The Symbol of Faith – The Nicene Creed

Emperor St. Constantine and the Church Fathers

            The Nicene Creed is one of the most recognized and widely used Creeds in Christendom. It arose from the First Ecumenical Council held by the Church in the town of Nicaea in the year 325 AD, as most councils do, as a response to Heresy forming against the teachings of the church. When the church saw how the teachings of the Apostles could possibly be twisted into something not of God, the Church got together to publicly decreed the teaching of the Apostles in a definite manor. It can not be emphasized enough that this was not when these teachings were formed, but rather a proclamation of what was already believed and taught by the Apostles from the very beginning. Until this time there was no reason for the church to formally create a creed because the Bishops of the Church faithfully taught and handed down the correct teachings and doctrines. It must also be pointed out that at the time of this council the New Testament scriptures were not canonized yet. The church was still deciding which books should be revered as Holy Scripture and which should be used only for edification (see my other Blog “Early Christian Reader” for more details on that). 

So the teachings of the Apostles, and the Creed, were formed and solid even before the church had a solid grip on what the New Testament would look like. This is important for the discussion on the Reformer’s doctrine of Sola Scriptura that we will have later on in this series. The only “sure” thing we had by 325 AD was the faithful teaching of the Bishops and the most popular letters known to be authentically from the Apostles at that time. The Nicene Creed became a very foundational block of what it meant to call oneself a Christian. This Creed built off of earlier – less formal – creeds such as the Apostles Creed and the Athanasian Creed that holds very similar, if not identical, language that the Council used to create the Nicene Creed. 

The creed is divided into 4 sections: (1) The Father, (2) The Son (the longest), (3) The Holy Spirit, (4) The Holy Church. These are the most important elements of Christian Doctrine. Within the creed we find all theological affirmations that one needs within the Christian faith. God, Trinity, the Scriptures, Baptism, Resurrection, the Church, etc. The first 3 sections tell us what we should believe about God, and the last tells us what we should believe about the church and how we, as God's people, should interact with Him; the basic building blocks of the Christian faith. Lets dig in and discover the Early Christian faith together bit by bit:

 

Icon of the First Ecumenical Council

******

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 Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And 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 sits at 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, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. 

And I believe in one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

          ******

            The very first words uttered in the Creed are “I Believe.” This is important to remember as our faith is a faith of belief in the truth of God and not relativistic in nature. This teaches us that even before we know what it is the Christian believes, the Christian must in fact BELIEVE these following tenants. In a modern secular world where radical individualism is king, this is important to remember. Too often today a Christian may flip flop between certain stances on topics of social importance – or even Theological importance for that matter. To be Christian is to believe in One thing, the truth of God handed down to us by the Apostles of Christ. One can not be a Christian and NOT believe that God made the heavens and the earth, that Christ was crucified, or that He rose from the dead. Closer to home, this means the Church and the Christian must have a stance on truth regarding civic topics such as abortion, same sex marriage, drug use, and assisted suicide. To be Christian is to stand up for what our Faith asks us to stand up for; indeed, what Christ commands us to bare, that is, to bare our cross – which may mean being ridiculed for being pro-life, i.e.

            The first two words in the Creed teaches us that what is about to be uttered in the creed is something that we should not stray away from, something we should hold onto deep in our hearts and minds, and if need be, suffer scorn or even die for our beliefs as Christians. A person can not attempt the Christian life in Christ without confronting their thoughts and personal beliefs with that of the Church, the Creed, or the teachings of the Apostles past down to us. In essence, it is what we believe as a Christian that makes us Christian.

 Icon of the 318 Bishops of Nicaea