Essay on Nicaea and Chalcedon doctrine

The Council of Nicaea (325) and the Council of Chalcedon (451) are well-known to Christians because of the significant role of the Nicene doctrine and the Chalcedonian doctrine. The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council that assembled 318 bishops. At this Council, Arius’ beliefs that Jesus Christ was no God were rejected. The Nicene Creed is focused mainly on Christ and acknowledges the Holy Spirit as participating in the Trinity. This Creed describes Crist as “truly God and truly man” (Rausch 161).

The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth ecumenical council that assembled 600 bishops and confirmed the major decisions of Nicaea, as well as gave response to new debates about the Trinity. In the Chalcedonian doctrine, which is focused mainly on the hypostatic union, the Holy Spirit is not mentioned. If the Nicene doctrine safeguarded the divinity of Christ, the Chalcedonian doctrine placed equal emphasis on Jesus’s full humanity: Jesus was perfect in divinity, humanity and truly man and truly God. These facts mean that the Chalcedonian doctrine was a so-called synthesis of views. The Council of Chalcedon played a significant role in the Christological debates leading to the separation of the church. The Chalcedonian doctrine provided a philosophical formula that was used to explain the paradox of Incarnation.

To sum up, the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity and the Chalcedonian doctrine of Christ are the most authoritative doctrines of Christians. The doctrine of the Trinity and deity of Christ are significant for contemporary Christian life and practice. It is known that today the Church follows the universal doctrines which are articulated not only in the Nicene Creed and the Chalcedon Creed, but also in the Apostles’ Creed.