The Nicene Creed summarizes key Christian beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, baptism, resurrection, and eternal life. It affirms belief in one God who created all things, Jesus as the only Son of God born of the Father before all ages, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. The creed describes Jesus' suffering, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven and future return for judgment. It also affirms belief in one holy catholic and apostolic church, one baptism for forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.

1. The Nicene Creed

2. God

I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

3. God

 "Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is
the First and the Last, the beginning and the end of
everything. The Credo begins with God the Father,
for the Father is the first divine person of the Most
Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of
heaven and earth, for creation is the beginning and
the foundation of all God's works."
---the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 198

4. God

I believe in one God. In the midst of a culture that worshiped many gods Yahweh revealed Himself
to Abraham and Moses as the one, true God. So, the creed starts by saying that there is one God.
God is our Father. Father is the name that Jesus Himself used and gave to us for God.
While the use of the word Father to refer to God may seem commonplace to the Christians of today, it
was a unique concept in the early years of the Church. No other religion dares to bring God to such an
intimate relationship to man that we may consider ourselves as His children. The Old Testament
people did not even call out God’s name. So, by calling God our Father, we show that our God is not
an impersonal God who just set us in motion, but rather a God who cares for us more than we can
possibly imagine.
God is almighty. This means that His creative power is unlimited.
God is the maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. This teaching confirmed
that God created everything that came into being, all things seen and unseen, and it was thus good.
This ended a debate among some theologians who claimed that everything in the material world was
evil and to be despised. God created both good and holy.

5. Jesus
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
 By our profession of Jesus as “Lord,” like His disciples, we signify that He is
undisputed master over our lives and is worthy of worship.
the Only Begotten Son of God,
The name Jesus means “God saves.” It was significant that Jesus was given a
born of the Father before all ages. human name because it demonstrates His humanity. Jesus is fully human and
fully God.
God from God, Light from Light, Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made,
true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father This section of the Creed was, without a doubt,
the most highly debated of all. There was never a time when Jesus, the Son of
God, did not exist. Thus we proclaim that He was begotten, not made.
begotten, not made, consubstantial
Notice the change in the creed, which says Jesus is “consubstantial” with the
with the Father; Father. It basically means Jesus is of the same substance or nature with the
Father. Begotten means bringing forth something of the same nature or
Through him all things were made. substance.
Through Him all things were made. When one of the persons acts, all act
For us men and for our salvation together – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (same substance). So when we speak
about Jesus we must always remember that He is not only the Son of God; He
he came down from heaven, also existed from the beginning. Why is this so important? Because, if Jesus
Christ was only a human person like us, created in time out of nothing, then He
could not save us. If Jesus was only a human person, His death on the Cross
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate would have been meaningless –an end in itself.
of the Virgin Mary,
Jesus came down from heaven and was born into our world - what we call the
and became man. “Incarnation” solely for our salvation. Since the human person could not save
himself from sin, could not by his own efforts regain the grace of God, God had
to become human. Jesus, being divine, was the only person who could restore
unity between God and us.

6. Jesus
For our sake he was crucified
 As God and human, Jesus was crucified,
under Pontius Pilate, died and was buried. On the third day, he
he suffered death and was rose, as the Scriptures foretell. These are
buried, historical truths.
and rose again on the third day Forty days after the resurrection, after
in accordance with the appearing in his resurrected form to the
Scriptures.
apostles and others, Jesus returned to
He ascended into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of the Father. heaven (he ascended) where he continues
He will come again in glory to reside with the Father.
to judge the living and the dead At the end of time, Jesus will come again
and his kingdom will have no in glory for the final judgment.
end. God’s kingdom is eternal: it always was,
and always will be.

7. The Holy Spirit

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the The Holy Spirit is also God, a
Lord, the giver of life, person of the Trinity together with
who proceeds from the Father and the Creator and Jesus.
the Son, The Spirit is equal in importance
who with the Father and the Son and power to Jesus and the Father.
is adored and glorified, The Spirit inspires the prophets to
who has spoken through the speak truth.
prophets.

8. The Church

I believe in one, holy, catholic and The four marks of the Church: one
apostolic Church. church founded by Christ, holy
I confess one Baptism for the because it was founded and is
forgiveness of sins sustained by God, catholic - open
and I look forward to the to all and apostolic, founded on the
resurrection of the dead faith of the Apostles.
and the life of the world to come. We believe in one Baptism – all
who are baptized in the Trinity
share the same life in God.
We believe we will rise after death,
and that we will continue to live in
heaven after death on earth.

9. Amen.

“Amen” means “I believe all of this to be true.”

10. The Nicene Creed

Approved in 325 AD, the Nicene Creed is named
for the city in which the ecumenical council
that approved it met: Nicea.