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Nicene Creed
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When the Nicene Creed was drawn up, the chief enemy was Arianism, which denied that Jesus was fully God. Arius was a presbyter (elder) in Alexandria in Egypt, in the early 300's. He taught that the Father, in the beginning, created (or begot) the Son, and that the Son, in conjunction with the Father, then proceeded to create the world. The result of this was to make the Son a created being, and hence not God in any meaningful sense. It was ... suspiciously like the theories of those Gnostics and pagans who held that God was too perfect to create something like a material world, and so introduced one or more intermediate beings between God and the world. God created A, who created B, who created C, . . . who created Z, who created the world.
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The Nicene Creed is the most commonly accepted and used statement of the Christian Faith. In liturgical churches, it is said every Sunday as part of the Liturgy. It is common to the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and many other Christian groups. Those that do not have a tradition of using it in their services are committed to what it it teaches. In the West, the Apostles' Creed is used at Baptisms, and the Nicene Creed at the Eucharist (Mass, the Liturgy, the Lord's Supper, or the Holy Communion). The East uses only the Nicene Creed.
Of the third article only the words "and in the Holy Spirit" were left; the original Nicene Creed ended with these words. Then followed immediately the canons of the council. Thus, instead of a baptismal creed acceptable to both the homoousian and Arian parties, as proposed by Eusebius, the council promulgated one which was unambiguous in the aspects touching upon the points of contention between these two positions, and one which was incompatible with the beliefs of Arians. From earliest times, various creeds served as a means of identification for Christians, as a means of inclusion and recognition, especially at baptism. In Rome, for example, the Apostles' Creed was popular, especially for use in Lent and the Easter season. In the Council of Nicaea, one specific creed was used to define the Church's faith clearly, to include those who professed it, and to exclude those who did not.
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The original Nicene Creed adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 ended just before the words, "We believe in the Holy Spirit..." The section from that point forward was added at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople; hence the name "Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed", which refers to the Creed as it was following the modification in Constantinople. The Third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the creed in this form and explicitly forbade making additional revisions to it.
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The Nicene Creed was first adopted at the first Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D., which was ... the First Council of Nicaea. At that time, the text ended after the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit." The second Ecumenical Council in 381 A.D. added the remainder of the text except for the words "and the son"; this is the version still used by Eastern Orthdox and Greek Catholic churches today. The third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the 381 version, and stated that no further changes could be made to it, nor could other creeds by adopted. The phrase "and the son" (filioque in Latin) was first used in Spain in about the 5th century, and was acknowledged as early as 447 at [Rome]] by Pope Leo I without the consultation or agreement of the other four patriarchs of the Church at that time. The dispute over the filioque clause and the manner of its adoption was one of the reasons for the Great Schism.
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The Nicene Creed was first adopted at the first Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D., which was ... the First Council of Nicaea. At that time, the text ended after the words "We believe in the Holy Spirit." The second Ecumenical Council in 381 A.D. added the remainder of the text except for the words "and the son"; this is the version still used by Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches today. The third Ecumenical Council reaffirmed the 381 version, and stated that no further changes could be made to it, nor could other creeds be adopted. The phrase "and the son" (filioque in Latin) was first used in Toledo, Spain in 587, and was acknowledged as early as 447 at Rome by Pope Leo I without the consultation or agreement of the other four patriarchs of the Church at that time. The practice spread then to France where it was repudiated at the Gentilly Council in 767.
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Nicene Creed