Editing Nicaea (section)

=== Christian Councils ===
{{main|First Council of Nicaea|Second Council of Nicaea|l1=First}}
[[Christianity in the Roman Empire|Christianity]] became a legal religion of the Roman Empire in the reign of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] (also known as Constantine the Great) by the [[Edict of Milan]] in 313.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia |last=Ermatinger |first=James W. |publisher=ABC-CILO |year=2018 |isbn=9781440838095 |pages=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onlUDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA31}}</ref> Constantine [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|patronized]] Christianity and supported it by granting privileges, and became the first [[Roman emperor|Roman Emperor]] to adopt Christianity, but he did not get [[Baptism|baptised]] until [[Constantine the Great#Illness and death|just before he died]] in [[Nicomedia]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Remembering Constantine at the Milvian Bridge |last=Van Dam |first=Raymond |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9781139499729 |pages=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS468l8Rnu0C&pg=PA20}}</ref> Constantine laid the groundwork for the majority of the population to become Christians, predominantly, the [[State church of the Roman Empire|empire's formal religion]] in 380.

The [[Nicene Creed]], ({{langx|grc|Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας|Sýmbolon tês Nikaías}}; {{langx|la|Symbolum Nicaenum}}; {{lit|lk=no|Symbol of Nicaea}}) which declared [[Jesus]] to be [[Roman god|God]], and became the foundation of church doctrine,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=9781134625529 |pages=285 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXH4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |editor-last=Orlin |editor-first=Eric}}</ref> was adopted at the first Roman Ecumenical Christian council in this city in 325.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=J. David |date=2007 |title=Nicea and its Aftermath: A Historical Survey of the First Ecumenical Council and the Ensuing Conflicts |url=https://biblicalstudies.gospelstudies.org.uk/pdf/ashland_theological_journal/39-1_019.pdf |journal=Ashland Theological Journal |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=20–21}}</ref> This council also condemned [[Goths|Gothic]] Christian [[Arianism]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Blind Faith: How Christianity Abandoned God: Part One: the Trinity Doctrine |last=Nelson |first=Daniel N. |publisher=BookCountry |year=2016 |isbn=9781463007645 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRXOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42}}</ref> which was later adopted by many [[barbarian kingdoms]], and led to the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|destruction]] of the [[Western Roman Empire|Western Empire]] for the century to come.

After shifting the council for four centuries, the [[Second Council of Nicaea|Ecumenical Council was held]] in Nicaea again in 787. This council was called by the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] of the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Empire]], [[Constantine VI]], [[Irene of Athens|Empress Irene]], who later became the first female emperor, and attended by [[Pope Adrian I|Pope Hadrian I]]. It addressed the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclastic controversy]] and recognized the veneration of Christian images of Jesus and the saints as legitimate.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Roots of the Reformation: Tradition, Emergence and Rupture |last=Evans |first=G. R. |publisher=InterVarsity Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780830839476 |pages=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLF-F4jsljQC&pg=PA99}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Relations Between Religions and Cultures in Southeast Asia |publisher=CRVP |year=2009 |isbn=9781565182509 |pages=115–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udYfoEqlbKQC&pg=PA115 |editor-last=Adrian |editor-first=Donny Gahral |editor-last2=Arivia |editor-first2=Gadis}}</ref> The council also forbade the secular appointment of [[bishop]]s, thus solidifying the independent authority of the church against that of the state.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions |publisher=Baker Books |year=2019 |isbn=9781493415908 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sw9YDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT604 |editor-last=House |editor-first=H. Wayne}}</ref>