What has Nicaea to do with Canterbury? Creeds, Councils, Tradition and the Fathers in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion

Abstract

This article charts the Council of Nicaea's (325) relevance to the Anglican Tradition from the sixteenth century to the present day, as manifested through Anglicanism's engagement with the Nicene Creed, its attitude towards early ecumenical councils, its appeals to ‘the Fathers’ and its approach to ‘tradition’, particularly in relation to Scripture. To that end, this article examines key governing texts in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion – with particular focus on the Book of Common Prayer (BCP 1662) and the Thirty-Nine Articles – as well as relevant political and theological controversies. The findings include some counterintuitive results in relation to classic maxims of ‘Anglicanism’, including that the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds are second only to Scripture in importance while simultaneously mediating Anglicans' encounter with Scripture and setting the conditions for legitimate Scriptural interpretation.