What is the Nicene Creed?

Understanding Jude 1:20-21

The Nicene Creed is the most important creedal statement in Christian history. It is accepted by virtually every major Christian tradition — Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, and many others. When Christians ask 'What do we all agree on?' the Nicene Creed is the answer.

Historical context

The creed emerged from a crisis. In the early 4th century, an Alexandrian priest named Arius began teaching that Jesus Christ was a created being — the first and greatest of God's creations, but not truly God. Arius's position can be summarized: 'There was a time when the Son was not.' Jesus was divine-ish — more than human, less than God.

This teaching spread rapidly and threatened to split the church. Emperor Constantine, who had just legalized Christianity (Edict of Milan, 313 AD), convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to resolve the dispute. Approximately 318 bishops attended — mostly from the Eastern church.

The council overwhelmingly rejected Arianism and produced the original Nicene Creed, which was then expanded and finalized at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. This expanded version — technically the 'Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed' — is what churches recite today.

The text

The creed as used in Western churches (with the Filioque clause, discussed below):

We 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 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 we 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 we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Line-by-line theology

'We believe in one God' — Monotheism. Against polytheism and the fragmentation of deity. One God — not two, not many.

'The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth' — God as Creator of everything that exists — both visible (material world) and invisible (angelic/spiritual realm). This also rejects Gnosticism, which taught that the material world was created by an inferior deity.

'One Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God' — Jesus' unique relationship to the Father. 'Only-begotten' (monogenes) means 'one of a kind' — not created, not adopted, but uniquely God's Son.

'Begotten of the Father before all ages' — The Son's eternal origin. He was not created at a point in time. His 'begetting' is eternal — an ongoing relationship within the Trinity, not an event in history.

'God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God' — The creed's most anti-Arian language. Jesus is God in the same way the Father is God. Light from Light — the flame of a candle lit from another candle is equally flame, equally light, equally fire. One is not 'more fire' than the other.

'Begotten, not made' — Direct refutation of Arius. 'Made' implies creation — something that didn't exist and then did. 'Begotten' implies eternal generation — the Son shares the Father's nature the way a child shares a parent's nature. A carpenter makes a chair (different nature). A parent begets a child (same nature).

'Being of one substance with the Father' (homoousios) — This is THE word of Nicaea. In Greek: homoousios (ὁμοούσιος) — 'of the same substance/essence/being.' The Son is not similar to the Father (homoiousios — the Arian compromise) but identical in essence. This single word drew the line between orthodoxy and heresy. The difference between homoousios and homoiousios is one Greek letter (iota) — leading to the expression 'it doesn't make one iota of difference,' though in this case, the iota made all the difference.

'By whom all things were made' — The Son is Creator, not creature. John 1:3: 'Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.' If the Son made all things, He cannot Himself be a made thing.

'For us and for our salvation' — The incarnation was purposeful — not accidental, not for display, but for rescue.

'Was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man' — Full incarnation. Not an appearance, not a phantom, not God wearing a human costume. 'Was made man' (enanthropesanta) — He became genuinely, fully human while remaining fully God.

'Crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate' — Historical specificity. The creed anchors salvation in a datable event under a named Roman official. Christianity is not mythology — it claims to be history.

'The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures' — Bodily resurrection, not metaphor. 'According to the Scriptures' connects it to Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53; Hosea 6:2).

'Shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead' — The Second Coming. Christ is not finished with history. He will return — not as a suffering servant but as a glorious judge.

'The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life' — The Spirit is not a force or energy but a Person ('Lord') who is divine ('Giver of life' — a divine prerogative).

'Who proceeds from the Father and the Son' — The Filioque clause ('and the Son'), added by the Western church. The original creed said only 'who proceeds from the Father.' This addition became the primary theological cause of the Great Schism between East and West in 1054 AD. The Eastern Orthodox Church considers the addition unauthorized and theologically problematic.

'One holy catholic and apostolic Church' — 'Catholic' here means 'universal' (katholikos), not Roman Catholic specifically. The four 'marks' of the Church: one (unified), holy (set apart), catholic (universal), apostolic (founded on apostolic teaching).

'One baptism for the remission of sins' — Baptism is unrepeatable — once validly done, it stands. This is why most churches accept baptisms performed in other Christian traditions.

'The resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come' — The final hope: not disembodied heaven but bodily resurrection and a renewed creation.

Why it matters

The Nicene Creed matters because it represents the closest thing Christianity has to a universal statement of faith. In a religion with tens of thousands of denominations, the creed identifies what virtually all Christians share: one God in Trinity, Christ fully divine and fully human, salvation through His death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit as God, and the hope of resurrection. It is not Scripture — but it is the church's consensus reading of Scripture, forged in crisis, tested by centuries, and still spoken every Sunday by hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide.