English versions of the Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed, composed in part and adopted at the First Council of Nicaea and revised with additions by the First Council of Constantinople, is a creed that summarizes the orthodox faith of the Christian Church and is used in the liturgy of most Christian Churches. This article endeavors to give the text and context of English-language translations.
Versions in current liturgical use
Ecumenical versions
1975 ecumenical version (ICET)
The International Consultation on English Texts published an English translation of the Nicene Creed, first in 1970 and then in successive revisions in 1971 and 1975. These texts were adopted by several churches. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States, which adopted the 1971 version in 1973, and the Catholic Church in other English-speaking countries, which in 1975 adopted the version published in that year, continued to use them until 2011. The 1975 version was included in the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, the 1979 Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer, though in both cases with one variation: in the line "For us men and for our salvation", they omitted the word "men":1988 ecumenical version (ELLC)
The English Language Liturgical Consultation, the successor body to ICET, published in 1988 the book Praying Together, which included a of the 1975 ICET text. Variations of this text are gaining acceptance among mainline Protestant churches: it is used by the Methodist Church with little if any change, and by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Other denominations use it with modifications that vary between the churches: see, for instance, the within , which does not include recent use of the ELLC text by the ELCA in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.Roman Catholic Church
Latin Church
The translation for use in Mass of the Roman Rite is found in the Order of Mass. It begins "Credo" - "I believe" - and is a personal affirmation of faith. The Nicene Creed as found on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is as follows:Within the Latin Church, the Ordinariate Form of the Roman Rite uses the following translation, taken from the Book of Common Prayer:
An explanation of the Creed can be found in the .
Ruthenian Catholic Church
The Ruthenian Catholic Church, a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church, uses a text which was previously found on their website but has now been archived.It is as follows:
Oriental Orthodox Churches
Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian ChurchWe believe in one true God, the Father Almighty.
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all the world. Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not 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. He was crucified also for us in the days of Pontius Pilate. Suffered and died was buried. The third day He rose again by His Father’s holy will, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead and of His kingdom, there will be no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets and apostles.
We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins and look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the new life of the world to come. Amen.
Coptic Orthodox Church
The text used by the Coptic Orthodox Church:In truth we believe in one God, God the Father the Pantocrator, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. We believe 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 made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things came into being. This is he, who for us humans and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and became human. And he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried. And he rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. He ascended into the heavens and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he is also coming in his glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. Yes, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son, we co-worship him and we co-glorify him, who spoke by the prophets. And in one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has an English translation of the Nicene Creed. It goes as follows:Eastern Orthodox Churches
The text used by the Orthodox Church in America may be found at their website.The text used by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America may be found at their website.
The text used by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America may be found at their website.
The text used by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia is:
Anglican Communion
The 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America version has the 1975 ecumenical version. The version in the Church of England's Common Worship of 2000 is the 1988 ecumenical version, but amended at the Incarnatus to read: "was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man." The Anglican Church of Canada's Book of Alternative Services uses the 1975 ICET version, but unusually, it omits the Filioque phrase in accordance with the Statement, and the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission. But in many churches of the Anglican Communion the version in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is still the one in use:The version above, except with moderized spelling of "Catholic" and "Apostolic", is found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and in the Anglo-Catholic devotional manual Saint Augustine's Prayer Book. The 1979 American Book of Common Prayer, in the celebration of The Holy Eucharist: Rite One, provides for the use of either the 1975 ICET version or the traditional version, identical to that found in the 1928 Prayer Book.
Lutheran churches
The version in Evangelical Lutheran Worship of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is the 1988 ecumenical version. But the Lutheran Service Book of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada uses that of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with slight changes, substituting the word "Christian" for "catholic" and modernizing the spelling of the word "apostolic", with changes in capitalization of this and other words, and with "Holy Spirit" in place of "Holy Ghost".The Missouri Synod uses the following for the Nicene Creed:
Presbyterian churches
The Trinity Hymnal of 1990, published by the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, contains a translation which is used by those denominations and some others.The Presbyterian Church uses a slightly different version as subscribed in their Book of Confessions.
"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 worshipped 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."
Liturgical versions no longer in use
1973 draft ICET text
While working towards the 1975 ecumenical text given above, the International Consultation on English Texts published a version, which the Roman Catholic Church in the United States adopted in its English version of the Roman Missal, in use from 1973 to 2011."One in Being with the Father", which, when spoken, could be confused with "one, in being with the Father", was replaced in the 1975 version by "of one Being with the Father".
"He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man" was altered in 1975 to "He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man": neither Greek "σαρκωθέντα" nor Latin "incarnatus" means "born", and the 1973 text linked hominization with birth.
"He suffered, died, and was buried" was replaced in 1975 by "he suffered death and was buried": "παθόντα" in Greek and "passus" in Latin are indicative of a suffering demise; but the 1973 text inserted an extra verb, "died", not present in the original Greek or Latin.