Catholicism 101– Class #6
Introduction to the Creeds
Marcel LeJeune
-Creeds are formulations of the faith
-Also called “professions of faith”
-Used in the early Church as a way to define orthodoxy and also to teach others the foundations of the faith.
-Catechumenates were required to recite a creed before baptism and children had their parents do it for them.
-Comes from Latin word “credo” = I believe
-Romans 6:17 - “But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the
heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.”
- “Whoever says "I believe" says "I pledge myself to what we believe." Communion in faith needs a common language
of faith, normative for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith.” CCC 185
-The Apostles' Creed
-Created to fight against the heresy of Gnosticism,
-Gnosticism denied that Jesus was truly Man
-Taught that no divine being could taken on a fallen nature.
-Created world was evil and thus God would not take part in it.
-Thus emphasis in the apostles creed is Jesus’ humanity and bodily life
-The Nicene Creed
-In 325 ad the Council of Nicaea met and had a challenge of Arius’ teachings on Jesus’ nature
-Arius, a priest from Alexandria, denied that Jesus was truly divine.
-taught that the Father, in the beginning, created the Son, and that the Son, in conjunction with the Father, then created
the world.
-Son a created being, and hence not God.
-Probably came from a theory of Gnostics and pagans who held that God was too perfect to create something like a
material world,
-introduced one or more intermediate beings between God and the world.
-God created A, who created B, who created C... who created Z, who created the world.
-Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria had Arius excommunicated by a council of Egyptian bishops.
-He went to Nicomedia in Asia, where he wrote letters defending his position to various bishops. Finally, the Emperor
Constantine summoned a council of Bishops in Nicea,
-The Arian position has been revived in our own day by the Watchtower Society (the JW's), who hail Arius as a great
witness to the truth.
-in 381 AD, the formula for the Nicene creed today was ratified at the council of Constantinople
-Sometimes it is called the Niceo-Constantinople Creed.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
-Starts with the nature of God and the first person of the Trinity.
-He is one
-He is Father
--Why do we call him Father?
1) God is neither male or female…but he is Father.
2) Because he is father of Jesus He is not Jesus mother…that is Mary
3) As the Creator, God is like a human father. A human father procreates a child outside of himself and yet
like himself. Similarly, God creates things outside of himself and like Himself. Women on the other hand
create “within”.
4) Just like a male is the “source” and the likely initiator in the creative act of sex, so God is the “source” and
initiator in creating humanity.
-He is almighty (omnipotent)
-He is creator of all things
-Notice we start with that which is always first – God.
-But, remember he is our Father – personally.
-CCC 203 “God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a
person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force.
To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming
accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally.”
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
-We move on to Jesus, the second person of the Trinity.
-He is Lord
-He is the one Son of God, meaning his son-ship is different somehow from our sonship
-The name Jesus means "God saves"
-The title "Christ" means "Anointed One" (Messiah).
-CCC 446 “In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed
himself to Moses, is rendered as Kyrios, "Lord". From then on, "Lord" becomes the more usual name by which to
indicate the divinity of Israel's God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title "Lord" both for the Father
and - what is new - for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.”
eternally begotten of the Father,
-It means “fatherly origin of”. Thus it identifies the relationship between Father and Son
-Essentially this says "begotten of the Father before all times, before all ages."
-Arius was fond of saying, "Jesus is not eternal. God begat him, and before he was begotten, he did not exist."
-The Church replied that the begetting of the Jesus was not an event in time, but an eternal relationship.
God from God, Light from Light,
-It was commonly thought that light was something instantaneous.
-Thus, there was no difference from the time that light left the sun until it hit the earth.
-The rays of light come from the sun, and not vice versa.
-The sun doesn’t come from light - they both exist at the same time.
-IMAGINE that the sun has always existed, and always emitted light. The Light, then, comes from the sun, but the Light and the
sun exist at the same time throughout eternity.
-They are co-eternal = he Son exists because the Father exists, but there was never a time before the Father produced the Son.
-The analogy is further appropriate because we can know the sun only through the rays of light that it emits. To see the sunlight
is to see the sun. Just so, Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
-This line was inserted by way of repudiating Arius's teaching that the Son was the first thing that the Father created, and that to
say that the Father begets the Son is simply another way of saying that the Father has created the Son.
-It is true that an earthly son is younger than his father, and that there is a time when he is not yet what he will be.
-God is not in time.
-So, when we say that the Son is begotten of the Father, we do not refer to an event in time.
one in being with the Father.
-“being” means Substance or Essence
-This was the most important part of refuting Arius because it was the one formula that the Arians could not interpret as
meaning what they believed.
-Without this phrase they could have said there was room for their position inside the tent of Christian doctrine
-Arius and his immediate followers would have denied that they were reducing the Son to the position of a high-ranking angel.
-This language is still important today.
-We say three persons in one being, substance or essence = 3 persons – 1 God.
Through him all things were made.
-direct quote from John 1:3.
-While will generally say that the Father creates, the son redeems and the HS makes holy or sanctifies…all three persons do all
three things.
-Speaking of a divine action in relationship to only one divine person is called “appropriation”.
For us men and for our salvation
-This is in effect the Gospel – the “good news”
he came down from heaven:
-Thus, he already existed before his humanity was created in the Incarnation.
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.
-This emphasizes his humanity here…but notice here that there is a subtraction from the apostles creed
-What is missing – “he descended into hell.”
-Apparently by the time of Nicea, it was no longer necessary to spell out unmistakably, that Christ had truly died.
-“Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in
Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether
evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows
through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom": "It is precisely these holy
souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."
Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who
had gone before him.” – CCC 633
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
-“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;” -1 Corinthians 15:4
-Christ fulfilled the promises found in the Old Testament.
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
-Without the Ascension there is no Pentecost.
-“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go,
I will send him to you.” -John 16:7
-“Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator
who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” CCC 667
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
-“From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and
began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get
behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." – Matt
16: 21-23
-The Kingdom of God is the reign of God.
-It has started when Jesus became man and continues in the Church today.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
-Now we get to the third person of the Trinity, the HS.
-He also is Lord – but he rules only over that which we allow him to in our lives.
-He is the giver of life – physically and spiritually.
-“proceeds” means the HS he comes from both Father and Son. No beginning though.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
-This phrase was to make sure that we know he is God, who alone we worship.
-We give God what we owe him – worship.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
-This line was directed against the view that the Holy Spirit did not exist, or was not active, before Pentecost.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
-These are called the four “marks” of the Church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
-The Church completes the mission of Christ through the power of the HS until JC comes again.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
-Only one valid baptism
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN.
-This is what we have to look forward to…life in heaven.
-“Thus the Creed's final "Amen" repeats and confirms its first words: "I believe." To believe is to say "Amen" to God's
words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the "Amen" of infinite love and
perfect faithfulness. The Christian's everyday life will then be the "Amen" to the "I believe" of our baptismal
profession of faith: May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if you believe everything
you say you believe. And rejoice in your faith each day.” – CCC 1064
The Apostles’ Creed
The Nicene Creed
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
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.
He was conceived by the
power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again.
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 to judge the living and
the dead.
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.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
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.
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.