FACT CHECK: Did The Council Of Nicaea Determine The Biblical Canon?

A post shared on X claims the ecumenical council of Nicaea determined the canon of Scripture.

4. It was never altered by the Council of Nicaea.

Unlike the Western Bible, the Ethiopian Bible was never edited by the Roman Empire.

• The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) decided which books were included in Western canon
• Many books were removed or changed to fit the new Church…

— Nick Di Fabio (@NickDiFabio1) April 1, 2025

Verdict: Misleading

The existing canons of the Council of Nicaea show that no Biblical canon was determined. While at least one Church Father, St. Jerome, noted that one book was determined to be Scripture at the council, there is no evidence that the canon was determined in 325 AD.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming that the Council of Nicaea determined the canon of Scripture. One user partially wrote, “• The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) decided which books were included in Western canon. • Many books were removed or changed to fit the new Church…”

There is no evidence for this claim. The surviving canons of the Council of Nicaea do not determine any canon of Scripture and instead deal with other matters such as Arianism. (RELATED: Is Elon Musk Paying The Salaries Of The Rescued Astronauts For A ‘Full Year?’)

Eusebius, a historian of the early Church and a bishop, does not document 88 books in the canon. St. Jerome, who translated the Scriptures into Latin for the Latin Vulgate, in his prelude to the book of Judith, states, “But because this book is found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures, I have acquiesced to your request…”

St. Jerome’s writing does provide some evidence that some Scriptures were determined at Nicaea, but it does not state the entirety of the canon was determined there. Wikipedia states, “modern scholars such as Edmon Gallagher have doubted that this indicates any canon selection in the council.”

Check Your Fact previously reported that “several regional councils, such as the Council of Rome in 382 AD, that considered all seven of these books Scripture, according to Catholic Answers. The Council of Florence, which was attended by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and the Coptic Church between 1431-1445, also lists the deuterocanonical books as scripture.”