NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED

NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED. (For the text of this creed see the Introduction.) This Creed was established by the first two Ecumenical Councils (q.v.). The First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325) was responsible for the articles on the Father and the Son, and the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople (381) for the articles on the Holy Spirit (q.v.) and the Church. In the Christian world of the first centuries both the Creed (including the Trinitarian Formula) and the Lord’s Prayer held a very special place in catechesis (qq.v.). These two pillars were taught only at the end of the catechumenate. The Creed was considered so sacred that it was not given in written form to the catechumen, but was only to be committed to memory just before Baptism (q.v.). This practice served two pastoral functions which are noteworthy:

1) The Creed was personally explained as it was taught-explained in sufficient depth to be memorized.

2) It served as a preparation for Baptism, since it was used only at Baptism and not in the eucharistic liturgy (q.v.). (The Creed was not included in the liturgy until the late 5th c.) In this context it was meant to serve as the prerequisite statement of faith for being a Christian, rather than as an exhaustive description of a Christian’s belief.

In the same context, the Lord’s Prayer was not known outside of the Eucharist (q.v.). It, too, was kept as a secret-disciplina arcani. One reason for secrecy was that this prayer, more than any other, describes the unique parent-child relationship existing between God (q.v.) and the Christian. No one outside the bounds of participation in the Eucharist was seen as having access to this relationship. Thus, Orthodox Christians continue to say the prayer today before partaking of Holy Communion, as well as at the dining table-which is considered an extension of the altar table.