The Nicene Creed
"Council of Nicaea 325" / Fresco in Salone Sistino, Vatican - Giovanni Guerra (1544-1618) and Cesare Nebbia (1534-1614)
"The Nicene Creed originated because ancient Christians were appalled. A teacher in one of the most influential churches in the world was trying to get them to speak of Christ and say things like “there was once when he was not” and “he came to be out of nothing.” They had good reason to be appalled. Christians worship Jesus Christ as Lord, exalted at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. To say “there was once when he was not” would be to say that he is not eternal like God the Father—that he came into being from non-existence just like all God’s creatures. That would mean he is not really God at all, but one of the things God made. To say this would be to say that what Christians have been doing all along, worshiping Jesus as Lord, is the kind of thing pagans do: worshiping something that is not fully, truly, ultimately God. The Nicene Creed was written to say no, in the strongest possible terms, to that kind of Christian paganism."
The Nicene Creed
(per the Book of Common Prayer, 2019)
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord,
Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
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.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father
[and the Son],*
who with the Father and the Son
is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
*The phrase "and the Son" is in brackets as it is not found in the original Creed. The filioque clause ("and the Son") was added by the Latin church and its inclusion served as a key issue leading to the Great Schism of 1054 which saw the Western ("Catholic") church and the Eastern ("Orthodox") church split.