Christ Chapel. Courtesy | Christa Green

A two-day symposium will honor the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea Sept 26-27.

“Reformation & Tradition” will take place in the Hoynak Room in the Dow Center. Westminster Theological Seminary and Hillsdale College’s English, history, and philosophy and theology departments will sponsor the symposium, which will feature 15 lectures on the Nicene Creed, Trinitarian theology, and Christology in 16th-century Christian thought.

“Reformation theology is essential to the identity of, well, all Western churches, including Roman Catholicism, because there’s a Catholic reformation in the 16th century, too,” said Mickey Mattox, professor of theology. “And there remains a lot of really robust interest in Reformation theology, and I think rightly so.” 

Mattox will be giving a lecture titled “Martin Luther’s Doctrine of Trinity.” 

The symposium will include speakers from Westminster Theological Seminary, the University of Cambridge, the University of Notre Dame, and Calvin University. In addition to Mattox, Assistant Professor of Theology Don Westblade, Associate Professor of Theology Cody Strecker, Associate Professor of History Matthew Gaetano, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Joshua Benjamins, Assistant Professor of English Patrick Timmis, and Associate Professor of Music Derek Stauff will speak during the symposium. 

Westblade will be speaking on “The Gospel Roots of Nicene Orthodoxy.” He said he will argue for the Council of Nicea’s faithfulness to the Gospel of Mark concerning Christ’s divinity and humanity. He said the symposium will address the ties between the Protestant Reformation and Nicene theology.

“Rome’s traditions tend to go back to the Lateran councils of the High Middle Ages, and the Reformation says there’s a longer tradition that takes us back to Nicea and the ante-Nicene fathers, and we recover that that’s the source of our Reformation,” Westblade said. “So the Reformation sort of prides itself on having a longer tradition than Rome has and wants to celebrate that.” 

The symposium will help attendees understand the significance of the Council of Nicaea, according to Westblade.

“People know the Nicene Creed, but they don’t know where it came from or why it’s there,” Westblade said. “But there’s a lot of importance, historically and theologically, to that council.” 

The symposium will include a cocktail hour on Friday at 5 p.m. for drinks and discussion after the first three lectures. There will also be a worship service at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday in Christ Chapel followed by pastries and coffee. Lunch will be provided for those not on the meal plan. Attendees can register online for the symposium.

Mattox said he intends to inspire mutual respect between Christians of different denominations. 

“I think this symposium is a helpful event that hopefully will underscore the fact that at a professional and even ecclesial level, Protestants, Catholics, and others can get along very well and have a wide sphere of common interests and need to act on them,” Mattox said.