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In the year before the First Council of Constantinople in 381, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Theodosius I, emperor of the East, Gratian, emperor of the West, and Gratian's junior co-ruler Valentinian II issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, [1] which recognized the catholic orthodoxy [a] of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire's state religion.
The Nicene Creed, [a] also called the Creed of Constantinople, [1] is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity [2] [3] and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
Icon depicting Emperor Constantine (center) and the Church Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 holding the Nicene Creed. Nicene Christianity includes those Christian denominations that adhere to the teaching of the Nicene Creed, [1] which was formulated [2] at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and amended at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381. [3]
The earliest known creed in Christianity, "Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle. [2] One of the most significant and widely used Christian creeds is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea [3] to affirm the deity of Christ and revised at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 to affirm the trinity as a whole. [4]
In AD 301, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as its state religion, following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. With Christianity the dominant faith in some urban centers, Christians accounted for approximately 10% of the Roman population by 300, according to some estimates. [118]
Christian influences in Islam can be traced back to Eastern Christianity, which surrounded the origins of Islam. [1] Islam, emerging in the context of the Middle East that was largely Christian, was first seen as a Christological heresy known as the "heresy of the Ishmaelites", described as such in Concerning Heresy by Saint John of Damascus, a Syriac scholar.
The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts the Nicene Creed, [8] [9] but does not use the Apostles' Creed or the Athanasian Creed. A creed by definition is a summary or statement of what one believes. It originates from the Latin credo meaning "I believe". [10] The purpose of a creed is to act as a yardstick of correct belief. [11]
On February 27, 380, the Roman Empire officially adopted Trinitarian Nicene Christianity as its state religion. [8] Prior to this date, Constantius II (337-361) and Valens (364-378) had personally favored Arian or Semi-Arianism forms of Christianity, but Valens' successor Theodosius I supported the Trinitarian doctrine as expounded in the Nicene Creed.