The First Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 AD by the Emperor Constantine I, inaugurated an enduring paradigm not only in ecclesial administration but also in church identity. The Council’s processes and conclusions remain broadly normative with regard to church polity and the limits of Christian diversity.

Given that Nicaea took place at a time of remarkable religious pluralism and diversity and was convened in response to the disputes over “what is the Church” within that context, that early ecclesial reality shares an important resonance with our current historical moment.

The purpose of the conference is to pose the questions: In what ways does Nicaea continue to shape how we configure the Church today, with what opportunities and at what cost? 

Hauptreferent:innen:
Emilio Alvarez, Marco Demichelis, Susan Durber, Leo D. Lefebure, Elizabeth Prodromou, Geraldine Smyth

Call for Papers:
We invite proposals for papers around three clusters of questions, as we look through the First Council of Nicaea at the present and future of the Church:

(1)  Ecclesiologies of Consensus and Dissent. As the Council sought to negotiate plurality and diversity in the pursuit of unified witness and agreed-upon authority, we invite papers that reconsider the images, models, and methodologies of church (whether conceived universally or locally) that presuppose “unity” as a distinguishing characteristic. For example: 

• What are the preconditions and costs of “Christian unity”? 

• How does a Nicene conciliar paradigm – and unspoken assumptions about what such a paradigm does or does not mean – still prevail in debates about the role and limits of ecclesial “diversity”? 

• When faced with dissent within or between church communities, and when assigning value to ecclesial consensus, what might the legacy of Nicaea enable and what might it foreclose? 

• How does Nicaea continue to shape our possibilities and limits for a Trinitarian model of the Church as consensual unity-in-diversity? Do Nicene models meet the needs of the present day, particularly in light of the efforts in multiple church contexts to conceive of the future of the church in terms of “synodality”?

• Does the path forward for the churches’ ecumenical rapprochement and peacebuilding necessarily lie in the Nicene paradigm? Why or why not?

(2)  Ecclesiology, Power, and the Political Order. The Council of Nicaea provided grounds for hope that the Church could maintain its evangelical and salvific orientation and integrity, despite the tumult of rapid political upheaval and social change. We invite papers that consider the role and dynamics of political power in the internal workings of confessional communities, in inter-denominational conflict and rapprochement, and in Christian enactments of “church/world” dualities or syntheses. For example:

• To what extent does the dependence of the Council on Roman imperial power affect contemporary interpretations of its successes and challenges? 

• How do the lessons of Nicaea (its accomplishments and its deficits) inform today’s reflections on the modern actors and systems – whether political, economic, or social – that put pressure on the ethical and political engagement of the churches in an increasingly plural and globalized environment? 

• How are church communities and church authorities negotiating the contemporary confrontation between dominant political paradigms in (e.g.) the contest between democratic and non-democratic regime types, the demands of multinational, extractive capitalism, or the decolonial processes that resist the presumption of Euro-American military or moral authority?

• When churches acquire or corroborate forms of political authority, under what conditions does this authority form a means of (or an obstacle to) church mission or unity? How do different forms of political authority – vis-à-vis the state, parties, and in civil society – affect the legitimacy and capacity of churches to address questions of power abuse and misuse in a state-centered, transnationalized world? How do forms of Christian communitas that resist or reject aspects of the surrounding political order engage with those that assent to or actively embrace these same aspects?

• How does the shift from an imperial state order to a (post-)Westphalian state order imply an interpretation of church-state relations and, consequently, affect the ability of churches to interpret and reconsider the decisions of Nicaea in order to live Christianity in the 21st century?

(3)  Christian Identity and its Limits. The Council of Nicaea was more than a moment of profound ecumenical exchange and consensus-building; it was a divisive moment in which the limits of acceptable diversity were articulated and majority agreement excluded certain formulations of Christian thought, polity, and identity. We invite papers that engage the dynamics of confessional identity and consider how Christians today are assessing the sources and significance of ecclesial division – both within and between the churches. For example:

• What can be learned from how Nicaea transformed Christian “identity” and set limits on that identity’s inclusivity (perhaps especially, by way of excluding non-Trinitarian formations of Christian thought and life)? 

• How do Christian churches engage subcultural clusters and theological or moral disagreements within their denominations? What pressure do these disagreements exert on confessional identities?

• How does engagement with adherents of other religions and with non-believers influence Christians’ desire for and search for consensus among themselves? 

• What role do subaltern or marginalized voices play in critiquing or amending ecclesial self-understanding? 

• To what extent and in what ways do Christians constitute their identity as Christians in general, or as confessionally-specific Christians, in opposition or resistance to a threatening other? What role continues to be played (or should be played) today by patristic conciliar categories such as “heresy” and “anathema”?

The deadline for paper submission is March 1, 2025.

alle Informationen zur Konferenz

Paper einreichen

Anmeldung