Creed of the Council of Constantinople, 381
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| Author | Council of Constantinople |
| Title | Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed |
| Date | 381 |
| Language | Greek |
| Incipit | Πιστεύομεν |
| CPG | 8599 |
| Modern Edition used | Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der Alten Kirche (p.162) by A. Hahn. Breslau, 1897; Greek text also available in E. Schwartz, ACO II 1.2 (1935) |
| note | This creed, drawn up at the Council of Constantinople in 381, is often referred to as the “Nicene Creed” and recited in churches. However the creed drawn up at the Council of Nicaea in 325 is significantly different than this creed. This website also has pages with the Creed of Nicaea, 325 in Greek and English. The creed of the Council of Constantinople in Greek and English, and a comparison of both creeds written in both Greek and English. Also available is the Constantinopolitian creed in Greek and English side by side. |
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
And [we believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us, humans, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. He rose again on the third day in accordance with 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.
And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. [We believe] in one holy universal and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Translation by AJW
Last updated: 12-3-2010
2 Comments so far
GlenThompson on 04 Sep 2008 at 12:15 pm #
Nabil: I’m glad you find our website useful.
As for our translation of the creedal language, “pathonta,” while the base meaning is “to suffer”, the standard lexicons agree that in many contexts it has the more specific meaning of “to suffer death” (cf. BAGD, etc.). In this context — when the word appears between “crucified” and “buried,” this is the obvious meaning.
As to who died, the opinions of church fathers in both the eastern and western churches were in agreement that the God-man Jesus died — without further qualifications. As a result of what the western church calls the “hypostatic union” of the two natures of Christ, i.e. that the attributes of the human and divine nature are inseparably united, they agree that it is correct to say that the Word of God died on the cross. Thus there is no disagreement with the creed, or the translation of it that is given on our page.
Nabil Habib on 25 Aug 2008 at 4:31 pm #
Fantastic website-thank you
The creed translation in English is unfortunate in the sense that it says “He suffered death and was buried” whilst the original text is “He suffered and was buried” Please correct as the eternal Word of God cannot die unless you qualify this by saying in the flesh or something similar!