Because the primary purpose for the church leaders gathering 1700 years ago at Nicaea was to confront and correct a false understanding about the nature of Jesus, the overarching thrust of the creed produced at the Council of Nicaea in 325 was to reaffirm his identity as God. This focus explains why the creed features brief references to God the Father (“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible”) and the Holy Spirit (“And in the Holy Spirit”); the reference to those two persons affirms the doctrine of the Trinity (and thus their equality) but that reference is brief because the beliefs in dispute concerned the person of Jesus.
The section on Jesus, however, does more than affirm his divine nature and equality with the Father; it also describes his activity and work. After stating that Jesus is the one through whom all things, both in heaven and on earth, came into being – which shows both that Jesus is not a created being and also his identity as God since God is the creator – we read this:
“For us men and for our salvation he came down, was incarnate, and became man. He suffered death, and rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven. He will come to judge the living and the dead” (translation from Jared Ortiz and Daniel Keating, The Nicene Creed: A Scriptural, Historical, and Theological Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024])
What is Missing
When we read the 325 version of the Nicene Creed, we may feel like there are some familiar and important aspects of Jesus’s life and work that are not mentioned. This description is briefer than both the revision of the creed produced in 381 at the Council of Constantinople and the Apostles’ Creed. Those creeds reference Christ’s conception by the Holy Spirit and birth to the Virgin Mary, that Pontius Pilate was the Roman figure under whom Jesus suffered, his burial, and Jesus’s sitting at God’s right hand. None of those details are found in the Nicene Creed of 325. The lack of such details does not constitute a denial or rejection of those truths. Instead, it indicates that these details were not deemed necessary to mention, likely because they were not disputed at the time of the creed. The inclusion of some of these details in the 381 revision counters ideas that continued to be debated (e.g., the addition of “his kingdom shall never end” is a way to show that Jesus would continue to reign into all eternity and not be incorporated into the Father – once again affirming his divinity and eternality) or bring more clarity (e.g., where Jesus came down from – “from heaven”). Other details make this creed more comprehensive in scope (e.g., adding notes about his burial or Pilate), making it more useful for reciting in worship services. All of the details added in 381 are in line with the ideas found in the original version of 325.
People sometimes point out and even criticize this creed as well as the others for not mentioning Jesus’s teaching or miracles. Once again, the lack of reference to these does not mean that it does not affirm these elements or think they are important. Rather, it is a good reminder that creeds are not exhaustive documents about the Christian faith; they help us understand what the Bible teaches but are designed to be a supplement to the Scripture and not replace them. The creed seeks to help us understand their purpose and significance in discussing Jesus’s identity and purpose in coming.
What is Mentioned
We should not let the things that this creed does not mention take our attention away from what it does mention because those items are what the church leaders who composed this creed deemed important enough to mention. Two aspects of this section stand out when compared to the other creeds that I think are worthy of attention.
The first is, “For us men and for our salvation he came down.” We don’t see this phrase in the Apostles’ Creed. In saying, “for us men,” it is a reminder that while Christ’s work has a cosmic scope in that he will bring a renewal of all things through the new heavens and new earth, there is a special role that humans place in God’s creation and the unfolding drama of redemption. He didn’t come to redeem and save fallen angels but fallen humans. In fact, the phrase “for us” causes us to place ourselves within that mass of fallen humanity; Jesus didn’t come to save others or sinners in general, but us, you and me! We should echo the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15: “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.”
The other aspect of this section I want to highlight is how it mentions that he “was incarnate, and became man.” This seems to be a double reference to the same general idea, putting special emphasis on a point that is not as clearly articulated in the Apostles’ Creed in terms of Christ’s incarnation. Jesus’s descent from heaven to earth does not mean that he lost his divine status but he took on human flesh alongside his divine nature (see John 1:14). It is not that he just appeared to be human; he actually became human, like us in each and every way (Hebrews 2:17) except for sin (Hebrews 4:15). This act demonstrates his amazing humility (Philippians 2:6), and it was only through taking on our flesh that he could then save us in the flesh. It also affirms the sacredness of this physical world and our bodies; it is not that this world itself or our bodies are a bad place that should be escaped but are things that God made that have been corrupted but will be saved through His power.
Why it Matters
Something I also like about this creed is the reminder of why Jesus does this; it is “for our salvation.” These truths about Jesus’s identity and his activity are by no means trivial items or academic disputes but at the heart of his saving work in our lives as he came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21) and to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Both the result of Jesus’s work (our salvation) and the means through which it was accomplished (taking on human flesh and then dying for us) should lead us to worship him and follow in his path of service and humility.
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