... the only-begotten Son of God… Jesus is one with God as His only-begotten Son. This is the gospel proclamation formulated by the holy fathers of the Nicene Council in the following way: ... and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages: Light of Light. True God of True God. Begotten not
... and In One Lord Jesus Christ… The fundamental confession of Christians about their Master is this: Jesus Christ is Lord. It begins in the gospel when Jesus himself asks his disciples who they think that He is: But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matt 16:16).
The word sin means literally “missing the mark.” It means the failure to be what one should be and to do what one should do. Originally man was made to be the created image of God, to live in union with God’s divine life, and to rule over all creation. Man’s failure in this task is his sin which has also been called
Man is God’s special creature. He is the only one “created in the image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26). He is created by God from the dust at the end of the process of creation (the “sixth day”) and by the special will of God. He is made to breathe “the breath of life” (Gen 2:7), to know God, to have dominion over
... All things visible and invisible… In addition to the visible, physical creation there is an invisible world created by God. The Bible sometimes calls it “the heavens” and other times refers to it as “above the heavens.” Whatever its symbolical description in the Holy Scriptures, the invisible world is definitely not part of the physical, material universe. It does not exist
... Maker of Heaven and Earth… The Orthodox Church believes that God the Father is the “Creator of Heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.” To create means to make out of nothing; to bring into existence that which before did not exist; or, to quote the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom once more: “to bring from non-existence into
... One God, the Father Almighty… The fundamental faith of the Christian Church is in the one true and living God. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one God; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall
I believe… Faith is the foundation of Christian life. It is the fundamental virtue of Abraham, the forefather of Israel and the Christian Church. “Abraham believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). Jesus begins his ministry with the same command for faith. Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God and saying, “The time
The Nicene Creed should be called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed since it was formally drawn up at the first ecumenical council in Nicea (325) and at the second ecumenical council in Constantinople (381). The word creed comes from the Latin credo which means “I believe.” In the Orthodox Church the creed is usually called The Symbol of Faith which means literally the “bringing together”
