The Nicene Creed (AD 381)

We believe in one God, Father, Almighty.
God’s the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ.
He’s the only-fathered Son of God, fathered by the Father before all ages.
He is Light from Light, true God from true God.
He was fathered, not made.
He is of one essence with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.

For us humans and for our salvation, He came down from heaven.
He was made flesh by the Holy Spirit and by the Virgin Mary, and became human.
He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried.
And on the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead.
And His kingdom will have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life.
The Spirit proceeds from the Father.
Together with the Father and the Son the Spirit is worshiped and glorified.
The Spirit spoke through the prophets.

And we believe in one holy, universal, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We await the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen!

*Note: This is what is commonly known as the “Nicene Creed”—but it was actually adopted at the Council of Constantinople in 381, not the Council of Nicaea in 325. The creed from that earlier council was very similar and served as the basis for this creed. There are very minor changes in the first few paragraphs. The two major differences were: (1) the first creed’s affirmations ended with “we believe in the Holy Spirit”, while the second added all the clarifying detail through “and the life of the age to come”; (2) the first creed included a clarifying anathema as its ending, specifically rejecting language like “there was once when He was not” whose use had given rise to the council in the first place.