An expanded formal statement of Christian belief, based on the creed of the first Council of Nicaea (325). This is still publicly recited as part of the Eucharistic liturgies of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, as well as many Protestant Churches.
The Nicene Creed, Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed or Icon/Symbol of the Faith, is the most widespread Christian statement of faith.
Since its original formulation it continues to be used in the Catholic, Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Anglican, Lutheran, and most other Protestant Churches.
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 the Filioque clause, and to the Armenian version. 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 liturgy. 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)History
The purpose of a creed is to act as a yardstick of correct belief.
The Nicene Creed, both in its original and revised formulas, is an implicit condemnation of specific errors.
The original Nicene Creed of 325
The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, which was the first Ecumenical Council.
The Coptic Church has the tradition that the original creed was authored by Athanasius. Hort and Adolf Harnack argued that the Nicene creed was the local creed of Caesarea brought to the council by Eusebius of Caesarea. 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 formulas of faith were composed, most of them variations of the Nicene Symbol, to counter new phases of Arianism.
The Nicene 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"); hence the name "Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed", referring to the Creed as it was after the modification in Constantinople.
The third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the 381 version, and stated that no further changes could be made to it, nor could other creeds be adopted.
The Filioque controversy
Amongst the Latin-speaking churches of Western Europe, the words "and the Son" (the Filioque clause) were added to the description of the Holy Spirit, in what many have argued is a violation of the Canons of the Third Ecumenical Council. The Anglican Communion's current consensus position is "recommending to the provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be printed without the Filioque clause." (1988 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops, Resolution 6.5)
The phrase "and the son" (Filioque in Latin) was first used in Toledo, Spain in 447 with the purpose of countering the Arian Christian faith of the Visigothic nobility of Spain. Emperor Charlemagne called for a council at Aachen in 809 at which Pope Leo III forbade the use of the Filioque clause and ordered that the Nicene creed be engraved on silver tablets so that his conclusion might not be overturned in the future.
The dispute over the Filioque clause was one of the reasons for the East-West Schism. The clause had been adopted in the west, although the Third Ecumenical Council (431) had prohibited to individuals the promulgation of any other creed.
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 Councils: "Deum de Deo" (God from God) is also not found in the Greek.
Modern usage
To the majority of modern Christians the Nicene Creed is regarded as the quintessential expression of Christian faith. The Nicene Creed is referred to by Roman Catholics and Orthodox as the "symbol of faith", and its recitation is often part of Christian worship services.
However, some evangelical Christians who take an extreme view of sola scriptura reject the Creed (and especially its recitation), not necessarily for its content but simply because it is not found in the Bible.
In musical settings, particularly when singing in Latin, the Creed is usually referred to by its first word, Credo.
Controversy of Christian definition
Some religious groups such as Oneness Pentecostals, Church of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses adhere to Christian scripture and identify themselves emphatically as Christians, but reject the Nicene Creed as an error or a misinterpretation and further reject the more recent Lausanne Covenant that affirms the Creed. For example, a feminist theologian might simply be silent, rather than refer to God as "He" or "Father."
In modern interfaith relations, there have been many heated clashes between Nicene and non-Nicene traditions over the definition of Christianity, and of what constitutes a Christian.
Text
Comparison between Creed of 325 and Creed of 381
Often the Creed of 381 is regarded as a simple extension of the Creed of 325 - in an exact comparison though, there are some omissions (marked here as: omission) and additions (marked here as: addition) which are difficult to explain, if a direct relation is supposed. (Translation from Kelly, Early Christian Creeds)
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, eternally begotten from the father,
only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. Who because of us men and
because of our salvation came down from the heaven and became incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; the
Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified He has spoken through the Prophets. But as for those who say, There was when He
was not, and Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance, or is subject to alteration
or change - those the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.
Greek version
In the texts below, the amended sections, adopted in 381, have been identified thus in order to give them prominence.
The original creed was written in Greek, the language of the eastern Mediterranean where both councils were seated. Therefore, the revision from "we believe" to "I believe" may have been intentional on the part of the second Ecumenical Council, in order to accentuate the personal nature of the recitation of the Creed. 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.
In addition, the Nicene version ended with an anathema that was deleted in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan version:
| Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας, ὅτι ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, καὶ πρὶν γεννηθῆναι οὐκ ἦν, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως ἢ οὐσίας φάσκοντας εἶναι. 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. |
Most modern scholarly opinion believes that μονογενή means "only" or "unique" coming from μονο — "mono" meaning "only" and γενή coming from γενος "genus" meaning kind - "only one of its kind", thus the translation "only Son" in the above modern translation of the creed.
Older English translations as well as the Latin contain "only-begotten", "unigenitum" on the belief that γενή comes from the word for γενναω "born".
A considerable part of this confusion is due to the similarity of the key Greek verbs "gennao" and "gignomai".
"Γεννάω" (gennao) means "to give birth" and refers to the male parent.
Γίγνομαι (gignomai) means "to come into existence".
The etymological roots of the two verbs are, respectively, "genn-" and "gen-", and therefore the derivatives of these two verbs exhibit significant auditory and semantic overlap.
Auditorily speaking, while the ancient Greeks pronounced double consonants differently from single ones (example: the double N was pronounced as in the English word "unknown"), by Roman times this had become the same as pronunciation of single consonants (example: the double N was then pronounced as in the English word "penny").
Semantically speaking, the Greek word for "parent" can derive both from "gennao" (γεννήτωρ, gennetor, strictly applicable only to the male parent) and from "gignomai" (γονεύς, goneus, which applies to both parents).
Furthermore, the word "monogennetos" (a father's only son) and "monotokos" (a mother's only child) do not exist, while "monotokos" means a female who can only have one offspring at a time. Of course any -tokos derivative would be out of the question in this case, as the Nicene Creed seeks to clarify the parentage of God the Son in relation to God the Father.
The Greek word ὁμοούσιον indicates that the Father and the Son are "consubstantial", i.e. of the same substance, essence or being, because the Son is begotten of the Father’s own being (ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ πατρός)
Latin version (from Missale Romanum)
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem, factórem cæli et terræ, visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.The Latin text adds "Deum de Deo" and "Filioque" to the Greek.
Arabic version
قانون الايمان
با لحقيقة أؤمـن بإله واحد، آب ضابط الكل خـالق السماء والأرض, ما يرى وما لا ي وبرب واحد يسوع المسيح, ابن الله الوحيد, المولود من الآب قـبل كل الدهور, نور من نور, إله حق من إله حق, مولود غـير مخلوق, واحـد مع الآب فى الجوهـر, الذى به كان كل شئ, الذى من أجلنا نحن البشر ومن أجل خلاصنا نزل من السماء, وتجسّد من الروح القـدس ومن مريم العـذراء, وتأنّس, وصُلِب عـنّا عـلى عهد بيلاطس البنطى, وتألّم, وقُـبر, وقام من بين الأموات فى اليوم الثالث كما فى الكتب, وصعد إلى السماوات وجلس عن يمين الآب, وأيضًا يأتى فى مجده ليدين الأحياء والأموات, الذى ليس لملكه إنقضاء, نعم أؤمن بالروح القدس, الرب المحيى, المنبثق من الآب قبل كل الدهور, نسجد له ونمجده مع الآب والابن, الناطق فى الأنبياء, وبكنيسة واحدة, مقدسة, جامعة, رسولية, واعترف بمعمودية واحدة لمغفرة الخطايا وأنتظر قيامة الأموات وحياة الدهر الآتى
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. 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;English versions in official liturgical use
Traditional Anglican
Traditional Anglican (from Book of Common Prayer)
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 the 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 Ghost 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 sitteth on the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose Kingdom will have no end: And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets.1975 ecumenical version
In 1975, the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), published, in the book Prayers We Have in Common, an ecumenical English translation of the Nicene Creed that was adopted by many Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.1973 draft for an ecumenical version
The version of the Roman Missal used in the United States was prepared before the 1975 ICET text of the Creed was decided: it contains an earlier (1973) ICET draft.
The reasons for some of the revisions made to the 1973 text can be outlined as follows:
"Of one Being with the Father" (1975), dogmatically coherent with "Homoousios", replaced "one in Being with the Father" (1973), which, especially if misread as "one, in being with the Father", is open to speculative misinterpretation.
"He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man" (1975) replaced "He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man" (1973): neither Greek "σαρκωθέντα" nor Latin "incarnatus" means "born", and the 1973 text linked hominization ("became man") with birth ("he was born"), as if favouring abortion.
"He suffered death and was buried" (1975) replaced "he suffered, died, and was buried" (1973): "παθόντα" in Greek and "passus" in Latin are indicative of a suffering demise;
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.1988 ecumenical version
The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), the successor body to ICET, published in 1988 the book Praying Together, which included a revision of the 1975 ICET text, which is given below.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; We 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 worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. AmenModern gender-neutrality
Some Christian communions, in particular the World Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church (USA), omit the word "men", and others substitute the word "all" , in the line "for us men and for our salvation..."
The gender-neutrality issue is similarly muted in the original Greek: there the word "anthropoi" (humans or human beings) is used, as opposed to "andres" (men), or "gynaikes" (women).
The term "anthropoi" also serves to highlight universal atonement.
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