The Nicene Creed: Ancient Symbol of the Catholic Faith

Christians of all regions and denominations recite the Nicene Creed (also called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, because the complete present form was defined by bishops in both Nicaea and Constantinople) weekly. Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants all revere the ancient Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed was written in AD 325 and completed in its present form in AD 381. Over 300 Church leaders from all over the world gathered to write the creed. It was written in response to a heresy called "Arianism" that denied Jesus was fully God. The Nicene Creed is ultimately about the Trinity, but it also affirms historical realities of Jesus' life. The creed is purposely based on the Bible, the story of God and Christ. We have broken the creed down line by line with explanations.

We Believe in One God

As Christians, we, like Jews and Muslims, believe that one God exists. The creed states the assumption of the Shema: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Notice the English translation of the creed says "we" believe. The creed is an act of unity, and is both my confession and our confession.

The Father, The Almighty

Jesus frequently calls God "Father" in the Scriptures, and this usage implies a loving God active within His creation. God the Father is the first person, or distinction, within the Godhead. The Father is in a sense the "origin" or "source" of the Trinity. God the Father is often called "God Unbegotten" in early Christian thought.

Maker of Heaven and Earth, of All That is Seen and Unseen.

We believe that God created the visible and invisible elements of the cosmos. Thus, God created everything. Some early sects, the Gnostics and Marcionites, believed that God the Father created the spirit world, but that an "evil" god (called the demiurge) created the similarly evil material world. The creed dispels such a notion.

We Believe in One Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. The title Lord means Jesus is master of all, and the title has connotations of deity, since the Hebrew title adonai and Greek title kyrios (both meaning Lord) were applied to Yahweh in the Old Testament. However, unlike earthly rulers, Jesus is a friend to the oppressed and a servant to all.

The Only Son of God

Jesus is in a unique relationship with God. While Hebrew kings were considered sons of God symbolically (see Psalm 2), Jesus is the only true Son of God.

Eternally Begotten of the Father

Begotten has the meaning of born, generated, or produced. God the Son is born out of the essence of God the Father. Just as a child shares the same humanness as his or her parents, the Son shares the essential nature of God with the Father. Since God is eternal, the Son, being generate from God, is also eternal. The Son is often called the Only-Begotten God in early Christian literature, including John 1:18 in many manuscripts.

God from God, Light from Light

God the Son exists in relation to God the Father. The Son is not the Father, but they both are God. Just as a torch is lit one to another, the Father and Son are distinct, but both light. Some Christians, called Sabellians or Modalists, said that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God who changes roles. So when God creates, he is Father, while on earth, he is Son, and so forth. However, the Scriptures have all three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, interacting at the same time, as shown at Jesus' baptism. The language of scripture also suggests that the Father and Son are somehow two as well as one. In John's gospel, the Father and Son testify as two witnesses, not one (John 8:17-18). Related to this, St. Athanasius, writing during the Nicene era, reportedly said that the Father and Son are one as "the sight of two eyes is one." Another illustration is the musical chord. Think of a C-chord. The C, E, and G notes are all distinct notes, but joined together as one chord, the sound is richer and more dynamic than had the notes been played individually. The chords are all equally important in producing the full, dynamic, sound of the chord, but the sound is lacking and thin if one of the notes is left out.

True God from True God

God the Son is not a half-god or inferior to God the Father. God the Son is fully and utterly God, distinct from the Father, yet not divided from the Father. The ancient Arians believed Jesus could be called god but not true God. In other words, they believed the Logos (the Word) was the first creation of God, necessary to mediate between the unknowable distant God (a concept borrowed from Platonic thought) and creation. Because God knew the Logos would be perfect, the title god could be given to the Son "by participation," but "true God" was a reality reserved only for the unknowable Father. This is the Ante-Nicene "Logos Theology" of St. Justin and Athenagoras taken to an unintended extreme.

Begotten, Not Made

Some Christians today and in the past (the Arians) said that God created Jesus, like God would an angel. The creed tells us that just as when a woman gives birth she does not create a child out of nothing, being born from God, the Son is not created out of nothing. Since the Son's birth from the Father occurred before time was created, begotten refers more to a permanent relationship as opposed to an event within time.

One in Being (homoousia) with the Father

God the Father and God the Son are equally divine, united in substance and will. Father and Son share the same substance or essence of divinity. That is, the Father and Son both share the qualities and essential being that make one in reality God. However, sharing the same substance does not mean they share identity of person. While certainly an inadequate example, think of you and I. We are both fully human, possessing the essential qualities and essence of humanity, but not the same person.

Through Him All Things Were Made

The Bible tells us that through The Son, as Word of God, all things have been created. As Logos, the Son is the agent and artificer of creation.

For Us Men and for Our Salvation, He Came Down from Heaven

Jesus came from heaven, from a numinous reality other than our own. While the creed says "down," it is important to remember that our language is limited by our own time and spatiality. Heaven is not up, anymore than God is biologically a male father. However, due to the limits of language, we are forced to describe heaven spatially.

By the Power of the Holy Spirit, He was Born of the Virgin Mary and Became Man

God the Son became incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He was born of a virgin through the Holy Spirit. God truly became man in Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth was and is a real human being, not simply a spirit or ghost. The incarnation of God in Christ is the ultimate act of love, because rather than sending an angel or good human to accomplish the redemption and restoration of creation, God Himself became human. Some religious groups denied that Jesus was born of a virgin, such as the Jewish-influenced Ebionites. The virgin birth seems to be the first doctrine many modern day skeptics reject. Even today, many who say the creed weekly do not believe Mary was a virgin. However, in the mind of the Church, Mary's status as virgin remains an essential Christian belief.

For Our Sake He Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate; He Suffered, Died, and Was Buried

Jesus died on a cross, suffered as humans do, truly died, and was laid in a tomb. Despite what some critics will level against it, the Nicene is creed is more than just metaphysical speculation, and includes important historical confessions. Notice that in addition to being "true God from true God," Jesus is fully human as well. The early Docetists, named from the Greek word dokeo, "to seem," believed Jesus only seemed to be human, but was not, and simply went through the motions of being human. Thus, when Jesus ate, they said, he only pretended to eat. Docetism is a very early heresy, fought by the Gospel and Letters of St. John, as well as in St. Ignatius' letters in AD 110.

On the Third Day He Rose Again in Fulfillment With the Scriptures

Jesus was resurrected bodily as the scriptures say. One day he was dead, the next day he is alive. The bodily resurrection is the keystone of Christian doctrine and experience. However, Jesus was not just physically resuscitated as was Lazarus, but rather his body was also transformed at the resurrection. Rejection of the bodily resurrection is a rejection of the foundation of ancient Christianity.

He Ascended Into Heaven and Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father

In ancient science, heaven was thought to be situated above the sky dome (notice how on a starry night the sky looks like a dome that one could pierce through if one could get that high, e.g. by building a large tower). So in the scriptures, Jesus is said to ascend to heaven. Whatever happened that day, Luke had to render the event into his own scientific paradigm, so he said Jesus "went up" to heaven. Again, we are limited by our concept of spatiality. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, i.e. sharing authority with the Father, and not literally sitting next to the Father.

He Will Come Again in Glory to Judge the Living and the Dead and His Kingdom Will Have No End

Jesus is coming again to righteously judge the living and dead. His kingdom cannot be destroyed, despite all of mankind's efforts. The creed says Jesus is coming; it does not say when or how, nor does it say to speculate on the date or make money doing so!

We Believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life

The Holy Spirit is also called "Lord." The Holy Spirit sustains our lives as Christians, illuminating us after the new birth. The original Creed of Nicaea simply ended with "We believe in the Holy Spirit." The other additions were approved at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. However, most scholars believe that the text of the full creed dates prior to this council, and that the bishops simply gave their approval to a creed already in use.

Who Proceeds from the Father and the Son

The Son is said to be begotten, while the Spirit is said to proceed. Both words are used to say that the Son and Spirit are in special relationships to the Father, yet also fully divine. The phrase "and the Son," in Latin, filioque, is not in the original creed, but used in many Western Churches. The addition developed over time, probably as a tool against Arians in the Gothic lands. There are theological and historical justifications for the addition or exclusion of the filioque. Actually, despite current division on the matter, the issue has been pretty much theologically resolved. The Catholic Church acknowledges that the Father is the sole source within the Trinity, and admits that "proceeds from the Father and the Son" means "proceeds from the Father through the Son." They also acknowledge that the procession through the Son is not metaphysical, but refers to a sending forth. Also, Eastern Catholics (those Eastern Churches in communion with Rome) do not say the filioque, and remain in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox Churches seem willing to allow the interpretation "through the Son," because it does not destroy the monarchy of the Father within the Holy Trinity. However, the filioque remains a major division between Eastern and Western Christianity, mainly because the filioque was added to the Western version of the Nicene Creed without Eastern input. Hopefully it will be resolved in the future, as the current environment is far less political than it was a thousand years ago.

With the Father and Son, He is Worshiped and Glorified

The Holy Spirit is God as are the Father and the Son, and worthy of the worship due to the Father and Son. These additions at Constantinople in AD 381 were directed at various heresies, particularly those who denied the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. The names given to these heretics were Macedonians (named after a heretical bishop) or pneumatomachi ("fighters against the Spirit").

He Has Spoken Through the Prophets

The Spirit inspired the prophets of old, and inspires the Church today.

We Believe in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

We believe in the holy Catholic (universal) Church, whose origins are ancient and historical. The church was built upon the faith and witness of the apostles. This witness survives through Apostolic Succession, wherein apostles appointed leaders, who appointed leaders, who appointed leaders, etc, to the present day. This line survives today primarily in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches

We Acknowledge One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins

We believe that sacramentally through the waters of baptism, God forgives our sin, and that there is only one baptism necessary. This belief in baptism's power is ancient and practically universally acknowledged in the early Christian writings. If someone has been baptized in the name of the Trinity, generally rebaptism is a scandal, no matter in what church the baptism took place.

We Look for the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the World to Come

We as Christians always hope for the end, where the universe is fully reconciled to God. The creed seems to affirm both the existence of a soul-filled heaven and the later resurrection of the dead when soul meets glorified body.

Concluding Remarks

We hope you enjoyed this primer on the Nicene Creed. Remember that the creed is ultimately derived from the worship of Christians, who baptize in the name of the Trinity, and pray to the Father in the name of the Son, through the Holy Spirit. Being born from experience, the creed tries not to define God's nature exactly and precisely like a science textbook would describe something. God's threeness and God's oneness are concepts we can begin to grasp, but never fully comprehend. Just as the mind cannot fully intellectualize love or joy, neither can the mind fully intellectualize God. The creed is a framework, but is not meant to be a detailed scientific analysis of God. God's nature is ultimately a mystery as comprehended by our limited minds. So if someone says he or she fully understands the Trinity, chances are, that person has no clue what the Trinity is actually about. The creed is also lived out and experienced, rather than simply intellectually processed. In this vein, please take a look at Prayers to the Trinity.

Written by David Bennett