The Catholic Version of the Nicene Creed reads:<\/p>\n
We believe in one God,
\n the Father, the Almighty,
\n maker of heaven and earth,
\n of all that is, seen and unseen.
\nWe believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
\n the only Son of God,
\n eternally begotten of the Father,
\n God from God, Light from Light,
\n true God from true God,
\n begotten, not made,
\n of one Being with the Father.
\n Through Him all things were made.
\n For us and for our salvation
\n He came down from heaven:
\n by the power of the Holy Spirit
\n He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
\n and was made man.
\n For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
\n He suffered death and was buried.
\n On the third day He rose again
\n in accordance with the Scriptures;
\n He ascended into heaven
\n and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
\n He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
\n and His kingdom will have no end.
\nWe believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
\n who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
\n With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified.
\n He has spoken through the Prophets.
\n We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
\n We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
\n We look for the resurrection of the dead,
\n and the life of the world to come<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nKeeping in mind that the word Catholic means \u201cUniversal\u201d I would say that the Church of Jesus Christ only has 2 points where we seemingly come into contention with the creed, both of these points, while seemingly out of line with orthodox Christianity, could easily be shown to be within the bounds thereof. <\/p>\nThe largest point of contention is that Latter-day Saints believe only in a Social Trinity between the members of the Godhead. Or more directly, while we do hold that Jesus was \u201cbegotten not made\u201d, we do not consider him \u201cof one being with the Father\u201d in the sense that he is a single individual person, but hold rather in contrast that he is distinctly a separate person. However, in so far as the main purpose of this statement seems to be an argument against Arius who sought to deny the eternal nature of Christ, and to deny his equality within the Trinity with the Father, I would say Mormonism denies neither of these things. In fact, Mormonism holds that through unity of purpose, the Father and the Son do have perfect equality. Also, we teach the eternal nature of all beings, and thus that our relationship with the Father can only be that of \u201cbegotten, not made\u201d for all of us. So whether the Creed uses the term being, substance, nature, or essence, as various translations purport, we can take these statements to mean the nature of the social trinity rather than the individuals therein. Even the internal consistency of the creed suggests we can do this, in that it notes that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and in that it mentions separately throughout, the Father and the Son. So arguably, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints complies with this criterion, from a certain point of view.<\/p>\n
A second issue, in that the Creed calls for God the Father to be \u201cMaker of\u2026all that is\u201d is perhaps more of a stumbling block, in that while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does note that the Godhead can be seen as the creator, we believe this creation was an act of organizing pre-existing materials rather than fabrication from nothing. However, insofar as Open Theism and Process Theism are acceptable theologies within Creedal Christianity, I see no reason why the LDS faith could not also fit within the bounds of the Nicene Creed. <\/p>\n