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Symbola Oecumenica · Symbola Oecumenica. Oecumenical Symbols

II. Symbolum Nicæno-constantinopolitanum. The Nicæno-constantinopolitan Creed

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(a) Forma Recepta Ecclesiæ Orientalis. A.D. 381.

The Received Text of the Greek Church.56

Latin Version of Dionysius Exiguus.57

Pisteuomen eis hen ThEON PATERA pantokratora, poieten ouranou kai ges, horaton te panton kai aoraton.

Credimus in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem; factorem coeli et terræ, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

Kai eis hena kurion IESOUN ChRISTON, ton huion tou theou ton monogene, ton ek tou patros gennethenta pro panton ton aionon, phos ek photos, theon alethinon ek theou alethenou, gennethenta, ou poiethenta, homoousion to patri; di hou ta panta egeneto; ton di hemas tous anthropous kai dia ten hemeteran soterian katelthonta ek ton ouranon kai sarkothenta ek pneumatos hagiou kai Marias tes parthenou kai enanthropesanta, staurothenta te huper hemon epi Pontiou Pilatou, kai pathonta kai taphenta, kai anastanta te trite hemera kata tas graphas, kai anelthonta eis tous ouranous, kai kathezomenon ek dexion tou patros, kai palin erchomenon meta doxes krinai zontas kai nekrous; hou tes basileias ouk estai telos.

Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei [unigenitum], natum ex Patre ante omnia sæcula [Lumen de Lumine], Deum verum de Deo vero, natum [genitum], non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt; qui propter nos homines et [propter] salutem nostram descendit de cælis et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virgine et humanatus [homo factus] est; et crucifixus est pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato [passus] et sepultus est; et resurrexit tertia die [secundum scripturas]; ascendit in coelum [coelos], sedet ad dexteram Patris; iterum venturus, cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.

Kai eis to PNEUMA TO HaGION, to kurion, (kai) to zoopoion ,58 to ek tou patros ekporeuomenon, to sun

Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem [vivificatorem], ex Patre procedentem, cum Patre

patri kai huio sun proskunoumenon kai sundoxazomenon, to lalesan dia ton propheton; eis mian, hagian, katholiken kai apostoliken ekklesian; homologoumen hen bartisma eis aphesin hamartion; prosdokomen anastasin nekron, kai zoen tou mellontos aionos. Amen. et Filio adorandum et conglorificandum, qui locutus est per sanctos prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confitemur unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Expectamus resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam futuri sæculi. Amen.

(b) Forma Recepta, Ecclesiæ Occidentalis.

The Received Text of the Roman Catholic Church.59

The Received Text of the Protestant Churches.60

Credo in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem; factorem coeli et terræ, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

I believe in one God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Padre natum ante omnia sæcula [Deum de Deo], Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds [God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance [essence] with the Father;

omnia facta sunt; qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis, et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virgine, et homo factus est; crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est; et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturus; et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris; et iterum venturus est, cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis. 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. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre [Filioque] procedit; qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum; et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi seculi. Amen. 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 worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And [I believe] one Holy Catholic 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.

[The Western additions, of which the Filioque is the most important, are inclosed in brackets. Compare Vol. I. pp. 26-28.]

(c) Symbolum Nicænum. A.D. 325.

The Original Form of the Nicene Creed, as adopted at Nicæa, 325.61 The Latin Version of Hilarius Pictaviensis, between 356 and 361.62 Pisteuomen eis hena ThEON PATERA pantokratora, panton horaton te kai aoraton poieten. Credimus in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem, omnium visibilium et invisibilium factorem. Kai eis hena kurion IESOUN ChRISTON, ton huion tou theou, gennethenta ek tou patros monogene, toutestin ek tes ousias tou patros, theon ek theou, phos ek photos, theon alethinon ek theou alethinou, gennethenta, ou poiethenta, homoousion to patri; di hou ta panta egeneto, ta te en to ourano kai ta epi tes ges; ton di hemas tous anthropous kai dia ten hemeteran soterian katelthonta kai sarkothenta kai enanthropesanta, pathonta, kai anastanta te trite hemera, kai anelthonta eis tous ouranous, kai erchomenon krinai zontas kai nekrous. Et in unum Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei, natum ex Patre unigenitum, hoc est, de substantia Patris, Deum ex Deo, Lumen ex Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, natum, non factum, unius substantiæ cum Patre, quod Græci dicunt homoousion; per quem, omnia facta, sunt, quæ in coelo et in terra; qui [propter nos homines et] propter nostram salutem descendit, incarnatus est et homo factus est, et passus est; et resurrexit tertia die, et ascendit in coelos; venturus judicare vivos et mortuos. Kai eis to HaGION PNEUMA. Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Tous de legontas, hoti en pote hote ouk en, kai prin gennethenai ouk en, kai hoti ex ouk onton egeneto, e ex heteras hupostaseos e ousias phaskontas einai, [e ktiston,] trepton e alloioton ton huion tou theou, [toutous] anathematizei he katholike [kai apostolike] ekklesia.63 Eos autem qui dicunt: 'erat, quando non erat,' et 'antequam nasceretur, non erat,' et 'quod de non exstantibus factus est,' vel 'ex alia, substantia' aut 'essentia,' dicentes ['creatum,' aut] 'convertibilem et demutabilem Filium Dei,' hos anathematizat catholica [et apostolica] ecclesia.64

[See the English version both of the original and the enlarged Creed in Vol. I. pp. 28, 29.]

APPENDIX.

Other Oriental Creeds of the Nicene Age.

With the Nicene Creed should be compared several similar Greek forms of the fourth century (see above, pp. 24-40, and Hahn, pp. 42-59), especially the following:

(1.) The Creed of Cæsarea, which Eusebius read at Nicæa, 325, as his own baptismal creed. It omits theon alethinon and homoousion , but otherwise agrees nearly with the first Nicene Creed till pneuma hagion , and is the basis of it.

(2.) The Creed of Jerusalem, which Cyril of Jerusalem taught in his Catechetical Lectures before 350. It likewise omits homoousion , but has after hagion pneuma the articles: 'In ( eis repeated) one baptism for the remission of sins, and in one holy catholic Church, and in the resurrection of the flesh, and in the life everlasting;' resembling in this conclusion more the later Constantinopolitan Creed, of which it seems to be the chief basis.

(3.) Two Creeds of Epiphanius, a longer and a shorter one, recorded in his Ancoratus about 374. Both contain the whole Nicene Creed, with the concluding anathema (enlarged in one formula), and at the same time almost literally the additional articles after 'the Holy Ghost,' which were incorporated in the Nicene Creed by the Synod of Constantinople; showing that these were current in the Churches before 381.

(4.) The Creed of Arius, which he delivered to the Emperor Constantine (328), and which is recorded by Socrates and Sozomenus (also in Mansi, Tom. II. p. 1157; Walch, p. 47; Hahn, p. 192; and Denzinger, p. 8). It shrewdly omits the obnoxious words condemned by the Council of Nicæa, confesses Christ as theon logon, di hou ta panta egento , and adds after hagion pneuma the articles: kai eis sarkos anastasin, kai eis zoen tou mellontos aionos, kai eis basileian ouranon, kai eis mian katholiken ekklesian tou theou, ten apo peraton heos peraton.

Notes

  1. 56

    See the History, pp. 24 sqq. The Greek text is found in the Acts of the First Council of Constantinople in Mansi, Conc. Tom. III. p. 565, and twice in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, Act. II. Tom. VI. p. 957, and Act. V. Tom. VII. p. 111; also in the Acts of the Third Constantinop. Counc., Act. XVIII. Tom. XI. p. 633. See Hahn, p. 111, and Hort, pp.73 sqq.

  2. 57

    The Latin text is chiefly from the Canones Concilii Constantinop. ex interpr. Dionysii Exig. in Mansi, Tom. III. p. 567 sq. For the different readings, see Walch, pp. 94-103, and Hahn, pp. 112-116, who compared with it the translations in the Codex Canonum et Constitutorum Eccl. Rom. in Opp. Leonis Magni, ed. Quesnel, Tom. II. p. 56; in the Sacramentarium Gelasianum, as given by Muratori, Liturg. Rom. vet. Tom. I. p. 541, and Assemani, Codex liturg. univ. Tom. I. p. 11; the old transl. of the Canones Conc. Const. by Isidorus Mercator in Mansi, Tom. III. p. 574; Acta Conc. Toletani, of the year 589, given by Mansi, Tom. IX. pp. 977 sqq.; Etherii et Beati Adv. Elipandum, Lib. I. in Bibl. P. P. Lugd. Tom. XIII. p. 363; Acta Concilii Chalced. Act. II. in Mansi, Tom. VI. p. 958, and Act. V. in Mansi, Tom. VII. p. 111; Codex Reg. Armamentarii Paris., published by Ferd. Flor. Fleck, in his Anecdota (Leipz. 1837), pp. 347 sqq. All the early and authentic Latin editions omit the Filioque, like the Greek, except Assemani's (a convert to Romanism), who inserts, on his own authority, kai tou huiou . A Syriac version is given by Caspari, l.c. Vol. I. p. 103.

  3. 58

    Mansi gives three readings: to kur. to zoop. , to kur. kai zoop. , and to kur. kai to zoop . See the critical note of Dr. Hort, p. 81.

  4. 59

    The Latin text is from the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, third session, held Feb. 4, 1546, when the Nicene Creed was solemnly professed by this Synod as the ' symbolum fidei, quo sancta Romana ecclesia utitur, tanquam principium illud, in quo omnes, qui fidem Christi profitentur, necessario conveniunt, ac fundamentum firmum et unicum, contra quod portæ inferi nunquam prævalebunt. ' The same text is incorporated in the Profession of the Tridentine Faith. The punctuation varies in different editions.

  5. 60

    From the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, with which the text in other Protestant liturgies agrees, with slight variations. The Lutheran symbols substitute, in the article on the Church, the term christliche (Christian) for Catholic. Luther did the same in his German version of the Apostles' Creed; unwisely leaving the Romanists to monopolize the name Catholic.

  6. 61

    The Greek text after Eusebius, in his Epist. ad Cæsareenses (as preserved by Athanasius), and the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, which indorsed both the original and the enlarged form of the Nicene Creed. See Vol. I. p. 28, note 3. The variations are carefully given by Walch, pp. 87 sqq., and Hahn, pp. 105-107. For a Syriac version, see Caspari, Vol. I. p. 100. Dr. Hort (Dissertations, p. 54) ingeniously but artificially connects monogene with theon ( tout' estin ek tes ousias tou patros being parenthetical), and thus derives from the Nicene Creed a traditional support for the famous reading monogenes theos , instead of the received text monogenes huios , .

  7. 62

    The Latin form from Hilarius (Bishop of Poitiers, called the Athanasius of the West; died 368): De Synodis sive de fide Orientalium, § 84, Opp. ed. Constant. Veron. Tom. II. p. 510, and Fragm. II. ex opere historico, § 27, l.c. p. 643. Walch (pp. 80-92) gives also other Latin versions from Lucifer, Rufinus, Leo M., Marius Mercator, etc., and Hahn (pp. 108—110) notes the principal variations.

  8. 63

    The received text, as sanctioned by the Fourth, or previously by the Second OEcumenical Council, omits the words tout' estin ek tes ousias tou patros and theon ek theou , and the concluding anathema, but adds the important clauses after the Holy Spirit.

  9. 64

    The received text, as sanctioned by the Fourth, or previously by the Second OEcumenical Council, omits the words tout' estin ek tes ousias tou patros and theon ek theou , and the concluding anathema, but adds the important clauses after the Holy Spirit.

Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Volume 2: The Greek and Latin Creeds (1877). Public domain. Text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.