As with much of the Nicene Creed, the words call our attention to more than an abstract philosophical proposition. In the Creed, we claim historical fact: the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was truly killed, thoroughly dead, and really buried, rose again into newness of life at a specific time (on the third day…
We Believe: He Suffered Death and Was Buried
In the Nicene Creed, we confess that Jesus “suffered death and was buried.” The one who created and sustains all things willingly submitted himself to the common death of man. The dark reality that we will all face, the separation of soul and body, is one that our Savior has already embraced and overcome. Through…
We Believe: He Was Crucified Under Pontius Pilate
Pilate: An Unlikely Reference Speaking on the ever-surprising nature of Christianity, the apologist C.S. Lewis noted that, Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe [in] Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of…
We Believe: Was Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was Made Man
Each Sunday, the Church rises and speaks the truth that forms and sustains her by reciting the Nicene Creed. We stand with Christians throughout the world and across the centuries and say, “We believe…” We confess not only with our mouths but also with our lives what the Church has always held to be true….
We Believe: For Us and For Our Salvation, He Came Down from Heaven
The Purpose of Incarnation The Nicene Creed states with characteristic precision that the Lord Jesus Christ “came down from heaven… and was made man” and that he did so “for us and for our salvation.” This classic theological affirmation captures the central purpose of the incarnation: Christ became human to save sinners. This simple clause…
We Believe: Through Him All Things Were Made
Glory to Thee, spreading out before me heaven and earthLike the pages in a book of eternal wisdom The Akathist Hymn Meditation on a Pile of Leaves This school year, my daughter and I worked together through a general science course as part of her homeschooling curriculum. I’m no trained scientist, so it was really…
We Believe: Of One Being with the Father
Can you spot the difference between these two Greek words: homoousion and homoiousion? The first word, homoousion, means “of one being.” The second word, homoiousion, means “of like being.” These words may be distinguished by only a single letter, but their meanings are far apart. If Jesus is homoousion with the Father, then they are…
We Believe: God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten, Not Made
In 1994, my sister died from heresy. That’s not hyperbole. It’s not a metaphor. It’s the plain truth. Leslie had contracted HIV from a botched artificial insemination procedure in the late 1980s. She kept it hidden from most everyone, and in the secrecy of her illness, she searched desperately for healing. Leslie tried everything—strict diets,…
We Believe: The Only-Begotten Son of God, Eternally Begotten of the Father
A friend of mine grew up in a church that did not recognize the Nicene Creed’s definition of the Trinity. For them, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were three labels that could be interchangeably applied to the one God. She and her family had since moved on to a church that confessed the Trinity, but…
We Believe: In One Lord, Jesus Christ
The word “Lord” often has bad connotations. In our culture, the three most famous Lords are Lord Vader, Lord Voldemort, and Lord Sauron. When the messianic heroes in those stories defeat their respective Lords, they do not become Lord Skywalker, Lord Potter, or Lord Baggins. The Christian gospel, on the other hand, is this: the…
We Believe: Of All That Is, Visible and Invisible
The first article of the Nicene Creed—“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth”—can easily slip by without our stopping to wonder at it. This is particularly true of the brief addendum, not found in the Apostles’ Creed, “of all that is, visible and invisible.” But this little phrase…
We Believe: Maker of Heaven and Earth
After the Nicene Creed asserts that we believe in “One God, the Father, the Almighty,” we begin to explore his characteristics. The first and most fundamental of these reflects the opening statement of the Bible itself: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). From that sentence onward, Scripture leaves no…
