Creeping Creeds

Monsy Mathew

Here’s the visual timeline showing the shift — from the simple apostolic faith, to the Apostles’ Creed, to the Nicene Creed, and finally to the fully formalized Trinity doctrine with later pagan symbols added…

Before 325 AD, believers who followed the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles used simple confessions of faith like the Apostles’ Creed. It declared:

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty… and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord…”

This creed aligned with exactly what Jesus Christ Himself taught (John 17:3) and what Peter confessed (Matthew 16:16) — that the Father is the only true God, and Jesus is the Messiah, His Son. No complicated philosophy, no strange symbols — just the truth given by God.

But after 325 AD, in the Council of Nicaea, church leaders argued and decided to insert new language — declaring that Jesus Christ is “true God from true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father.” This was not something Jesus taught, nor something the apostles preached. It was a theological decision made three centuries after Jesus had ascended. Imagine — your grandchildren’s grandchildren deciding to add to your faith something you never believed or taught!

At that time, even in Nicaea, the Holy Spirit was not yet included in the same way. The so-called “Trinity” we know today wasn’t finalized until decades later (Council of Constantinople in 381 AD), when the Holy Spirit was added to the formula. Later, symbols like the Triquetra were adopted from pagan cultures to represent this man-made doctrine.

So first, there was the true apostolic faith:

One God — the Father; one Lord — Jesus Christ, His Son; the Holy Spirit — God’s own Spirit.

Then came a man-made ‘Trinity’: Father, Son, and Spirit made “co-equal” and “co-eternal,” something neither the Law, the Prophets, Jesus, nor His apostles ever proclaimed.

This is why the Apostles’ Creed sounds so much like Scripture — because it came before the councils began redefining God according to philosophy. The Nicene Creed, on the other hand, reflects the arguments and compromises of men in power, not the pure teaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles.

If you want the original faith, go back before 325 AD — back to the faith of Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul — where the Father alone is God, Jesus is His Messiah, and the Holy Spirit is God’s own Spirit. That’s the truth the Bible teaches, and no council can change it.