pexels-jose-francisco-fernandez-saura-19558448

The Nicene Creed

I 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 only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian* and apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

*or the original text: And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

Importance of the Creed

The Nicene Creed was formulated to resolve a controversy within the church. It shares some elements with the Apostles Creed, but is much longer, to clarify some points of belief, and only the additional statements will be looked at here.

Perhaps the most important lesson from the creed is the danger of trying to reduce the nature of God to human terms. The dispute was resolved, but the creed is complicated and can be difficult to understand, so some denominations either do not use it, or use it little. And it cemented a division between the Western and Eastern Orthodox churches. We need to balance the desire to know more of God against the presumption that mere humanity can define the nature of our infinite God.

Main Additional Elements

1. Divinity of Jesus

begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made;

The creed makes clear that Jesus is truly God, equally divine with the Father, and that Jesus was the creator of all. This reflects John’s gospel, where Jesus is described as “the Word”.

John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

2. Jesus came as a man

for our salvation came down from heaven, … and was made man

This makes two points:

1. The truly divine and eternal Jesus came as a mere man, he was truly human;
2. The purpose of his incarnation was to save us from our state of separation from God

3. Divinity of the Holy Spirit

Lord and giver of life, … proceeds from the Father and the Son, … together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified

The Holy Spirt is truly divine, equal with the Father and Son.

4. Inspiration of the Holy Spirit

who spoke by the prophets

This states that it was the Holy Spirit who spoke to the prophets of old, who inspired them and gave them the words to reveal from God, and to record for us in the bible.