Credimus in unum deum….
THE CREED
COUNCIL OF NICAEA I
COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE I
WHY CONSIDER DEVELOPMENT?
• MOVEMENT: “Go forth from the land …and
you will be a blessing to all the families…”Gen 12/1-3
• GROWTH: “The kingdom of heaven/reign of
god is like a mustard seed….” MT 13:31
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast….”MT 13:33
• ADAPTATION: “…we ought to stop troubling
the Gentiles who turn to God…” Acts 15:19
KATAHOLIKE
“Although founded on the rock of Peter, the church of
the (New testament) was diverse and pluralistic in
character. Despite many differences from place to
place, however, certain common elements of belief
and practice existed: faith in Jesus as Messiah and
Lord, the practice of baptism and the celebration of
the Eucharist, the apostolic preaching and
instruction, the practice of communal love, and the
expectation of the coming reign of God. There was
freedom in all other matters.” R. McBrien. HCEC
243.
WHY THE CREED?
•
•
•
•
•
•
SOME IMPORTANT FACTORS
ISSUES IN POST-APOSTOLIC WORLD
TRANSITION FROM JUDAIC TO GREEK &
ROMAN CULTURE
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
KERYGMA-CATECHESIS-THEOLOGY
PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS
GROWTH OF CHRISTIAN POPULATION
WHY THE CREED?
• IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH (d. c. 107) points to
the importance of kataholikos
• KEEPING CONNECTED DESPITE DISTANCES
• DEVELOPING LITURGICAL TRADITIONS
• CONSOLIDATION OF THE NT CANON
• IMPACT OF NEW CHALLENGES AND DIVERSE
APPROACHES IN TEACHING AND PRACTICE
• SYNCRETISM, ADAPTATION, AUTHORITY
Table 1.1
Christian Growth Projected at 40 Percent per Decade
Year
Number of Christians
Percent of Populationa
40
1,000
0.0017
50
1,400
0.0023
100
7,530
0.0126
150
40,496
0.07
200
217,795
0.36
250
1,171,356
1.9
300
6,299,832
10.5
350
33,882.008
56.5
_____________________________________________________________________________________
a Based
on an estimated population of 60 million
SOURCES OF THE CREED
• Scripture
• Liturgical and Sacramental
Formulae (esp. baptismal)
• Regional and Local Creeds
• Episcopal Catechesis
• Theological Works
‘PISTIS’,’PISTEUOMEN’
BELIEVE
BE-LOEF (Anglo-Saxon, English)
–“beloved,” “to hold dear
–Akin to German belieben, “prefer,”
“give Allegiance to”
CREDO-CREDIMUS-CREDERE
I give my heart to,”
–“We give our hearts to,”
–“to give one’s heart to”
–Cor, cordis = “heart”
(cf. ac-cord, con-cord)
–“
‘FIDES,’ ‘FIDERE’
•
•
•
•
French Fei, “faith”
No English verb derived from fidere
Came into English between 1300s and 1600s
Implies trust, confidence, fundamental
acceptance
• Ordered to person rather than thing
Nicaea I 325
Constantinople I 381
• PROFESSION OF FAITH OF THE
300 FATHERS
• KERYGMA = PROCLAMATION
• CATECHESIS = INSTRUCTION
• THEOLOGY= “Fides quarens
intellectum”(“Faith seeking understanding.”)
A THOUGHT TO CONSIDER
WHAT SORTS OF
DEVELOPMENTS WILL
COME ABOUT IN THE NEW
GLOBALIZING
ENVIRONMENT?
Table 1.1
Christian Growth Projected at 40 Percent per Decade
Year
Number of Christians
Percent of Populationa
40
1,000
0.0017
50
1,400
0.0023
100
7,530
0.0126
150
40,496
0.07
200
217,795
0.36
250
1,171,356
1.9
300
6,299,832
10.5
350
33,882.008
56.5
_____________________________________________________________________________________
a Based
on an estimated population of 60 million
A FEW STATS
• Christianity: 2.1 billion
• Islam: 1.5 billion
• Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1
billion
• Hinduism: 900 million
• Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
• Buddhism: 376 million
• primal-indigenous: 300 million
GLOBAL CHRISTIAN STATS
Catholic Christian- 1.2 billion
Latin Catholic - 1,149.6 million
Eastern Catholic - 16.1 million
Protestant Christian- 670 million
Orthodox Christian- 230 million
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_
members
THEN AND NOW
1ST TO 4TH CENTURY ROMAN EMPIRE
60, 000, 000
CURENT WORLD POPULATION
MORE THAN 1000 TIMES THAT