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Constantine first called the council to convene at Ancyra but then transferred “the council from Ancyra to Nicaea so that he could control the proceedings.” - The Early Church, Chadwick, p. 130, Dorset Press, NY, 1986 ed.
“The Emperor [Constantine] himself presided over the critical session [at Nicaea], and it was he who proposed the reconciling word, 'homoousios' (Greek for ‘of one essence’) to describe Christ’s relationship to the Father (though it was probably one of his ecclesiastical advisers, Ossius [Hosius] of Cordova, who suggested it to him).” - Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, p. 134, 1977; Also The History of Christianity, Lion Publishing, 1990.
“The interference with the Church by the temporal power [began] with the control of the Council of Nicaea by Constantine in 325.” - p. 19. And, “Constantine at Nicaea in 325 arrogated to himself the right to arbitrate the dispute in the Church, even though he was only the temporal ruler of the Empire.” - p. 137, Christianity Through the Centuries, E. E. Cairns, Ph.D., Zondervan Publishing House, 1977 printing.
“at the Nicene Council ... there were three parties present: the strict Arians, the semi-Arians and the Alexander-Athanasian party. The latter party, with the help of Constantine and the [seven] Western bishops, secured the adoption of a creed which no strict Arian could subscribe to, since it declared that the Son is identical in essence (homoousian) with the Father. The semi-Arians, although they maintained that the Son was not identical in essence, but of similar essence (homoiousian) with the Father, were finally constrained [‘to compel, force’ - Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary] to sign the document.” - Encyclopedia Americana, p. 233, v. 2, 1957 ed.
“The Emperor [Constantine and his trinitarian designee, Hosius] presided over the council and paid its expenses. For the first time the church found itself dominated by the political leadership of the head of state.” - Cairns, p. 143.
“Constantine banished Arius, ordered the death penalty for those who did not conform, and commanded the burning of the books composed by Arius...” - pp. 50-51, Christianity Through the Ages, 1965, Harper ChapelBooks.
“[After the Nicene Council] the large [majority] party known as Semi Arians ... carried on the strife against the Nicenes [trinitarians] and especially Athanasius.” - p. 359, Encyclopedia Britannica, v. 2, 14th ed.
“The decisions of Nicaea were really the work of a minority, and they were misunderstood and disliked by many [even those] who were not adherents of Arius. In particular the terms [‘out of the substance’ - 'exousia'] and 'homoousios' [‘of the same substance’] aroused opposition, on the grounds that they were unscriptural, novel, ... and erroneous metaphysically.” - p. 41, Documents of the Christian Church, 2nd ed., Bettenson, 1967, Oxford University Press.
“But [the Council of Nicaea’s] formula of the Son’s ‘consubstantiality’ ['homoousios'] with the Father was slow to gain general acceptance, despite [Emperor] Constantine’s efforts to impose it.” - p. 72, The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, John McManners, Oxford University Press, 1992.
“Before the assembling of the council of Nice, Constantine had been persuaded that the Arian doctrine contained a blasphemy against the divinity of Christ, and that the [homoousian] was absolutely required, in order to maintain the dignity of Christ’s person. …. It was nothing but the influence of the emperor Constantine which induced the eastern bishops at the council of Nice to suffer the imposition of a doctrinal formula which they detested and from which, indeed, they sought immediately to relieve themselves.” - Neander’s History of Christianity, Vol. 3, p. 189, Bohn.
“... the Creed of Nicaea became entirely distinctive because of its technical [non-scriptural] language and solemn curses (anathemas).” - p. 159. (This actually began the period of persecution of Christians by “Christians”!) And, “The Council of Nicaea set many precedents. The emperor called it, influenced its decision-making and used his civil power to give its decrees virtually the status of imperial law. The Council introduced a new kind of orthodoxy, which for the first time gave non-Biblical terms critical importance. .... In the long term did the whole church recognize that Nicaea had decisively developed its understanding of the divinity of Christ?
“Nicaea was followed by more than half a century of discord and disorder .... The ‘faith of Nicaea’, as the Creed was commonly called, was for most of the period out of favor with most churchmen.” - p. 160, Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, 1977.
Constantine first called the council to convene at Ancyra but then transferred “the council from Ancyra to Nicaea so that he could control the proceedings.” - The Early Church, Chadwick, p. 130, Dorset Press, NY, 1986 ed.
“The Emperor [Constantine] himself presided over the critical session [at Nicaea], and it was he who proposed the reconciling word, 'homoousios' (Greek for ‘of one essence’) to describe Christ’s relationship to the Father (though it was probably one of his ecclesiastical advisers, Ossius [Hosius] of Cordova, who suggested it to him).” - Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, p. 134, 1977; Also The History of Christianity, Lion Publishing, 1990.
“The interference with the Church by the temporal power [began] with the control of the Council of Nicaea by Constantine in 325.” - p. 19. And, “Constantine at Nicaea in 325 arrogated to himself the right to arbitrate the dispute in the Church, even though he was only the temporal ruler of the Empire.” - p. 137, Christianity Through the Centuries, E. E. Cairns, Ph.D., Zondervan Publishing House, 1977 printing.
“at the Nicene Council ... there were three parties present: the strict Arians, the semi-Arians and the Alexander-Athanasian party. The latter party, with the help of Constantine and the [seven] Western bishops, secured the adoption of a creed which no strict Arian could subscribe to, since it declared that the Son is identical in essence (homoousian) with the Father. The semi-Arians, although they maintained that the Son was not identical in essence, but of similar essence (homoiousian) with the Father, were finally constrained [‘to compel, force’ - Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary] to sign the document.” - Encyclopedia Americana, p. 233, v. 2, 1957 ed.
“The Emperor [Constantine and his trinitarian designee, Hosius] presided over the council and paid its expenses. For the first time the church found itself dominated by the political leadership of the head of state.” - Cairns, p. 143.
“Constantine banished Arius, ordered the death penalty for those who did not conform, and commanded the burning of the books composed by Arius...” - pp. 50-51, Christianity Through the Ages, 1965, Harper ChapelBooks.
“[After the Nicene Council] the large [majority] party known as Semi Arians ... carried on the strife against the Nicenes [trinitarians] and especially Athanasius.” - p. 359, Encyclopedia Britannica, v. 2, 14th ed.
“The decisions of Nicaea were really the work of a minority, and they were misunderstood and disliked by many [even those] who were not adherents of Arius. In particular the terms [‘out of the substance’ - 'exousia'] and 'homoousios' [‘of the same substance’] aroused opposition, on the grounds that they were unscriptural, novel, ... and erroneous metaphysically.” - p. 41, Documents of the Christian Church, 2nd ed., Bettenson, 1967, Oxford University Press.
“But [the Council of Nicaea’s] formula of the Son’s ‘consubstantiality’ ['homoousios'] with the Father was slow to gain general acceptance, despite [Emperor] Constantine’s efforts to impose it.” - p. 72, The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, John McManners, Oxford University Press, 1992.
“Before the assembling of the council of Nice, Constantine had been persuaded that the Arian doctrine contained a blasphemy against the divinity of Christ, and that the [homoousian] was absolutely required, in order to maintain the dignity of Christ’s person. …. It was nothing but the influence of the emperor Constantine which induced the eastern bishops at the council of Nice to suffer the imposition of a doctrinal formula which they detested and from which, indeed, they sought immediately to relieve themselves.” - Neander’s History of Christianity, Vol. 3, p. 189, Bohn.
“... the Creed of Nicaea became entirely distinctive because of its technical [non-scriptural] language and solemn curses (anathemas).” - p. 159. (This actually began the period of persecution of Christians by “Christians”!) And, “The Council of Nicaea set many precedents. The emperor called it, influenced its decision-making and used his civil power to give its decrees virtually the status of imperial law. The Council introduced a new kind of orthodoxy, which for the first time gave non-Biblical terms critical importance. .... In the long term did the whole church recognize that Nicaea had decisively developed its understanding of the divinity of Christ?
“Nicaea was followed by more than half a century of discord and disorder .... The ‘faith of Nicaea’, as the Creed was commonly called, was for most of the period out of favor with most churchmen.” - p. 160, Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, 1977.
