WEEK 2 the Apostle's Creed
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The Creeds, Confessions and Liturgical Forms of the Reformed
THE CREEDS, CONFESSIONS AND LITURGICAL FORMS OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NEW ZEALAND THE CREEDS, CONFESSIONS AND LITURGICAL FORMS OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NEW ZEALAND Published in 2015 by the Forms and Confessions Committee in conjunction with the National Publications Committee of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand. This book is not copyrighted. Any part of it is freely available for use by anyone interested. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. ISBN 978-0-473-28109-0 Contents Ecumenical Creeds The Apostles’ Creed ................................................................................................................ 8 The Nicene Creed.................................................................................................................... 9 The Athanasian Creed ........................................................................................................... 10 Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism .................................................................................................... 13 The Belgic Confession .......................................................................................................... 57 The Canons of Dort ............................................................................................................... 75 The Westminster Confession of Faith .................................................................................. -
The Nicene Creed in the Church David R
Concordia Journal Volume 41 | Number 1 Article 3 2015 The iceN ne Creed in the Church David Maxwell Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.csl.edu/cj Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Maxwell, David (2015) "The icN ene Creed in the Church," Concordia Journal: Vol. 41: No. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://scholar.csl.edu/cj/vol41/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Concordia Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maxwell: The Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed in the Church David R. Maxwell Pastors often introduce the recitation of the Nicene Creed with the phrase, “Let us confess our Christian faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.” But what do we mean when we identify the content of the faith with the words of the creed? And how does that summary of the faith actually function in the church? After all, if we are to be creedal Christians in any meaningful sense, we would like to see the creed play a more profound role in the church than merely as a text to be recited. But, from the position of one sitting in the pew, it is not always clear what that role would be. Therefore, I will identify and explore three of the ways the creed has functioned and still functions in the church. -
The Nicene Creed
THE NICENE CREED [TEXT] The Nicene Creed In the first three centuries, the church found itself in a hostile environment. On the one hand, it grappled with the challenge of relating the language of the gospel, developed in a Hebraic and Jewish-Christian context, to a Graeco-Roman world. On the other hand, it was threatened not only by persecution, but also by ideas that were in conflict with the biblical witness. In A.D. 312, Constantine won control of the Roman Empire in the battle of Milvian Bridge. Attributing his victory to the intervention of Jesus Christ, he elevated Christianity to favored status in the empire. “One God, one Lord, one faith, one church, one empire, one emperor” became his motto. The new emperor soon discovered that “one faith and one church” were fractured by theological disputes, especially conflicting understandings of the nature of Christ, long a point of controversy. Arius, a priest of the church in Alexandria, asserted that the divine Christ, the Word through whom all things have their existence, was created by God before the beginning of time. Therefore, the divinity of Christ was similar to the divinity of God, but not of the same essence. Arius was opposed by the bishop, Alexander, together with his associate and successor Athanasius. They affirmed that the divinity of Christ, the Son, is of the same substance as the divinity of God, the Father. To hold otherwise, they said, was to open the possibility of polytheism, and to imply that knowledge of God in Christ was not final knowledge of God. -
The Nicene Creed: the Niceno- the Apostles’ Creed: Caesarea: Constantinopolitan Creed
Jonathan J. Armstrong, Ph.D. Moody Bible Institute The Creed of Eusebius of The Nicene Creed: The Niceno- The Apostles’ Creed: Caesarea: Constantinopolitan Creed: We believe in one only God, We believe in one God, the We believe in one God, the I believe in God the Father Father almighty, maker of all things Father almighty, creator of things Father almighty, maker of heaven almighty, maker of heaven and earth; visible and invisible; and earth, and of all things visible And in Jesus Christ his only Son visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the and invisible; our Lord, who was conceived by the And in the Lord Jesus Christ, for he Son of God, the only-begotten of his And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, is the Word of God, God of God, light Father, of the substance of the only begotten Son of God, begotten of light, life of life, his only Son, the Father, God of God, light of light, of his Father before all worlds, light suffered under Pontius Pilate, was first-born of all creatures, begotten very God of very God, begotten, not of light, very God of very God, crucified, dead, and buried; he of the Father before all time, by made, being of one substance begotten not made, being of one descended into hell; the third day he (ὁμοούσιον) with the Father, by whom also everything was created, substance with the Father, by whom rose again from the dead; he whom all things were made, both all things were made, who for us men who became flesh for our ascended into heaven, and sits on which be in heaven and in earth, who and for our salvation came down the right hand of God the Father redemption, who lived and suffered for us men and for our salvation from heaven and was incarnate by among men, rose again the third day, came down from heaven and was the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, almighty; from thence he shall come returned to the Father, and will come incarnate and was made man. -
The Apostles' Creed
THE APOSTLES' CREED “I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.” † ϯ Commentary: Today the similarities between major Christian denominations far outweigh the differences. Except for the differences in style of worship and a particular emphasis on one “doctrine” or another, all Christians share a common belief. Our basis for agreement goes back to the time of the early church when leaders discussed, debated and settled a number of theological issues. The result is the famous “Apostles’ Creed.” Whether Presbyterian or Baptist, Congregational or Lutheran, United Methodist or Roman Catholic, virtually all Christians agree on the fundamentals of Christian belief in this Statement of Faith. Notes: “holy catholic Church.” One point that constantly causes difficulty is the phrase “holy catholic Church.” Note that the “c” in catholic is lower case, not capitalized. This is NOT the Roman Catholic Church. The word “catholic” means “universal.” We affirm a basic unity in one “universal” church made up of many particular denominations. -
1 Defining and Locating Evangelicalism TIMOTHY LARSEN
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-60974-6 - The Cambridge Companion to Evangelical Theology Edited by Timothy Larsen and Daniel J. Treier Excerpt More information 1 Defining and locating evangelicalism TIMOTHY LARSEN An evangelical is: 1. an orthodox Protestant 2. who stands in the tradition of the global Christian networks arising from the eighteenth-century revival movements associated with John Wesley and George Whitefield; 3. who has a preeminent place for the Bible in her or his Christian life as the divinely inspired, final authority in matters of faith and practice; 4. who stresses reconciliation with God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross; 5. and who stresses the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual to bring about conversion and an ongoing life of fellowship with God and service to God and others, including the duty of all believers to participate in the task of proclaiming the gospel to all people. This definition has been specifically devised for this volume. As I have tried it out on colleagues, they have jokingly referred to it as ‘‘the Larsen Pentagon,’’ which is a compliment to the standard definition of evangelical- ism, the Bebbington Quadrilateral. The British historian, David Bebbington, in his seminal study, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730stothe1980s (1989), defined evangelicalism by identifying its four distin- guishing marks: conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism – that is, evangelicals emphasize conversion experiences; an active laity sharing the gospel and engaged in good works; the Bible; and salvation through the work 1 of Christ on the cross. -
Invigorating Our Confessions of Faith (Creeds) with the Assistance of Romans JUSTIN J
Word & World Volume 39, Number 3 Summer 2019 Invigorating Our Confessions of Faith (Creeds) with the Assistance of Romans JUSTIN J. LIND-AYRES Dusting Off the Church’s Treasures Recently I was worshiping with area pastors and deacons at a conference event. The host church had in its pew-rack hymnals that were over forty years old. Yet, they were still being employed by the congregation in its weekly worship. Despite the publication of newer denominational hymnals over the span of four decades, this congregation continued its allegiance to the “green book” with its tattered edges and fraying spine. My hunch is it has as much to do with the congregation’s fru- gality as it does to its faithfulness to the liturgical practices codified in the 1970s. When the time came in our conference worship to sing a hymn, we were instructed to turn to the hymnals in our pews. Before I could grab the book in front of me, my dear friend and pastor colleague reached for it. With a smirk on her face, she delicately opened its pages, took a slight intake of breath, and pre- tended to blow the dust out from the pages of the hymnal. I’m not sure if it was the Almost from the beginning, Christians have publicly and corporately con- fessed their faith in common statements, the most universally accepted being the three ecumenical creeds. But perhaps new contexts in our contemporary world call for the addition of new statements of faith alongside the classic ones. 246 Invigorating Our Confessions of Faith (Creeds) with the Assistance of Romans morning light playing tricks on my eyes or my own imagination sparked by her joke, but I thought I saw a cloud of dust waft up from that green book. -
Connecting to the Creed
A guide for understanding and applying CONNECTING the centennial Social Creed, adopted by ecumenical representatives of 35 Protestant and Orthodox church TO THE CREED: communions for 2008. the 2 for 1st reed C l C en ocia tu S ry A hope ... in love In faith ... in “That all may have life and have it abundantly” John 10:10 Biblical, Theological and Historical Background Current Challenges and Choices For each affirmation and action area of the new Social Creed 1 1 National Council of Churches of Christ Member Communions and Denominations African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Churches in the USA The member bodies of the National Council of Churches Diocese of the Armenian Church of America encompass a wide spectrum Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of American Christianity — Christian Methodist Episcopal Church representing traditions as Church of the Brethren varied as Protestant, Orthodox, The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America Evangelical, Anglican, and The Episcopal Church African-American, historic peace churches and ethnic- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America language immigrant churches. Friends United Meeting Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America They include more than Hungarian Reformed Church in America 100,000 local congregations International Council of Community Churches and 45 million persons in the Korean Presbyterian Church in America United States. Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church “A Social Creed for the 21st Mar Thoma Church Century” was adopted by the Moravian Church in America Northern Province NCCCUSA General Assembly and Southern Province in November 2007. * National Baptist Convention of America National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. -
A Creed to Live by Don't Undermine Your Worth by Comparing Yourself
A Creed To Live By A Hundred Years From Now Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself A hundred years from now it will not matter what my with others. bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the It is because we are different that each of us is kind of car I drove but the world may be different special. because I was important in the life of a child. Don't set your goals by what other people deem A Man important. Only you know what is best for you. A man that made an impression on strangers and friends. Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Quiet but firm and even more stern. Cling to them as you would your life, for without Strength and courage I have learned from you, them life is meaningless. but being without you is hard to do. Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living A man with pride in every step he made. in the past or for the future. A man with vigor in every phrase. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. The tears I’ve shed cannot surpass the smiles and the laughs we had with you. Don't give up when you still have something to give. To feel your pain I could not do, Nothing is really over until the moment you stop to feel your joy I cannot explain, trying. but being without you is hard to do. -
We Believe in One God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, of All That Is Seen and Unseen
NICENE CREED (Professed at Sunday Mass) 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, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of 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. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped 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. APOSTLE'S CREED (used with the holy rosary) 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. -
Millennialism and the Three Ecumenical Creeds by Kristofer Carlson October 2007
Millennialism and the Three Ecumenical Creeds by Kristofer Carlson October 2007 The three Ecumenical Christian Creeds1 are a witness to the universal faith of all Christians. The three Ecumenical Christian Creeds serve to define content and boundaries of the Christian faith. Therefore any teaching that is at variance with the three Ecumenical Creeds is by definition outside the boundaries of Orthodox Christianity. The Athanasian Creed defines the seriousness with which the church fathers took these doctrinal matters. The Athanasian Creed begins by stating: “Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold the true Christian [in the Latin, “catholic”] faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish for eternity.” The Athanasian Creed ends in similar fashion: “This is the true Christian [in the Latin, “catholic”] faith. Unless a man believe this firmly and faithfully, he cannot be saved.” With these words, the error of those who believe doctrine does not matter is laid bare. The Athanasian Creed stands firmly over and against those who would separate the Word from doctrine; those who make experience the arbiter of faith; and those for whom faith is a matter of good works instead of an orthodox doctrinal confession. The Athanasian Creed clearly states that one’s salvation depends upon holding to the Christian faith, whole and undefiled. Those who fail to hold firmly and faithfully to the Christian faith, as confessed in the Creed, cannot be saved and will without doubt perish for eternity. Therefore the stakes are high. Eternal destiny is at stake, and it is therefore imperative for us to understand what the Creeds have to say regarding Last Things. -
The Apostles' Creed
The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; A Congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell;1 the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, THE LORD’S DAY and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; July 5, 2020 from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; 2 the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; “Then the LORD said in His heart, ‘I will the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. never again curse the ground for man’s sake…’” Genesis 8:21 Morning Worship: 10:00 am Evening Worship: 5:00 pm __________________________________________________ 1 See Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 44; Canons of Dort, 2.4; Westminster Larger Catechism, Q&A 50. 2 “Catholic” means universal; that is, there is one church across all times, places, and peoples (Belgic Confession, art. 27; Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 54; Westminster www.reformation-opc.org Confession of Faith, 25.2). www.opc.org MORNING WORSHIP WELCOME July 5, 2020 – 10:00 am Welcome to Reformation Presbyterian Church. We are a congregation of the Orthodox Welcome & Announcements…………………………………………. Presbyterian Church. Our name Reformation refers to the great revival of true Christianity that began 500 years ago, spread to the world through the preaching of the Silent Prayer…………………………………………………………… Bible, and continues to this day.