Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

he suffered death and was buried,

and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

I 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 adored and glorified,

who has spoken through the Prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

About the Nicene Creed

A creed is a summary statement of what is believed by the Church and its members.

The Nicene Creed could be more accurately titled the ‘Constantinopolitan Creed’, as it was formulated in 325 by the Council of Nicaea and later modified by the Council of Constantinople in 381 to the wording we have today.

The Nicene Creed has a different section for each person of the Trinity and the wording has been a source of tension in the church since first formulated.

The Nicene Creed was initially developed to stamp out the teaching of Arius, an Alexandrian priest who taught that Jesus was a created being and not present from the beginning as God was. Arius argued, that Jesus was human more than he was divine (which meant that he was not equal to God) as Arius wanted to uphold the Jewish teaching of monotheism (one God only). Constantine established the Council of Nicaea to reject the teachings of Arius.

After the Council of Nicaea, further arguments arose among bishops about the divinity of Jesus and several different creeds developed. The words ‘true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father’ were included in 381.

In the eleventh century, the Western church added the words, ‘and the Son’ so the text then read, ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son’. According to the Encyclopaedia of Catholicism, ‘This difference in creeds became a major source of tension between the Eastern and Western churches.’ This tension still exists between Christian churches and the Uniting church has removed the words ‘and the Son’ from the Creed.

Either the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed is said at Mass on Sundays and Solemnities.