I Believe in One God
The Foundation of All Reality
Every worldview must answer the same fundamental question: Why is there something rather than nothing?
The Nicene Creed begins by answering that question with extraordinary simplicity and profound depth: “I believe in one God.”
Before discussing salvation, morality, the Church, or eternal life, Christianity begins with God Himself — the uncreated source of all that exists.
Why Begin with God?
The Creed does not begin with humanity.
It does not begin with our problems, our desires, or even our need for salvation.
It begins with God because everything else depends upon Him.
Every star, every atom, every law of nature, every human soul, every moment of time, and every movement of history ultimately depends upon God’s creative power.
In the beginning God created heaven and earth. — Genesis 1:1
The first truth of the Catholic faith is that God exists and that everything else exists because He wills it to exist.
Can We Know That God Exists?
The Catholic Church teaches that human reason can know with certainty that God exists.
Faith does not replace reason.
Faith perfects reason.
God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from created things. — First Vatican Council
The universe points beyond itself.
Everything we encounter is contingent. Things exist, but they do not have to exist. They come into being and pass away.
This leads to a profound question:
Why is there something rather than nothing?
If every existing thing depends upon something else, there must ultimately be a First Cause that depends upon nothing.
That First Cause is God.
God as Being Itself
Perhaps the most important insight in Catholic philosophy comes from St. Thomas Aquinas.
God is not merely the greatest being among other beings.
God is not simply a more powerful version of us.
God is Being Itself.
When Moses asked God His name, the Lord replied:
I AM WHO AM. — Exodus 3:14
This revelation is extraordinary.
God does not merely have existence.
God is existence.
Every created thing receives existence.
God possesses existence inherently and eternally.
Everything else participates in being.
God is Being Itself.
For this reason God is uncreated, eternal, infinite, necessary, omnipotent, and immutable.
If God ceased to exist, everything would cease to exist.
But God cannot cease to exist because existence belongs to His very nature.
One God
The Creed says:
I believe in one God.
Christianity inherited this truth from Israel.
Unlike the pagan nations surrounding them, the Jewish people worshipped one God alone.
Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. — Deuteronomy 6:4
There are not many gods competing for power.
There is one Creator.
One source of truth.
One source of goodness.
One source of existence itself.
This unity gives coherence to reality.
The universe is intelligible because it comes from one divine intellect.
Truth is objective because it originates in one divine mind.
Morality is real because it is grounded in one divine lawgiver.
God the Father Almighty
The Creed continues:
The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
The word Father does not mean that God is biologically male.
Rather, it reveals His relationship within the Trinity and His loving care toward creation.
God is not an impersonal force.
He is not merely cosmic energy.
He is personal.
He knows us.
He loves us.
He calls us into relationship with Himself.
Christ teaches us to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven. — Matthew 6:9
This was a revolutionary revelation.
The Creator of the universe desires to be known as Father.
Creator of Heaven and Earth
Everything that exists comes from God.
The visible world.
The invisible world.
Angels.
Matter.
Space.
Time.
Human souls.
The Creed teaches:
Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
Creation is not an accident.
It is not the result of blind chance.
It is the work of divine wisdom.
The world was made for the glory of God. — Catechism of the Catholic Church
Creation reveals God’s power, wisdom, and goodness.
As St. Paul writes:
For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen. — Romans 1:20
The universe is not God.
But the universe points toward God.
Why This Matters
Belief in God is not merely an abstract philosophical idea.
If God exists, life has meaning.
Truth is real.
Morality is objective.
Human dignity is sacred.
Love is not an illusion.
History has purpose.
Without God, everything ultimately becomes accidental.
With God, everything has meaning.
This is why the Creed begins here.
Before we can understand Christ, the Church, grace, salvation, or eternal life, we must first understand the One from whom all things come.
Conclusion
The Creed begins with the most important truth a human being can know:
I believe in one God.
Not many gods.
Not an impersonal force.
Not a distant creator.
But the one eternal God who is Being Itself, Creator of heaven and earth, source of all truth, goodness, beauty, and life.
Everything begins with Him.
Everything depends upon Him.
Everything finds its fulfillment in Him.
The entire Christian faith rests upon this first and foundational confession:
I believe in one God.
Sources: Sacred Scripture: Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 6:9; Romans 1:20. Catechism of the Catholic Church §§26–49, 198–231, 279–324. First Vatican Council, Dei Filius. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, qq. 2–13. St. Augustine, Confessions. Pope Benedict XVI, Introduction to Christianity.