The God We Love (Nicene Creed)

Here’s a new song from CityAlight – The God We Love (Nicene Creed) – featuring Matt Rodman.

Of course, 2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed.

Discussing Christian Unity and the Nicene Creed

From the “Dead Presbyterians Society” podcast:

“Leonardo De Chirico and Mark Gilbert join the program to discuss the enduring significance of the Nicene Creed as it marks its 1700th anniversary.

Drawing from their recent edited volume, The Nicene Creed: The Nature of Christian Unity and the Meaning of Gospel Words (Matthias Media), the guests explore how shared credal language can mask deep theological differences, particularly between evangelical and Roman Catholic traditions.”

– Watch here.

The book is, of course, available from Matthias Media.

‘Not so fast my friend’ – 1700 years since Nicaea – with Rachel Ciano and Leonardo De Chirico

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“It is 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea and the publication of the Nicene Creed – but what are we to make of it?

It was the twentieth of May in the year 325 that the Council of Nicaea first met. Pope Francis said ‘The Nicene Creed is a powerful sign of unity among Christians.’

The 17 hundredth anniversary of the Council of Nicaea is being used by the Roman Catholic Church to push the idea that ‘All Christians are Nicene Christians.’

However the difficulty is that while we say the same words, Roman Catholics and Protestants mean vastly different things, and any unity is a fake unity at best.

Leonardo De Chirico is pastor of the Church Brecha di Roma and director of the Reformanda Initiative.

Rachel Ciano lectures in Christianity and History at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. She is a faculty member at the Rome Scholars and Leaders Network, hosted by The Reformanda Initiative.”

– Watch or listen here.

Related:

The Nicene Creed – The nature of Christian unity and the meaning of gospel words  – Edited by Mark Gilbert and Leonardo De Chirico. Matthias Media.

“The Diversity of Religions is the Will of God”. A Window into Pope Francis’s Theology of Religions – Leonardo De Chirico at Vatican Files.

Exploring and Celebrating the Nicene Creed

“This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which is an important part of our liturgy for a number of our services, in particular for the Eucharist. We encourage you to mark this year by devoting some time to focussing on the creed, both personally and as a congregation. …”

– The Ministry Development Committee of the Diocese of Ballarat is seeking to help church members think about what they mean when they say the Nicene Creed on Sundays.

Related:

Credo Magazine feature: 1700 Years after Nicaea. – January 2025.

1700 Years after Nicaea — Credo Magazine

A new issue of Credo magazine is out, with a focus on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity:

“Without the doctrine of the Trinity we have no Christianity. So, something is fundamentally wrong when countless churchgoers and churches today never say the Nicene Creed together on a Sunday morning. In fact, some have never heard of the Nicene Creed at all.

The year 2025 is the anniversary of the Nicene Creed, meaning this year is a strategic opportunity for pastors everywhere to put the creed back in the church where it belongs. In this new issue of Credo Magazine, we explain why the creed should not only inform the doctrine of the church but its worship, pervading its liturgy. No longer can the church afford to go without that creed which brings us into fellowship with the communion of the saints and summons us into communion with the holy Trinity. …”

– Worth reflecting on the first three sentences – and reading through some of the articles in this issue.

From the first featured article, A Map to Organise Wonder:

“The Nicene Creed, written in 325 years then ratified and expanded in 381 at the Council of Constantinople, represents a doctrinal map seeking to organize the greatest Wonder within all the cosmos: the Triune God. It is not a replacement for the Wonder itself but helps pilgrims on the journey towards the Celestial City. The Creed prompts us to marvel at True Wonder as we progressively encounter his beauty before reaching him in glory. Thus, without the Nicene Creed, Christians are in danger of being lost in a sea of doctrinal and moral confusion. Whether evangelical Christians recite the Creed in gathered worship or not, we are indebted to the theological luminaries of the fourth century. To jettison the Creed is like disabling a GPS in an unknown territory.”

More interesting than any Dan Brown novel — The Council of Nicaea

“This year, in May to be specific, marks 1700 years since the start of the Council of Nicaea. The town is now known as Iznik, in modern Turkey. From this Council’s determinations sprang the core content of what Christians now know, and regularly recite, as the Nicene Creed.

Why does the anniversary of such an old statement matter? It’s not ultimately about philosophical theology, or winning a debate, let alone the intersection of religion and politics, as some suggest.

Ultimately, it’s about worshipping God properly, as he truly is, and not just as we imagine or find convenient.

In particular, it was about honouring Jesus not just as perfect man, but truly as God.…”

– At the Cathedral website, Sandy Grant, Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, explains the significance of the Council of Nicaea.

He reminds us, “the background story is more interesting than any Dan Brown novel conspiracy theory. And the theology is more important” – so take the time to read (and also see the resources he links).