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Nicene Creed
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The Nicene Creed (Latin: ) is the creed or profession of faith (Greek: ) that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325.
It is given high importance in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Old Catholic Church and its offshoots, the Lutheran Church, the Anglican Communion, and almost all branches of Protestantism, including the Reformed churches, the Presbyterian Church, and the Methodist Church.
For current English translations of the Nicene Creed, see English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use.
e are several designations for the two forms of the Nicene creed, some with overlapping meanings:
In musical settings, particularly when singing in Latin, this Creed is usually referred to by its first word, Credo.
purpose of a creed is to act as a yardstick of correct belief.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
The Nicene Creed (Latin: ) is the creed or profession of faith (Greek: ) that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in 325.
It is given high importance in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Old Catholic Church and its offshoots, the Lutheran Church, the Anglican Communion, and almost all branches of Protestantism, including the Reformed churches, the Presbyterian Church, and the Methodist Church.
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 to the later Latin and Armenian 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 believers and deniers of a particular doctrine or set of doctrines. For that reason a creed was called in Greek a s?µß????, 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 a time when he was not. 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, not formulated in reaction to Arianism, 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
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 Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
The second Ecumenical Council 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 "Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed", referring to the Creed as modified in 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 "??p??e??µe???", but correct to add it to the Latin "qui procedit", which does not have precisely the same meaning.
The third Ecumenical Council (Council of Ephesus of 431) reaffirmed the 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 Faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicæa"(i.e. the 325 version) This statement has been interpreted as a prohibition against changing this creed or composing others, but not all accept this interpretation. This question must be considered against the background of long and continuous controversy in the Church concerning the nature of the Trinity, and of Jesus in particular; and the debate over whether a creed proclaimed by an Ecumenical Council is definitive or subject to change.
Comparison between Creed of 325 and Creed of 381
The following table displays side by side the earlier (325) and later (381) forms of this Creed in the English translation given in Schaff's 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) |
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| 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.] | | |
The Filioque controversy
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 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 ??p??e?es?a? 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 p?????a?, with which some of the Greek Fathers also associated the same words.
The phrase "and the Son" (Filioque in Latin) was first used in Toledo, Spain in 589 with the purpose of countering the Arian heresy of the Visigothic nobility of Spain. The practice spread then to France, the territory of the Franks, who had adopted the Catholic faith in 496, in contrast to the other Germanic kingdoms, who followed Arianism. This led to controversy with envoys of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V at a synod held at Gentilly in 767. In the time of Emperor Charlemagne, a council at Aachen in 809 approved the addition, but Pope Leo III opposed adding "Filioque" to the Creed, while approving the doctrine, and had two heavy silver shields made and displayed in St Peter's, containing the original text of the Creed of 381 in both Greek and Latin.
The dispute over the Filioque clause was one of the reasons for the East-West Schism. It became controversial in the 10th century, when Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, used this clause in his conflict with the Pope. He accused the West of having fallen into heresy and thereby turned the Filioque clause into a doctrinal issue of contention between East and West.
In Rome, the Filioque clause first appeared in 1014 in the coronation liturgy of Emperor Henry II by Pope Benedict VIII and was officially added to the Latin creed in 1274 by the Second Council of Lyon, which effected a short-lived reunion between East and West.
Note that "Filioque" is not the only phrase in the Latin text that is not in the Greek of the Council of Constantinople: "Deum de Deo" (God from God) is another such phrase. The Armenian text (see below) has many more additions, specifying more precisely the belief of the Church.
In 1978, the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference requested "... that all member Churches of the Anglican Communion should consider omitting the Filioque from the Nicene Creed, and that the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission through the Anglican Consultative Council should assist them in presenting the theological issues to their appropriate synodical bodies and should be responsible for any necessary consultation with other Churches of the Western tradition." In 1988, the conference "ask(ed) that further thought be given to the Filioque clause, recognising it to be a major point of disagreement (with the Orthodox) ... recommending to the provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be printed without the Filioque clause." This recommendation was not renewed in the 1998 and 2008 Lambeth Conferences and has not been implemented.
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.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Church of the New Jerusalem, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and similar groups, accept the Christian Scriptures in whole or in part, but reject the Nicene Creed. They consider themselves Christians, an identification contested by others who consider acceptance of the Nicene Creed a key part of Christianity.
While not necessarily rejecting the Nicene Creed as erroneous, some evangelical Christians, on the basis of their sola scriptura view, consider it as in no way authoritative, since it is not part of the Bible, and do not recite it in their services.
In the Roman Rite Mass, the "profession of faith" is made by using either the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed, jointly referred to as "the Symbol or Profession of Faith or Creed", while the second is described as "the baptismal Symbol of the Roman Church, known as the Apostles' Creed". In the liturgies of the ancient Churches of Eastern Christianity (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Assyrian Church of the East) and the Eastern Catholic Churches), the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is used, never the Apostles' Creed.
Ancient liturgical versions
Greek text
The Creed was originally written in Greek, owing to the location of the two councils. Though the councils' texts have "" (we believe ... confess ... await), the Creed that the Churches of Byzantine tradition use in their liturgy has "" (I believe ... confess ... await), accentuating the personal nature of recitation of the Creed.
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Latin 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 "" (pantokratora) and "omnipotentem" differ ("pantokratora" meaning Ruler of all; "omnipotentem" meaning omnipotent, Almighty). The implications of this for the interpretation of "" 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 "" and "consubstantialem", translated as "of one being" or "consubstantial", have different overtones, being based respectively on Greek (stable being, immutable reality, substance, essence, true nature), and Latin substantia (that of which a thing consists, the being, essence, contents, material, substance).
"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 "" (in unum Deum ..., in unum Dominum ..., in Spiritum Sanctum ...), and once in the classical preposition-less construction (unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam).
Church Slavonic Version
- Viruju v jedinaho Boha,
- Otca vsederezitel'a,
- tvorca neba i zemli vidimych ze vsich,
- imze vsja bysa.
- I v jedinaho Hospoda Isusa Christa,
- Syna Bozija i jedinorodnaho,
- iz ot Otca rozdennaho prezde vsich vik.
- Svita ot svita,
- Boha istinna ot Boha istinna,
- rozdenna,
- ne sotvorenna,
- jedinosuscna Otcu,
- imze vsja bysa.
- Nas radi celovik,
- i naseho radi spasenija ssedsaho so nebes i voplot'ivsahosja ot Ducha Svjata,
- i Mariji Divy,
- i vocelovicsasja.
- Raspjataho ze za ny pri pont'ijst'im Pilat'i,
- i stradavsa i pohrebena,
- i voskressaho v tret'ij den po pisanijem.
- I vozsedsaho na nebesa i sid'ascaho odesnuju Otca.
- I paki hrjaduscaho s slavoju suditi zivym i mertvym,
- jehoze carstviju ne budet konca.
- I v Ducha svjataho,
- Hospoda zi votvorjascaho, ize ot Otca,
- ischod'ascaho,
- ize so Otcem i Synom spoklanajemaja i soslavima,
- hlaholavsaho Proroki.
- V jedinu,
- svjatuju,
- sobornuju i Apostol'skuju Cerkov,
- ispoviduju jedino krescenije vo ostavlenie hrichov,
- caju voskresenija mertvych i zizni buduscaho vika
- amin.
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.
English translations
For English translations of the Nicene Creed, which of necessity are more recent than the original Greek and the Latin and Armenian versions, see English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use.
See also
Bibliography
- A. E. Burn, The Council of Nicaea (1925)
- G. Forell, Understanding the Nicene Creed (1965)
External links
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