Who refused to sign the Nicene creed?

Answer 1

The Council at Nicaea was convened and chaired by Emperor Constantine in 325 CE. Romer (Testament:The Bible and history) says that the Bishop of Rome did not attend this Council because he believed that, as Bishop of Rome, he was above other bishops and therefore should not be seen to seek consensus with them.

The five bishops who did not sign the creed were:

• Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia (not to be confused with the historian Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea)
• Theognis of Nice
• Maris of Chalcedon
• Theonis of Marmarica
• Secundus of Ptolemais

This is according to The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus, book I, chapter VIII, which was written in the mid-5th century and is extensively referenced by Socrates (not the Greek philosopher) who had collected all contemporary accounts of the council.

Socrates says that the reason they objected was because of the term homoousios, which means "one substance." The objection would have been because this term is not found in Scripture and thus should not be part of an official creed of the Church.

The chief results of the Council were the Nicene Creed and a list of 20 canons (rules), primarily concerning rules for the clergy, but also addressed the date of Easter (then still called Passover) and punishments for joining the military.