In AD 325, Orthodox bishops from around the world gathered together in the city of Nicaea for a special meeting known today as the First Ecumenical Council. The Fathers of the Council took the dangers of heresy seriously. In order to defend Holy Orthodoxy and condemn the new false teachings of an egotistical heretic named Arius, who led many people away from the Truth, the Council composed and adopted the Nicene Creed. A few years later, in AD 381, the Second Ecumenical Council met in Constantinople, the imperial capital of the Roman Empire. This Council added a section to the Nicene Creed, thereby completing it. We call the final version the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or simply the Nicene Creed for short. It is also called the Symbol of Faith. The Nicene Creed is a basic summary of what we believe as Orthodox Christians that has been recited by Orthodox Christians since its composition and adoption 1,600 years ago.
Learn the Nicene Creed by heart so that you know it well and can recite with the Faithful:
The Nicene 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, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets;
And I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the Resurrection of the dead,
And the Life of the age to come. Amen.
Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees