For the Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is a statement of Christian belief that dates back to the first ecumenical council of the Church, the Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D. It's a statement of Christian faith that was drawn up to define orthodoxy and to repudiate heresy. This wasn't easy to do, but it was necessary.

Statements of faith such as this are divisive. They define what is acceptable to believe and, either explicitly or implicitly, what is not. In doing so, they separate those who agree with them from those who do not.

I grew up in churches that had long, complex doctrinal statements. I've seen many churches go to lengths to define what they believe in painstaking detail - eschatology, principles of Biblical interpretation, which spiritual gifts they believe in, theories of the atonement, and so forth. What confuses me about this process is this: why is it necessary to be so specific? Haven't Christians disagreed about these issues for centuries? Aren't we supposed to get past our differences and work for the Kingdom of God? Shouldn't we choose unity over division? Shouldn't we be willing to listen to one another and hold opposing viewpoints if they are based on Scripture?

I hold what might be considered a naïve view of ecumenism. My attitude toward other people works like this: Are you a Christian? If so, then let's work together for the Kingdom of God. If not, then you need to become a Christian so that we can work together for the Kingdom of God. The problem is that we've created more categories: people who claim to be Christian who we don't accept as Christian but we don't want to talk about it, or people who we accept as Christian but we don't want to work together with them because our beliefs aren't identical. I'm not sure who decided that either of these is acceptable for us as Christians. If the world is supposed to know that we follow Jesus because of our love for one another (John 13:35), we need to accept that mature Christians can differ in their theological views without compromising the faith. People can have different views on some issues that are based on Scripture without preaching a different gospel and needing to be condemned. Writing doctrinal statements that are narrow causes division rather than acceptance and love for one another.

Back to the Nicene Creed. If you asked an Anglican for a doctrinal statement, you would most likely get the Nicene Creed, or something based on it. It goes like this:

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only 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 four our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from 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.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He 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.

--Nicene Creed from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, p. 358

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. It is catholic, meaning that it is universal, and made up of all people who have faith in Christ. It is apostolic, meaning that it is in continuity with the church started by the Apostles (and by Christ himself). More importantly, it is one, whether or not we acknowledge it. That is not just a reality for the next life, it is a reality for our lives today.

These are the essentials of the faith. I'm not saying that this is exhaustive, but this creed has stuck around for over a millennium and a half because people have accepted it as a standard for orthodox Christian belief for that long. I love saying this creed and knowing that it's not something that was made up recently but that it has been said by Christians for hundreds of years. I love saying it every week in church because it reminds us of what unites us, rather than what divides us.