CREEDS?
Creeds are essentially short statements presenting key beliefs about the Christian faith. We can find some very important creeds in the Bible of course, and we have put a list of them after these traditional creeds of the Christian church. We speak some of these together during our liturgy, because we believe these things together as part of the historical community of Christians through all ages.
”Rule of Faith” as recorded by Irenaeus:
. . . this faith: in one God, the Father Almighty,
who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and
all the things that are in them;
and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made
flesh for our salvation;
and in the Holy Spirit, who made known through the
prophets the plan of salvation, and the coming, and
the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the
resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension
into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord,
and his future appearing from heaven in the glory of
the Father to sum up all things and to raise anew all
flesh of the whole human race . . .
APOSTLE’S CREED:
- I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will 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 the life everlasting. Amen.
- NICENE CREED (321):
- We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
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. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. - CHALCEDONIAN CREED (451)
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- We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood;
- truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body;
- consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood;
- in all things like unto us, without sin;
- begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood;
- one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;
- the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God (μονογενῆ Θεὸν), the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;
- as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
- CREEDS FROM THE BIBLE DIRECTLY:
- Deut. 6:4: Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD
alone.1 Kings. 18:39: And when all the people saw it, they fell on
their faces; and they said, “The LORD, he is
God; the LORD, he is God.”Matt. 16:16: Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”Matt. 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.John 1:49: Nathan’a-el answered him, “Rabbi, you are
the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”John 6:68-69: Simon Peter answered him, “Lord to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life; and we have believed, and have come to
know, that you are the Holy One of God.”John 20:28: Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Acts 8:36-37: And as they went along the road they came to
some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here
is water! What is to prevent my being bap-
tized?” And Philip said, “If you believe
with all your heart, you may.” And he
replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God.Acts 16:31: And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved, you and your house-
hold.”1 Cor. 8:6: yet for us there is one God, the Father,
from whom are all things and for whom we
exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
whom are all things and through whom we
exist.1 Cor. 12:3: Therefore I want you to understand that no
one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says
“Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus
is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.1 Cor. 15:3-7: For I delivered to you as of first impor-
tance what I also received, that Christ died
for our sins in accordance with the scrip-
tures, that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day in accordance with
the scriptures, and that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brethren
at one time, most of whom are still alive,
though some have fallen asleep. Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles.Phil. 2:6-11: who, though he was in the form of God, did
not count equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a servant, being born in the like-
ness of men. And being found in human form
he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even death on a cross. Therefore God
has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
the name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.1 Tim. 3:16: Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of
our religion: He was manifested in the
flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by
angels, preached among the nations, believed
on in the world, taken up in glory.Hebr. 6:1-2: Therefore let us leave the elementary doc-
trine of Christ and go on to maturity, not
laying again a foundation of repentance from
dead works and of faith toward God, with in-
struction about ablutions, the laying on of
hands, the resurrection of the dead, and
eternal judgment.1John 4:2: By this you know the Spirit of God: every
spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is of God.
