“This is the command — the statutes and ordinances — the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” - Deuteronomy 6:1-7 (CSB)
“This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,’ since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:8b-13 (CSB)
In his book which he published after his beloved wife Joy passed away, CS Lewis wrote the following: “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it?” (C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed)
Continuing our look into theology and its importance to the church and you, we would like to take a few minutes to discuss our faith’s primary creeds. Creed comes from the Latin credo, meaning “I believe.” Wouldn’t you rather first discover what you believe is actually something you can trust?
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines the term “creed” as follows:
1. A formal summary of what is believed; a summary of the articles of Christian faith; a confession of faith for public use; one which is brief and comprehensive.
2. Any summary of principles or opinions professed or adhered to.
3. To believe; to credit.
A creed is necessary for any theological discussion - for it helps us to maintain integrity in our beliefs. Hence, there are two primary reasons for the development of creeds: Maintain orthodoxy in our beliefs and orthopraxy in living out our beliefs; and, give lay people (those who are not clergy/ordained for ministry) who do not necessarily have traditional theological training the ability to “know” truth and any deviation from the truth. A creed, it might be said, is a “notecard” understanding of the doctrines and teachings of the Church.
It’s both sad and detrimental that most congregations do not recite the creeds of the Christian faith anymore. Unless you participate in a “high-church” style of worship, or fellowship within the confines of an orthodox tradition, you probably have not stated much less learned any of the traditional creeds of our faith. So, let’s take a look at the three most important ones - three creeds every Christian should be aware of. We would be well served by the regular reading and reciting of these creeds, personally and corporately, to maintain our doctrinal orthodoxy and for right worship of God.
First, is the Apostles’ Creed. This creed is accepted by the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. The earliest known manuscript of this “creed” is dated to the middle of the 2nd century. The final form was established in the seventh century. The term "Apostles' Creed" is first mentioned in a letter from the Synod of Milan, 390 AD. It refers to a belief, which was held at that time, that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article to the twelve articles of the creed.
It is the simplest of the creeds and formed the basis of later creeds with its simplicity proving to be a double-edged sword making it both weak and strong. Such as, while the Apostles’ Creed is trinitarian in structure, it does not address some Christological issues which will later be defined in the Nicene Creed. Meaning this: it states nothing directly in relation to the Divinity of either Jesus or the Holy Spirit. So, without further ado, we present to you the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Second is the Nicene Creed. First thing you might notice - it’s longer. More detailed. More explanatory. This creed spends time explaining the Trinity - that is, what we make of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What does the Nicene Creed reveal?
- There is one God who exists in three persons.
- God the Father is the creator of all things.
- Jesus, as God the Son, suffered and died as a fully human being to save other humans from sin.
- Jesus rose from the dead and is seated in Heaven as the Son of God.
- God the Holy Spirit gives life to all things.
- The Holy Spirit inspires people and shows them the will of God.
- There is anticipated life to come after this one ceases.
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is adored and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
The Athanasian Creed specifically seeks to unravel the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It was originally ascribed to St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, but that thought has now almost been universally rejected. Its theology closely resembles that of Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo.
Scholars believe this creed was designed to overcome Arianism, the heresy developed by Arius which taught that although God the Son indeed pre-existed creation as a Divine being, he was not "co-eternal" with God the Father. The Arian controversy was one of several disputes which split Christianity - specifically following 313 AD, when Constantine and Licinius jointly issued the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity a legal religion and officially ended its persecution. (Church history lesson for free!)
The opposite position, championed by Athanasius, held that the Father and Son existed together with the Holy Spirit from the beginning. Further disagreements involved the question of whether the Son and the Father were of the "same substance" and whether the Son was in any way subservient to the Father. (If you really want to take a deep dive theologically and stretch your brains for a while, look up and study, “tres personae, una substantia.”) You’ll thank us later - actually, probably not.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Athanasius Creed…and yes, it is the longest…
Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings; there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings; there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings; there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as both God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created; he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; he proceeds from the Father and the Son. Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers; there is one Son, not three sons; there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other. So in everything, as was said earlier, we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation that one also believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and human, equally. He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human, with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. Although he is God and human, yet Christ is not two, but one. He is one, however, not by his divinity being turned into flesh, but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh, so too the one Christ is both God and human. He suffered for our salvation; he descended to hell; he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven; he is seated at the Father's right hand; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil
will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.
FYI: It should be mentioned that simply because a creed uses the term “catholic” it is not necessarily referring to the Roman Catholic Church - it mostly means “universal.”
So, about the issue of soteriology…what do you believe? Yeah, go look up that word first…
Missy and Steve
.jpeg)
.jpeg)