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The Ecumenical Creeds:
The
Ecumenical Creeds – The Apostle's Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed – have
remained standard creeds for the majority of Christians since early
years of the Church. These creeds put in verbal form what is held as the
Church's central convictions. Our use of the creeds in the worship
service enables the congregation to view and review the whole horizon
of the Church's belief.
A creed is a confession of faith for public use or a form of words
setting forth with authority certain articles of belief. As Lutherans, we believe the Creeds do not
precede faith, but follow it, expressing the convictions of the
believer towards Christ and His Word.
The Ecumenical Creeds were used as summaries of doctrine, a means of instruction, safeguards against error, and bonds of union. These Creeds outline and help preserve, in balanced proportion, Christianity's fundamental beliefs; they stand as witnesses to the perpetuity, the unity and the universality of Christian faith; they bind Christians to one another, and to the faithful of all centuries. Many such platforms and statements are formulated in modern times, though none has attained the same paramount importance as the Ecumenical Creeds.
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.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of
the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of
very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation,
came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the
Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under
Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose
again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and
sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with
glory to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who
proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son
together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I
believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one
Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of
the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Athanasian Creed
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold
the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and
undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the
Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty
coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy
Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost
uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and
the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal,
and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, but
one Eternal. As there are not three Uncreated nor three
Incomprehensibles, but one Uncreated and one Incomprehensible. So
likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost
almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So
the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet
they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord,
the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one
Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to
acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, So are we
forbidden by the catholic religion to say, There be three Gods, or
three Lords.
The Father is made of none: neither created nor begotten. The Son is of
the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost
is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor
begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers;
one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in
this Trinity none is before or after other; none is greater or less
than another; But the whole three Persons are coeternal together, and
coequal: so that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity
and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped. He, therefore, that will
be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also
believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the
right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father,
begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother,
born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul
and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His
Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood; Who,
although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ: One, not
by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into
God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of
Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man
is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell,
rose again the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He
sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He
shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men
shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their
own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting;
and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.
This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and
firmly, he cannot be saved.
*In the creeds, use of the word "catholic" means "universal" and is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church.
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