The 'Nicene Creed, composed in part and adopted at the First Council of Nicea (325) and revised with additions by the First Council of Constantinople (381), is a creed that summarises the orthodox faith of the Christian Church and is used in the liturgy of most Christian Churches. This article endeavours to give the text of English-language translations in current liturgical use. Icon depicting the Holy Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea holding the Nicene Creed. ... The First Council of Nicaea, which took place during the reign of the emperor Constantine in 325, was the first ecumenical (from Greek oikumene, worldwide) conference of bishops of the Christian Church. ... The First Council of Constantinople (second ecumenical council) was called by Theodosius I in 381 to confirm the Nicene Creed and deal with other matters of the Arian controversy . ... For other uses, see Creed (disambiguation). ... A liturgy is the customary public worship of a religious group, according to their particular traditions. ...

Other English translations are given in scholarly works such as J.N.D. Kelly's Early Christian Creeds and Philip Schaff's Creeds of Christendom, and in prayer books of many denominations.

Eastern Catholic

Text used by the Ruthenian Catholic Church This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, the only begotten, born of the Father before all ages.

Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father; through whom all things were made.

For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried.

He rose on the third day according to the scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father.

Together with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified; he spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I profess one baptism for the remission of sins.

I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Text used by the Orthodox Church in America:^[1] The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church in North America. ...

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 sitteth at the right hand of the Father.

And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there shall be no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the 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.

In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins; I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.

Text used by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:^[2] The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquarted in New York City, is an eparchy of the Church of Constantinople. ...

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator 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 the Father before all ages;

Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through 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.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

Traditional Anglican

Traditional Anglican (as in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer)[1] For the novel, see A Book of Common Prayer. ...

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 only-begotten Son of God,

Begotten of his Father before all worlds,

God of God, 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 of 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 on 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.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost,

The Lord and giver of life,

Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,

Who spake by the Prophets.

And I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

And I look for the Resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the world to come.

Amen.

1975 ecumenical version

In 1975, the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), published, in the book Prayers We Have in Common, an ecumenical English translation of the Nicene Creed that was adopted by many Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. Following is the text of this 1975 version as printed in the English-language Roman Missal used outside the United States. The only difference between this presentation and the way ICET presented the text is that ICET printed the Filioque clause as a parenthesis, thus: "[and the Son]". The Consultation on Common Texts is an ecumenical group that has been meeting since the mid-1960s to define common texts for Christian liturgical use. ... The Roman Missal (Missale Romanum) is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Latin rite of Mass. ... In Christian theology the filioque clause or filioque controversy (filioque meaning and [from] the son in Latin) is a heavily disputed addition to the Nicene Creed, that forms a divisive difference in particular between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. ...

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 men and for 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 worshipped 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.

1973 draft for an ecumenical version

The version of the Roman Missal used in the United States was prepared before the 1975 ICET text of the Creed was decided: it contains an earlier (1973) ICET draft. The points (apart from an American spelling) where it differs from the later version, used by the Catholic Church elsewhere, are here indicated in italics.

"Of one Being with the Father" (1975) replaced "one in Being with the Father" (1973), which, when spoken, could be confused with "one, in being with the Father".

"He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man" (1975) replaced "He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man" (1973): neither Greek "σαρκωθέντα" nor Latin "incarnatus" means "born", and the 1973 text linked hominization ("became man") with birth ("he was born").

"He suffered death and was buried" (1975) replaced "he suffered, died, and was buried" (1973): "παθόντα" in Greek and "passus" in Latin are indicative of a suffering demise; but the 1973 draft inserted an extra verb, "died", not present in the original Greek or Latin.

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,

one in Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

he came down from heaven

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered, died, and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in fulfilment of 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.

1988 ecumenical version

The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), the successor body to ICET, published in 1988 the book Praying Together, which included a revision of the 1975 ICET text,[2] which is given below. This has not been widely accepted without modifications that vary between the Churches: see, for instance, the discussion within The ELLC Texts: A Survey of Use and Variation. The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC) is a group of national associations of ecumenical liturgists in the English-speaking world. ...

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 for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and became truly human.

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,

who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,

who 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

Lutheran Service Book (2006)

I believe in one God, This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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,

God of God, 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 Spirit of 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 sits at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,

whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord and giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,

who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,

and I look for the resurrection of the dead

and the life † of the world to come. Amen.^[3]

Avoidance of the word "man"

As seen above, the 1988 ecumenical version, used, often with variants, by some Churches, omits the word "men" where other translations have "for us men and for our salvation". Some replace the word "men" with the word "all".

The original Greek text does have an expression corresponding to "men", (τοὺς ἀνθρώπους (tous anthropous). This expression is free of ambiguity, since ἄνθρωποι (anthropoi) means human beings, while ἄνδρες (andres) means male human beings as opposed to γυναῖκες (gynaikes), female human beings.

Reduction of the phrase "for us men" to "for us" or "for us all" has been criticized^[4] as ambiguous and capable of being understood to refer merely to the members of the congregation reciting the creed. Omission of the word "men" is felt to be in harmony with the notion of limited atonement, as opposed to that of universal atonement seen as implicit in the phrase when translated with the word "men" (understood in the inclusive sense of this word). Limited atonement (or definite atonement or particular redemption) is a controversial doctrine in Christian theology which is particularly associated with Calvinism and is one of the five points of Calvinism. ...

This omission of the word "man" also lies behind the 1988 ecumenical version's rendering of ἐνανθρωπήσαντα as "became truly human", instead of the usual and more literal translation, "was made man" or "became man".

References

1. ^ Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
2. ^ Liturgical Texts
3. ^ The Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Lutheran Service Book, (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 158.
4. ^ Lutheran Theological Review, Volume XV and Volume XIV,Jack Cascione, Jesus Had To Be A True Human Male and True God, Paul V. Mankowski, Silk Purses and Sows' Ears, Is" for us and our salvation" in the Ruthenian creed heretical?</Frank Mobbs, http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/1992/apr1992p20_751.html, Richard J. Schuler, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi: the Outrage of Inclusive Language