The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

How the biblical canon formed — lesson 6

Nicaea did not choose the books of the Bible

A direct answer to the most persistent myth about the councils, with the council's own documents open.

  • Historical consensusBroadly agreed among historians working from the surviving evidence. Consensus can shift when the evidence or the method changes.
  • Dogmatic definitionDefined by an ecumenical council or otherwise confessed by the Church as binding doctrine. Not every sentence a council wrote is a definition: its acts, letters and disciplinary canons are different things.

Primary evidence verified Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

What still needs checking (1)
  • Add a sourced account of the Synodicon Vetus legend from a scholarly edition rather than from secondary report.

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What this lesson covers

  • State what the Council of Nicaea actually issued.
  • Explain where the myth comes from and why it persists.
  • Say what did form the canon.

About 7 minutes to read.

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The Council of Nicaea in 325 issued a creed, a synodal letter to the Church of Alexandria, a ruling on the date of pascha, and twenty canons. Every one of those documents is archived on this site in a public-domain translation. None of them is a list of the books of Scripture, and none of them discusses which books belong in the Bible.

What the twenty canons are actually about

Eunuchs and the clergy. The ordination of recent converts. Clergy living with women. Ordination by three bishops with the metropolitan's confirmation. Provincial synods twice a year. The customary jurisdictions of Alexandria, Rome and Antioch. The honour of the see of Jerusalem. Receiving Novatianist clergy. Ordination without examination. The lapsed. Soldiers who returned to their posts. Communion for the dying. Lapsed catechumens. Clergy moving between cities. Usury. Deacons overreaching in the liturgy. Paulianists. Standing rather than kneeling to pray on Sundays.

Read all twenty. It takes about fifteen minutes.

Where the myth comes from

What actually formed the canon

Apostolic origin; use in the worship of the churches; reception across regions; the testimony of bishops and teachers; and, late in the process, lists and local councils that recorded what had already settled. It took centuries, it was not centrally directed, and the edges took longest.

Follow it witness by witness, and see for yourself where the lists come in the sequence.

Key Scripture

  • 2 Peter 3:15-16 — Paul's letters spoken of as a known group alongside the other Scriptures, within the New Testament itself.

On Scripture references. References are given so you can read the passage in the translation your parish uses. This site does not reproduce a modern copyrighted Bible text.

Council and canon connections

  • The First Council of Nicaea: the creed, the synodal letter, the ruling on Pascha, and twenty canons — all archived, none about the canon of Scripture.

Why this matters in lived Orthodoxy

This matters pastorally because the myth is often the first thing an inquirer has heard about the councils, and it is usually presented as something the Church has hidden.

The most effective answer is not indignation. It is to open the documents. They are short, they are archived here, and they say what they say.

Review

What did the Council of Nicaea issue?
A creed, a synodal letter, a ruling on the date of Pascha, and twenty disciplinary canons — none of them about the books of the Bible.
Where does the myth come from?
A ninth-century legend about books leaping onto a table, and a modern popularisation through fiction and documentaries.
What actually formed the canon?
Apostolic origin, liturgical use, reception across the churches, the testimony of bishops and teachers, and later lists and local councils recording what had settled.

Your notes

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Going deeper

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Canons of the 318 Holy Fathers Assembled in the City of Nice, Canons I-XX annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record
  2. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Nicene Creed annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record
  3. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) The Synodal Letter annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record
  4. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) On the Keeping of Easter annotated edition of conciliar texts Source record
  5. Tier C Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (eds.); Arthur Cushman McGiffert (trans.) Eusebius, Church History, Book III, Chapter 25 translated edition of primary texts Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.