|The Symbol of Faith| The Creed, sung during the Divine Liturgy,
is one of the most ancient prayers of the Orthodox Church. It
was composed, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by the
Fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils (Nicea (325)
and Constantinople (381), respectively), at a time when various
heretical doctrines attempted to overthrow the true faith in the
Trinity. The main reason for the convening of the First
Ecumenical Council was the appearance and growing strength of
the false teaching of the Alexandrian priest, Arius. The basic
theory of the Arians' false teaching was that the Son of God was
created that His existence had a beginning. The Second
Ecumenical Council condemned the false teaching of the
Pneumatomachi (Adversaries of the Spirit), whose chief
representative was Macedonius, Archbishop of Constantinople. The
Pneumatomachi called the Holy Spirit the servant and fulfiller
of God's wishes as well as other names that were fitting only
for the angels, and they did not reco