Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed

The text

The creed

We 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 only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead. Whose kingdom shall have no end. (I)

And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. And [we believe] in one, holy, (II) Catholic and Apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, [and] we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Percival, NPNF series 2 vol. 14 (1900) · Henry R. Percival · NPNF2 XIV, The Holy Creed which the 150 Holy Fathers set forth

Received it

• 451 — The Council of Chalcedon (Affirms). Aetius read the creed of the 150 into the acts beside Nicaea's, and the Definition confirmed their doctrine of the Spirit as introducing nothing that had been lacking in their predecessors, but explaining it in writing against those who sought to destroy his sovereignty. Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · Acts of Chalcedon, session II, and the Definition of Faith, in Percival, NPNF2 XIV
• 809/810 — Pope Leo III (Affirms). Leo would not let the addition into the creed on the ground that the General Councils had forbidden any addition to their formulary, and set two silver shields at the Confessio in St Peter's bearing the creed in Greek and in Latin without it. Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · NPNF2 XIV, I Constantinople, Excursus on the Words 'And the Son'

Received it on their own terms

• 589 — The Third Council of Toledo (Reinterprets). By the authority of the Third Council of Toledo the newly converted Goths were required to sign the creed with the addition; from then it was the accepted form in Spain, recited so again at Toledo VIII in 653 and Toledo XII in 681. Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · NPNF2 XIV, I Constantinople, Excursus on the Words 'And the Son'
• 1014 — Pope Benedict VIII (Reinterprets). Not until 1014 was the interpolated creed used at mass with a pope's sanction: Benedict VIII acceded to the urgent request of Henry II of Germany, and the silver shields disappeared from St Peter's. Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · NPNF2 XIV, I Constantinople, Excursus on the Words 'And the Son'

Glosses

• And the Son Reciting the creed against Arianism in 589, the Third Council of Toledo added one word to the clause on the Spirit: filioque, and the Son. It was a local defence of the Son's divinity, not a claim against the East. But…

What it formulates

• The Spirit proceeds from the Father The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.

In the disputes

• The dispute over the Holy Spirit The Arian question asked again about the Spirit, by men who had granted the Son.

Part of

• First Council of Constantinople