2025 St Andrew's Theology Symposium

5th Theology Symposium [5th Theology Symposium > 5th Theology Symposium]

Nicaea at 1700: A Council for the Ages?

With the blessing of our College Dean, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia,
the Fourth Theology Symposium was held at St Andrew's on the 22-23rd August, 2025. The theme of the Symposium was 'Nicaea at 1700: A Council for the Ages?'.

The Council of Nicaea, acknowledged by many Christian traditions as the first ecumenical synod of the Church, was summoned in the year 325 by Emperor Constantine the Great to resolve a subtle, yet essential, theological dispute that threatened to engulf both church and state and shatter the emerging unity of the nascent Christian Roman Empire. As the first council to aspire to universal status it became the paradigm, in both structure and aim, for all subsequent imperial synods of the first millennium.

While the Council’s main task was to adjudicate between the rival positions of the Alexandrian presbyter, Arius, and his bishop, Alexander, on the issue of the relationship between the Father and the Son, it succeeded not only in formulating a Creed that would serve as the model for later orthodox confessions of faith but also in establishing a canonical tradition that would form the basis for the future hierarchical and synodal polity of the Church. Furthermore, it sought to bring liturgical unity to the Church by decreeing a common formula in calculating date for Easter that has ramifications for Christian life to this day.

As we celebrate the 1700th Anniversary of Nicaea, we remain cognisant of the many ways this Council has shaped both the Christian faith and the church in history. Its theological, canonical and liturgical legacy continues to impact the outlook and thinking of contemporary theologians and church leaders, both within their own traditions and in the ecumenical context.

This theological symposium will therefore seek to reflect on the times, theology and legacy of this great council and consider its relevance for Christian life and thought in the twenty-first century and beyond. Itwelcomes presentations from the different disciplines of Christian theology, irrespective of their field of expertise, academic affiliation or denominational background. Indeed, it is hoped that a cross-disciplinary approach (whether this be systematic theology, patristics, ethics, biblical studies, church history, liturgics, etc.) will contribute by casting further light – indeed a more enriching and holistic perspective – on this most prominent council of the Church and its enduring significance.

Convenor: Associate Professor Philip Kariatlis

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We welcome those from all faiths and backgrounds to "come and see"

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Keynote Speakers

Professor Peter Bouteneff

Professor Lewis Ayres

Very Reverend Professor John Behr FBA

Professor Peter Bouteneff

Professor Systematic Theology
St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

Professor Peter Bouteneff is Professor of Systematic Theology at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he also directs the Institute of Sacred Arts. A graduate of Yale and Oxford, he studied under Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and completed his doctorate under the supervision of Rowan Williams. His scholarly work focuses on patristic theology, particularly the early Christian reception of Scripture and the writings of St Irenaeus, as well as contemporary Orthodox thought and theology and the arts. Professor Bouteneff is the author of several acclaimed works including Sweeter Than Honey: Orthodox Thinking on Dogma and Truth and Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. His work is characterised by a commitment to academic rigour, ecclesial fidelity, and creative theological engagement with modern culture.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

The Odyssey of the Homoousion

At the Council of Nicaea and during the ensuing decades, the most hotly contested and important word in its Creed was homoousios. In order to combat the Arian conviction that the Son was a lesser being than God the Father, the Nicene Fathers established that the Son was “of one essence—homoousios” with the Father. This word had no precedent in Scripture. Moreover, its meaning was not universally agreed. Even St Athanasius did not use the word in his anti-Arian writings for at least 25 years after the council. This lecture explores how the word was decided upon at Nicaea, how the fourth-century writers communicated with each other while the word’s meaning was still in flux, and how its meaning came to be discerned and agreed upon for the rest of Christian history.

Abstracts

Fr Alexander Aziz and Mr Michael Ibrahim

Revd Dr Demetrios Bathrellos

Revd Anastasios Bozikis

Bishop Silouan (Fotineas) of Adelaide

Revd Dr Antonios Kaldas

Dr Samuel Kaldas

Assoc. Professor Philip Kariatlis

Revd Professor Gerard Kelly

Dr Vasilis Adrahtas

Dr Peter John McGregor

Dr Andrew Mellas

Joe Mock

Professor Neil Ormerod

Dr Vicki Petrakis

Mr Lawrence Qummou

Rutherford

The Revd Canon Dr Mark Thompson

Fr Alexander Aziz and Mr Michael Ibrahim

St Cyril's Orthodox Theologicai College (AUCD)

'The Symbol of Faith as a Symbol of Resistance: Polemical Utility of the Nicene/Constantinopolitan Creed in the Post-Chalcedonian Period.’

Abstract: The seventh canon of the council of Ephesus sought to codify an emerging theological praxis within the Church, namely the authoritative nature of the Nicene Creed as a measure against which all doctrinal statements were to be assessed. Perhaps the most prominent example of this can be found in the epistolatory exchanges between Cyril and Nestorius in the leadup to the council. Later, in the wake of the council of Chalcedon, the utilisation of the Creed as theological ‘adjudicator’ took on a renewed fervour. The significance of this is demonstrated by the insertion of the Creed into the eucharistic liturgy in the 470s by Peter the Fuller, the non-Chalcedonian patriarch of Antioch, whose various liturgical innovations shaped Eastern liturgies, in both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian traditions. The impetus for this was most likely an attempt to proffer the Creed as a ‘true’ rule of faith in opposition to the perceived ‘innovation’ of the statement produced at the council of Chalcedon. Towards the end of the fifth century, an anonymous pro- Chalcedonian florilegium of Cyrillian quotations supporting a two-nature Christology was appended to a brief defence of the harmony between the Chalcedonian definition and the Nicene and Constantinopolitan creeds. This text survives in Severus of Antioch’s Philalethe, considered to be Severus’ earliest major work. In it, he utilises his training as a lawyer to analyse the source material and to recontextualise these Cyrillian quotations in such a way as to attempt to discredit this assertion of harmony between Chalcedon and Nicaea. Throughout his extant corpus, we find evidence of a credal interpretation which attempts to give weight to Severus’ Christology, the aim of which is to guard the central soteriological principle of theopaschitism, in which the subject of crucifixion and death is one of the Holy Trinity. This in turn would have a lasting impact on neo-Chalcedonian Christology as expressed in the second council of Constantinople in 553. Finally, this paper will highlight an observation made by Fr Alexander Aziz, namely an interesting enjambement within the creedal text as found in the medieval Coptic manuscript tradition which witnesses to the impact of this polemic upon the non-Chalcedonian church of Alexandria.

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