Luke Timothy Johnson, in his book The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters (Doubleday, 2003), deals concisely with objections to the “novelties” presented by the Nicene Council and its creed, and answers anti-creedalists on the importance of creeds:
The creed formulated at Nicea was an innovation in at least three ways
- “It clearly brought the church into a position of cooperation—it could even be argued cooptation—with the state”
- “It imposed a universal creed to take precedence over treasured local versions” (though note this creed was not actually made universal until the later Council of Constantinople)
- “It used philosophical language within a profession of faith that was supposed to articulate the Christian story in the language of Scripture.” Continue reading
Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
Grateful to the dead 