The Creed

The Apostles' way of teaching the essential things of the Christian faith passed orally from generation to generation. What Paul called "the pattern of sound teaching" is indicated in New Testament sources, but it is not set forth as a whole in any single passage. In the earliest centuries after the time of the Apostles, Christians realized they needed to put this pattern in writing. Culminating oral traditions from the Apostles themselves, The Nicene Creed stands as authoritative documentation of that pattern. As such, it helps us to discern Christian teachings in the Bible that pertain to the very foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.