The Council didn’t create doctrine, it clarified what Christians already believed, using texts that had been circulating for centuries. The key issue was the divinity of Christ, challenged by Arius. The council affirmed that Jesus is of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father, a conclusion drawn directly from Scripture, John 1:1 ("the Word was God"), John 10:30 ("I and the Father are one"), and Colossians 2:9 ("in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives").

Far from being a political invention, the Nicene Creed defended the long held understanding of Christ's divine nature. The council formalised what churches were already teaching, not to appease Constantine, but to protect the theological integrity of the faith.