The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed was drawn up in the face of Arianism (which denied the diety of Christ). Arius, an elder in Alexandria in Egypt in the 300's, taught that God CREATED Jesus and then the two of them together created the world. This resulted in making the Son a created being (like humans) and not God in any sense. Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, finally sent for Arius and questioned him about his position, but Arius stuck to his belief and was excommunicated by a council of Egyptian bishops. He went to Nicomedia in Asia, where he continued to write letters defending his position. Emperor Constantine summoned a council of Bishops in Nicea and in 325 a majority of Bishops repudiated Arius and produced the first draft of the Nicene Creed. Athanasius, a successor to the aging Alexander, was the chief spokesman for the full diety of Christ. The Arian position continues to be espoused in our day by the Watchtower Society (the JW's) who count Arius as a great witness to the truth.

In churches today that use a liturgy, this creed is often repeated in order to show the continuity of the Church. It is a way that Christians can reach back in time to our brothers and sisters in the faith who fought for the truth. The purpose of having a liturgy is to keep man out of the worship, because if we get half a chance, we will certainly turn the worship inward.

So the point of history is this: The Nicene Creed was produced to combat the Arian heresy and repeating it often is a way to keep us from falling into error.


We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
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 is seated at the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both 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 worshiped 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