The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Nicaea

Every Sunday, Christians all over the world recite the Nicene Creed as a confession of faith. While most do not know the details of the controversy that led to its composition, they are aware that the Council of Nicaea was a critical moment in the history of Christianity. For scholars, the Council has long been a subject of multi-disciplinary interest and continues to fascinate and inspire research. As we approach the 1700th anniversary of the Council, The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Nicaea provides an opportunity to revisit and reflect on old discussions, propose new approaches and interpretative frameworks, and ultimately revitalize a conversation that remains as important now as it was in the fourth century. The volume offers fifteen original studies by scholars who each examine an aspect of the Council. Informed by interdisciplinary approaches, the essays demonstrate its profound legacy with fresh, sometimes provocative, but always intellectually rich ideas.

1. Introduction Young Richard Kim; Part I. Contexts: 2. Imperial Fathers and their Sons: Licinius, Constantine, and the Council of Nicaea Raymond Van Dam; 3. Arius and Arianism: the Origins of the Alexandrian Controversy Rebecca Lyman; Part II. The Council: 4. Hosting the Council in Nicaea: Material Needs and Solutions Ine Jacobs; 5. Reconstructing the Council of Nicaea David M. Gwynn; 6. The Elephant in the Room: Constantine at the Council H. A. Drake; Part III. Outcomes: 7. The Creed Mark J. Edwards; 8. The Twenty Canons of the Council of Nicaea Andreas Weckwerth; 9. The Council of Nicaea and the Celebration of the Christian Pasch Daniel P. Mc Carthy; 10. Narrating the Council: Eusebius on Nicaea Aaron P. Johnson; Part IV. The Aftermath: 11. The Reception of Nicaea and Homoousios to 360 Sara Parvis; 12. The Emergence of the Pro-Nicene Alliance Mark DelCogliano; 13. Apollinarius and the Nicene Homoousion Kelley McCarthy Spoerl; 14. The Council of Ariminum (359) and the Rise of the Neo-Nicenes D. H. Williams; Part V. The Long Reception: 15. The Legacy of the Council of Nicaea in the Orthodox Tradition: the Principle of Unchangeability and the Hermeneutic of Continuity Paul L. Gavrilyuk; 16. Catholic Reception of the Council of Nicaea Geoffrey D. Dunn.

Young Richard Kim is Associate Professor in the Department Classics and Mediterranean Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author of Epiphanius of Cyprus: Imagining an Orthodox World (2015), which won the North American Patristics Society Best First Book Prize (2016).