Defence of the Nicene Definition

The Council of Nicaea used two words not found in Scripture — “of the essence” and “one in essence” — to define the divinity of Christ. The Arians objected. Between 351 and 355, Athanasius of Alexandria wrote this letter to explain why the Council was right and the Arians were wrong.

The Defence of the Nicene Definition (De Decretis) is Athanasius’s most focused vindication of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). Written as a letter to a friend who had encountered Arian arguments, the treatise rebuts them in 32 sections across seven chapters. Athanasius exposes how the Arians repudiated every scriptural formula proposed at Nicaea until the bishops adopted non-scriptural language to close every loophole. He dismantles the claim that the Son is a creature, traces divine Sonship through the biblical language of radiance and image, and shows that four patristic predecessors used the same terms before the Council met.

The authoritative English translation since 1892, with full scholarly apparatus.

No standalone edition of the De Decretis exists on Amazon. The work appears only inside NPNF omnibus volumes or unformatted online texts. Many modern reprints of the Church Fathers are hastily scanned reproductions — missing footnotes, no index, broken Greek. A work that defined Trinitarian vocabulary for seventeen centuries merits greater care.

The Seven Chapters of the Treatise

• Chapters I–II (§§1–6): The Arians’ complaint against non-scriptural terms, their evasions at Nicaea, and the bishops’ response
• Chapter III (§§7–17): Divine Sonship — radiance, fountain, image — against the Arian doctrine that the Son is a creature
• Chapters IV–V (§§18–24): Defence of “of the essence” (ek tes ousias) and “one in essence” (homoousios) — the consubstantiality of Father and Son
• Chapter VI (§§25–27): Patristic testimony from Theognostus, the two Dionysii, and Origen
• Chapter VII (§§28–32): Refutation of “Unoriginate” as a divine title — “Father” is the scriptural name, and fatherhood implies a co-eternal Son

For Whom This Edition Is Prepared

• Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians studying the Nicene Creed and Trinitarian doctrine
• Students of early Church history, the Arian controversy, and the Council of Nicaea
• Scholars and seminarians working on patristic theology and conciliar history
• Readers of Athanasius seeking his mature doctrinal writings beyond the Incarnation and Contra Gentes
• Parishes, monasteries, and theological study groups exploring the Church Fathers

The Holy Nativity Press Edition

• Authoritative text from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume IV, translated by Archibald Robertson, M.A. (1892)
• 219 scholarly footnotes (2.1 per page) preserving the editorial apparatus, Greek terms, and patristic cross-references
• Subject index (298 entries) and scripture index (111 references) for scholarly cross-referencing
• Professional typesetting in Garamond Premier Pro on cream paper
• Pocket format (4.5 × 6.5 inches), 106 pages

The Holy Nativity Patristic Library publishes the Early Church Fathers as individual annotated pocket editions — each with scholarly footnotes, subject and scripture indices, and professional typesetting.