1. The Nicene Creed
381 AD

2. Church Councils
What was the purpose of the church councils again?

3. What’s going on in the world before 325Ad?

4. Arianism A church leader named Arius started teaching…
God, the Father and Jesus, the Son are NOT the same person
Jesus did not always exist. He was created.
Jesus is a lesser being than God

5. The 1st council of Nicaea 325AD
The church council was called at the sponsorship of Emperor Constantine. They wanted to unity the church by deciding the answer to the important question: who is Jesus, and what is his relationship with God, the Father?

6. The Nicene Creed
The church council at Nicaea came up with a creed (a statement of beliefs) to teach to Christians so they would know good theology. They used common phrases from the Bible and the early church to create this creed.

7. The Nicene-Constantinople creed
As time passed, more theological questions arose. The church councils added to the creed in 381AD during the 1st Council of Constantinople.
It is this final edition that we still use today, even 1635 years later.

8. What you need to remember
The Nicene Creed started at the 1st Council of Nicaea in 325AD to fight heresy
More sentences were added to the Creed in 381 at the 1st Council of Constantinople to fight even more heresy.
Today, we use the 381AD edition of the creed