We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again 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.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Nicene Creed from 381AD
If you read me consecutively, you know I’ve been going through a study of the Church Fathers. You might ask, how did they come to be known as the Church Fathers? Good question. The one defining thread is that they defended the Nicene Creed against all the battling ideas circulating at the time.
And most of the controversies revolved around understanding just who this Jesus guy was.
The first Nicene Creed of 325 amended a little by a meeting in Constantinople in 381 was developed for two reasons. First, the Emperor, converted by his mother to Christianity, proclaimed the religion an official religion of the Empire. So, people needed to know what that religion was. Secondly, there was a philosophical movement afoot to convince people that Jesus was never a real human. The church needed a statement that affirmed both the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
Christians have always been an argumentative lot. Already by 55, the Apostle Paul was combatting “heretical” ideas. And the Creed of 381 didn’t resolve things.
We must have a thousand Christian denominations today. A couple of dozen (at least) traditions. Social issues that give us something to argue about. Sometimes minute theological issues to give us something to argue about.
However, all believe that Creed (except for a very few outliers).
What if we decided to follow a discipline of going back to the basics. Finding that we agree. Maybe some of us like the “rock concert followed by TED Talk” style of worship. Maybe some of us like the mystery and majesty of a formal liturgy. I know of some (many?) who like a little of both–charismatic Catholics do exist. Maybe some are comfortable within certain traditions. Those should not have divided us to the point of war.
A great spiritual discipline is to return to the roots periodically and ground ourselves in order to make our priorities right.
Faith Venture 
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