We believe in the Holy Spirit with Professor Loveday Alexander | Lent Bible Talks 2025

Originally recorded 26/3/25

his year sees the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, call by the Emperor Constantine to bring unity to both a fractured church and empire.

Convened in 325, the Council addressed the theological issue of the nature of the relationship between God and Jesus. Against the teaching of Arius, who maintained Jesus was a creation of God, the Council of Nicaea declared that God and Christ were of ‘one substance’ (homoousios), and therefore equal. This Council held in modern day Turkey gives its name to the Nicene Creed (although the text has been revised a number of times). The Nicene creed is recited weekly in many churches as a definitive statement of Chirstian faith and Trinitarian theology.

As part of Chester Cathedral’s celebration of this anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, this year’s Lenten bible talks will explore the creed in biblical perspective. The Lenten Bible talks take place at lunchtime (1.10–2pm) on the five middle Wednesdays of Lent. Local biblical scholars will lead sessions on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the Last Things (eschatology).