The Real Story Behind the Nicene Creed. Dr. Bryan Litfin
Theology in the Raw
Theology in the Raw
4.5 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 68 minutes
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Summary
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Watch this episode to hear all about how The Council of Nicaea went down, and how we got the Nicene Creed. Find out why the doctrine of the Trinity is so important, and why it took a couple times to get the Nicene Creed just right.
My guest is Dr. Bryan Litfin. Bryan Litfin is Professor of Bible & Theology in the Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Previously, he served for 16 years as Professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and 3 years as an editor and writer at Moody Publishers.
Bryan received his PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. His undergraduate work was at the University of Tennessee in the field of Communications.
Bryan is married to Carolyn, and they have two adult children. Bryan enjoys teaching, hiking in the mountains, writing, and investing in the lives of students, especially when he gets to take them on study abroad trips in the lands of church history. Bryan and Carolyn worship at Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If Christ is only similar but potentially beneath or in some way, his deity is like God the Fathers, |
| 0:10.0 | but not quite as good, you know, as the defenders of Nicaea like Athanasia would say, |
| 0:15.7 | well, the gospel comes crumbling down at that point. |
| 0:24.0 | Hey, friends. crumbling down at that point. Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of Theology and Rom. |
| 0:26.6 | My guest today is Dr. Brian Litvin, who is Professor of Bible and Theology at the Raleen |
| 0:31.9 | or in the Rawling School of Divinity at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. |
| 0:36.2 | He previously taught for 16 years as a professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, |
| 0:43.1 | and three years he spent as an editor and writer at Moody Publishers. |
| 0:47.4 | Brian received his PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. |
| 0:54.9 | Brian is the author of several books, including The recently released the story of the Trinity, |
| 1:00.9 | Controversy, Crisis, and the Creation of the Nicene Creed, which is the topic of our absolutely |
| 1:07.0 | fascinating conversation. |
| 1:08.5 | So please welcome to the show for the first time, the one and only, Brian Litvin. |
| 1:14.8 | Hey, Brian. Thanks for being on Theology and Naras. So I would love for you to give us the |
| 1:19.7 | background of the Nicene Creed. Most people are probably aware of the basic gist of what it is, |
| 1:25.3 | the content, but a few people, including myself, don't really |
| 1:29.1 | know the nitty-gritty details about how the Nicene Creed came about. Yeah. Well, it's actually a long |
| 1:36.2 | story. In the book, I kept thinking, well, I'll start here. And then I kept having to go back in time. |
| 1:43.7 | So it's a question of where do you want to start this? Because I actually started with, in the book, I'll start here, and then I kept having to go back in time. So it's a question of where do you want to start this? |
| 1:46.0 | Because I actually started with, in the book, I started with basically cavemen and asked the question, |
| 1:50.7 | why is there even belief in a deity at all? |
| 1:54.6 | That may be really, really early. |
... |
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