Editing Nicene Creed (section)

== Notes on the history of the Nicene Creed ==

* The Nicene Creed is derived of the language adopted by the Church at the Councils of Nicea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD)
* the Councils were instrumental is affirming the Christian faith, especially against the heresies that distorted or denied the nature of God and Jesus Christ
* The heresies corrected heterodox (different, incorrect) beliefs
* The primary heretical (wrong) beliefs were based on misunderstandings of the Triune nature of God, i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
* The primary proponent of the heresies that were corrected by the Councils was the gnostic heretic, “Arius,” whose followers were called “Arians” and his teachings “Arianism”.
* St. Nicholas slapped Arius at the Council of Nicaea

{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="2" |'''Beliefs affirmed  by the Councils'''

(“orthodox” for “straight, right way” or “accepted”)
|'''Heretical  beliefs'''

(“heterodox” for “other,” “wrong teaching”)
|-
| colspan="2" |The Father is "maker  of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible."
|That the earth is corrupt  and ungodly, and only heaven is divine. This “dualism” condemns what is of  the earth (“mortal”) and accepts only the heaven and the unseen as divine.
|-
| colspan="2" |The Lord Jesus Christ is  "born of the Father before all ages... begotten, not made,  consubstantial with the Father... and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary"
|Some heretics claimed that  Jesus was either

1)        not God; or

2)        not Man;

and  thereby not both
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |The Father, the Son and the  Holy Spirit are “from the substance of the Father“ (from Council of Nicaea of  325, meaning, the same, or “consubstantial”).
|Some heretics considered  Christ as a creation of God, not equal or “consubstantial” with the Father  and not having always existed with the Father.
|-
|Arius taught the Christ is  the Son of God but that he did not always exist.
|-
| colspan="2" |Affirms the Trinity, the  Father, Son and Holy Spirit
|Some heretics did not  recognize the Holy Spirit
|-
| colspan="2" |The Council of Constantinople of 381 added "'''''who proceeds from the Father'''''" to the statement of belief of the Holy Spirit
|
* the ''filoque'', which means "and the son," from "'''''I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of  life,''''' '''''who proceeds from the Father and the Son",''''' was added later in tradition and officially in the Roman Rite in 1014 "proceeds from the Father" is taken directly from John 14:26 and 15:26 
* both passages quote Christ, the first, "whom the Father will send in my name" and the second, "whom I will send to you from the Father", assert that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son, however the Orthodox Church does not accept the ''flioque'' (one can interpret the Gospel of John both ways; however in John 20:22 Christ breathes the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, a direct example of procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son

* "and the son" was spoke of by 2nd -4th century Church Fathers, including Tertullian (2nd-3rd centuries), Jerome (4th-5th centuries), Ambrose (4th century) and Augustine (4th-5th centuries)
* Charlemagne in 798 adopted "and the son" and included it across his kingdom
* in 1014, Pope Benedict VIII included the ''filoque'' in his coronation the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II (a German king) 
* the ''filioque'' marks a theological division between the Eastern and Western Churches and contributed to the Schism of 1054.
|-
| colspan="2" |
|-
| rowspan="2" |Note:
| * If the Son and/or the Holy Spirit are not of the “same substance” as the Father, then belief in the Son and the Holy Spirit becomes polytheistic and allows for belief in other gods.
* “Strict” monotheistic  religions such as Judaism and Islam reject the divinity of Christ.
|-
|}

=== Filoque ===


See 

** the Council of Ephesus of 431 stated that any changes to the texts of the the Council of Nicaea of 325 are anathema (not 
** and Constantinople of 381 were anathema

[[Category:Catechism of the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Church doctrine]]