The Ecumenical Creeds
The Apostles’ Creed is one of the oldest summaries of the Christian faith. Though not written by the apostles, it faithfully reflects the apostolic teaching of Scripture, confessing the Triune God, the person and work of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and everlasting life.
The Nicene Creed is the Church’s definitive confession of the doctrine of the Trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ. Written in response to the Arian controversy and adopted by the early ecumenical councils, it expands upon the Apostles’ Creed by more fully articulating the biblical teaching concerning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, guarding the Church against error and preserving the orthodox Christian faith.
The Athanasian Creed is the Church’s most comprehensive historic confession of the doctrines of the Trinity and the incarnation. Building upon the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, it carefully defines the biblical teaching that God is one in essence and three in persons, and that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, safeguarding these essential truths against theological error.
The Definition of Chalcedon is the Church’s historic confession concerning the person of Jesus Christ. Adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, it affirms that Christ is one person in two natures—fully God and fully man—without confusion, change, division, or separation, preserving the biblical doctrine of the incarnation against both division and distortion.