Receiving the First Council of Nicaea Today

Ecumenical Learning from Synodal Discernment in the Early Church. Proceedings of the 22nd Academic Consultation of the Societas Oecumenica

On Behalf of the Societas Oecumenica ed. by, Heta Hurskainen, Johannes Oeldemann

• Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9783374078929
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

»Receiving the First Council of Nicaea (325)« was the focus of the 22nd Academic Consultation of the Societas Oecumenica. This volume contains the proceedings of the conference, including historical, hermeneutical, denominational, canonical, and ecumenical aspects associated with the first Ecumenical Council of Christianity, published on the occasion of its 1700th anniversary in 2025.
The developments in the history of dogma and the political context of the Council as well as the hermeneutical approaches are the focus of the papers published in this volume. How have the Council texts been interpreted in history and today? How significant is the Nicene Creed in various denominations? What is the relevance of the canonical legacy of the Council today? How can the principle of »one city – one bishop« be understood today? What options are being discussed for finding ways to celebrate Easter together? What is meant by synodal discernment in the past and present?
Die Frage, welche Bedeutung das erste Konzil von Nizäa (325) für die Kirchen und die Ökumene heute hat, stand im Mittelpunkt der 22. Wissenschaftlichen Konsultation der Societas Oecumenica. Im Blick auf das 1700-jährige Jubiläum im Jahr 2025 erörterten die Mitglieder der Europäischen Gesellschaft für ökumenische Forschung historische, hermeneutische, konfessionskundliche, kanonistische und ökumenische Aspekte, die mit dem ersten Ökumenischen Konzil der Christenheit verbunden sind. Dabei werden neuere patristische Forschungen im Blick auf dogmengeschichtliche Entwicklungen und den politischen Kontext des Konzils aufgegriffen, hermeneutische Fragen im Blick auf den Umgang mit den Konzilstexten erörtert und die unterschiedliche Bedeutung des Nizänischen Glaubensbekenntnisses in verschiedenen Konfessionen beleuchtet. Die Bedeutung des kanonischen Erbes des Konzils wird im Blick auf den Grundsatz, dass es in einer Stadt nur einen Bischof geben soll, sowie hinsichtlich eines gemeinsamen Ostertermins diskutiert. Schließlich werden Erfahrungen mit synodaler Entscheidungsfindung in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart reflektiert.
Mit Beiträgen von Nathalie Becquart, Angela Berlis, Nicholas Cochand, Jonas Eklsund, Wojciech Gajewski, Peter Gemeinhardt, Margriet Gosker, Miriam Haar, Harutyun Harutyunyan, Dagmar Heller, Mihai Iordache, Petr Jandejsek, Andrej Jefti?, Przemyslaw Kantyka, Dimitrios Keramidas, Andrzej Kuzma, Denis Melkov, Lukas Metz, Jeremy Morris, Ivana Noble, Tim Noble, Johannes Oeldemann, Joshua Searle, Peter-Ben Smit, Robert Svaton, Uwe Swarat, Maria Takala-Roszczenko, Natacha-Ingrid Tinteroff, Andrés Valencia, Leon van den Broeke, Aleksei Volchkov, Jennifer Wasmuth.

Table of contents

• Receiving the First Council of Nicaea Today
• Contents
• Introduction
• Nicaea in the Ecumenical Discourse
• EXPLORING NICAEA: RECENT PATRISTIC RESEARCH ON THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA
• The Formation of Neo-Nicenism
• Wrestling with the Legacy of Nicaea
• Is there a Connection between the Nicene Creed, Eusebius and Anti-Judaism?
• Morality in the Thinking of a Nicene Father, St Anthony the Great
• Praying the Nicene Way
• APPEALING TO NICAEA: HERMENEUTICAL REFLECTIONS
• Hermeneutical Reflections
• The Inspiration of Nicaea: Ecclesial Communion as an Experience of Koinonia on the Way to full Unity
• Hermeneutical Reflections from a Baptist Perspective
• Παντοκράτωρ and universale concretum
• Retrieving Hope in Another Land
• Believing in the Church as a Resource for Ecumenical Rapprochement
• RETRIEVING NICAEA: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NICENE CREED IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCHES
• The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Life of the Churches
• Anglicanism and the Nicene Creed
• The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Life of the Lutheran Churches
• The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Life of the Armenian Apostolic Church
• The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Life of the Baptist Churches
• The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Theological Perspective and the Life of Pentecostal Churches
• The Nicene Creed as Common and Trustworthy
• Anglicans and the ‘Nicene Faith’
• RESOURCING NICAEA: THE CANONICAL LEGACY OF THE COUNCIL
• Canon 8 of the Council of Nicaea and Orthodox-Catholic Unity
• Not Two Bishops in One City?
• Celebrating Easter Together?
• One Easter – but with whom?
• INHERITING NICAEA: THE CHARISM OF SYNODAL DISCERNMENT AND ECUMENICAL REFLECTIONS
• The Ideal of Synodality in the Early Church and its Realization
• Structures and Processes of Synodality Today
• The Roman Catholic Synod on Synodality and the Way to the Habit of Discernment
• Discerning Ecumenical Challenges in the Light of the Synodal Process of the Roman Catholic Church
• The Groupe des Dombes and its Recent Book on the Catholicity of the Churches
• From Nicene Faith to Christian Love
• Nicaea – Moscow – Vatican
• Biographical Information