CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: NICENE CREED
The Nicene Creed
As approved in amplified form at the Council of Constantinople (381) q.v., it is the
profession of the Christian Faith common to the Catholic Church, to all the Eastern
Churches separated from Rome, and to most of the Protestant denominations. Soon
after the Council of Nicaea new formulas of faith were composed, most of them
variations of the Nicene Symbol, to meet new phases of Arianism. There were at least
four before the Council of Sardica in 341, and in that council a new form was presented
and inserted in the Acts, though not accepted by the council. The Nicene Symbol,
however, continued to be the only one in use among the defenders of the Faith.
Gradually it came to be recognized as the proper profession of faith for candidates for
baptism. Its alteration into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan formula, the one now in use,
in usually ascribed to the Council of Constantinople, since the Council of Chalcedon
(451), which designated this symbol as "The Creed of the Council of Constantinople of
381" had it twice read and inserted in its Acts. The historians Socrates, Sozomen, and
Theodoret do not mention this, although they do record that the bishops who
remained at the council after the departure of the Macedonians confirmed the Nicene
faith. Hefele (II,9) admits the possibility of our present creed being a condensation of
the "Tome" ( Gr. <tomos>), i.e. the exposition of the doctrines concerning the Trinity
made by the Council of Constantinople; but he prefers the opinion of Rémi
Ceillier and Tillemont tracing the new formula to the "Ancoratus" of Epiphanius
written in 374. Hort, Caspari, Harnack, and others are of the opinion that the
Constantinopolitan form did not originate at the Council of Constantinople, because it
is not in the Acts of the council of 381, but was inserted there at a later date; because
Gregory Nazianzen who was at the council mentions only the Nicene formula
adverting to its incompleteness about the Holy Ghost, showing that he did not know of
the Constantinopolitan form which supplies this deficiency; and because the Latin
Fathers apparently know nothing of it before the middle of the fifth century.
The following is a literal translation of the Greek text of the Constantinopolitan
form, the brackets indicating the words altered or added in the Western liturgical form
in present use:
We believe (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, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true
God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to 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 Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified
also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again
according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the
Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose
Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver
of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and
the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy,
catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of
sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world
to come. Amen."
In this form the Nicene article concerning the Holy Ghost is enlarged; several
words, notably the two clauses "of the substance of the Father" and "God of God," are
omitted as also are the anathemas; ten clauses are added; and in five places the words
are differently located. In general the two forms contain what is common to all the
baptismal formulas in the early Church. Vossius (1577-1649) was the first to detect the
similarity between the creed set forth in the "Ancoratus" and the baptismal formula of
the Church at Jerusalem. Hort (1876) held that the symbol is a revision of the Jerusalem
formula, in which the most important Nicene statements concerning the Holy Ghost
have been inserted. The author of the revision may have been St. Cyril of Jerusalem
(315-386, q.v.). Various hypotheses are offered to account for the tradition that the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan symbol originated with the Council of Constantinople, but
none of them is satisfactory. Whatever be its origin, the fact is that the Council of
Chalcedon (451) attributed it to the Council of Constantinople, and if it was not
actually composed in that council, it was adopted and authorized by the Fathers
assembled as a true expression of the Faith. The history of the creed is completed in the
article Filioque. (See also: ARIUS; EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA)
J. WILHELM
Transcribed by Fr. Rick Losch
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
entire Catholic Encyclopedia on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to contribute to this
worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-mail at (
[email protected]). For
more information please download the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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