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Prayers

The Nicene Creed

The creed of the councils of Nicaea (AD 325) and Constantinople (AD 381), said at every Orthodox Liturgy and baptism. The Orthodox say it as first agreed, without “and the Son”.

Picture: Michael Damaskinos, The First Council of Nicaea, 1591

The words of the prayer

Plain English

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,begotten of the Father before all ages:Light from Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made,of one essence with the Father,through Whom all things were made.

For us human beings and for our salvationHe came down from heaven,and took flesh of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,and suffered, and was buried.He rose on the third day,according to the Scriptures.He ascended into heaven,and is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in gloryto judge the living and the dead,and His kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life,Who proceeds from the Father,Who with the Father and the Sonis worshipped and glorified together,Who spoke through the prophets.

In one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.I await the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the age to come.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1906

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,Begotten of His Father before all worlds;Light of Light, Very God of very God,Begotten, not made;Being of one Essence with the Father;By Whom all things were made;

Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven,And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,And was made man.

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate,and suffered and was buried,And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures.And ascended into heaven,And sitteth on the right hand of the Father.And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead;Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life,Who proceedeth from the Father,Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,Who spake by the Prophets.

In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.I look for the Resurrection of the dead,And the Life of the world to come.Amen.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

“The quick and the dead” is old English for “the living and the dead”.

When it is said

At every Divine Liturgy, the Orthodox Communion service, the deacon calls out: “The doors! The doors! Wisdom! Let us attend!” Then the Creed is sung or said.

It is also said at Compline, the service before sleep, and at the Midnight Office, a service of prayer in the night. In the Russian prayer book it is part of the morning prayers at home.

At a baptism, the one to be baptized says it aloud, or a godparent says it on their behalf.

Where it comes from

Author by tradition

Nicaea, 325, and Constantinople, 381

The Creed is named after the Council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops in AD 325. The form said today is fuller. It adds 10 clauses and enlarges the part on the Holy Spirit. It is credited to the Council of Constantinople in AD 381. Its oldest copy is in the record of the Council of Chalcedon, in AD 451, which had it read out twice.

Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), Nicene Creed; The Russian Orthodox prayer book, on Azbyka.ru

Said at the font

The Creed holds what every early church confessed at baptism. In time the Creed of Nicaea became the profession of faith for those about to be baptized. It still is, and an English service book of 1884 has it said three times at a baptism.

Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), Nicene Creed; Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book (1906), Holy Baptism; Nicholas Bjerring, The Offices of the Oriental Church (1884), Baptism

How “and the Son” came in

Spain was the first to sing the Creed with “and the Son” (Filioque, in Latin). This began after the Goths there gave up Arianism in AD 589. Arianism taught that the Son is lesser than the Father. A council at Aachen approved the words in AD 809. Pope Leo III agreed with their teaching but advised leaving them out of the Creed. Rome took them up around 1014. They became one occasion of the split between East and West.

Catholic Encyclopedia (1909), Filioque

What the words mean

“And the Son”

Most Western churches say the Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son”. Catholics teach that the Spirit proceeds from both as from one source. The Orthodox confess the Father as the one eternal source of the Spirit, as of the Son, and hold the added words to be unscriptural. They say the Creed without them, and so do the Eastern Catholic churches of the Byzantine rite.

Catholic Encyclopedia (1909), Filioque; Orthodox Church in America, The Orthodox Faith: The Holy Spirit; Wikipedia, Nicene Creed

“I believe”, not “we believe”

The councils wrote “We believe”: the bishops spoke together. In the Orthodox services each person says “I believe”, “I confess” and “I await”. So the Creed is the Church’s faith, confessed by each believer as their own.

Wikipedia, Nicene Creed

“Catholic” means whole

“Catholic” in the Creed is not the name of one church. The Greek word means whole. Orthodox teaching explains it as “full, complete, whole, with nothing lacking”. The Orthodox say it of their own Church, and of each local Orthodox church.

Orthodox Church in America, The Orthodox Faith: The Church

The Scripture in it

… yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from Whom all things came and for Whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all things came and through Whom we exist.

1 Corinthians 8:6 Echoed Paul: one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all things came.

Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:3 Echoed “Through Him all things were made.”

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Echoed Christ died, was buried and rose on the third day “according to the Scriptures”: the gospel Paul handed on.

When the Advocate comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth Who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.

John 15:26 Echoed Jesus: the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father.

… one Lord, one faith, one baptism …

Ephesians 4:5 Echoed One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

In Greek

Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, Πατέρα, Παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων.

Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν Υἱόν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν Μονογενῆ, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων.

Φῶς ἐκ Φωτός, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί, δι' Οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο.

Τὸν δι' ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ σαρκωθέντα ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα.

Σταυρωθέντα τε ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου καὶ παθόντα καὶ ταφέντα.

Καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς.

Καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς Οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρός.

Καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον μετὰ δόξης κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς, Οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.

Καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ Κύριον, τὸ Ζωοποιόν, τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον, τὸ σὺν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ συμπροσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον, τὸ λαλῆσαν διά τῶν Προφητῶν.

Εἰς Μίαν, Ἁγίαν, Καθολικὴν καὶ Ἀποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν.

Ὁμολογῶ ἓν Βάπτισμα εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν.

Προσδοκῶ ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν.

Καὶ ζωήν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος. Ἀμήν.

From the Greek book of hours (the Horologion): Compline, as printed online by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

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Berean Standard Bible