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The Creeds

Ancient words through which Christians confess the faith of the Church and answer Christ’s call to believe.

A declaration of belief

The faith we receive and share

A creed is a concise statement of Christian belief. It is not simply a list of ideas: when we say the Creed, we place our trust in the God who has made himself known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The first profession of this faith is made at Baptism, in the name of the Holy Trinity. We renew it in worship, especially at Mass, joining our voices to the faith confessed by Christians across the world and through the centuries.

A worshipper responding to God in prayer within a church

One God in three Persons

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

The shape of the Creed is the shape of our baptismal faith. We believe in the Father, creator of all; in Jesus Christ, the Son who became human for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life who makes us holy and gathers us into the Church.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Why Christians say the Creed

Belief given a shared voice

The Creeds help the Church teach, worship and remain rooted in the apostolic faith.

To confess

We speak aloud our trust in God and the saving work accomplished in Jesus Christ.

To remember

We recall the great story of creation, redemption, the Church and the life of the world to come.

To belong

We join a faith larger than ourselves, received from the apostles and shared by the universal Church.

Watch and reflect

The Creed

A short film inviting us to consider what it means to say, “I believe”, and how the faith we confess becomes part of the life we live.

The Creed at Mass

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed grew from the Councils of Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381. It gives careful expression to the Church’s faith in the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and 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.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Catholic here means universal: the whole Church throughout the world and across the ages.

The baptismal profession of faith

The Apostles’ Creed

Shorter than the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed is closely associated with Baptism and has long been used in the Church’s daily prayer.

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Athanasian Creed

The Athanasian Creed, traditionally known by its opening words Quicunque vult, is a longer Western statement about the Trinity and the Incarnation. It is one of the historic formularies recognised by the Church of England.

Its central affirmation is that Christians worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, yet one God, equal in glory and eternal in majesty.

It also confesses Jesus Christ as fully God and fully human: not two persons, but one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will come again in glory.

The Creed uses the forceful language of its period to guard truths that had been fiercely disputed. Its purpose is to preserve the mystery of the one God revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and of Jesus Christ as truly divine and truly human.

Faith seeking understanding

Words to inhabit, not merely recite

The Creed gives us a lifelong pattern for prayer and reflection. Take one phrase at a time, notice what it reveals about God, and ask how that truth may shape the way you worship and live.

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