This year is the 1700th anniversary of the opening of the Council of Nicaea, which took place in Asia Minor in the year 325. This was the first ecumenical council in history, and it produced the creed that, completed by the First Council of Constantinople in 381, has become the distinctive expression of the Church’s faith in Jesus Christ. To commemorate this historic moment, OCMS Faculty member Dr Mutale Mulenga Kaunda contributed a guest editorial on Nicaea in the journal International Review of Mission.
The First Council of Nicaea, which met in 325 CE – the first ecumenical gathering in
Christendom – was a pivotal gathering of bishops in the Christian church who dared to
engage the idea of the oneness of God, affirming that Christ, Son of God, is “very God of
very God” in every sense of the word. This understanding of God’s oneness also implies the
oneness of creation, for “all things visible and invisible” were created by the one God who
eternally manifests as three in one – a community of three persons in one God. Consequently,
there is only one creation, and within creation, one humanity, eternally manifested as male
and female. Humanity cannot exist without women and people of all races, for humanity is
defined by what is found in all of them.
However, it was about 200 male bishops, according to some accounts, who gathered at the
Council of Nicaea to discuss the divinity of Christ. Some may argue that what is often
overlooked is the possibility that the voices and influence of the women who were possibly
related in some ways to the bishops, though absent from official records, shaped the context
and decisions of the council in less visible ways. However, if this was the case, it means that
men then appropriated, without acknowledgement, the ideas of women.
In more recent times, the late US Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was quoted as
saying that “women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” Women’s actual
physical presence is necessary so that they are both seen and heard as they make
contributions to the critical decisions that affect both women and men.
The full article, together with all references, can be viewed here (paywall).
Nicea e la voce delle donne / Nicaea and the voice of women – A Conversation with Mutale Kaunda
The original IRM article prompted an interview with the editor of the Italian Christian online journal ‘Settimananews.’
This article is an Italian Christian publication, with Dr. Mutale Kaunda, faculty member at OCMS and author of a recent editorial in the International Review of Mission. In this in-depth conversation, Dr. Kaunda reflects on her original article exploring the hidden and indirect influence of women at the Council of Nicaea. She discusses the contemporary relevance of the Nicene Creed, the importance of gender justice in theology, and the need to engage both scripture and tradition in more inclusive and culturally resonant ways.
Read the full article here, first in Italian followed by an English translation.