The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: 

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made:  Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man:  And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried:  And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures: And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father: And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets:  And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church: I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins;  And I look for the Resurrection of the dead: And the Life of the word to come.  Amen.

The Apostles' Creed

I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the Body: And the Life everlasting. AMEN.

The Athanasian Confession

Commentary:  The Athanasian Confession (sometimes improperly called the Athanasian Creed) was never officially adopted by the Church, either at Constantinope or Rome. Scholars date the document somewhere between 447 A.D. and 484 A.D., well past the lifetime of St. Athanasius.  Nevertheless, it does represent the Trinitarian doctrine supported by Athanasius, the "Father of Orthodoxy," and sometimes called the "Pillar of the Church" or "Champion of Christ's Divinity."  He was Bishop of Alexandria, on and off, for more than 40 years starting 328 A.D.  He was deposed and reinstalled several times, owing to his persistence in fighting the Arian heresy, which claimed that there was a time when the Son of God did not exist and denied His equality of Essence with God the Father.  St. Athanasius was a short, very skinny man with red hair and a remarkable persistence in advocating what has come to be known as the Nicene Faith.  He cited as the authority for his views the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (4:6): "One God, and Father of all, who is above all [God the Father], and through all [God the Son] and in you all [God the Holy Spirit]."  In the Christian Calendar, St. Athanasius is celebrated on May 2nd. 

WHOSOVER WILL BE SAVED, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith.  Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the Catholic Faith is this:  That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.  For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.  But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.  Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate.  The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.  The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal.  And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.   As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty.  And yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.  So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.  And yet there are not three Gods, but one God.  So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord.  And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be both God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be three Gods, or three Lords.  The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.  The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten.  The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.  And in this Trinity none is afore, or after another; none is greater, or less than another; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.  So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.  He therefore that will be saved is must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of his Mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood; Who, although he be God and Man, yet his is not two, but one Christ;  One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the Manhood into God;  One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.  For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead.  He ascended into heaven,, he sitteth at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the quick and the dead.  At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works.  And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire..

This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

Source:  The Ante-Nicene Father, Volume 7, pp. 366-367.  (2004 printing, Henrickson Publishers, Inc.  Volumes originally published in the United States in 1887 by the Christian Literature Publishing Company.)

COMMENTARY
The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed in the Anglican Church are considered a "sufficient statement" of Christian belief, "for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture," (see Article VIII, The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion).  The word "creed" is Middle English word and derives from the French verb "credere," which has its origin in the Latin word "Credo," meaning "to believe."  In the Eastern Orthodox portion of the Christian Church it is known as the Symbol of Faith. 

The Creed was first approved at the Council of Nicea (the First Ecumenical Council), called by the Emperor Constantine in 325 A.D.  It was modified at the Council of Constantinople (the Second Ecumenical Council) in 381 A.D.  The two councils were called to settle disputes, including the Arian heresy that Jesus Christ was a created being and not the divine Son of God and the official and disputes over the origin, nature and divinity of the Holy Spirit. 

The Creed is to be recited or sung by all faithful Christians.  The Apostles' Creed is generally used in Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer.   The Nicene Creed is used in the Holy Communion (Eucharist) liturgy.  When Communion is part of Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, the Nicene Creed is required.  

The creeds are the only part of the Anglican liturgies of Holy Eucharist (Communion), Morning Prayer, and Evening Prayer in which the first person singular is used.  It is considered a personal statement, or "I believe in...", rather than the modern usage, "we believe in ...".  Traditional Anglicans do not not accept the third person wording, regarding it as lacking the unqualified, absolute statement of belief necessary for membership in the Body of Christ, Christ's Church Universal.

Most of the document is self-explanatory, but there are phrases that may require further comment on the theological significance of certain words or phrase:

God the Father Almighty:  the Creator of the Universe, or the One "by whom all things were made."  The phrase "visible and invisible" is often not used by modern interpreters and re-writers of Christian theology, perhaps because it is "old-fashioned" to believe that there are things "invisible" to man.

The Lord Jesus Christ:   The Logos, or Word of God and Son of God, is "uncreated" and divine, or "begotten" of the Father.  He shares one "essence" or (homoousios, in Greek) with the Father.   "Begotten of his Father before all worlds," means that there has never been a time when their was no Son.    He is the uncreated and Divine Son, born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. The Creed was intended also to settle another dispute about the nature of Christ.  The Creed supports the concept that Christ was both fully Divine and fully human, or perfect God and perfect Man, without sin (or, in Greek, a hypostatic union).  This issue was taken up again at the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451 A.D. (in a document traditionally called the Chalcedonian Formula) and the Fifth Ecumenical Council, also at Chalcedon in 553 A.D.

Holy Spirit, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son:  The "and the Son" phrase (or filioque, in Latin) was added by the Roman Catholic Church in the Ninth Century was never approved by any of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the undivided church and is not used in the Eastern Church.

One Catholic and Apostolic Church:  The context of the word "Catholic" refers to Christ's "Church Universal" not to the Roman Catholic Church specifically.