Nicaea for Today: Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters

by Coleman M. Ford, Shawn Wilhite

The year 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. While the historical and theological intricacies of Nicaea have been extensively analyzed within academic scholarship, its significance often remains underexplored within broader Christian understanding. The Nicene Creed stands as an early and pivotal ecumenical confession, marking key theological priorities that continue to resonate in the church’s understanding of divine mysteries. 

In Nicaea for Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters, Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite draw on insights from leading Nicaea scholars to unpack the history and theology of this ancient creed in accessible language while demonstrating its powerful relevance for the modern church. The primary objective of this work is to facilitate intellectual engagement with Nicene theology among academic and pastoral readership and the creed’s enduring capacity to enrich spiritual life in the contemporary context.

Genres: Theology

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2025

Reviews

[Jack Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt primarily like a (much needed) argument for the Nicene Creed to Southern Baptists after recent controversies, and so this book understandably doesn’t excel in exegetical/historical work in the creed—other volumes do that much better. However this book’s strength is its work on how the creed should function in the life of the church, and it offered great suggestions and historical evidence for different creedal practices in the context of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and private worship.

[Caleb Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preface, I received a copy for review.

Overall, this was a good book! It will be especially helpful for those who are in what they refer to as the “free church” (Baptist, non-denom, etc.) who are interested in the creed but maybe are not yet convinced. I’m not sure some of the anti-credal folks would even pick up this book, but if they did it would be a good defense of the necessity of the Nicene creed!

In such a short book, Ford and Wilhite accomplish a decent amount. They explain the history behind the council, even getting into Constantine’s past. They walk through each article of the creed and its teaching on each Person of the Trinity as well as salvation. This part seems the most brief because there is so much to cover in such a short space.

The last section of the book is great. The authors look at some practical applications for the creed in everyday life, preaching, and teaching. This includes being used in various parts of the church service, as well as personal spiritual development and catechesis. The final chapter is over the benefit of the creed in reading scripture, specifically with the focus on partitive exegesis. On this point, it felt like the authors were not as clear as they could have been. The chapter seemed to jump around a bit, not going with a consistent train of thought. They offer a definition early on, but then go a different direction and talk about general trinitarian theology for a bit which felt out of place. All the information was good and helpful, it just felt like the ordering was slightly off.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the creed or who is wanting to learn how to communicate the importance of the creed to your church members!

[Casey Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ford & Wilhite take on the task of showing the importance and necessity of the Nicene Creed in the life of the Church today. They include much needed history, notably Athanasius and Gregory of Naziansus, which kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this boom.

[Enrique J. Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be baptist but I like my doctrine to be Biblical and historically rich. We must not reject God's gift to the Church. Great book arguing for the importance of this creed, even for "no creed but the Bible" guys.