The word “creed” derives from the Latin word credo, which means “I believe,” the first two words of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Each creed is a list of statements recognized as a profession of faith, typically recited by a congregation after the sermon in a Protestant church or after the homily in a Roman Catholic mass. The statements in the creeds summarize Scripture and are considered core tenets of Christian belief by the apostles and bishops who wrote them in the early centuries of Christianity.
The two creeds have similar origins and content. Both creeds were written over centuries in sections or drafts. Church leaders composed the creeds to clarify the basic tenets of Christianity and assert that Christ is God. The scriptural foundation of the two documents is consistent, with a significant overlap in content between the two creeds.
Though similar in content, there are differences in how the creeds were composed. While the authors of the Apostles' Creed are not specifically known, perhaps due to its early, original publication in 140 A.D., the Nicene Creed was formally written in seven councils of the church, beginning in 325 A.D and continuing into the ninth century.
For almost two thousand years, these creeds have affirmed the fundamental beliefs that are shared by many Christian denominations worldwide. Many denominations include the recitation of the creeds in their liturgies. Reciting the creeds connects contemporary churches to the historic, Christian church and strengthens the faith of individual Christians.
What Is the Apostles’ Creed?
Saint Ambrose honored the Apostles' Creed with the words, "This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul."
The esteemed Apostles' Creed establishes in writing the Christian church’s profound beliefs. All of its statements are linked to the Bible at a time when Bibles were not readily available to lay people.
Recognized as the first formal document for all Christians (besides the Bible itself), the Apostles' Creed was originally published in 140 A.D., within memory of Christ’s life, by indefinite authors. There is evidence, however, that the creed underwent many revisions until the ninth century, when it took the form we use in worship services and mass today.
The Apostles' Creed recited today outlines the foundations of Christianity in declarative prose: there is one God, the Creator, who exists in the forms of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. After establishing God’s realm, the creed outlines the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and concludes with nods to His universal (“holy catholic”) Christian church, the forgiveness of sins, and His gift of eternal life.
Here is the full text of the Apostle's Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
Memorizing the Apostles' Creed is a Christian tradition. Early believers without printed Bibles recited it, often after their baptism. To this date, confirmation candidates in mainline Protestant churches learn the Apostles' Creed by heart. Expressing aloud the biblical truths in the Apostles' Creed solidifies our beliefs as Christians.
What Is the Nicene Creed?
The Nicene Creed first appeared two hundred years after the earliest published copy of the Apostles' Creed and is similar in content. That is, the Nicene Creed also begins by declaring there is one God and describes the divine nature of His Son Jesus Christ in greater detail than the Apostles’ Creed. Much of the remaining text of the Nicene Creed also echoes the biblically-based summaries of the Apostles' Creed.
Most likely inspired by the Apostles' Creed, an ecumenical group of Christian bishops wrote the original draft of the Nicene Creed at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., convened under the rule of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor. Bishops at the first council represented the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, and Eastern Catholic churches. This ecumenical council, held for six weeks in present day Turkey, succeeded in establishing the deity of Christ in all of the churches of the Roman Empire by writing the Nicene Creed.
The Nicene Creed underwent revisions in six additional Roman councils. During the Second Council of 381 A.D., the revised creed emphasized the divine role of the Holy Spirit as part of the Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Later councils added text that addressed Christ’s nature as both divine and human, His mother Mary’s “God-bearing status,” and the veneration (reverence for) rather than worship of icons within the church.
Here is a modern English version of the Nicene Creed:
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Amen.
The texts of the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed have merged in the Roman Catholic liturgy.
Key Differences between the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed
While the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed share many spiritual ideas, the language of the Nicene Creed is more descriptive and therefore it is lengthier than the Apostles’ Creed. The following list elaborates on the resulting differences between the two creeds:
- The Nicene Creed elaborates on God as the Creator, adding “of all things visible and invisible.”
- The description of Christ in the Nicene Creed adds the phrases, “true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made,” which reflects on the first chapter of John in the Bible.
- The Nicene Creed includes the clause that prophets have spoken for the Holy Spirit.
- The Nicene Creed describes the holy, catholic church as “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,” a reference to the earliest apostles of Christ.
- The Apostles' Creed lists a belief in “the communion of saints,” an idea absent from the Nicene Creed.
- The Apostles' Creed affirms the forgiveness of sins, plainly stated; the Nicene Creed states baptism provides remission (forgiveness) of sins.
- The Apostles' Creed states there is a “life everlasting,” which sounds like it applies to individuals, while the Nicene Creed ends with belief in “the life of the world to come,” which has a wider and more ambiguous meaning.
The additional descriptive phrases of the Nicene Creed add richness and greater understanding to the basic statements in the Apostles’ Creed.
The Filioque Clause and Other Variations (East vs. West)
As its authors revised the statements of the Nicene Creed, it came to include, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.” The inclusion of the words “and the Son” (filioque in Latin) led to the Filioque Controversy.
The controversy was based on the short but meaningful phrase “and the Son,” which Eastern Orthodox church leaders believed upset the balance of the three persons of the Trinity and reduced the importance of God the Father. The Eastern Church’s beliefs were based on Scripture found in John 15:26 and Matthew 10:20. The Western, Roman Catholic Church believed there was Scripture to support the addition of the words “of the Son” in John 16:7 and Galatians 4:6.
The Filioque Controversy was the tipping point in religious, political, and cultural tensions between the Western and Eastern churches of the Roman Empire. As a result, the once united churches of the Roman Empire divided into two, separate entities, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, in the Great Schism of 1054 A.D.
How Churches Use Each Creed Today
Today, reciting the creeds in Christian worship services and masses unites Christians and connects them to the larger and historic body of Christ. Reciting the Apostles' Creed during Sunday worship—as in ancient times—is often a practice in Protestant denominations, particularly Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches. Newer, nondenominational churches believe in the content of the creed but do not usually recite it in worship services. A combined version of the creeds is a regular part of a Roman Catholic mass. When a church body recites the creeds, it unites people in expressing the core beliefs of their faith as recorded in the Bible.
The practice of saying the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed in a worship service or mass adheres to advice Paul gave the early church in 1 Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
And as Dr. Albert R. Mohler wrote in a Christianity.com article, “Christians must return to historic Christianity, which emerged from the rich doctrinal commitments and evangelical fervor of the apostles [who] attempted to construct a worldview and theology based upon the teachings of the Bible.”
To proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to profess where we as a church stand, supported by the belief statements of the ancient but true Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed.
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