Nice
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [1]
or Nicene Creed is so denominated, because the greater part of it, namely, as far as the words, "Holy Ghost," was drawn up and agreed to at the council of Nice, or Nicoea, in Bithynia, A.D. 325. This council was assembled against Arius, who, though he brought down the Son to the condition of a creature, inferior, for that reason, in nature to the Father, yet acknowledged his personal subsistence before the world, and his superiority in nature to all the things that were created by him. So that there was need of some higher expression in this case than the other, to import his equal dignity of nature with the Father and Creator of all; and nothing was found to answer the purpose so well as the term ομοουσιος . The rest of this creed was added at the council of Constantinople, A.D. 581, except the words, "and the Son." which follow the words, "who proceedeth from the Father," and they were inserted A.D. 447. The addition made at Constantinople was caused by the denial of the divinity of the Holy Ghost by Macedonius and his followers; and the creed, thus enlarged, was immediately received by all orthodox Christians. The insertion of the words. "and the Son," was made by the Spanish bishops; and they were soon after adopted by the Christians in France. The bishops of Rome for some time refused to admit these words into the creed; but at last, A.D. 883, when Nicholas the First was pope, they were allowed, and from that time they have stood in the Nicene creed, in all the western churches; but the Greek church has never received them. See Arius .
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( superl.) Of trifling moment; nimportant; trivial.
(2): ( superl.) Foolish; silly; simple; ignorant; also, weak; effeminate.
(3): ( superl.) Delicate; refined; dainty; pure.
(4): ( superl.) Apprehending slight differences or delicate distinctions; distinguishing accurately or minutely; carefully discriminating; as, a nice taste or judgment.
(5): ( superl.) Pleasing; agreeable; gratifying; delightful; good; as, a nice party; a nice excursion; a nice person; a nice day; a nice sauce, etc.
(6): ( superl.) Done or made with careful labor; suited to excite admiration on account of exactness; evidencing great skill; exact; fine; finished; as, nice proportions, nice workmanship, a nice application; exactly or fastidiously discriminated; requiring close discrimination; as, a nice point of law, a nice distinction in philosophy.
(7): ( superl.) Overscrupulous or exacting; hard to please or satisfy; fastidious in small matters.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [3]
n ancient city of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, celebrated as the seat of two oecumenical councils of the Church, the first, presided over by Constantine in 325, which condemned Arianism, and the second, under the Empress Irene in 787, which deliberated on image-worship.
