Council Day One: The Nature of God

I am very pleased with the outcome of our first day at the Council of Nicaea. I know in the beginning we hit a rough patch because we did not approach the council with unity. However, I feel as the council went on we took into account unity and concluded with a good beginning to a creed. I support the creed voted on regarding the nature of God. I strongly support the use of “one and only true god” because Christianity is solely monotheistic and as we discuss the rest of the creed this must remain true. God is “over all and in all and through all,” he is everything and this is another point that we must consider with the entire creed.

Throughout our discussion, we spent a large proportion of time discussing the repetition of the creed. I support my fellow Alexandrians and believe that in the first draft the repetition was a little excessive. However, I understand how this repetition is important to teach those who are non-Christian the virtues of our God. Regardless, the creed voted wholly describes our God while also displaying our beliefs in a simpler and unified manner. I know we argued back and forth about the language of the creed and may not see that as important; however, I see this as important because this creed will be read for centuries to come. The creed needs to be worded strongly to portray our beliefs in the future and to express the unity of our religion.

Lastly, one thing I do wish we addressed in the council is “God the Father.” It has not been written into the creed that God is the Father or what his relationship to Jesus is, so potentially discussing this topic will occur in the future, and if we can call God “the Father.”