How can its teachings be beneficial to contemporary Catholics? The answers to these important questions must begin by understanding the countercultural nature of the Creed.
Modernity seems to scoff at belief based on faith alone. Thus to profess the teachings of the Creed one must be willing to stand against the contemporary tide of popular opinion. Anyone today who confesses a religious creed runs the risk of being labeled as intellectually inept or simply ignorant of reality. Professing the Creed and its teachings, which contradict the world, requires one to bear witness to a certain understanding of faith. Those who witness to the reality of God and the teachings of the Church may appear foolish in the eyes of the sophisticated.
Thus the Creed stands as a relevant document that stands against the secular wave which seeks to envelop the world. The Creed is also relevant today because it serves as a rule of faith for members of the Church. The Creed guides our understanding of Scripture, for it was developed through an interpretive process of the Bible. Additionally, through its use of philosophical terms, such as homoousios of one substance , the Creed goes beyond Scripture.
It provides the words that explicate the fundamental convictions concerning God, the world and humanity. Thus, as a rule of faith, the Creed provides a norm for Christian understanding. Besides serving as a rule of faith, the Creed also provides a definition of faith. The document, while not exhausting the meaning of Christian life and practice, provides boundaries for Christian belief and, therefore, the Christian community.
It finds a relevance that clearly articulates Christian belief with respect to God and the Church. Yet, many aspects and teachings of the Church are not addressed. In short, the Creed constructs a Christian worldview that is opposed to contemporary life.
Last, the Creed has important relevance as a guide for Christian practice. Click to View the Apostle's Creed. Sometimes called the Symbol of the Apostles, it is an early statement of Christian belief and has been used by Christians since the fourth century.
These are:. Click to View the Athanasian Creed. The Athanasian Creed is an early summary of Christian doctrine. The authorship is often attributed to Athanasius, the archbishop of Alexandria, who lived in the 4th century A. Since ancient times, the church has been bombarded with heresies and one of the most common one attacks the divinity and personhood of Jesus Christ.
The Athanasian Creed refutes this false teaching and emphasizes the importance of having a Trinitarian belief in God. In other words, all members of the Holy Trinity are uncreated, co-eternal and of the same substance. Through the Athanasian Creed, we are reminded that Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity and that his incarnation did not change his divine nature into a human one. Click to View the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is another common Catholic creed.
This profession of faith is part of Mass and is recited at the start of Liturgy of the Eucharist and after the reading of the gospel and homily. The Nicene Creed emphasizes many of the fundamental tenets of our faith. In Alexandria in AD , a presbyter named Arius began publicly proclaiming his theory that Jesus was not God at all, only a celestial servant of the true Most High God, who alone was almighty, transcendent, the creator and first cause of all things.
After all, Jesus was prone to emotion as opposed to the Father, who was always in control of his emotions , grew and learned as opposed to the Father, who never changed , and died as opposed to the Father, who is immortal. Arius thought that his interpretation had good footing in the theology of the great teacher Origen of the prior century. Origen had said that the Father was due glory and reverence as God himself autotheos that was not due to the Son.
Furthermore, Alexander pointed out, God is perfect and not subject to change, so how could God change from not being a father to being a father?
In attempting to preserve the dignity of the Father, Arius was tampering with some of the crucial distinctions that separate God from humanity. But it was not ultimately so much a debate about Origen as a debate about Scripture. At places, Jesus seems to suggest that he is subordinate to the Father for example, John At the same time, Scripture is equally clear that Jesus is and claimed to be both divine and equal with the Father as God John ; —18; ; — The question is how we can worship Jesus and worship the Father who we know is different from Jesus and still claim to be monotheists who worship one true God?
Many people today, such as Muslims, have particular trouble with this idea. After years of fierce division that stretched from clergy to the common people, the ecumenical council was summoned to resolve the issue once and for all.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker 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 worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
It mentions all three members of the Trinity in a similar order and retains the snapshot of the gospel story when it describes Jesus. Albert R. The Nicene Creed is essential to the Christian faith. Any faith without it is something other than Christianity. In order to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to know where we stand and take courage in a belief with rational, ancient foundations.
Scripture makes it plain. Jesus told his disciples he is the only way to God and that those who saw Jesus had seen the Father. He said so himself. Sources Christianity. Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family.
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