Nicene Creed

Icon depicting Emperor Constantine (center) and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381

The Nicene Creed (Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum) is the creed or profession of faith (Greek: Σύμβολον τῆς Πίστεως) that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene (Template:PronEng) because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in A.D. 325. The Nicene Creed has been normative to the Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Eucharistic rite as well as Eastern and Oriental Orthodox liturgies. The Creed is recited in the Roman Rite Mass directly after the homily on all Sundays and Solemnities (Tridentine Feasts of the First Class), and in the Byzantine Rite Liturgy following the Litany of Supplication on all occasions.

It is given high importance in the Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church including the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Old Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and most Protestant denominations.

For current English translations of the Nicene Creed, see English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use.

Nomenclature

There are several designations for the two forms of the Nicene creed, some with overlapping meanings:

• Nicene Creed can refer to the original version adopted at the First Council of Nicaea (325), to the revised version adopted by the First Council of Constantinople (381), to the later Latin version that includes the phrase "Deum de Deo" and "Filioque", and to the Armenian version.
• Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed can stand for the revised version of Constantinople (381) or the later Latin version or various other versions.
• Icon/Symbol of the Faith is the usual designation for the revised version of Constantinople 381 in the Orthodox churches, where this is the only creed used in the liturgy.
• Profession of Faith of the 318 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Nicea 325 (traditionally, 318 bishops took part at the First Council of Nicea).
• Profession of Faith of the 150 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Constantinople 381 (traditionally, 150 bishops took part at the First Council of Constantinople)

In musical settings, particularly when singing in Latin, this Creed is usually referred to by its first word, Credo.

History

The purpose of a creed is to act as a yardstick of correct belief. The creeds of Christianity have been drawn up at times of conflict about doctrine: acceptance or rejection of a creed served to distinguish . For that reason a creed was called in Greek a σύμβολον, a word that meant half of a broken object which, when placed together with the other half, verified the bearer's identity. The Greek word passed through Latin "symbolum" into English "symbol", which only later took on the meaning of an outward sign of something. The Nicene Creed was adopted in the face of the Arian controversy. Arius, a Libyan preacher, had declared that although Jesus Christ was divine, God had actually created him, and "there was when he was not," also worded by others of the era "there was once when he was not" and "he was made out of nothing." This made Jesus less than the Father and contradicted the doctrine of the Trinity. Arius's teaching provoked a serious crisis.

The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the divinity of Jesus, applying to him the term "God". The 381 version speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Athanasian Creed describes in much greater detail the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostles' Creed makes no explicit statements about the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but, in the view of many who use it, the doctrine is implicit in it.

The original Nicene Creed of 325

Main article: First Council of Nicaea

The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea. At that time, the text ended after the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit", after which an anathema was added.

The Coptic Church has the tradition that the original creed was authored by Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria. F. J. A. Hort and Adolf Harnack argued that the Nicene creed was the local creed of Caesarea (an important center of Early Christianity) brought to the council by Eusebius of Caesarea. J.N.D. Kelly sees as its basis a baptismal creed of the Syro-Phoenician family, related to (but not dependent on) the creed cited by Cyril of Jerusalem and to the creed of Eusebius.

Soon after the Council of Nicaea, new formulae of faith were composed, most of them variations of the Nicene Symbol, to counter new phases of Arianism. The Catholic Encyclopedia identifies at least four before the Council of Sardica (341), where a new form was presented and inserted in the Acts of the Council, though it was not agreed on.

The Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381

It is traditionally believed that the second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381 added the section that follows the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit" (without the words "and the Son" relative to the procession of the Spirit); hence the name "Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed", referring to the Creed as modified in the First Council of Constantinople. This is the received text of the Eastern Orthodox Church, with the exception that in its liturgy it changes verbs from the plural by which the Fathers of the Council collectively professed their faith to the singular of the individual Christian's profession of faith. Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches use exactly the same form of the Creed, since the Catholic Church teaches that it is wrong to add "and the Son" to the Greek verb "ἐκπορευόμενον", but correct to add it to the Latin "qui procedit", which does not have precisely the same meaning.

Doubt has been cast on this explanation of the origin of the familiar Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly called the Nicene Creed. On the basis of evidence both internal and external to the text, it has been argued that this creed originated not as an editing by the First Council of Constantinople of the original Nicene Creed, but as an independent creed (probably an older baptismal creed) modified to make it more like the Nicene Creed of 325 and attributed to the Council of 381 only later.

The third Ecumenical Council (Council of Ephesus of 431) reaffirmed the original 325 version of the Nicene Creed and declared that "it is unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different (ἑτέραν - more accurately translated as used by the Council to mean “different,” “contradictory,” and not “another”) Faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicæa" (i.e. the 325 creed) This statement has been interpreted as a prohibition against changing this creed or composing others, but not all accept this interpretation. This question is connected with the controversy whether a creed proclaimed by an Ecumenical Council is definitive or whether additions can be made to it.

Comparison between Creed of 325 and Creed of 381

The following table juxtaposes the earlier (325 AD) and later (381 AD) forms of this Creed in the English translation given in Schaff's work, Creeds of Christendom, which indicates by [square brackets] the portions of the 325 text that were omitted or moved in 381, and uses italics to indicate what phrases, absent in the 325 text, were added in 381.

First Council of Nicea (325)	First Council of Constantinople (381)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.	We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;	And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];	by whom all things were made;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;	who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;	he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.	from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
	whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Ghost.	And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.
	In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

Filioque controversy

Main article: Filioque

In the late sixth century, the Latin-speaking churches of Western Europe added the words "and the Son" (Filioque) to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what Easterners have argued is a violation of Canon VII of the Third Ecumenical Council, since the words were not included in the text by either the Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople.

The Vatican has recently argued that, while these words would indeed be heretical if associated with the Greek verb ἐκπορεύεσθαι of the text adopted by the Council of Constantinople, they are not heretical when associated with the Latin verb procedere, which corresponds instead to the Greek verb προϊέναι, with which some of the Greek Fathers also associated the same words.

Views on the importance of this creed

The Nicene Creed has been regarded as a touchstone of true Christian faith, though not a complete expression of it. When the word "symbol" meant a "token for identification (by comparison with a counterpart)", the Nicene Creed was given, in Greek and Latin, the name "symbol of faith", a name still used even in languages in which "symbol" no longer has that meaning.

In the Roman Rite Mass, the Latin text of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, with "Deum de Deo" (God from God) and "Filioque" (and from the Son), phrases absent in the original text, was previously the only form used for the "profession of faith". The Roman Missal now refers to it jointly with the Apostles' Creed as "the Symbol or Profession of Faith or Creed", describing the second as "the baptismal Symbol of the Roman Church, known as the Apostles' Creed". Use of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, which contains only the Latin text of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is still permitted, with certain limitations on its public use. The liturgies of the ancient Churches of Eastern Christianity (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Assyrian Church of the East) and the Eastern Catholic Churches), use the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, never the Western Apostles' Creed.

While not necessarily rejecting the Nicene Creed as erroneous, some evangelical and other Christians, on the basis of their sola scriptura view, consider it as in no way authoritative because it is not part of the Bible, and do not recite it in their services.

The Church of the New Jerusalem, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and similar groups, accept the Christian Scriptures in whole or in part, but reject post-Apostolic statements such as the Nicene Creed. They consider themselves Christians, an identification contested by others who consider acceptance of the Nicene Creed a key part of Christian orthodoxy.

Ancient liturgical versions

All ancient liturgical versions, even the Greek, differ at least to some small extent from the text adopted by the First Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople. The Creed was originally written in Greek, owing to the location of the two councils. But though the councils' texts have "Πιστεύομεν ... ὁμολογοῦμεν ... προσδοκοῦμεν" (we believe ... confess ... await), the Creed that the Churches of Byzantine tradition use in their liturgy has "Πιστεύω ... ὁμολογῶ ... προσδοκῶ" (I believe ... confess ... await), accentuating the personal nature of recitation of the Creed. The Latin text, as well as using the singular, has two additions: "Deum de Deo" (God from God) and "Filioque" (and from the Son). The Armenian text has many more additions.

Greek liturgical text

Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, Πατέρα, Παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων.

Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων·

φῶς ἐκ φωτός, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ, γεννηθέντα οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο.

Τὸν δι' ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ σαρκωθέντα

ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα.

Σταυρωθέντα τε ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, καὶ παθόντα καὶ ταφέντα.

Καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς.

Καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρός.

Καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον μετὰ δόξης κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.

Καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ κύριον, τὸ ζωοποιόν,

τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον,

τὸ σὺν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ συμπροσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον,

τὸ λαλῆσαν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν.

Εἰς μίαν, Ἁγίαν, Καθολικὴν καὶ Ἀποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν.

Ὁμολογῶ ἓν βάπτισμα εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν.

Προσδοκῶ ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν.

Καὶ ζωὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος.

Ἀμήν.

Latin liturgical version

Credo in unum Deum,

Patrem omnipoténtem,

Factórem cæli et terræ,

Visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.

Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,

Fílium Dei Unigénitum,

Et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,

Génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:

Per quem ómnia facta sunt.

Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem

Descéndit de cælis.

Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto

Ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est.

Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis sub Póntio Piláto;

Passus, et sepúltus est,

Et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras,

Et ascéndit in cælum, sedet ad déxteram Patris.

Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória,

Iudicáre vivos et mórtuos,

Cuius regni non erit finis.

Et in Spíritum Sanctum, Dóminum et vivificántem:

Qui ex Patre Filióque procédit.

Qui cum Patre et Fílio simul adorátur et conglorificátur:

Qui locútus est per prophétas.

Et unam, sanctam, cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam.

Confíteor unum baptísma in remissiónem peccatorum.

Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,

Et vitam ventúri sæculi. Amen.

The Latin text adds "Deum de Deo" and "Filioque" to the Greek. On the latter see The Filioque Controversy above. Inevitably also, the overtones of the terms used, such as "παντοκράτορα" (pantokratora) and "omnipotentem" differ ("pantokratora" meaning Ruler of all; "omnipotentem" meaning omnipotent, Almighty). The implications of this for the interpretation of "ἐκπορευόμενον" and "qui ... procedit" was the object of the study The Greek and the Latin Traditions regarding the Procession of the Holy Spirit published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 1996. Again, the terms "ὁμοούσιον" and "consubstantialem", translated as "of one being" or "consubstantial", have different overtones, being based respectively on Greek οὐσία (stable being, immutable reality, substance, essence, true nature),[1] and Latin substantia (that of which a thing consists, the being, essence, contents, material, substance). [2]

"Credo", which in classical Latin is used with the accusative case of the thing held to be true (and with the dative of the person to whom credence is given), is here used three times with the preposition "in", a literal translation of the Greek "εἰς" (in unum Deum ..., in unum Dominum ..., in Spiritum Sanctum ...), and once in the classical preposition-less construction (unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam).

Armenian Liturgical Text

Մենք հավատում ենք մեկ Աստծուն, Հորը ամենազոր, տվյալների բազա պատրաստողի երկինքն ու երկիրը, բան տեսանելի եւ անտեսանելի.

Եւ մեկ Տիրոջ `Հիսուս Քրիստոսին, Աստծո Որդուն, ծնված Հայր Աստծո, միայն` ծնված, որ ունի էությունից Հոր.

Աստված `Աստծուց, լույս լույսից, ճշմարիտ Աստծո ճշմարիտ Աստծուց, ծնված եւ ոչ թե արել, նույն բնույթը, Հայր, որի միջոցով բոլոր բաները մտել են երկնքում եւ երկրի վրա, տեսանելի եւ անտեսանելի;

Ովքեր մեզ համար մարդկանց ու մեր փրկության համար, իջաւ երկնքից, տարան մարմինը դարձավ մարդ, ծնվել է կատարելապես Սուրբ կույս Մարիամի հասցեին Սուրբ Հոգու կողմից.

Ում կողմից է նա վերցրեց մարմնի, հոգու եւ մտքի, եւ այն ամենը, ինչ է մարդը, իսկապես, այլ ոչ թե նմանություն.

Նա տառապում էր խաչված եւ թաղվեց եւ հարություն առավ երրորդ օրը եւ ascended մեջ երկնքի հետ, նույն մարմնի եւ նստում է աջ ձեռքը Հոր.

Նա պետք է հետ գալ, նույն մարմնի եւ ի փառս Հայր եւ փոխանցվել է դատավոր ապրողների եւ մահացածների համար: Իր թագավորության չկա ավարտին.

Մենք հավատում ենք նաեւ Սուրբ Հոգին, որ եւ կատարյալ, ով խոսեց միջոցով օրենքի միջոցով մարգարեների միջոցով ավետարաններ;

Ով իջաւ վրա Հորդանանում, քարոզում միջոցով առաքյալների եւ է սրբերին.

Մենք հավատում ենք նաեւ միայն մեկ կաթոլիկ եւ Հայ առաքելական սուրբ եկեղեցուն,

Մեկ մկրտություն հետ ապաշխարություն թողության համար եւ մեղքերի ներում,

Է հարությունը մահացած է, որ հավիտենական վճիռը հոգիների եւ մարմիններում, երկնքի արքայության եւ կյանքում հավերժական.

English translation of the Armenian version

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father.

God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father, by Whom all things came into being, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Who for us humanity and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate, was made human, was born perfectly of the holy virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.

By whom He took body, soul, and mind, and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance.

He suffered, was crucified, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven with the same body, [and] sat at the right hand of the Father.

He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father, to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated and the perfect; Who spoke through the Law, prophets, and Gospels; Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles, and lived in the saints.

We believe also in only One, Universal, Apostolic, and [Holy] Church; in one baptism in repentance, for the remission, and forgiveness of sins; and in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgement of souls and bodies, and the Kingdom of Heaven and in the everlasting life.

Other ancient liturgical versions

The version in the Church Slavonic language, used by several of the Eastern Orthodox Churches and of the Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches, is practically identical with the Greek liturgical version. The same can be said of the versions used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, both of which, like the Armenian Apostolic Church, are part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Assyrian Church of the East, except that some of them are reported to use the plural ("We believe"), as in the original text in Greek, and not the singular ("I believe"), as in the Greek liturgical text.

English translations

For English translations of the Nicene Creed, which of necessity are not as ancient as the above-mentioned versions, see English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use.

See also

• Apostles' Creed
• Athanasian Creed
• English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use
• One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
• Homoousian
• First seven Ecumenical Councils

Bibliography

• Ayres, Lewis (2006). Nicaea and Its Legacy. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198755058.

• A. E. Burn, The Council of Nicaea (1925)
• G. Forell, Understanding the Nicene Creed (1965)
• Kelly, J. (1982). Early Christian Creeds. City: Longman Publishing Group. ISBN 058249219X.

External links

• Extensive discussion of the texts of the First Council of Nicea
• Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom Volume I: Nicene Creed
• Athanasius, De Decretis or Defence of the Nicene Definition
• Line-by-Line Roman Catholic Explanation of the Nicene Creed
• Nicene Creed in languages of the world
• Essays on the Nicene Creed from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library
• Modern English translations of the documents produced at Nicaea