The 1,700-year anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, celebrated this month in Istanbul and Egypt, calls us to more than doctrinal memory. For most, Nicaea signals the triumph of creed—“Light from Light, true God from true God.” Yet that luminous formula was first born in the language of Presence—and its neglect has also challenged our unity.
Long before theologians debated substance or essence, Israel already knew the Sar HaPanim—the Prince of the Presence—who went before them (Exod. 23:20–21; Isa. 63:9). Centuries later, the Church confessed Him in Greek terms; but Israel had already met Him as the Face of God that blesses and redeems.
This post sketches the connection between Nicaea’s creed and the memory preserved in Jewish Machzorim—the High Holy Day prayerbooks that still echo the Face of God. And though many have not yet recognized Him, Jesus of Nazareth—the Messiah—still shines through their prayers and praises.
⸻1) Light that speaks, not just shines
“Light from Light” was never meant to freeze mystery into metaphysics. In Scripture it echoes the first radiance from God’s Face: “In your light we see light” (Ps. 36:9). By framing the confession in philosophical language (homoousios), the relational Face sometimes became an abstract essence instead of the dynamic Presence.
“Light from Light” was never meant to freeze mystery into metaphysics. In Scripture it echoes the first radiance from God’s Face: “In your light we see light” (Ps. 36:9). By framing the confession in philosophical language (homoousios), the relational Face sometimes became an abstract essence instead of the dynamic Presence.
In Israel’s tradition, Sar HaPanim is not a principle but a Mediator—the Name of YHWH dwelling among His people. When the Church echoes “Light from Light,” it is confessing this ancient conviction: God is present—personal, redemptive, covenantal. This is kosher Christology.
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2) The Machzor’s hidden witness
As the Church drifted toward sacramental systems and abstraction (even the Reformation did not fully correct the Constantinian trajectory), Judaism as Paul’s Cultivated Olive Tree preserved the Presence in prayer.
As the Church drifted toward sacramental systems and abstraction (even the Reformation did not fully correct the Constantinian trajectory), Judaism as Paul’s Cultivated Olive Tree preserved the Presence in prayer.
The Machzor is not an outline of doctrine; it is a memory-house of covenantal longing. Through piyyutim, worshipers invoke the Sar HaPanim, the Memra (Word), and the shining Face that grants forgiveness. In Yom Kippur’s Avodah, the High Priest emerges from the Holy of Holies radiant—a living enactment of the revealed Face.
Scholars like Xus Casal have shown how Machzor liturgy holds an echo of the same Presence Nicaea sought to express. It reminds us: forgiveness comes from a Face, not a metaphysical formula.
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3) A Kosher Reading of Nicaea — Beyond the Constantinian Drift
To read Nicaea kosherly is to read it covenantally, not imperially. The Creed defended the faith for unity, but Constantine’s empire soon refashioned it into a tool of control. “Light from Light” became less about divine Presence and more about power over Christology.
To read Nicaea kosherly is to read it covenantally, not imperially. The Creed defended the faith for unity, but Constantine’s empire soon refashioned it into a tool of control. “Light from Light” became less about divine Presence and more about power over Christology.
The original confession spoke of the Face that shines—God dwelling among His people. Under Constantine, that living light was absorbed into hierarchy and metaphysics. The Machzor’s memory of the Sar HaPanim preserves what the empire forgot: forgiveness and glory come from a Face, not a formula.
• Root — Yeshua, the Root of David, fulfills Israel’s promise.
• Branch — Believers are grafted into that same covenant life (Rom 11:16–24).
• Presence — The Word made flesh is Sar HaPanim, blessing the nations.
To recover Nicaea’s light is to let covenant outshine empire or theological control—faith before system, Presence before power, humility before hierarchy.
👉 For the full, deeper theological treatment, read Semper Reformanda.
