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What is the Creed?
A Historical Survey.
The Creed
What is the Creed?
The
word creed comes from the Latin credo, which means “I believe.” In the Orthodox
Church the Creed is usually called the Symbol of Faith, which means the
“expression” or “confession” of the faith. A person without faith is like a
blind man. Faith gives man spiritual vision by which he can see and understand
the essence of all that surrounds him: how and why everything was created, what
is the goal of life, what is right and what is not, and ultimately what one must
strive towards. From earliest times, the Apostolic-period Christians have used
the Creed to remind themselves of the principles of the Orthodox Faith. In the
ancient church there existed various short creeds. But in the 4th century there
appeared false teachings about the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Thus it
became necessary to complete these short creeds and more accurately define the
Church's teaching.
A Historical Survey
The
Nicean Creed was composed by the Fathers of the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils.
The first seven articles of the Creed were drawn up at the 1st Ecumenical
Council, and the last five were drawn up at the 2nd Ecumenical Council. The 1st
Council met in Nicea in 325 A.D. to confirm the true teachings about the Son of
God and to oppose the false teachings of Arius. Arius believed that the Son of
God was created by God the Father. The 2nd Council met in Constantinople in 381
A.D. to confirm the true teaching on the Holy Spirit and to oppose the false
teachings of Macedonius. He rejected the divine origin of the Holy Spirit. The
Creed is named the “Nicean-Constantinopolitan” after the two cities in which the
Fathers gathered for the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils. The Creed consists of
twelve articles. In the 1st article we speak of God the Father; from the 2nd
though 7th articles we speak of God the Son; in the 8th article about God the
Holy Spirit; in the 9th about the Church; in the 10th about Baptism; and in the
11th and 12th about the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.
THE
CREED
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 Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all
ages; Light of Light: true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one
essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made: Who for us men, and
for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy
Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under
Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried; And arose again on the third
day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at
the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge
both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the Giver of Life; Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the
Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the
prophets.
In One, Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I
look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come.
Amen.
We
begin the Creed with “I believe.” This is because the essence of our religious
convictions depends not on external experiences but on our acceptance of
God-given truths. Surely one cannot prove truths of the spiritual world by any
laboratory experiments. These truths belong to the sphere of personal religious
experience. The more a person grows in the spiritual life — the more one prays,
thinks about God, does good — the more his inner spiritual experience develops,
the clearer the religious truths become to him. In this fashion, faith becomes
for him a subject of personal experience.
What
do we believe in according to the Creed?
We
believe that God is one fullness of perfection; we believe that He is a perfect
spirit, timeless, without beginning, all-powerful and all-wise. God is
everywhere, sees all, and knows beforehand when something will happen. He is
good beyond measure, just and all-holy. He needs nothing and is the reason for
everything that exists.
We
believe that God is one in Essence and Trinity in Persons (i.e., the one true
God has appeared to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit is the Trinity, one in Essence and indivisible. The Father is not
born and does not proceed from the others. The Son pre-eternally was born of the
Father, and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father.
We
believe that all the Persons of the Holy Trinity are equally in divine
perfection, greatness, power, and glory. That is, we believe that the Father is
true and perfect God, the Son is true and perfect God, and, the Holy Spirit is
true and perfect God. Therefore, in prayers, we simultaneously glorify the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God.
We
believe that the entire visible and invisible world was created by God. In the
beginning God created the invisible, great angelic world, otherwise known as
Heaven. As stated in the Bible, God created our material or physical world from
nothing. This was not done at once, but gradually during periods of time which
in the Bible are called “days.” God created the world not out of necessity or
need but out of His all-good desire to do so in order that His other creations
might enjoy life. Being Himself endlessly good, God created all things good.
Evil appeared in the world from the misuse of free will, with which God has
endowed both angels and people. For example, the Devil (Satan) and his demons
were at one time angels of God. But they rebelled against their Creator and
became demons. They were cast out of Heaven and formed their own kingdom called
“hell.” From that moment on, they tempted people to sin and became our enemies
and the enemies of our salvation.
We
believe that all things are under God's control; that is, he provides for every
creature and guides everything to a good goal. God loves and looks after us as a
mother looks after her child. For this reason nothing bad can befall a person
who trusts in God.
We
believe that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came down from heaven for
our salvation. He came to earth and took on our flesh by the Holy Spirit and the
Virgin Mary. Being God from all eternity, He in the time of King Herod took on
our human nature, both soul and body, and is therefore truly God and truly man,
or the God-man. In one divine Person He combined two natures, divine and human.
These two natures will remain with Him always without change, neither blending
nor changing from one into the other.
We
believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, while living on earth, enlightened the world
by His teaching, His example, and miracles. He taught people what they should
believe and how they should live so that they may inherit eternal life. By His
prayers to His Father, His complete obedience to the Father's Will, His
sufferings and death, He defeated the devil and redeemed the world from sin and
death. By His Resurrection from the dead, He laid the foundation for our
resurrection. After His Ascension in the flesh to Heaven, which took place forty
days after His Resurrection from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ sat at the
right hand of God the Father; that is to say, He received equal power with God
the Father and since then together with Him governs the face of the world.
We
believe that the Holy Spirit, proceeding from God the Father from the beginning
of the world, together with the Father and the Son gives existence to all
creation, gives life, and governs all. He is the source of a grace-filled
spiritual life, both for angels as well as people, and equally with the Father
and the Son is worthy of all glory and worship. The Holy Spirit in the Old
Testament spoke through the prophets. Then in the beginning of the New
Testament, He spoke through the Apostles and now lives in the Church of Christ,
guiding her pastors and people in the truth.
We
believe that our Lord Jesus Christ founded the Church on earth for the salvation
of all who believe in Him. He sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles on Pentecost.
Since that time the Holy Spirit abides in the Church, that grace-filled
community or union of believing Orthodox Christians, and preserves her in the
purity of Christ's teaching. The grace of the Holy Spirit abides in the Church,
cleanses those who repent of sins, helps the believers grow in good deeds, and
sanctifies them.
We
believe that the Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. She is One because
all Orthodox Christians, although belonging to different national, local
churches, are one family together with the angels and saints in Heaven. The
oneness of the Church depends on oneness of Faith and Grace. The Church is Holy
because her faithful children are sanctified by the word of God, prayer, and the
Sacraments. The Church is Catholic because what we believe is the same teaching
held to be true by all Orthodox Christians, always and everywhere. The Church is
called Apostolic because it preserves Apostolic teaching and the Apostolic
succession. From ancient times, this Apostolic succession passes on without
interruption from Bishop to Bishop in the sacrament of Ordination. The Church
will remain of our Lord and Savior until the end of time.
We believe that in the sacrament of Baptism the
believer is forgiven all sins. The believer becomes a member of the Church.
Access to the other sacraments of salvation becomes available to him at this
time. In the sacrament of Chrismation the believer receives the grace of the
Holy Spirit. In Confession or Repentance, sins are forgiven. In Holy Communion,
offered at the Divine Liturgy, the believer receives the very Body and Blood of
Christ. In the sacrament of Matrimony, an inseparable union is created between a
man and a woman. In the sacrament of Ordination Deacons, Priests, and Bishops
are ordained to serve the Church. In Holy Unction, the healing of physical and
spiritual illness is offered.
We
believe that before the end of the world Jesus Christ, accompanied by angels,
will again come to the earth in glory. Every person, according to His Word, will
resurrect from the dead. A miracle will occur in which the souls of people who
have died will return into the bodies which they possessed during their earthly
life. All the dead will come to life. During the General Resurrection, the
bodies of the saints, both those resurrecting and those still living will be
renewed and become spiritualized in the image of the Resurrected Body of Christ.
After the resurrection, everyone will appear before the Judgment of Christ, to
receive what he is due, according to what he has done when he lived in his body,
good or evil. After the Judgment, unrepentant sinners will enter into eternal
torments and the righteous into eternal life. This will begin the Kingdom of
Christ, which will have no end.
With
the one word “Amen” we witness to the fact that we accept and acknowledge with
our whole heart this Creed which we confess to be true.
The
Creed is read by a Catechumen (one about to receive Baptism) during the
sacrament of Baptism. During the Baptism of an infant, the Creed is read by the
Sponsor. The Creed is sung at the Liturgy and should be read daily at Morning
Prayers. An attentive reading of the Creed greatly strengthens our faith. This
happens because the Creed is not just a formal statement of belief but a prayer.
When we say “I believe” in a spirit of prayer, along with the other words of the
Creed, we enliven and strengthen our Faith in God and in all those truths which
are contained in the Creed. This is why it is so important for the Orthodox
Christian to recite the Creed daily or at least regularly.
