The Symbol of Faith, known in the West as the Nicene Creed, is the ancient statement of Christian faith formulated at the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD). It emerged from the Church's deep reflection on who God is, who Christ is, and what salvation means. The bishops gathered at these councils, drawing on Scripture and the Apostolic tradition, articulated the boundaries of the Christian faith against various distortions that had arisen.

Confessed by the faithful every Sunday in the Divine Liturgy, the Symbol of Faith is the doctrinal backbone of Orthodox Christianity. Every teaching of the Church flows from or returns to its claims: that God is Trinity, that Christ is fully God and fully man, that the Holy Spirit gives life, that the Church is one, that baptism brings forgiveness, that the dead will rise. 

To confess the Symbol of Faith is to stand in unbroken continuity with the apostles, the Church Fathers, and the saints who have prayed these words across nearly seventeen centuries. Across all times and places, this shared confession professes what we believe.

The Symbol of Faith

(The Nicene Creed)

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.