The Nicene Creed

The Orthodox Perspective and Its Relevance Today

Fr. George Zervos and George S. Gabriel 

The Fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils who gave us the Nicene Creed in 325 and 381 began with the words,

"I believe." By these words they meant, "We write here what we believe: In one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible (orata) and invisible (aorata)."

 There is only one God. This God is Al­mighty and He created all things in heaven, earth and in the universe. Whereas man needs material with which to create anything, God can create from nothing (ek ton medenos); there was no preexistent material for Him to work from. God the Father is Almighty, and this means that He is all-powerful, omnipotent, having no weaknesses. He created those things that can be seen and those things that cannot be seen. For example, we can see one another but we cannot normal­ly see the bodiless angels.

The second article of the Nicene Creed says,

"And in One Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages,"

meaning that Jesus has always existed with the Father. The English words "only-begotten" convey the purpose of the Greek adjec­tive, monogenes, and helps us to understand that the Son of God is one of a kind, the only one begotten of the Father. And we say Jesus is "Light of Light," meaning that there are not two divine lights but one; Jesus is the Light that shines forth from the Father and source of Light. And, therefore, Jesus is

 "true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through whom all things were made"

(see John 1:10). This tells us that no other person but Jesus is a son generated or begotten (gennethenta ou poiethenta); the word poiethenta refers to something that is a creature, something that was made and had a beginning of its existence, for there was a time when it had no existence. In this man­ner, the Creed tells us that the Son of God is co-eternal and co-beginning-less with the Father. Here, the unique word omoousios is used, which means "of the same (omo) essence (ousia) with the Father." And being of the same divine essence and nature, the Father and the Son, the Creed adds, "through Whom all things were made," repeating the Bible's teaching that the Son of God, carrying out the will of the Father, made all things and sustains all things (see John 1:10; Colossians 1:16-17).

"Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man (enanthropesanta)!'

Of course, Jesus's conception through the Holy Spirit is a deep mystery and is beyond our comprehension. God the Father sent His be­loved Son from the Heavens to free humankind from sin, decay and permanent death, healing and restoring them to the path of sanctification and immortality in body and soul.

The word "incarnate" means "in the flesh." The Nicene Creed uses the Greek word sarkothenta to say that God was made flesh or took on flesh in the Virgin's womb. But the word "flesh" does not refer only to the body; it means the whole human being, body and soul. Here, again, the Creed follows the Bible and clarifies the matter by equating sarkothenta with enanthropesanta; "incarnate" (or "was made flesh") and the words "became man" mean the same thing. "And the Word became flesh" (John 1:14).

"He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suf­fered and was buried; and He rose (anastanta) on the third day, according to the Scriptures."

This article tells us three things. First, it confirms the prophets who described Jesus's suffering and horrific execution. These facts concerning Jesus's last days on earth were first prophesied in the Old Tes­tament. Second, His death is confirmed by His burial in the tomb. And third, by mentioning Pontius Pilate by name, it gives us a historical reference as to when Jesus was crucified and suffered the agony of the Cross. The term anastanta or "he who has risen" can have more than one meaning, but here, like in the Bible itself, it clearly refers to His burial and His resurrection from the tomb. The "third day" does not mean that 72 hours had passed, but that the third day of His burial had just commenced when He rose, just as the first day in the tomb, Friday, was not the 24-hour day, but far fewer hours. In the Bible, part of a day is counted as a day. While His human body was in the sepulcher, through His human soul, the Son of God entered into Hades, the temporary place of the souls of the dead (not the everlasting perdition or kolasis), preaching salva­tion to all who had died from the beginning.

"He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."

According to the New Testament, the Apostles and the other disciples saw Jesus ascending into the heavens. In other words, He returned to sit at the right hand of the Father in glory, where He sat before the world was made (see John 17:5). But this time, also seated with Him on the throne of God is His humanity.

"And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom shall have no end."

When Jesus comes again with "all His angels," He will judge justly, separating those who are worthy to enter His kingdom from those who, because of their lack of love for God and neighbor, are not worthy. These shall be sent to the permanent hell or perdition.

"And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the proph­ets."

In this article, we declare that the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, is the One Lord, the Creator of life. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, one pow­er (mia theotes, mia dynamis), as the feast of Pentecost proclaims. The Son of God gave the words "proceeds from the Father" to us when He spoke of "the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father" (John 15:26). This means that the cause of the Spirit's timeless, eternal origin is the Father alone. The Spirit's origin is called "procession" (ekporeusis), and the Son's origin from the Fa­ther is called "generation" or "begetting" (genesis). The persons of the Holy Trinity are worshipped and glorified together as one true God. The Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament, and through the prophets He revealed the truths of God.

"In one holy, catholic and apostolic Church."

God ordained only one holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and He imparted her to the entire world through His Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers, transmitting the True Faith until the judgment day. There are countless denominations and sects that have fallen away from her, but she is not diminished. She has preserved the full true faith and life in Christ. She is the one holy, Orthodox and true catholic Church because she alone possesses the full­ness of the truth, the right belief (prthodoxia), and, therefore, of the grace of Christ.

"I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins."

Just like there is only one true Church and Faith, there is only one true baptism. To be baptized means to be immersed under water for the remission and, inseparably, for the healing of sins not only those sins acquired, but also and especially our propensity to­ward sin in our fallen nature inherited from our fallen first parents, Adam and Eve. Thus, in the triple immersion of baptism, the old fallen person who was separated from God is buried, and he or she is born anew through the Holy Spirit, rising from the third immersion as from a watery tomb and putting on Christ. It should be noted that, in the Orthodox Church, the baptizer (priest or bishop) is the server of the baptism, but it is not he who energizes it. The Lord Jesus is the Celebrant who invisibly en­ergizes the baptism through the priest's or the bishop's actions. This is why the Orthodox clergyman never says "I baptize... in the name of..." but rather, The servant of God... is [at this moment being] baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The priest or the bishop acts as the audible voice and visible hand in the place and type (en topo kai typo) of Christ the Divine Celebrant, not only in this but also in every mysterion.

"I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come."

This is the hope of all Christians. And the Nicene Creed provides us with the opportunity to proclaim our faith daily in the anticipation that our body will rise from the grave and be reunited with our immortal soul. And thus restored as a complete person, we will be judged, not by angels, not by de­mons, but by Christ alone, "for the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22).

The Nicene Creed, or Symbol of Faith (SymvoLon tis Pis-teos), as it was called at the First Ecumenical Council and is still called in the Church to this day, is vital for all believers because it preserves and teaches the truths of God in its time-tested declarations. It dispels all false teachings, heresies and schisms past, present and future. The relevance of the Creed today shall endure throughout all the tomorrows to come, assuring, protecting, comforting and grounding our children and us in the Truth. It is no wonder, then, that the Fathers urged the faithful to recite the creed daily, in their morning prayers. We also need to honor in prayer and grati­tude the 468 Fathers who participated in the writings of the Nicene Creed at the First and Second Ecumenical Councils. For the Orthodox believer, it is our spiritual legacy that we must always maintain without change, revering and preserv­ing it, because exactly as Holy Scripture is the word of God, so, too, is the Nicene Creed. God inspired and man wrote.