Digging Out the Roots of the Nicene Creed

Here is a really interesting piece about Nicea and the origins of the Creed from Global Politician by David Storobin, Esq. Published on 27 July 2009.

“Ancient history seems not so ancient when you can see it, touch it, feel it, walk around in it. Living in Turkey gives me the opportunity to do exactly that just about every day. In the center of the suburb where I live on the edge of Istanbul, stands a collection of brick and stone ruins that date back at least a thousand years to the Byzantium Empire. No one around here seems to know really how old they are, but comparing them to other structures in the area leads me to believe that they may be closer to two thousand years old. When Thomas Jefferson penned the words of the Declaration of Independence, these ancient ruins had already stood for centuries. Some of the local residents actually use them today, keeping chickens underneath the vaulted ceilings of what appears to be either a Roman bathhouse or a church.

Just three hours south of Istanbul , on the other side of a large bay and over a modest mountain range, is the verdant valley of Nicea , or Iznik as it’s known in Turkish. The ancient town of Nicea sits next to a huge lake surrounded by olive-tree covered mountains. For the past five hundred years or more Turks have lived in the town, growing their olives and gardens, fishing in the lake, and drinking strong cups of Turkish coffee while they sit about chatting mostly about nothing in particular.”

For the rest of the article click here.