ܕܟܠ ܡܕܡ ܡܨܐ ܐܢܐ ܚܝܠܐ ܒܡܫܝܚܐ ܕܡܚܝܠ ܠܝ
"I can do every thing through Christ which strengthens me."
Phil 4:13

ܐܦܛܪܘܦܘܬܐ ܦܛܪܝܪܟܝܬܐ
ܕܡܪܥܝܬܐ ܕܐܘܚܕ̈ܢܐ ܡܥܪ̈ܒܝܐ ܕܐܡܝܪܟܐ

[Our Faith] home

Nicene Creed ܬܚܘܡܐ ܕܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܩܝܐ

NOTES
When the Apostles' Creed was drawn up, the chief enemy was Gnosticism, which denied that Jesus was truly Man; and the emphases of the Apostles' Creed reflect a concern with repudiating this error.

When the Nicene Creed was drawn up, the chief enemy was Arianism, which denied that Jesus was fully God. Arius was a presbyter (=priest = elder) in Alexandria in Egypt, in the early 300's. He taught that the Father, in the beginning, created (or begot) the Son, and that the Son, in conjunction with the Father, then proceeded to create the world. The result of this was to make the Son a created being, and hence not God in any meaningful sense. It was also suspiciously like the theories of those Gnostics and pagans who held that God was too perfect to create something like a material world, and so introduced one or more intermediate beings between God and the world. God created A, who created B, who created C... who created Z, who created the world.

Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, sent for Arius and questioned him. Arius stuck to his position, and was finally excommunicated by a council of Egyptian bishops. He went to Nicomedia in Asia, where he wrote letters defending his position to various bishops. Finally, the Emperor Constantine summoned a council of Bishops in Nicea (Now modern Iznik, Turkey), and there in 325 the Bishops of the Church, by a decided majority, repudiated Arius and produced the first draft of what is now called the Nicene Creed.

The Arian position has been revived in our own day by the Watchtower Society (the JW's), who explicitly hail Arius as a great witness to the truth.

The Nicene Creed is the most widely accepted and used brief statements or the law of the Christian Faith. The First Ecumenical Synod at Nicaea in A.D. 325 formulated the beliefs of all Christians in what has since been known as the Nicene creed. The second and third synods at Constantinople and Ephesus expanded this statement of faith. To this day, this remains the creed of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

According to the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Creed is to be recited at the conclusion of Prayers both morning and evening, before retiring, and in the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. It is Common Ground to Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and many other Christian groups. Many groups that do not have a tradition of using it in their services nevertheless are committed to the doctrines it teaches.

We believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

And we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
Who was begotten of the Father, before all worlds.
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
and being of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
Who for us and for our salvation
came down from heaven:
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and He became man.
For our sake he was crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate;
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose
in accordance to His will;
ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of His Father.
And He will come again in the great glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

And we believe in the one Holy Spirit, the Lord, Who is the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father
And with the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets and Apostles.
And 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 new life of the world to come. AMEN.

مؤيمنٍينَن بحَد ءَلؤُا آَبُا آَحٍيد كٌل عُبٌودُا دَشمَيُا ودَآرعُا وَدخٌلؤِين آَيلِين دمِةحَزًيُن ودلاُ مِةحَزًيُن. وَبحَد مُريُا يِشٌوع مشٍيحُا يٍحٍيدُيُا برُا دَءلُؤُا. ؤَو دمِن آَبُا آِةٍيلِد قدُم كٌلؤٌون عُلمًِا. نٌوؤرُا دمِن نٌوؤرُا. ءَلؤُا شَرٍيرُا دمِن ءَلؤُا شَرٍيرُا. يٍلٍيدُا ولاُ عبٍيدُا وَشوِا بٌاوسٍيَا لاَبٌوؤْي، دبٍايدِؤ ؤوُا كٌل، ؤَو دمِطٌلُةَن بنَيًنُشُا ومِطٌل فٌورقُنَن: نحِة مِن شمَيُا وِآةجَشَم مِن رٌوحُا قَدٍيشُا ومِن مَريَم بةٌولةُا يُلدَة ءَلؤُا. وَؤوُا بَرنُشُا. وِآأطلِب حلُفَين بيَوًمَي فِنطيُوس فٍيلَطُوس. حَش ومٍية وِآةقبَر وقُم لَةلُةُا يَوًمٍين آَيخ دَأبُا. وَسلِق لَشمَيُا وٍيةِب مِن يَمٍينُا دَآبٌوؤْي. وةٌوب آُةِا بشٌوبحُا رَبُا لَمدُن لحَيًِا وَلمٍيًةِا ؤَو دِلمَلكٌوةِؤ شٌولُمُا لاُ آٍية. وَبحَد رٌوحُا قَدٍيشُا دٍآيةَوؤْي مُريُا مَحيُنُا دخٌل، ؤَو دمِن آَبُا نُفِق، وعَم آَبُا وعَم برُا مِسةغِد ومِشةَبَح. ؤَو دمَلِل بَنًبٍيِا وبَشلٍيًحِا. وبَحدُا عٍدةُا قَدٍيشةُا قَةٌولٍيقٍي وَشلٍيحُيةُا. مَودٍينَن دَحدُاؤْي مَعمٌودٍيةُا لشٌوبقُنُا دَحطُؤًِا. وَمسَكِينَن لَقيُمةُا دمٍيًةِا وَلحَيًِا حَدًةِا دَبعُلمُا دَعةٍيد آَمٍين ÷

* The word Catholic is a Greek word KATHOLIKOS comes from KATA (a preposition with various meanings depending on the context, often meaning "down" or "negative" as in "catabolic" or "catastrophe" or "cathode," but also often meaning "according to") and HOLOS (meaning "whole" as in "holistic medicine," which claims to treat the whole patient and not just the particular ailment complained of), and thus means, literally, "according to the whole (world). or Universal" The meaning of the word as applied to the Church has evolved especially in the days of St. Ignatius Noorono the third Patriarch of Antioch (+107).

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance [ek tes ousias] of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of the same substance with the Father [homoousion to patri], through whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men and our salvation descended, was incarnate, and was made man, suffered and rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and cometh to judge the living and the dead.