What Exactly Is the Nicene Creed, and Is it Biblical?

Original version from 325 A.D.

We believe in one God, the father almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of light, Very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven, He shall come to judge both the quick and the dead;

And in the Holy Spirit.

Currently used version from 489 A.D. (differences are italicized)

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 worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance 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 Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He 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; He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/ByczeStudio

There have been three forms of the Nicene Creed, each of which came about after three councils: the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., and the Council of Toledo in 489 A.D.

1. Council of Nicea in Nicea (now İznik, Turkey)

Church leaders, or bishops, put together a clear statement of faith in response to some untrue ideas about Jesus Christ and the Trinity that were springing up. A man named Arius in Alexandria, Egypt had been teaching that Jesus was not eternal and not God, but rather that Jesus was created by God the Father and therefore subservient to Him.

The idea spread around the Roman Empire and caused major disturbances, even riots. Emperor Constantine invited all 1,800 bishops to attend the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. to sort out the problem. Around 318 bishops showed up, making this the first church gathering of its kind. They started to listen to Arius attempt to defend his ideas about Jesus Christ. But then Arius’ “speech was snatched from his hands and torn to shreds by bishops. Men who had suffered for Christ were not about to sit tamely and hear him blasphemed,” according to this Christianity.com article. Arius’ idea was called Arianism, and by the end of the Council of Nicaea, it was called heresy.

2. Council of Constantinople in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)

Later in 381 A.D., 150 bishops gathered for the Council of Constantinople to address Arian heresy again. This time, it was about the Holy Spirit’s divinity. The bishops added a biblical summary about the Holy Spirit as an equal member of the Trinity. That addition, along with a few changes to the first sections of the creed, are italicized above for you to compare and contrast.

3. Council of Toledo in Toledo, Spain

A statement was added to the creed at the Council of Toledo in 489 A.D. It’s called the Filioque statement, and it’s in brackets in the creed above. It reads, [and the Son]. This version of the creed is the one still used in churches today, except by the Eastern Orthodox Church. They use the one without the Filioqual statement because they believed it was “a theological error and an unauthorized addition to a venerable document,” according to Britannica.com. In the 11th century, Bishop Leo IX in Rome (the Pope) adopted the Filioqual statement as an official amendment, a controversy that added fuel to the fire that became the one of the most significant divisions in church history – the Great Schism of 1054. The Filioque statement was so divisive because, to the Eastern Church, saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son diminishes the Father.

Another reason why the Filioque statement was such a divisive issue was because Bishop Leo IX unilaterally added it to the creed. He didn’t talk about it with the other bishops in the East who had a problem with it. The rest of the creed focused on the big picture of the gospel and wasn’t unnecessarily divisive.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Adolfo Félix

The Nicene Creed is biblical in the sense that it lines up with the gospel message and it summarizes biblical truths, but it’s not explicitly found in the Bible.

Since the original purpose of the creed was to clearly state the truth about Jesus and push back against Arianism (the heretical belief that Jesus is not divine), much of the creed discusses Jesus. Later when the divinity of the Holy Spirit was called into question, another section was added.

Here is a list of (only a few!) Bible references that support those two claims:

1. Jesus is as equally divine and eternal as the Father, not created by the Father.

- Micah 5:2

- John 1:1-3

- John 10:30

- 1 Corinthians 8:6

- Colossians 1:15-17

- Hebrews 1, particularly Hebrews 1:3

2. The Holy Spirit is as equally divine and eternal as the Father and the Son.

- Genesis 1:1-2

- Romans 8:9

- 1 Corinthians 2:11, 16

- 2 Corinthians 3:17

- 2 Corinthians 13:14

- Titus 3:4-6

What Denominations Use the Nicene Creed?

While the Nicene Creed wasn’t the first Christian creed, it is the first (and the only) one that most Christians agree on. For Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and most Protestant churches, the beliefs summarized and explained in the Nicene Creed are what they all have in common.

Assemblies who refer to themselves as Christian but don’t accept the Nicene Creed are groups who generally have fundamentally unorthodox beliefs on God’s trinitarian nature. The Nicene Creed was written in response to Arianism, which denied the Trinity. So a group wouldn’t use this creed if they don't agree that God is one God in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

These are some of the groups who often claim to be Christian, yet hold to Arian teaching and don’t believe the biblical truths of the Nicene Creed: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarians, and Universalists.

When Was the Creed Used?

According to Britannica.com, in the Roman Empire, Christians in the West recited the Nicene Creed mainly during the Eucharist (a.k.a. Communion or Lord’s Supper), and Christians in the East recited it for both baptism and the Eucharist. 

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Vimvertigo

The Nicene Creed is still relevant because the heresy it was first designed to fight still exists in the church.

Based on Lifeway’s latest (2020) State of Theology survey of more than 3,000 Americans, only 63% of people who attend church at least four times a month “agree that the Son of God existed before Jesus was born.”

The rest (37%) of them say that Jesus’ existence began when he was born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. This may be a theological misunderstanding instead of a well-thought-out belief. But it hints of Arianism because it denies Jesus Christ’s eternal part in the Trinity.

Deciding what to believe about Jesus Christ is still the biggest question that people have to answer in life. After all, “‘the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being’ (Hebrews 1:3), and so when we look on Jesus, we look on God. Without confidence that Jesus is God, united in substance with the Father, we could not be sure that Jesus can speak for God, forgive sins for God, declare righteousness for God, or do anything to make us children of the Father,” as stated by ZondervanAchademic.com.

Other than helping Christians remember that Jesus “is before all things, and in Him all things hold together,” (Colossians 1:15), there are more benefits to using the creed.

1. It reminds Christians about the foundations of their faith. 

Reciting the Nicene Creed is a succinct and helpful way to remember biblical truths. Many churches today recite the Nicene Creed every week. Reciting it at church calls the congregation to remember the foundations of their faith before they go back out into the world for the week. This is a necessary, biblical thing for God’s people to do, especially in light of Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Life was not easy for those early Christians. The author of Hebrews urged them to remember when they first believed in Jesus Christ and confessed that belief at their baptism, which symbolized Christ’s death and resurrection. They needed to hold fast to that confession of hope when trials tempted them to turn away from Jesus.

2. It reminds Christians that their faith is global and historical.

“No creed but the Bible,” or “no creed but Christ” are once-popular phrases among conservative Protestant Christians that illuminate why many Protestant churches today don’t use the creed in their regular church practice. Birthed out of the Protestant Reformation, which lifted up the “Sola Scriptura” banner, Protestants tend to not use the traditional liturgical calendar, creed, or anything that’s not explicitly in Scripture. However, many Protestant churches have denominational statements of faith like The Baptist Faith and Message.

However, if a Christian isn’t aware of the Nicene Creed or the Apostle’s Creed, they run the risk of missing an opportunity to appreciate that faith in Christ has endured and thrived through centuries in the lives of Christians all over the world.

This Crosswalk.com article said it well. Reciting or praying through the Nicene Creed reminds, “us of the value of wise leadership and also of the global nature of the church family.”

3. It reminds Christians of the unity they have with other believers.

Another benefit of using the Nicene Creed is that it reminds believers what they have in common with Christians in other denominations. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, and Protestants certainly have enough to debate. While that debate is sometimes worthwhile, it’s also worthwhile to celebrate what they have in common – faith in God as summarized in the Nicene Creed.

Church leaders from Africa, Asia, and Europe came together and established a creed they could all agree on. There was still the issue of the Filioque statement, but other than that, the unity among such different people around one faith in Jesus was an astonishing miracle that only God could accomplish.

Source
The Creeds of Christendom, With a History and Critical Notes, Volume 1, Philip Schaff, 1919.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Sincerely Media