A Fresh Translation of The Nicene Creed (381)
With some footnotes on translation thoughts, choices, and citations.
I’ve been reflecting on the Nicene Creed and its use in my life, my family, my church (Bellflower Baptist Church), and in my discipling ministry. I hope to write and post more thoughts on what I’ve been thinking about. But for now, let me share this translation of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, what I’m calling the Nicene Creed 381 just because the other one is a mouthful. I think the footnotes could be really helpful for those interested in more of the nuances of the creed.
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We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
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And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
the one begotten from the Father before all ages,1
Light from Light,2
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of the same essence with the Father;3
through him all things were made.
For us humans4 and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and was made human5
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
On the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.6
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
his kingdom will have no end.
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And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and the Life-giver,7
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],†
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke through the prophets.
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 coming world. Amen.8
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Note:
† The phrase “and the Son” (Latin filioque) is not in the original Greek text but clearly implied by (1) the designation of the first person of the Godhead as “Father” implying the Son, (2) the Son sharing the same essence as the Father in the previous paragraph, (3) the following line of the Father and Son worshiped and glorified, and (4) because the Son has an eternal relation with the Holy Spirit.9
For those who would like to see or read it in the Greek version that I translated from, here it is:
Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα ΘΕΟΝ ΠΑΤΕΡΑ παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων.
Καὶ εἰς ἕνα κύριον ἸΗΣΟΥΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΝ, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, φῶς ἐκ φωτός, θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ, γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ πατρί· διʼ οὔ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο· τὸν διʼ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ σαρκωθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, σταυρωθέντα τε ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, καὶ παθόντα καὶ ταφέντα, καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς, καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρός, καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον μετὰ δόξης κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς· οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.
Καὶ εἰς τὸ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΟ ἍΓΙΟΝ, τὸ κύριον, (καὶ) τὸ ζωοποιόν10 τὸ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον, τὸ σὺν πατρὶ καὶ ὑιῷ συν προσκυνούμενον καὶ συνδοξαζόμενον, τὸ λαλῆσαν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν· εἰς μίαν, ἁγίαν, καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν· ὁμολογοῦμεν ἓν βάπτισμα εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν· προσδοκῶμεν ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν, καὶ ζωὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰώνος. Ἀμήν.11
“Before all ages” is a better translation of the Greek and Latin texts than the word “eternally.” Heretical Arian teaching said, “We acknowledge One God, alone Ingenerate, alone Everlasting, alone Unbegun, alone True, alone having Immortality, alone Wise, alone Good, alone Sovereign; Judge, Governor, and Providence of all, unalterable and unchangeable, just and good, God of Law and Prophets and New Testament; who begat an Only-begotten Son before eternal times, through whom He has made both the ages and the universe; and begat Him, not in semblance, but in truth . . . ” [Athanasius, De Synodis 16 in Athanasius of Alexandria, “Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia,” in St. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. John Henry Newman and Archibald T. Robertson, vol. 4, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1892), 458.]. “Eternally” does a better job than “before all ages” in guarding against the Arian heresy as made explicit in the warning given in the 325 creed that says, “But as for those who say, There was when He was not, and, Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing . . . these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.” Athanasius wrote before 381, in line with the phrase “before all ages” when he said, “And where the sacred writers say, ‘Who exists before the ages,’ and ‘By whom He made the ages,’ they thereby as clearly preach the eternal and everlasting being of the Son, even while they are designating God Himself.” [Athanasius of Alexandria, “Four Discourses against the Arians,” in St. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. John Henry Newman and Archibald T. Robertson, vol. 4, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1892), 313.]
The “God from God” preceding “Light from Light, true God from true God” is in the 325 creed and carried over into the liturgy of those reciting the 381, though this phrase was dropped in the 381 creed for conciseness given “true God from true God” was already there.
Not sure whether to translate ὁμοούσιον as “essence” or “being” but they are both good and I think they are both better than the translation “substance.”
“Men” or “humans” is dropped in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer 2019. I prefer to drop it personally, but the words τοὺς ἀνθρώπους are in the Greek (and Latin has it too). So, I prefer to keep it in, not as “men” but as “humans” like Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, KY and Trinity Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, NC.
I slightly prefer “human” here rather than man since the emphasis of the Son’s incarnation is his humanity more generically, not his gender/sex specifically just like Philippians 2:7. I’d be totally fine with “made man” given the historical precedent and the gender confusion of our generation.
Though καθεζόμενον is a deponent verb that can be translated “sitting” or “sits” at the right hand of the Father, the translation “is seated” is not meant to give a passive sense but the sense of the Lord Jesus having taken his seat of authority and reigning permanently as the one publicly enthroned.
J. N. D. Kelly and Bettenson both translate Ζωοποιόν “Life-giver” [J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, Third Edition (London; New York: Continuum, 2006), 297–298 and Documents of the Christian Church, edited by Henry Bettenson, Second Edition, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1963), 25].
The 3-part structure is based on the uncial letters in the Greek version of the creed showing 3 clear sections, Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical Notes: The Greek and Latin Creeds, with Translations, vol. 2 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1890), 57–58.
In agreement with the Eastern tradition, we affirm the primary origin of the Spirit’s procession from the Father in a way that is distinct from the Son and not identical. Yet we also affirm the eternal procession of the Spirit from the Son. When the phrase “and the Son” is excluded, one must either assume (1) the Spirit does not also proceed from the Son in any sense or (2) the Spirit also proceeds eternally from the Son in some way. The addition of “and the Son” makes the assumption explicit and is the correct assumption biblically. The phrase "and the Son” (“filoqueclause”) “had already been used at an earlier council of Toledo, 447: it gained popularity in the West and was inserted in most versions of the creed, except that of the Roman Church, where Leo III in 809 refused to insert it. But in 867 Nicholas I was excommunicated by Photius, Bishop of Constantinople, for having corrupted the creed by this addition” Documents of the Christian Church, edited by Henry Bettenson, second edition, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1963), 25n.6. For more on the Great Schism of 1054, see Bettenson, 96-97.
In Schaff a footnote reads, “Mansi gives three readings: τὸ κυρ. τό ζωοπ.‚ τὸ κυρ. καὶ ζωοπ., and τὸ κυρ. καὶ τὸ ζωοπ. See the critical note of Dr. Hort, p. 81.” Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 2, 57.
Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 2, 57–58.