The Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed, (AD 325, 381), also known as the Profession of Faith, is a concise summary in 12 articles, of what we as a Church believe. The Creed was written at these two Ecumenical Councils, which means the entire Church was present, so that it could serve as a guide of faith. Each phrase was very carefully debated and written so that one could say that if you do not agree with even one of these articles of faith then you could not consider yourself a Christian.
- I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
- I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.
- Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made.
- For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
- For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried.
- On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of 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.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.
- With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
- I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
- I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
According to the first article of the Union of Brest, the 1595 document unifying the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Holy See, the Church outright rejects the “filioque” clause (that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the both the Father and the Son) of the Nicene Creed:
“Since there is a quarrel between the Romans and Greeks about the procession of the Holy Spirit, which greatly impede unity really for no other reason than that we do not wish to understand one another – we ask that we should not be compelled to any other creed but that we should remain with that which was handed down to us in the Holy Scriptures, in the Gospel, and in the writings of the holy Greek Doctors, that is, that the Holy Spirit proceeds, not from two sources and not by a double procession, but from one origin, from the Father through the Son.”
