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{{liturgy}}
The '''Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed''' (also called the '''Nicene Creed''', the '''Symbol of Faith''', the '''Pistevo''', or simply the '''Creed''') is that creed formulated at the [[First Ecumenical Council|First]] and [[Second Ecumenical Council|Second]] [[Ecumenical Councils]]. It was defined by the [[Church Fathers|Holy Fathers]] of those first two councils (held in Nicea and Constantinople, respectively) to combat various [[heresy|heresies]] notably [[Arianism]], [[Apollinarianism]], [[Macedonianism]] (also called Pneumatomachianism), and [[Chiliasm]]. At the Council held in Nicea, St. Athanasius the Apostolic, also known as [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], the 20th Pope of the [[Church of Alexandria]], primarily authored the first portion of the Nicene Creed.
Some scholars believe that the Creed promulgated by the [[First Ecumenical Council]] was based on an earlier baptismal creed used in Palestine, while others regard its more likely origin as being a creed issued early in 325 A.D. in Antioch, a so-called "[[Syrian Creed]]."
The Creed as it now stands was formed in two stages, and the one in use today in the [[Orthodox Church]] reflects the revisions and additions made at the [[Second Ecumenical Council]]. Some centuries later, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] attempted a unilateral revision of the Creed by the addition of the [[Filioque]], thus being one of the causes of the [[Great Schism]] between Rome and the rest of the Church.
The [[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)|Coptic church]] has a tradition that the Nicene Creed was authored by St. [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], whose theology was instrumental at the Nicene council, despite his being only a deacon at the time.
== The Creed of Nicea (325 A.D.) ==