Creeds & Councils

Why the words are so precise

A creed reads like abstract philosophy until you know what each line was answering. Nearly every clause exists because somebody taught something the church concluded was false, and the words were chosen to close that door and no other. Read with the questions restored, a creed becomes a record of arguments already had.

The Apostles' Creed

Its earliest forms go back to the second century; the wording settled by about the eighth

The shortest of the ancient creeds, and the one most Christians learn first. It began as a set of questions put to candidates at baptism, which is why it is arranged in three parts around Father, Son, and Spirit.

Used at baptism from very early on, and recited today in , Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and many other services. Not written by the apostles, despite the name, but held to summarize their teaching.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Against those who separated the Creator of the material world from the God of Jesus, and treated matter as a mistake.

I believe 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;

The naming of a Roman official fixes the claim in datable history rather than myth, and the piling up of died and was buried counters any suggestion that he only appeared to suffer.

he descended to the dead.

One of the most discussed lines. Traditions differ on whether it means the grave, the realm of the dead, or a proclamation there.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

Catholic here means universal, not the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants who recite this are affirming one worldwide church.

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Of the body, deliberately. Against the idea that salvation is escape from physical existence into a purely spiritual state.

The Nicene Creed

Nicaea 325, expanded at Constantinople 381

This is the creed written in the middle of an argument. A priest in Alexandria named Arius taught that the Son was the highest of created beings, made by the Father before time, so that there was a point at which the Son did not exist. The council's answer is the reason nearly every clause about the Son is doubled and re-doubled: it was closing a door that kept being pushed open.

The most widely shared statement in Christianity, recited in Catholic, , Anglican, Lutheran, and many other , and accepted by most Protestant traditions that do not recite it weekly.

We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages;

, not made, and before all ages: there was never a time when the Son was not.

Light from Light, true God from true God,

Light from light is the analogy that carried the argument. A flame lit from a flame is not less fire, and there is no moment when the first has light and the second does not.

begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father;

The decisive phrase. The Greek homoousios, of one essence, was chosen precisely because Arius could not sign it. A rival party wanted homoiousios, of similar essence, differing by one letter.

through whom all things were made.

The Son is on the Creator's side of the line between Creator and creation, not the highest item within creation.

Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

and he will come again with glory to judge 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,

Added in 381, when the argument had moved on to whether the Spirit was also fully divine. Calling the Spirit Lord and giver of life settles it without repeating the Nicene vocabulary.

who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified;

The practical test. Whatever the philosophy, the church already prayed to the Spirit, and worship is owed to God alone.

who spoke through the prophets.

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 age to come. Amen.

Worth knowing

One clause divides East and West. Western churches later added , meaning and the Son, to the line about the Spirit's procession. The East objected both to the theology and to the fact that a shared had been altered without a shared council. It remains a live issue in Catholic and Orthodox dialogue, and the version above gives the original wording.

The Definition of Chalcedon

451

Nicaea settled that the Son is fully God. Chalcedon answers the next question: how can one person be fully God and fully human at once? Its method is notable. It does not explain the mechanism. It marks out four boundaries and leaves the mystery inside them.

Received by Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches as the standard account of how Christ can be both God and man. Not received by the Oriental Orthodox churches, who dispute the wording rather than, they argue, the substance.

One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, acknowledged in two natures,

without confusion,

Against mixing the two natures into a third thing that is neither God nor man.

without change,

Against the divine nature being altered or diminished by the .

without division,

Against separating him into two persons who cooperate, so that the man Jesus and the divine Son are two subjects.

without separation;

Against any suggestion that the union is temporary or partial.

the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person.

Worth knowing

The four negatives are the whole achievement. The council was clear that it could say where the truth is not, and declined to say how the union works. That restraint is itself a model of how doctrine can guard a mystery without dissolving it.

The councils

Each was called because a question had become urgent. The rejected position is stated as fairly as the accepted one, because the people who held it were usually trying to protect something real.

First Council of Nicaea

325

Nicaea, in modern Turkey

The question: Is the Son fully God, or the first and highest of created things?

Decided: The Son is of one essence with the Father, begotten and not made. The first form of the Nicene Creed.

Rejected: Arianism, which held that the Son was created by the Father before time and was therefore not eternal in the same sense. Arius was not a fool or a cynic; his concern was to protect the oneness of God, and his position was popular enough to dominate for decades after the council.

Received by: All traditions.

First Council of Constantinople

381

Constantinople

The question: Is the Holy Spirit fully God?

Decided: The Spirit is Lord and giver of life, worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The creed reached the form most churches recite.

Rejected: The view that the Spirit was a created power rather than fully divine.

Received by: All traditions.

The Council of Ephesus

431

Ephesus

The question: Is Mary rightly called Theotokos, God-bearer?

Decided: Yes, because the one she bore is one person who is God. The title is a statement about Christ before it is a statement about Mary.

Rejected: Nestorianism, understood as dividing Christ into two persons. Whether Nestorius actually taught what was condemned is still argued by historians.

Received by: Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches. The Assyrian Church of the East does not receive it.

The Council of Chalcedon

451

Chalcedon

The question: How are the divine and human natures related in one Christ?

Decided: Two natures in one person, without confusion, change, division, or separation.

Rejected: Eutychianism, which held that the human nature was absorbed into the divine so that Christ had one nature after the union.

Received by: Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches. The Oriental Orthodox churches, including the Coptic, Armenian, and Ethiopian, did not accept the wording, and modern dialogue has concluded the difference is largely terminological.

Second Council of Nicaea

787

Nicaea

The question: May Christians make and venerate images?

Decided: Yes. Images may be venerated, with honor passing to the one represented, while worship belongs to God alone.

Rejected: Iconoclasm, which held that images inevitably become idols.

Received by: Catholic and Orthodox churches. Most Protestants do not treat it as binding, and Reformed traditions in particular kept the iconoclast concern.

The Council of Trent

1545 to 1563

Trent, in northern Italy

The question: How should the Catholic Church answer the Reformation?

Decided: Defined justification, the seven sacraments, and the canon including the deuterocanonical books, and reformed a range of clerical abuses.

Rejected: The Reformation formulations of justification by faith alone and Scripture alone.

Received by: Catholic. Protestants regard it as the point at which the division was formalized.

Second Council of Vatican

1962 to 1965

Rome

The question: How does the Catholic Church relate to the modern world and to other Christians?

Decided: Liturgy in the vernacular, a renewed emphasis on Scripture, and a markedly warmer stance toward other Christians and other faiths.

Rejected: No new condemnations of doctrine; it was a pastoral council rather than a defining one.

Received by: Catholic. Widely noted by other traditions as the change that made much modern ecumenical conversation possible.

The Reformation solas

Not a creed, and not a list anyone wrote down at the time. They are a later summary of what the Reformers were contending for, and they function for many Protestants the way a creed does.

Sola ScripturaScripture alone

Scripture is the only infallible authority. Tradition and councils are valued and can err. See the article on where authority comes from for how Catholic and Orthodox traditions answer this.

Sola FideFaith alone

A person is justified through faith, not by works. The Catholic answer is that faith is never alone, and the 1999 Joint Declaration between Lutherans and Catholics found more agreement here than five centuries of argument suggested.

Sola GratiaGrace alone

Salvation is God's gift, not earned. This one was never really the point of disagreement, which is worth knowing.

Solus ChristusChrist alone

One mediator between God and humanity.

Soli Deo GloriaTo the glory of God alone

Bach signed his manuscripts with the initials.

Creed texts are given in standard public domain English. Where the wording differs between traditions, the note says so.