The word “creed” derives from the Latin word credo, which implies “I think,” the primary two words of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Each creed is a listing of statements recognized as a career of religion, typically recited by a congregation after the sermon in a Protestant church or after the homily in a Roman Catholic mass. The statements within the creeds summarize Scripture and are considered core tenets of Christian belief by the apostles and bishops who wrote them within the early centuries of Christianity.
The two creeds have similar origins and content. Both creeds were written over centuries in sections or drafts. Church leaders composed the creeds to make clear the essential tenets of Christianity and assert that Christ is God. The scriptural foundation of the 2 documents is consistent, with a big overlap in content between the 2 creeds.
Though similar in content, there are differences in how the creeds were composed. While the authors of the Apostles’ Creed are usually not specifically known, perhaps on account of its early, original publication in 140 A.D., the Nicene Creed was formally written in seven councils of the church, starting in 325 A.D and continuing into the ninth century.
For almost two thousand years, these creeds have affirmed the basic beliefs which can be shared by many Christian denominations worldwide. Many denominations include the recitation of the creeds of their liturgies. Reciting the creeds connects contemporary churches to the historic, Christian church and strengthens the religion of individual Christians.
What Is the Apostles’ Creed?
Saint Ambrose honored the Apostles’ Creed with the words, “This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart’s meditation and an ever-present guardian; it’s, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul.”
The esteemed Apostles’ Creed establishes in writing the Christian church’s profound beliefs. All of its statements are linked to the Bible at a time when Bibles weren’t available to put people.
Recognized as the primary formal document for all Christians (besides the Bible itself), the Apostles’ Creed was originally published in 140 A.D., inside memory of Christ’s life, by indefinite authors. There is evidence, nonetheless, that the creed underwent many revisions until the ninth century, when it took the shape we use in worship services and mass today.
The Apostles’ Creed recited today outlines the foundations of Christianity in declarative prose: there may be one God, the Creator, who exists within the types of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. After establishing God’s realm, the creed outlines the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and concludes with nods to His universal (“holy catholic”) Christian church, the forgiveness of sins, and His gift of everlasting life.
Here is the full text of the Apostle’s Creed:
I think in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the suitable hand of God the Father Almighty,
from whence He shall come to evaluate the living and the dead.
I think within the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
Memorizing the Apostles’ Creed is a Christian tradition. Early believers without printed Bibles recited it, often after their baptism. To this date, confirmation candidates in mainline Protestant churches learn the Apostles’ Creed by heart. Expressing aloud the biblical truths within the Apostles’ Creed solidifies our beliefs as Christians.
What Is the Nicene Creed?
The Nicene Creed first appeared 200 years after the earliest published copy of the Apostles’ Creed and is analogous in content. That is, the Nicene Creed also begins by declaring there may be one God and describes the divine nature of His Son Jesus Christ in greater detail than the Apostles’ Creed. Much of the remaining text of the Nicene Creed also echoes the biblically-based summaries of the Apostles’ Creed.
Most likely inspired by the Apostles’ Creed, an ecumenical group of Christian bishops wrote the unique draft of the Nicene Creed on the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., convened under the rule of Constantine the Great, the primary Christian Roman Emperor. Bishops at the primary council represented the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, and Eastern Catholic churches. This ecumenical council, held for six weeks in present day Turkey, succeeded in establishing the deity of Christ in all the churches of the Roman Empire by writing the Nicene Creed.
The Nicene Creed underwent revisions in six additional Roman councils. During the Second Council of 381 A.D., the revised creed emphasized the divine role of the Holy Spirit as a part of the Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Later councils added text that addressed Christ’s nature as each divine and human, His mother Mary’s “God-bearing status,” and the veneration (reverence for) slightly than worship of icons inside the church.
Here is a contemporary English version of the Nicene Creed:
I think in a single God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I think in a single Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he got here down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and have become man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the suitable hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to evaluate the living and the dead, and his kingdom could have no end.
I think within the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I think in a single, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I stay up for the resurrection of the dead and the lifetime of the world to return. Amen.
Amen.
The texts of the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed have merged within the Roman Catholic liturgy.
Key Differences between the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed
While the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed share many spiritual ideas, the language of the Nicene Creed is more descriptive and due to this fact it’s lengthier than the Apostles’ Creed. The following list elaborates on the resulting differences between the 2 creeds:
- The Nicene Creed elaborates on God because the Creator, adding “of all things visible and invisible.”
- The description of Christ within the Nicene Creed adds the phrases, “true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made,” which reflects on the primary chapter of John within the Bible.
- The Nicene Creed includes the clause that prophets have spoken for the Holy Spirit.
- The Nicene Creed describes the holy, catholic church as “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,” a reference to the earliest apostles of Christ.
- The Apostles’ Creed lists a belief in “the communion of saints,” an idea absent from the Nicene Creed.
- The Apostles’ Creed affirms the forgiveness of sins, plainly stated; the Nicene Creed states baptism provides remission (forgiveness) of sins.
- The Apostles’ Creed states there may be a “life everlasting,” which feels like it applies to individuals, while the Nicene Creed ends with belief in “the lifetime of the world to return,” which has a wider and more ambiguous meaning.
The additional descriptive phrases of the Nicene Creed add richness and greater understanding to the essential statements within the Apostles’ Creed.
The Filioque Clause and Other Variations (East vs. West)
As its authors revised the statements of the Nicene Creed, it got here to incorporate, “I think within the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.” The inclusion of the words “and the Son” (filioque in Latin) led to the Filioque Controversy.
The controversy was based on the short but meaningful phrase “and the Son,” which Eastern Orthodox church leaders believed upset the balance of the three individuals of the Trinity and reduced the importance of God the Father. The Eastern Church’s beliefs were based on Scripture present in John 15:26 and Matthew 10:20. The Western, Roman Catholic Church believed there was Scripture to support the addition of the words “of the Son” in John 16:7 and Galatians 4:6.
The Filioque Controversy was the tipping point in religious, political, and cultural tensions between the Western and Eastern churches of the Roman Empire. As a result, the once united churches of the Roman Empire divided into two, separate entities, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, within the Great Schism of 1054 A.D.
How Churches Use Each Creed Today
Today, reciting the creeds in Christian worship services and much unites Christians and connects them to the larger and historic body of Christ. Reciting the Apostles’ Creed during Sunday worship—as in precedent days—is usually a practice in Protestant denominations, particularly Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches. Newer, nondenominational churches imagine within the content of the creed but don’t often recite it in worship services. A combined version of the creeds is an everyday a part of a Roman Catholic mass. When a church body recites the creeds, it unites people in expressing the core beliefs of their faith as recorded within the Bible.
The practice of claiming the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed in a worship service or mass adheres to advice Paul gave the early church in 1 Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to provide a solution to everyone who asks you to provide the explanation for the hope that you’ve gotten. But do that with gentleness and respect.”
And as Dr. Albert R. Mohler wrote in a Christianity.com article, “Christians must return to historic Christianity, which emerged from the wealthy doctrinal commitments and evangelical fervor of the apostles [who] attempted to construct a worldview and theology based upon the teachings of the Bible.”
To proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, we want to profess where we as a church stand, supported by the idea statements of the traditional but true Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed.
