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holding the Nicene Creed.]] The Nicene Creed ( statement of faith. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is the most widely accepted creed in the Christian church. Since its original formulation it continues to be used in the Roman Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , Assyrian , Anglican , Lutheran , and most Protestant churches. NOMENCLATURE There are several designations for the two Nicene creeds and several of them do have overlapping meanings:
HISTORY The purpose of a Christian Creed was to establish conformity of belief, uniquely essential for Christians, and by public professions of the faith, to identify heretics or any disconformity within each community. The Creed is an Epitome , not a full definition, of what is required for personal orthodoxy. It was hoped that by memorizing this summary of the faith, lay people without extensive theological training would still be able to recognize deviations from "orthodox" Christianity. The Nicene Creed, both in its original and revised formulas, is an implicit condemnation of specific alleged errors. Thus, as different variations in Christian belief evolved in the 4th century and were perceived as threats, new phrases were seen to be needed, like amendments to a constitution. Just as one can perceive the historical developments of a constitutional society through amendments to its constitution, a careful and knowledgeable reader can identify the particular theological developments in the other kind of society that enforces a creed. The original Nicene Creed of 325 The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 at the First Council Of Nicaea , which was the Ecumenical Council . At that time, the text ended after the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit." The Coptic Church has the tradition that the original creed was authored by Athanasius . F.J.A. Hort and Adolf Harnack argued that the Nicene creed was the local creed of Caesarea brought to the council by Eusebius Of Caesarea . J.N.D. Kelly sees as its basis a baptismal creed of the Syro-Phoenician family, related to but not dependent of the creed cited by Cyril Of Jerusalem and to the creed of Eusebius. Soon after the Council of Nicaea, new formulas of faith were composed, most of them variations of the Nicene Symbol, to counter new phases of Arianism . The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' identifies at least four before the Council of Sardica (341), where a new form was presented and inserted in the Acts of the Council, though it was not agreed on. The Nicene Creed of 381 The Second Ecumenical Council in 381 added the remainder of the text except for the words "and the son"; this is the version still used by Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches today. The Third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the 381 version, and stated that no further changes could be made to it, nor could other creeds be adopted. Amendments The original Nicene Creed adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 ended just after the words, "We believe in the Holy Spirit..." The section from that point forward was added at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381; hence the name "Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed", which refers to the Creed as it was following the modification in Constantinople. The Third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the creed in this form and explicitly forbade making additional revisions to it. The filioque controversy The Roman Catholic church added the words ''"and the Son"'' (the Filioque Clause ) to the description of the Holy Spirit, in what many have argued is a violation of the Canons of the Third Ecumenical Council. Those words were not included by the Council of Nicaea nor of Constantinople, and most Eastern Orthodox theologians consider their inclusion to be a Heresy . The Anglican Communion 's current consensus position is "''recommending to the provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be printed without the Filioque clause.''" (1988 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops, Resolution 6.5) The phrase "and the son" (''filioque'' in Latin) was first used in Toledo, Spain in 587 with the purpose of countering the Arian Christian Faith of the Visigoth ic nobility of Spain. The practice spread then to France, a stronghold of Arianism where it was repudiated at the Gentilly Council in 767 . Emperor Charlemagne called for a council at Aachen in 809 at which Pope Leo III forbade the use of the filioque clause and ordered that the Nicene creed be engraved on silver tablets so that his conclusion may not be overturned in the future. The dispute over the filioque clause was one of the reasons for the East-West Schism . The clause had been adopted in the west although the Third Ecumenical Council ( 431 ) had prohibited to individuals the promulgation of any other creed. The manner of the clause's adoption was therefore controversial and in the 10th century the Photius , Patriach of Constantinople , used this clause in his conflict with the Pope. He accused the West of having fallen into heresy and thereby turned the filioque clause into the doctrinal issue of contention between East and West. In Rome, the filioque clause first appeared in 1014 in the coronation liturgy of Emperor Henry II by Pope Benedict VIII and was officially added to the Latin creed in 1274 by the Second Council Of Lyons , which effected a short-lived reunion between East and West. Modern usage To the majority of modern evangelical Christian scholarship, the Nicene Creed is regarded as the quintessential prerequisite for Christian faith. In this traditional belief, all proper Christians affirm the Nicene Creed. One can also refer to Matthew D. O’Rear ’s work on the Nicene Creed; O'Rear is one of the leading scholars on the formation and the modern uses of the Creed. The Nicene Creed is referred to by Roman Catholics and Orthodox as the "symbol of faith", and its recitation is often part of Christian worship services. In the Catholic Mass , it is also referred to as the "Profession of Faith." In musical settings (especially in Latin , it is usually referred to by its first word, Credo . However, other evangelical Christians who take an extreme view of Sola Scriptura reject the Creed (and especially the reciting of it), not necessarily because it contains objectionable content, but simply because it is not found in the Bible. Controversy of Christian definition Some religious denominations such as Oneness Pentecostals , Arianism , Mormonism , and Jehovah's Witnesses adhere to Christian scripture and identify themselves emphatically as Christians, but reject the Nicene Creed as an error or a misinterpretation and further reject the more recent Lausanne Covenant that affirms the Creed. As a result, many other Christians regard these denominations as not being Christian at all. In modern Interfaith relations, there have been many heated clashes between Nicene and non-Nicene traditions over the definition of Christianity, and of what constitutes a Christian. In some countries (such as the United States ), this has led to Litigation with charges and counter-charges over a theological issue, involving allegations as wide-ranging as Slander , Perjury , Discrimination , and Breach Of Contract . TEXT Comparison between creed of 325 and creed of 381 Often the Creed of 381 is regarded as a simple extension of the creed of 325 - in an exact comparison though, there are some omissions ( :We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty :Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. :And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, :the Son of God, eternally begotten from the father, : :begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. :through whom all things came into being, :Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down from the heaven and became incarnate :by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, becoming man. :For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; :suffered and was buried. |
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