“I believe in one God…”
For most Catholics, this opening line is quite familiar, as the Nicene Creed is recited at Mass every Sunday. However, less familiar are the roots of the Creed and its modern-day importance, which cannot be overstated.
The Nicene (or Niceno-Constantinopolitan) Creed arose out of the ecumenical councils of Nicea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 AD respectively, which were convened to fight the incredibly threatening and widespread heresies of the day, particularly Arianism and Docetism. Arianism is the heresy that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, is not truly God, but is a creature of God the Father, and therefore inferior to Him. Docetism, on the other hand, erroneously claims that Christ was not actually human but only appeared so, rendering His suffering and death mere mirages as well.
These heresies not only disrespected God and His true nature, but also led a vast number of people astray, placing their souls in mortal danger. This is why the Creed so heavily emphasizes those central tenets which are at the heart of the Catholic faith, and to which all Catholics must give assent. These include the consubstantiality of all three Persons of the Trinity and the fully divine and fully human natures of Jesus Christ.
The Creed states that Christ was “begotten, not made,” refuting the Arian idea of the Divine Logos as a separate and subordinate being from God the Father. Further, the Greek word homoousios (meaning “of the same being or essence as”) was employed—“consubstantial with the Father”—to clarify the fact that the three Propōsons or “Persons” of the Holy Trinity are all equally God and have the same substance, both primary and secondary. According to Aristotle’s Categories, a primary substance is an individual X (thing), and a secondary substance is what kind of thing X is. Calling God the Father and God the Son consubstantial, therefore, demonstrates that both are God, and both have the same essence of “God-ness.”
The creation of this detailed Creed was a critical step in defining an unequivocal, consistent, and truthful theological orthodoxy for the Catholic Church, similar to how strong adversity can actually be necessary to enhance the strength of an apologist.In order to counter the claim that Jesus did not truly experience His life, Passion, death, and Resurrection, the Creed expounds that, “He suffered death and was buried, and rose again,” highlighting the importance of understanding and believing that what Christ did for humanity’s salvation was not just an elaborate smoke-and-mirrors illusion, but rather a real, bodily sacrifice of the Son of God.
Liana Winans is a lifelong Bostonian studying Biology as a freshman in MCAS. While not working on Torch articles or practicing pro-life apologetics, she will often be found playing basketball in the Rec, reading at the Res, playing piano, or watching old action movies. Her go-to prayer is the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
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