I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator 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 the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

What is said above in the Creed is without error or blemish as far as known as a translation[1]. In the West, at a later date, “And the Son” or the “Filioque” was added to the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father. Briefly the filioque is an addition that, without clarification, does not fully respect the original Church Fathers who set this Creed and those who affirmed it in later Great Ecumenical Councils. Those Great Councils were foretold by the prophet David in the Psalms, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”[2] These Councils united East and West in the Holy Spirit, in the Hagia Wisdom as the Lord prophesied when He said, “For as the lightning comes out of the East, and shines even to the West; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”[3]

Now Solomon taught seven ventures, perhaps eight. And again this is very prophetic of the history of the Church as it played out as will be explained, but consider Solomon’s words:

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.  Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil shall be upon the earth.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be. He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.

As thou know not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knows not the works of God who makes all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knows not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.[4]

In 869 AD there was what the Latin Roman Catholic west now considers the eighth ecumenical council, and in 879 AD there was what the Orthodox Church considers the true eighth ecumenical council. This can be likened to Solomon’s “perhaps eight.” The casting of bread is obviously the super-essential bread of the Holy Eucharist.

In the council in 869 Orthodox Saint Photius was condemned by Pope Nicholas and what we Orthodox consider a gang of robbers. In 879 AD the prior council was condemned, and that council held sway East and West until 1014 AD, when the Frankish Papacy ascended and the Filioque was added to the City of Rome’s symbol of faith for the first time[5]. Therefore, for 35 years the West fully recognized what Orthodox consider the true Eighth Ecumenical Council, and arguable held to that position off and on until 1054. In fact, it would not be until the papacy in 1076, that the West got around to recognizing the council of 869 AD as “ecumenical” and condemned the council they themselves recognized as Ecumenical for nearly 200 years.

The West then proceeded to add “ecumenical” councils even though the Church was visibly divided. This goes to the Orthodox complaint that the West is arrogant and selfish. It boasts among the branches. And this would be likened to the complaint of the son who remained home with the father against the prodigal son who took the inheritance and ran.[6]

When receiving the Lord, we Orthodox still fold our hands as two eagles joined together, receiving the Lord in our self-emptied carcass. One says this as a carcass when receiving because as we confess of ourself, ‘I am the chief sinner’ in the whole Church when receiving the Lord; we know our sins organically, yet are receiving the Creator organically and are ever unworthy so to receive.

With respect to the Councils, the Lord promised, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”[7] The gathering together of the entire Church in these councils, when the vilest of men, heretics, were exalted, occurred by the procedure the Lord ordained in preceding passages of Matthew:

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. History unfolded as the Lord foretold. All things Jesus says are true. All things the Holy Gospels say are true. All things the Holy Bible say are true, and Church Iconography are picture Bibles. Therefore, the Holy Icons speak of things of Holy Scripture, and sometimes in amazing detail clarifying mysteries while glorifying and illumining others. All things the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church teach are true. And in all of this, without Jesus Christ, we can do nothing.

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[1] Trusting the Greek Orthodox Church, who better to translate Greek than the Greeks?

[2] From Psalm 11/12

[3] Matthew 24:27-28

[4] Ecclesiastes 11:1-10

[5] The Filioque was added to the Creed in the West prior to 1014, but the Papacy avoided using it in the City of Rome itself. With the Franks taking over the Europe, eventually Rome added the Filioque to the their Creed, but this addition was anathema to every council from the second through what the East, and for over a Century the East and West, jointly called the Eighth Ecumenical Council.

[6] Luke 15:11-32 The Holy Gospels are the history of the Church before the history occurred. The West has yet to find its way back but is just perhaps beginning to realize with the current Frank Francis that it is away and starving.

[7] Matthew 18:20, notice right after Jesus speaks of the seven and seven times seven forgiveness to Peter immediately after this. There are no coincidences in the Bible. History unfolds EXACTLY as the Lord prophesies.