Nicene Creed

What is Nicene Creed ?

Nicene Creed is the most widely used and accepted brief statement of Christianity. It is the formal creed that summarizes all the beliefs of Christianity. It is used in the Church every Sunday as part of the liturgy. All the wings of Christianity universally accept it as a statement of faith. It has various meanings like for some it means the symbol of faith and for some it is just the inflated form of Constantinople’s Council. The Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodoxy accept it. The not so rigid forms of Christianity like Lutheranism, Protestantism and Methodism also accept it.

Why was Nicene Creed made?

After the Council of Nicaea there were numerous formulas of faith were created and it was essential to form a yardstick to act as a yardstick to know exactly which is the correct belief. A creed was the best option as it is an example, an epitome and not a definition, which was essential according to the conventional beliefs. So there was an example for people to look at and put it in their minds as the summary of their faith. So this was the right solution for those who did not have serious and thorough training in theology and religion, they could still identify and distinguish between the orthodox and original doctrines and their deviations or at times derivatives. Therefore it was a way to mark what was traditionally Christian and what was not. So all the confusions, that arose after the Council in 341 and the councils before, that arose were resolved by Nicene Creed since it was accepted as the penultimate symbol of faith by the defenders of faith and religion. It gradually earned the stature wherein it is the right profession of faith for candidates for baptism. The present form Nicene Creed that we see now is the result of the Council of Chalcedon, which was held in 451.

Different Versions of the Nicene Creed over the years

As stated earlier the original creed was taken up in 325 and the occasion was the First Council of Nicaea. At that time the conflict was regarding the origin of the creed. The Coptic Church argued that it was authored by the then Pope Athanasius but then Adolf Harnack said that the Eusebius of Caesarea brought it to the Council. The creed however was changed and variations were being followed to counter the new phases. Then in the second Council held in 381, another section was added to the creed and which the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches now follow. In the third Council that re-established the version of the second Council and in fact it was strictly ordered that whoever tries to change, alter or write a different creed would actually go against his faith. Thus was the concept of Trinity established as the spine of Christian faith and beliefs!

Significance of the Creed

This creed has been regarded as the ultimate standard of Christian doctrines and it actually upholds the virtues that Christianity propagates. Though there are some wings of Christianity who do not recognize Nicene Creed as a part of Christianity like The Church of Jesus Christ and The Church Of New Jerusalem. They reject the Nicene Creed completely; as a matter of fact they do not consider it true. In turn Nicene Creed itself rejects some of the beliefs as false. This is all about Nicene Creed that emphasizes on what Christianity consists of and underlines the basic concepts, though there are charges and counter-charges against it.