The Nicene Creed

This creedal statement is actually a product of two General Councils of the Church; Nicea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD). It is the most widely recognized statement of the Christian faith, being embraced by nearly every Christian Communion with historical roots. While we may quibble with the means by which the text was drafted and the manner in which it was, at times, promulgated, the text of the Creed finds a solid witness in the Word of God and the Fathers of the Church.

The Symbolum Nicaenum is not without its controversies, the most significant of which centers around the use in the historic western tradition of the so-called ‘Filioque’ clause. This clause, not contained in the original or amended version of the Creed was first interpolated into the text by Spanish Christians in the late sixth century, and eventually made its way to Rome during the early eleventh century, where it became an embedded feature of the Creed as it passed into both other Latin liturgies and into the rites of the Protestant Churches in the wake of the Reformation. The Armenian Apostolic Church also employs an adapted version of the Symbolum Nicaenum which includes substantial additions. (None of the Armenian additions are heretical, and they are too numerous to be provided in this text.)

In order to more present a text to which all may subscribe, the Synod has elected to omit the Filioque clause from the text of the Creed, but makes no formal statement concerning the validity of the theological speculations on either side of this particular argument.

The following text is presented in the plural, which accords with the original conciliar text. In liturgical usage in the West, the Creed has historically – until the late twentieth century – been recited in the singular, and it is presented in the singular-personal form in the Liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer of this Synod.

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all the ages,
*God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God;
begotten, not created;
of one essence with the Father
by whom all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven.
He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He shall come again with 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.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe 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.

HISTORICAL TEXTS

The line within this creedal statement marked with the double asterisk reads as follows in the Western tradition.

…who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

The line within this creedal statement marked with the single asterisk reads as follows in the Eastern tradition.

…Light of Light, very God of very God,

Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

The Nicene Creed

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