The Nicene Creed: Our Shared Confession of Faith
After the lessons are read and the sermon is preached, the congregation is invited to stand and recite the Nicene Creed together. This moment continues the back-and-forth rhythm of the liturgy. The Creed functions as a response—our spoken “Amen” to the Word proclaimed in Scripture and sermon. It is the people of God joining the ongoing conversation with God.
In the Book of Common Prayer, the celebrant introduces the Creed with the words, “Let us confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.” The Prayer Book rightly understands the Nicene Creed as a confession of faith. It points us toward the core of historic Christian belief, telling us—plainly and clearly—whom we worship and why.
A Creed Born from Controversy
The Nicene Creed originated at the first ecumenical council in Nicaea in AD 325. It emerged as a response to teachings associated with Arius, which denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ. Since that time, the Nicene Creed has served as a defining standard of Christian faith and doctrine across denominations. It expresses the shared convictions that unite Christians throughout the world and across centuries.
Nicene Creed and Apostles’ Creed: Personal and Communal Faith
The Nicene Creed was likely influenced by the older Apostles’ Creed, though the two function differently in worship. In the early Church, the Apostles’ Creed was used primarily in baptismal contexts as part of initiation into the family of God. This may explain why it is written in the first-person singular—“I believe”—highlighting the personal nature of faith.
The Nicene Creed, by contrast, was developed with the gathered community in mind. It served to protect the Church from false teaching and to unify believers in a shared confession. Its original wording used the first-person plural—“We believe”—emphasizing that Christian faith is not only personal, but corporate. We believe together.
“We Believe”: History, Language, and the Filioque
In AD 381, the Nicene Creed was revised and expanded. Over time, the Western Church adopted changes that included shifting from “We believe” to “I believe” and adding the well-known filioque clause—“and the Son”—to the description of the Holy Spirit’s procession from the Father. These changes were not universally accepted, particularly by Churches in the East, and remain a point of theological difference to this day.
In the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, the Nicene Creed retains the ancient and communal “We believe.” The filioque clause is set off with brackets and a footnote, acknowledging that it was not part of the original Greek text adopted at Nicaea. This allows individual worshipers to choose whether to include or omit the phrase. As a personal practice, I omit the filioque and continue to pray for the unity of Christ’s Church.
“One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church”
Near the end of the Creed, we profess: “We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” For some, this can sound like a reference to the Roman Catholic Church alone. However, the word catholic simply means “universal” or “all-embracing.”
This confession includes Christians in the Roman Catholic tradition, the Protestant traditions, and the Eastern Churches. It reminds us that God desires the unity of His people. The catholic Church is present wherever the Spirit of Christ is at work—breathing life into faithful communities around the world.
