The Nicene Creed

Traditional Catholicism
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The Nicene Creed

The history of the Nicene Creed is really the history of how the Church guarded the divinity of the Son at Nicaea (325), completed/confessed the faith about the Holy Spirit at Constantinople (381), and then solidified the creed’s universal authority at Chalcedon (451), with later liturgical and (in the West) doctrinal developments like Filioque shaping further debate.

The Nicene Creed most commonly refers today to the Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed - a baptismal profession of faith shaped in two major stages:

  • Council of Nicaea (325),
  • and Council of Constantinople (381)

Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed

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

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

You can download a PDF copy of the Nicene Creed here.

I hope you find this helpful.

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One of the most important prayers in the Catholic Faith. It was based on the Apostle’s creed and addresses several heresies of the day, including the Eucharist being Christ’s body. There’s a legend that the Apostle’s creed was created when Mary asked the 12 Apostles to state their beliefs about Jesus and each contributed a line. While the story is unlikely to be authenticated, the legend speaks to the power and importance of the Apostolic tradition of the early church. The Holy Spirit @ work.

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Yes, the Apostles Creed is the foundation of the Nicene Creed. And I too am familiar with the Legend with Mary suggesting the Creed to be formed.

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The topic of The Creed came up a lot a few weeks ago on Twitter after a Federal department released a list of Christian Faiths. They had put “Christian” in front of some questionable affiliations and rightly did not on the LDS Church, which led to Senator Mike Lee (a member of the LDS Church) tweeting about how the clarification should be included on the LDS Church.

A lot of posts began asking, “What is a Christian?” “How does one become a Christian?” “What do Christians believe?”

The state department quickly removed the “Christian” tags from all Religious affiliates listed to avoid further controversy and offending any one group over another, but the conversations continued. And the important distinctions between creedal and non-creedal Christianity ping-ponged back and forth throughout many threads on the platform.

The LDS reject both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. They do, however, have their own Articles of Faith.

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