Pastor Andreas Albers (Our Saviour, Wartburg)
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible…
These are the opening words of the Nicene Creed, which I’m sure are familiar to all of you. In fact, these words would have been familiar to Christians from all corners of the world for the last 1700 years. Yes, the year 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (modern-day Turkey), which gave rise to the Nicene Creed.
The Council of Nicaea was called by Emperor Constantine, with the main aim of considering the being and exact nature of Jesus Christ regarding his humanity and divinity. Church leaders from all over the Christian world at the time gathered in Nicaea to deliberate on this important matter, which had begun to divide the Church. At this time, the teachings of a man named Arius had become popular. Arius’s teachings were of great concern to many church leaders, as they seemed to undermine the true divinity of Christ. Arius claimed that Jesus did not possess any of the Father’s divine qualities, nor did he exist before he was begotten by the Father. According to Arius, the Father produced the Son as his creature. The Son, therefore, did not share in the being of God the Father and did not know him perfectly.
Hoping to avoid a serious division in the church, Emperor Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea, out of which came the formulation of the Nicene Creed. The Creed, which was later revised and confirmed by the Council of Constantinople in AD 381, affirms the full divinity of Jesus and the unity of God as Trinity, and has had a lasting worldwide impact on the understanding of the Christian faith.
Creeds are important and are still extremely relevant today. It is also important that we regularly confess our 3 Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian), lest we fall into the same traps as Arius and other false teachers.
About 700 years after its compilation, the Nicene Creed itself became the source of controversy, contributing to a schism in AD 1054 between the Church of the Greek-speaking East and the Church of the Latin West, giving rise to two traditions of the Christian Church – Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. The phrase at the centre of this controversy was the inclusion in the year AD 589 of the words “and the Son” (“filioque” in Latin) in relation to the Holy Spirit, who is said to “proceed from the Father and the Son.” The Orthodox Church views this addition as being against the word of God and against the Church’s tradition, while the Western Church confirms the addition of this phrase.
Despite the difference that remains to this day, both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) Christian church hold the Nicene Creed in high honour.
The anniversary of the Nicene Creed provides an opportunity to reflect on its importance and meaning for our faith. If you would like, you may look up the following Bible verses, which illustrate the Scriptural basis for the statements in the Nicene Creed.
I believe in one God (Eph 4:6; Deut 6:4)
the Father Almighty (Rev 19:6; 21:22; Mark 14:36)
maker of heaven and earth (Gen 1:1)
and of all things visible and invisible (Col 1:16)
And in one Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 4:5)
the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:16)
begotten of His Father before all worlds (Heb 1:5; John 1:1; John 17:5)
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father (Isa 7:14; John 1:1; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28; Col 1:15,19; Phil 2:6; Heb 1:3; Rev 1:17; 5:12–14; 22:12–13)
by whom all things were made (John 1:3; Col 1:16)
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven (John 3:17)
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:34–35)
and was made man (Phil 2:7; John 1:14; Heb 2:14–17)
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:15)
he suffered (1 Cor 15:3; Rev 1:18)
and was buried
and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:4)
He ascended into heaven (Luke 24:51; Phil 2:9)
and sits at the right hand of the Father (Heb 10:12; Eph 1:20)
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead (Matt 25:31–46; Rev 20:11–14)
whose kingdom shall have no end (Isa 9:7; Dan 7:14; Heb 12:28)
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life (2 Cor 3:17–18; Ps 104:30; Tit 3:5)
who proceeds from the Father and the Son (John 14:16–17; 15:26; 16:7)
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified (Luke 12:10; Matt 28:19; Acts 5:3–4; 1 Cor 3:16)
who spoke by the prophets (2 Pet 1:20–21)
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church (Eph 1:22–23; 2:16–22; 4:1–16; 5:23–27; 1 Cor 12:13)
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins (Eph 4:6; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 22:16)
and I look for the resurrection of the dead (John 11:25)
and the life of the world to come (Rev 2:10; Phil 3:20)
