CREEDAL FAITH
by The Rev. Canon James T. Irvine
People come to faith in a community that helps nurture and sustain that faith.
In the beginning a simple confession of faith assured others within the
Christian Community of a conviction on the part of the believer.
The confession of St. Peter provides us with an insight that has helped shape the mind of the Church in every generation. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the account.
Jesus is with his disciples, and he asks them: "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?"
They answered :
"Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
"And you," He asked, "who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered:
"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
(Matthew 16:13-16)
St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, provides us with what is perhaps the earliest statement of faith for the Christian Community.
God raised Him [Jesus] to the heights and bestowed on him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow - in heaven, on earth, and in the depths - and every tongue confess, 'Jesus Christ is Lord', to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
St. Luke, writing the account of the Acts of the Apostles, records the encounter of Philip and the Ethiopian official on the desert road. The official was reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip guided the man's understanding and beginning with Isaiah he told him about the good news of Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water. "Look," said the eunuch, "here is water: what is to prevent me from being baptized?"
Philip said, "If you whole-heartedly believe, it is permitted." He replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God," and he ordered the carriage to stop. They both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (Acts 8: 35-38)
People come to faith in a community that helps nurture and sustain that faith. In the beginning a simple confession of faith assured others within the Christian Community of a conviction on the part of the believer. The experiences of Peter, of Paul, of the Ethiopian Official -- help to affirm the person of Jesus Christ in the wider experience of the Community. The Community drew up short summaries of what the universal experience of Christians has shown to be necessary. As the Community came to be opposed by false interpretations of Scripture, statements of faith were enlarged to exclude them: but they never included any statement which had not been found to be necessary to help express the common experience of the revelation of God in Christ. These Creeds, statements of faith developed by the community, are necessary for two reasons.
First, the revelation of God must be preserved against the corruption of time. And second, the revelation of God must be preserved against the distortions caused by the different outlooks of different races, classes and persons. The Creeds give expression to a unity of common experience and insight whereby we have both a summary of the faith shared by members of the community, as well as the test for orthodoxy of belief.
The Creeds are not independent of Holy Scripture. They are not something we hold as an additional source of our knowledge of God's revelation. Rather, the Creeds have been accepted by the whole Church as representing fairly the teaching of Scripture. While the language of the Creeds may possibly change, what they say may not be changed. The essential truths of Divine Revelation are presented faithfully for every generation to hold firm. What the Scriptures proclaim the Creeds affirm, and we believe, as a community brought together in a common experience, in Jesus; not isolated in time, but recognizing that God's revelation discloses itself to every generation.
The Creeds deal with material partly outside human knowledge, and we can only speak of them in symbolic language. Our understanding of the nature of God, and the relationship of Jesus to the essential nature of Divinity cannot be described adequately in human words; we have to rely on symbolic terms to help us express the reality that is outside our experience.
But when we say that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that he was crucified, and that he rose again from the dead on the third day -- we are not using symbolic language. The manner of his birth, the manner of his resurrection, is a mystery; but that he was born without the agency of a human father is a statement of fact that the community has held as a reality of the revelation of God in Christ. And when we say that on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead, we mean that His body left the grave on the Sunday after he died; we do not mean that he survived death because that is precisely the error that is excluded with the words "on the third day".
St. Paul reminds us as of this in his first letter to the community of Faith in Corinth:
Now if this is what we proclaim, that Christ was raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there be no resurrection, then Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not raised, then our gospel is null and void, and so is your faith; and we turn out to be lying witnesses for God. (1 Corinthians 15: 12-15)
The profession of faith -- the test for "right" belief -- the Creeds ensure and guard our unity in Jesus Christ.
Our Catechism asks what we chiefly learn in these Articles of Belief. Our response is echoed in every generation: I learn to have faith in the one true God: in God the Father, who made me and all the world; in God the Son, who redeemed me and all mankind; and in God the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies me and all the people of God.
As the people of God we affirm who God in Christ is for us in the creedal affirmations that have been subscribed to by each one coming to faith in community. Our proclamation comes out of community and is made in community. Our proclamation affirms the faith held by a community, indeed gives definition to our community. From the fourth century we have affirmed that the nature of the community is characterized by the words One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
The nature of Jesus is perceived to be a reality in the experience of the faithful Community in every age. Paul's image of the community, the Church, was that of the Body of Christ. Those qualities whereby we are able to recognize Jesus are seen to be operative in the dynamic society of the faith community. Our unity is found in him, and is able to be shared by a common conviction of each one in the revelation of God in Christ held by all of us. Our sanctity is not an accumulation of the virtue gathered together at any time, but the nature of God in Christ in us as the people of God. Our wholeness is seen in the comprehensive declaration of faith in the whole Gospel of Christ, in the acceptance of the reality of the mighty acts of God in the redemption of His creation. And our apostolate, our sense of mission and ministry, is an extension of Jesus' ministry for which he was sent.
As Anglicans we look to the Creeds to provide us with an opportunity to declare ourselves as faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Anglicans we look to the Creeds to provide us with the test of our correct belief, consistent with the teachings of Holy Scripture and as seen as the collective experience of the people of God in every generation. We do not believe in the Creeds; rather, the Creeds declare what it is that we believe in.
Let us confess our faith, as we say:
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, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day He rose again in accordance to 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. 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.
(Book of Alternative Services, page 188f.)
The Creeds deal with material partly outside human knowledge, and we can only speak of them in symbolic language. Our understanding of the nature of God, and the relationship of Jesus to the essential nature of Divinity cannot be described adequately in human words; we have to rely on symbolic terms to help us express the reality that is outside our experience.
But when we say that Jesus was born of a Virgin, that He was crucified, and that He rose again from tech dead on the third day - we are not using symbolic language. The manner of His birth, the manner of His resurrection, is a mystery; but that He was born without the agency of a human father is a statement of fact that the community has held as a reality of the revelation of God in Christ. And when we say that on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead, we mean that His body left the grave on the Sunday after he died; we do not mean that He survived death because that is precisely the error that is excluded with the words "on the third day".