creed
I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ … .
It is usually described as a revision by the First Council of Constantinople (381) of the creed adopted at Nicaea in 325. In the Western Church since the 9th cent. it has differed from the original by the addition of the Filioque clause: And in the Holy Ghost … Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son … .
(qui ex Patre Filioque procedit … .
). Over this addition there has been a long controversy between the Orthodox Eastern and Roman Catholic churches. The Nicene Creed is a traditionally authoritative creed of Orthodox Eastern, Roman Catholic, and some Protestant churches.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ … .
It does not appear in its present form before 650, but its predecessors probably arose in Rome in the 2d or 3d cent. It has two material differences from the Nicene Creed: the phrase, He descended into hell,
is omitted in the Nicene, and the words resurrection of the body
are changed to resurrection of the dead
in the Nicene. It is used by Roman Catholics at various daily services and at baptism; it is also much used by Protestants.
See J. H. Leith, Creeds of the Churches (1963, repr. 1973); J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds (1981); W. H. C. Frend, ed., Creeds, Councils and Controversies (1989).
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