Considering the Nicene Creed An Adult Forum Resource and Study Guide
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing this book. This is actually a reworking of an older manuscript, The Creed Need, now out of print. I turned again to the subject of a Christian Creed after being asked to lead an adult forum during Lent. This work provides background/research material, and Discussion Questions. Obviously, the material can be revamped and adapted to meet the particular needs and purposes of a Formation Forum leader, but I feel sure the material is useful for church teachers and leaders, but I believe this book stands alone as an interesting read for anyone wanting to know more about the history and meaning of Christian creeds.
If you are active in a church that routinely uses a creedal statement as part of their Sunday morning worship, it is possible that you have not given the creed a lot of thought. I was raised in a fundamentalist church that not only did not use a creed, they actively opposed the use of creeds, and not only criticized denominations that used creeds, they openly mocked churches that used a creedal statement. For me, then, my encounter with the use of creeds brought me a bushel load of questions regarding the creed.
Where did these creedal statements come from, and who wrote them? Is there some good reason that we should cling to and continue to use these ancient statements of belief? What is significant about the various lines within the creed? What do I do if I disagree with some part of the creedal statement? Is the creed something valuable to me, or is it only important to the church generally? Should we revisit and rewrite the creed from time to time?
Credo
Our word Creed comes from the word credo, and the word credo is derived from two Latin roots.
Cor – meaning heart – used in the English word Coronary and Do – meaning to give – used in the English word Donation
Based on this information, I would define the word credo and the word creed as a statement what we give our hearts to.
It is, perhaps, too simple to leave it at that. While, yes, creeds are statements regarding what we give our hearts to, they are more than just a statement of Christian commitment and belief. Creeds actually came into existence as a reaction of the church against heresy and threats to the church.
If a creed is a statement that addresses some theological dispute, then this would imply that a creedal statement is written by the winners of the dispute.
I was surprised to find out that there were a lot of different creedal statements used by Christians in the early church, and creeds developed throughout the history of Christianity and used by Christians in other countries all over the world.
The Apostles’ Creed The Creed of Nicaea (different from the Nicene Creed) The Nicene Creed (also referred to as the Constantinopolitan Creed) Chalcedonian Creed Athanasian Creed
But there were a number of other creeds used in the early church:
o The Creed of Aristides of Athens (100s) o The Didache (60-150) o The Creed of Cyprian of Carthage (250) o The Der Balyzeh Papyrus (200-350) o The Creeds of Arius and Euzoius (320 and 327) o The Creed of Alexander of Alexandria (321-324) o The First Synod of Antioch (325) o The Second Dedication of Antioch (341) o The Baptismal Creed of Jerusalem (350) o The Apostolic Constitutions (350-380) o Creed of Sirmium (359) o Creed of Ephesus (431) o Creed of Union (433)
The list of creeds here are not all the creeds that have been written. There lots and lots of creeds and there are a number of reasons why so many creeds have been written:
1. Creeds were written to defend the church
Remember that the church did not start off with a New Testament in fixed and final form. Until 1455 all books, including the Bible, had to be hand written. A hand-written book is so labor intensive that most people and many parishes could never afford to have a copy. Without access to the New Testament, it was easy for superstitions, and odd ideas to creep into the beliefs, teachings and practices of the early church. As church leaders learned of these variations in belief, it became clear that the church needed a short concise, and easily memorized statement of what the church agrees it believes.
2. Creeds were written to force the church to make hard, important decisions
Just believing something that differed from what someone else believed did not make that a heresy. Until there is wide consensus on a topic, there can be no heresy, only a different variation on Christian faith. For example, some were teaching that Jesus was like God, made out of similar stuff than God, but he was NOT made out of
exactly the same stuff that God is made of, while others believe that Jesus was made out of the same stuff of God making Jesus and God one and the same divine being. Which belief is right and which belief is a heresy? A creed would be the reflection of arguing those ideas and coming to some sort of consensus.
3. Creeds were written to establish a teaching tool spreading the common core of beliefs accepted by the church.
Note: Creedal Statements have never been a summary of Christian belief. Yes, creeds contain what is a generally accepted common core of beliefs, no one claims that any creed contains everything that the church holds as vital for Christian faith and practice. For example, I know of no creed that stresses the importance of prayer, there is very little reference to the importance of the Old Testament, there is nothing about the miracles of Jesus, there is nothing about the meaning and importance of grace, and I know of no creed that includes the first and second great commandments as stated by Jesus:
37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NRSV)
The definition of Credo may be what we give our hearts to, but the truth is that we give our hearts to more than just what is contained in the Nicene Creed.
The Apostles’ Creed
The Apostles’ Creed is also sometimes called the Apostolieum. There is a problem with this belief, because most scholars agree that not only did the Apostles NOT write the Apostles’ Creed, the creed probably was not written until after all the Apostles were dead.
The earliest form of the Apostles’ Creed is preserved in a document Interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus and dates from around 215:
Do you believe in God the Father all governing, Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was begotten by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died (and was buried) and rose the third day living from the dead, and ascended into heavens.
Handout 1
Our word Creed comes from the word Credo. The word Credo can be divided up into two Latin roots: the Latin root- Cor – meaning heart – used in the English word Coronary and the Latin root-Do – meaning to give – used in the English word Donation. Therefore the word Creed, or Credo means a statement about what we give our hearts to.
1. We believe in one Lord, Jesus 13. and was made man. Christ, 14. For our sake, he was crucified 2. the only Son of God, under Pontius Pilate; 3. eternally begotten of the Father, 15. he suffered death and was buried. 4. God from God, Light from Light, 16. On the third day, he rose again 5. true God from true God, in accordance with the Scriptures; 6. begotten, not made, 17. he ascended into heaven 7. of one Being with the Father. and is seated at the right hand of 8. Through him all things were the Father. made. 18. He will come again in glory to 9. For us and for our salvation judge the living and the dead, 10. he came down from heaven: 19. and his kingdom will have no 11. by the power of the Holy Spirit end. 12. he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
1. Line 1-What is the difference between saying I BELIEVE IN and saying I BELIEVE THAT. . . Jesus Christ is. . . ? 2. Not only do we believe in God, but we also believe in God’s Son. The problem with this is that that sounds like two different entities. Do the words “our Lord” clarify what is believed? 3. What does it mean to call someone Lord? 4. I heard somewhere that Martin Luther said that one of the mysteries of Christ is that he is a God who wore diapers. What do you think is important about point out that Jesus wore diapers? 5. There is a theological question that theologians have debated for centuries. How can Jesus be both all human and all God? 6. The Creed says Jesus is God’s Only Son, but in Galatians 3:26 it says “. . . for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” And in Romans 12:5 it says that “we, who are many, are
one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” 7. Line 3 - Is there a difference between being begotten, and eternally begotten? What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man. What God creates is not God, just as what man creates is not man. How does this help or confuse your understanding of the creed? 8. Why is there so much repeating in the church and in places like lines 4&5 in the creed? The creed says that Jesus is God from God, so why does it say he is light from light? Does the light part add anything to our understanding of Jesus? Note: There are different English translations of the creed, all of them having the same meaning. One translation I came across says, “very God of very God,” which is using the English word “very” in a way we don’t often use it. You see, “very” is derived from the Latin word “vera,” which means “true,” and that’s why some churches and translations render this phrase “true God of true God.” 9. Do you have problems thinking of Jesus as God and Jesus who was once a baby and wore diapers and went through the stages of life to become a man, and the whole time he was God? 10. Is it possible to believe something you don’t understand? How about if it is something no one can understand, can you believe it then? 11. Line 10 – does it mean heaven is up there above the earth? Could it many anything else to you? 12. It is important that we see the creed as saying Jesus is God, but he comes to us from perfect light and perfect love and while we don’t deserve it, he comes – lines 9 – he came for us and for our salvation? 13. Some say the virginity of Mary is not important for Mary, it is important for Jesus, because it shows that Jesus had no earthly Father. How do you view lines 11-13? 14. Some believe that Philippians 2:6-11 was an early creed. What does this add to our understanding of lines 11-13?
Handout 2
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1. How many different ways can you think of that we use the word believe? What if I say, I believe I can make it or I believe the sun will rise tomorrow, or I believe my son will care for me in my old age. 2. Considering the different ways of using the word Believe, how might those differing usages apply to the creed when we say “I believe in God,” or “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,” or “I believe in the Holy Spirit?” 3. Everyone believes something about God, even if it is that He doesn’t exist. What do you think is the most important thing about our Nicaean Creed? 4. Are the words believe and faith words we can use interchangeably? If not, how are they different? 5. Is it enough to just believe in God? This question might be more complicated than it appears. Romans 10:9 . . . if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
James 2:14-26 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[e] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from
works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. 6. In Mark 9:24 a father worried about his sick child said to Jesus, “. . . if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you are able! —All things can be done for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9 22-24 Do we have to believe everything perfectly? What if we are ignorant of something? 7. Remember the demons believe the same things we believe. So belief in the tenets of our Christianity is not enough to save us. What else is needed? 8. The creed begins, “We believe in. . . “ NOT “We believe that. . .” If the third word was that. . . the creed would become a list of factual things we believe. Can a belief be different from a fact? 9. We believe in one God. I don’t know anyone personally that believes in polytheism, but in the past belief in many gods was common. But our creed says one God and then talks about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine wrote, “If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind.” Should we not try to understand the Trinity? 10. The creed says God is the maker of everything visible and invisible. Do you, or do you know of people that might have a problem with that concept? How would you address evolution, or those things beyond the physical [or metaphysical]?
Handout 3
he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. 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.
1. Why do you think Jesus died on the cross? Could he have avoided it? Consider the following two passages:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Hebrews 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
2. Some have said Jesus swooned on the cross and didn’t die. There is a whole book about this called The Passover Plot. What evidence are you aware of that is evidence that Jesus did die on the cross? See Luke 23:26-43 3. The creed says that Jesus rose from the dead. There were other accounts of people being raised from the dead. Why is it more significant that Jesus rose from the dead?
Child that Elijah raised (1 Kings 17:22) Man that was thrown into Elisha's grave (2 Kings 13:21) Lazarus (John 11) Man at funeral that Jesus raised (Luke 7:12) Paul raised young lad who fell out a window (Acts 20:9) 4. What might be significant about the line “in accordance with the scriptures?” 5. The Ascension of Jesus is found in Acts 1. What significance does the Church place on a literal ascension? 6. Does the Ascension mean that after that Jesus is confined to Heaven after all the creed tells us that after the ascension he “is seated at the right hand of the Father?” 7. The part about he is coming back for us does sort of sound like Jesus is confined up in Heaven. What is Jesus doing? Are we on our own? 8. Does Jesus take us to heaven, or does He rebuild this earthly Kingdom? Some claim when Jesus returns he will set up a kingdom and reign for 1000 years. What do you think about this?
Does it make sense to think that God sent Jesus to rescue us from Himself? Or at least, from some aspect of Himself?
IF so, God now appears rather schizophrenic. Does God want to kill us for all eternity or love us for all eternity? The theological explanation above makes it sound as if He wants both.
Furthermore, what good does it do for God to pour out His wrath upon the innocent victim, Jesus?
Let us say that after I get angry at my neighbor for letting his dog spread garbage all over my lawn, I go down the street and set a different neighbor’s house on fire. Does my act of arson do anything to relieve my anger at the first neighbor or his dog? No! Setting an innocent third party’s house on fire does not alleviate my wrath toward the guilty party at all. This would still be true if the innocent neighbor noticed my anger at my neighbor’s dog, and said, “Don’t be angry at him; instead, come burn my house down.”
I would look at him like he is crazy. How would burning down his house help me at all? Yet this is what we think happened with God’s wrath in the killing of Jesus. Somehow, though God was angry at us, His anger was appeased by letting us kill His Son? I just don’t see how that would help the situation.
But there are other problems beyond this.
God’s love and grace for us is supposedly unconditional. But if He couldn’t actually show us love and grace unless Jesus first came to die on the cross in our place, then isn’t that a condition on His love and grace? It seems that if Jesus had not come to die, then according to this traditional understanding of the death of Jesus, God could not have shown His “unconditional” love and grace for us.
Furthermore, people say that God had to pour out His wrath against sin upon somebody (either us or Jesus) in order to satisfy his justice. Yet then we say that God did this out of His mercy.
But this is logically impossible.
By definition, mercy and justice are mutually exclusive. If a man robs a bank and then goes to prison for 20 years, this might be considered justice. But what if, after the crook spends 20 years in prison, the judge meets him at the prison gates and says, “Aren’t I merciful to let you out of prison today?” The recently-freed man would say, “You’re not merciful. I just spent 20 years in jail. Mercy would have been setting me free 20 years ago.” You see? If justice is satisfied, there is no need for mercy. And if one chooses to show mercy, then by definition, they cannot also demand justice. Yet if God poured out His wrath upon Jesus to satisfy His justice, then God is a just God, but He is not merciful. On the other hand, if God decides to show mercy to humankind, then, by definition, He cannot demand justice, even justice upon Jesus.
I could go on and on about this, but here’s the point: There are numerous flaws with the idea that the death of Jesus paid the penalty for our sins or satisfied the wrath of God.
Logically and theologically, it just doesn’t work.
God forgives, simply because He is a loving and forgiving God. End of story. No sacrifices, offerings, blood, or death are required.
So Why Then Did Jesus Die? When Jesus went to the cross, He did not die for God.
There are numerous reasons Jesus died. One was to put death to death. Another was to defeat sin and the devil (cf. Heb 2:14-18; Rom 6:4-13; 1 Cor 15:22, 45). But one reason I want to focus on here is that Jesus wanted to expose the lie of the scapegoat: the religious lie that an innocent victim must die for sin.
To put it bluntly, Jesus died to expose religion as a big, fat, satanic lie.
In His death, Jesus put to death the religious requirement of death. In His death, Jesus exposed the emptiness of the sacrificial system for what it was: a form of satanic enslavement by which humans think they are appeasing God for that which He had already forgiven them for.
Religion says: God is angry with you, but will forgive you if you do great things for Him and offer valuable things to Him. By going to the cross under the
condemnation of religion, and then being raised again to new life, Jesus exposed the powerful and satanic lie of religion.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus announced loud and clear that God is not angry at sin, and that just as sin, death, and the devil have no hold on God, they have no hold on us either.
God is not angry at sin. If He’s angry at anything, He is angry at enslavement. God wants us to live free.
And while sin does enslave, the greatest slaver of all is religion.
As such, God wants to free us from religion more than He wants to free us from sin. This is what Jesus proclaimed through His life, death, and resurrection.
The Resurrection of Religion Sadly, within a few short years of Jesus’ ascension, Christians returned once again the sacrificial mentality of religion. They took the satanic desire to appease God through sacrifice and applied it to Jesus Christ, saying that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice which appeased God once and for all. And ever since this shift was made under Augustine and Anselm, Christianity has been little more than another world religion which seeks to appease God through good behavior and personal sacrifice.
So if people truly want to rid themselves of all things pagan, they need to start not with their holidays and traditions, but with their theology.
Most specifically, we need to rid ourselves of this idea that God is angry at us for our sin and needs to be appeased through blood and sacrifice. This has never been true of God and is not true today.
The sacrificial reading of Scripture is a pagan reading of Scripture, which does not represent the heart of God, but represents a pagan view of God in which God is angry and must be appeased through sacrifice and human merit.
In contrast to this, the God revealed in Jesus Christ is not angry, but loves freely and forgives freely. No ifs, ands, or buts. The death of Jesus did not secure for us the forgiveness of God. God already forgave us freely by His grace.
Now, some of you might be thinking about Hebrews 9:22. But this post is already WAY too long, and an examination of Hebrews 9:22 deservers a post of its own.
We 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 worshiped and glorified. He 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.
1. Some versions of the creed say Holy Ghost. Can you think of a reason why translators would prefer Spirit over Ghost? 2. If we were to write a job description for the Holy Spirit what would it include?1 3. Until the 12 Century the Western church would’ve said: who proceeds from the Father. They would’ve left off “and the Son.” Why do you think the “and the Son” was added and why does it matter?2 4. When you think of the Holy Spirit do you think the Holy Spirit is God, or do you think the Holy Spirit is some sort of power God sends out or uses? 5. If the Holy Spirit spoke to use through prophets, then what does this tell us about God? Does it change how we view the Prophets and scripture in general? 6. Hebrews 1:1 & 2 says that God spoke to us through his son. If God spoke through OT prophets and through the Son, wouldn’t that be enough? Why or why not.
1 John 15:26‐27 (NRSV) 26 “When the Advocate[a] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
2 The Holy Spirit who comes to us, to comfort us, to stand beside us in our times of trial and temptation, is God, and as such, He is able to offer and provide eternal help, sustenance and aid.
7. “I believe in one. . .”3 catholic church. We often here this is catholic with a small “c” what is the significance of that?4 8. Is there something significant about believing the church an “Apostolic” church? What is the difference between disciples and Apostles? 9. What does the word “church” mean?5 10. The creed says “We acknowledge one baptism”, but that “We look” for the resurrection. Is there a difference between “acknowledging” and “looking for?”
3 Ephesians 4:4‐6 (NRSV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
4 “Catholic” is derived from a Greek word meaning “universal,” and the meaning in the context of the creed is that the church is not some local operation,
5 The New Testament word for "church" is ekklesia [which means "the called out ones."