Why Does the Nicene Creed Omit the Saints?

By Fr Thabang Nkadimeng OMI

Question: Why is the phrase “I believe in the communion of saints” left out in the Nicene Creed?

Answer: There were other early creeds that don’t mention the communion of saints, such as the 6th-century Der-balizeh papyrus from upper Egypt, the Symbol of St Ambrose (397), the Symbol of Rufinus, and the Symbol of Eusebius. Symbolum in Latin means creed.

The ones that do mention the communion of saints (Apostles Creed) were connected to the rite of baptism in the correspondence of St Cyprian and St Firmilian in the 3rd century.

The Nicene creed was first adopted by the Church at the council of Nicea in 325 and later amended at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, as the original authoritative Symbol of the Church.

The communion of saints refers not only to the dead, but also to the living and the dead. Canonisations,  the official admission of a dead person into sainthood, came later in history. Before that, the Church had a strict veneration of the Christian martyrs.

The veneration of the saints has always been based on the communion of saints. Therefore, the fact that the Nicene Creed does not mention the communion of saints does not mean that they didn’t believe in this communion, because they were always in this communion (koinonia).

The Nicene Creed has a more detailed theology of Christology, of pneumatology, and of ecclesiology. As the “Profession of Faith of Pope Paul VI” (1968) puts it: “We also believe that in this communion the merciful love of God and his saints is ever turning listening ears to our prayers.”

This question was first asked and answered in the January 2021 issue of The Southern Cross Magazine.