||||
Reliability of Eusebius | x |
* The Anonymous Church History preserves an expanded version of the debate with the pagan philosopher. Since it is unique to the ACH, the full version is not included in the table but can be accessed in English as a PDF here.
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Sources Used
A bibliography of English translations and Greek and Latin sources is included on the first page of each document.
Created by AGC. Last updated on 11-01-2023.
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