Nicene Creed
A creed is a summary of Christian Faith written by the church in order to confess clearly what it believes. The Nicene Creed was originally written in 325 A.D. (in Greek) when the Roman Emporer Constantine called together the Council of Nicaea (in Asia Minor) to address the fragmented character of the Christian church--a church fragmented primarily because of disputes over whether or not Jesus Christ was fully God. It was expanded to the current text at Constantinople in 381 A.D. The contemporary translation of the Nicene Creed adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was completed by an ecumenical body, the English Language Liturgical Consultation in 1987.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the
Father,
God from God, Light from
Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the
Father;
through him all things were
made.
For us and for our
salvation
he came
down from heaven,
was
incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became
truly human.
For our
sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered
death and was buried.
On the
third day he rose again
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.
We 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
worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the
prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and
apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the
dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
