The Nicene Creed
Introduction
This Creed was especially written in response to the heresy
of Arianism, which arose during the 4th century. Its teachings
destroyed the doctrine of the Trinity and of the Deity of
Christ, saying that the Father alone was the eternal God,
while the Son was a created being. Therefore, there is one
God, the Father, who created a Son (a familiar teaching in
our day by the Jehovah’s Witnesses). Both the Eastern
and the Western Church confess this Creed, but with one important
difference. The West insisted on the inclusion of the phrase “and
the Son” (Latin filioque) in discussing the procession
of the Holy Spirit; but the East rejects this phrase. The
inclusion of this phrase is important as it protects the
consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and
the Son; without it the heresy of subordinationism creeps
into the doctrine of the Trinity. In its present form this
Creed is the creed of the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.), but
the addition of the articles on the Holy Spirit from the
Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.) form this majestic 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 the Father before all ages; 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 on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come
again,
with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom
shall 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 with
the Father
and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who
spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and
apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission
of sins; and
I look for the
resurrection of the dead, and the
life of the world to come. Amen.”
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