Nicene Creed and Apostle's Creed

Here is a short history, comparison, and explanation of the Nicene Creed and Apostle's Creed.

1. APOSTLES CREED AND NICENE CREED PAGE 1
Nicene Creed
Name:_____________________
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on
the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
What Do Catholics Believe? (The Nicene Creed)

Have you ever been asked what it is that you believe as a Catholic? You can answer
by reciting the Nicene Creed. But before examining the tenets of the Nicene Creed, let’s look
briefly at the “other creed,” the Apostles’ Creed.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father, Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and
was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the
dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church,
The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen
Throughout the Middle Ages, it was generally believed
and accepted that the Apostles’ Creed was composed
jointly by the twelve Apostles in Jerusalem, with each of
the twelve contributing one clause of the Creed before
embarking on their respective missions. This legend
dates back to the 4th century. Today, this is a point of
argument and debate, especially within the ranks of the
Protestant scholars. Nevertheless, many continue to
think of this creed as apostolic in nature because its
basic teachings are agreeable to the theological
formulations of the Apostolic Age. The Catholic Church
does not hold a position one way or the other on this
subject; however, it does hold that all of the points of
the Apostles’ Creed are part of the Catholic Faith.
Most of the western Christian faiths today profess the
Apostles’ Creed as their core tenants of faith of
Christianity.
Over history, the Apostles’ Creed functioned in many
ways in the life of the Catholic Church: In the early
Church, it was a confession of faith necessary for those
to be baptized. Catechetical instruction was based on the
major tenets of the Creed. This was necessary, because
many of the new Christians were not able to read and
write; this, almost poetic, Creed was easy to memorize
and make part of everyday life. In time, the Apostles’
Creed became a “rule of faith” to clearly separate the
true faith from heretical deviations. The principle heresy
that was challenging the Church at the time the Creed
was written was Gnosticism, which denied that Jesus
was truly man. By the 6th or 7th century the Creed had
come to be accepted as a part of the official liturgy of
the Church.

Finally, it was used, along with the Lord’s Prayer, by
devout individuals as a part of their morning and
evening devotions.

2. APOSTLES CREED AND NICENE CREED PAGE 2

Nicene Creed Name:____________________
I believe: The Creed is still the faith of all of us, but by
saying “I” we each take responsibility to proclaim our
faith. With the rest of the assembly, we make a personal
promise to our faith.
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and
became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried, and rose
again on the third day in accordance with
the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of
the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
things visible and invisible: Seen and unseen are not quite
the same as visible and invisible; things can be visible
even if they are unseen by us. For example, relatives who
live far away are visible to people where they live, but
unseen by your children. We believe that God is the maker
not only of things we can see, but of all that is invisible,
for instance, the angels.
Only Begotten: These words mean that Jesus is really ‘one
of a kind’ and always was. He always was the Son of God.
born of the Father before all ages: These words make it
clear that Jesus always was with the Father. He did not
begin when he was in Mary’s womb.
consubstantial: This big word means that Jesus and the
Father are one and the same God. Jesus is not lesser or
greater than the Father. They are the same in substance.
was incarnate: This word means to be given flesh.
We believe that the Word (Jesus) became flesh in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, but Jesus is not like any other
human being because he is fully human and fully divine.
he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the
third day: We believe that Jesus really died on the cross,
and so we know that the Resurrection is real.
accordance with the Scriptures: These words help us
remember that the Resurrection was talked about in both
the Old and the New Testament. Scripture plays a very
important part of our faith, and we mention it in our
Creed.
I believe: Once again (for the third time!) we each
claim this as our own faith.
Adored: We believe that God should be respected and
highly praised in a way proper only to God.
I confess: in the Creed, the word confess means to profess
belief in . When we say “I confess” we are saying we
believe with all our heart.
and I look forward to the resurrection: When we say
this at the end of the Creed, we mean that we are
really sure that we can live with God forever.

3. APOSTLES CREED AND NICENE CREED PAGE 3
NOTE: THIS WILL NOT BE GRADED. I WILL JUST USE THIS AS A REFERENCE TO HELP ME FOCUS ON WHAT TO TEACH THE NEXT COUPLE OF
CLASSES. THIS WON’T GO AGAINST YOU. PLEASE BE HONEST.
RATE YOUR BELIEFS

Carefully read each statement that is drawn from the Nicene Creed. After some time of reflection, rate
yourself using this scale:
1. I really belive this 3. I think I believe this 5. I don’t believe this
2. I believe this 4. I don’t know if I believe this

1. I believe in God the Father, Creator of all.
2. I believe that Jesus Christ is God and human.
3. I believe that Jesus died and rose again
4. I believe that Jesus is my friend
5. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit
6. I believe in the Ten Commandments
7. I believe that each person is God’s child
8. I believe that I must love everyone especially the “least of these” in my midst
9. I believe in the sacraments especially Eucharist
10. I believe that the Pope is the successor to Peter, the vicar of Christ
11. I believe in the Trinity, three persons in God
12. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour
13. I believe in the power of prayer
14. I believe that Jesus Christ will judge me at the end of time
15. I believe that I must love God above everything and my neighbour as myself
16. I believe in the Catholic Church
17. I believe in eternal life

Take any one statement and write a paragraph defending your rating.
NAME:_____________________
Statement:-
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

4. APOSTLES CREED AND NICENE CREED PAGE 4


Instructions for the Nicene Creed Book:

1. Cut the square(s) or rectangle(s) for the
packet given. Read these instructions
carefully.











Make sure to
ONLY CUT the
DOTTED OR
DASHED lines
DO NOT cut the
SOLID LINES.
You will fold the
SOLID lines 



2. Once you are finished cutting all the
rectangle(s) and square(s). Look for the
rectangle(s) that have number at the bottom
left corner.




3. Fold the rectangles in half. The solid
squares will be on the inside of the folded
sheet. Repeat this process to the last page
(page 26).

4. Now you will glue the sheets together. Only
the ones that you just folded.

Look for the rectangle with pages 1 and 2.
Look for the rectangle with pages 3 and 4.
Fold the sheets in the direction of the arrow.
Inside VIEW of the paper

Inside VIEW of the paper

5.
You will glue the back of page 2 to the back
of page 3.



6.
Now hold on to pages 1 through four (they
should be glued).

Look for page 5 and page 6.
Inside VIEW of the paper

Inside VIEW of the paper

7.
You will glue the back of page 4 to the back
of page 5. Continue the process to page 26.

8. Once the pages 1 through 26 are glued look
for the words of the Creed. Glue the words
in order on one side. Once all the words are
glued find the picture that matches the
words that are italicized.
BEFORE GLUING THE PICTURES
CHECK WITH YOUR TEACHER TO
MAKE SURE YOU ARE MATCHING
THE RIGHT ONES.

You can put the words on the
left.

Or you can put the words on the
right


PG1

PG3

PG4
GLUE THESE
SIDES
TOGETHER

PG2

PG3

PG6

PG5
GLUE THESE
SIDES
TOGETHER

PG4