up and adopted by the Council of Nice in
the year A.D. 325. As originally adopted it ended with the words "I
believe in the Holy Ghost," the present concluding clauses being added
by the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, excepting the words "and
the Son," which were inserted by the Council of Toledo, A.D. 589. It
is as follows:
"I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of Heaven
and earth, and all things visible and invisible; and in one
Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of
his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who
for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and
was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was
made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate; he suffered and was buried and the third day he rose
again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall
come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead,
whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy
Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son is
worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets; and I
believe in one catholic and apostolic church; I acknowledge
one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
Let us now briefly examine the principal statements of these creeds,
which were compiled centuries after Jesus' death, viewing them by the
light of Mystic Christianity.
"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and
earth, and all things visible and invisible."--(_Nicene Creed_.)
The form of the above fundamental principle of Christian belief is
taken from the Nicene Creed, which is somewhat fuller than the similar
declaration in the Apostles' Creed. It requires no comment. It is a
statement of belief in a One Creative Power, from which all things
have proceeded. There is no attempt made to "explain" the nature of
the Absolute, or to endow it with any of the human attributes which
theologians have delighted in bestowing upon the One. It merely
asserts a belief in the existence of One Supreme Being--which is all
tha
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