Creed

depicting Emperor Constantine (center) and the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381]] A creed is a statement of belief—usually religious belief or faith—often recited as part of a religious service. The word derives from the for "I believe" (because the Latin translation of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed both begin with this word). A creed is sometimes referred to as a symbol (, sýmbolo[n]), signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other.

One of the most widely used creeds in Christianity is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea. It was based on Christian understanding of the Canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Affirmation of this creed, which describes the Trinity, is generally taken as a fundamental test of orthodoxy for most Christian denominations. The Apostles' Creed is also broadly accepted. Some Christian denominations and other groups have rejected the authority of those creeds.

Whether Judaism is creedal has been a point of some controversy. Though some say Judaism is noncreedal in nature, others say it recognizes a single creed, the Shema which begins: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one."

Muslims declare the shahada, or testimony: "I bear witness that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is His messenger."

The terms "creed" and "faith" are sometimes used to mean religion. Where "creed" appears alongside "religion" or "faith," it can also refer to a person's political or social beliefs, for example The American's Creed.

Pope Paul VI published on June 30, 1968 a profession of faith or creed, called the Credo of the People of God.

Christian creed

From Early Christianity sub streams of Christianity evolved, each with their own beliefs.

Some prominent groups as identified by Professor Bellinzoni, are:

Pauline Christianity

Johannine Christianity

Gnostic Christianity and

Jewish Christianity

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed is widely used by most Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheranism, the Anglican Communion, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed reflects the concerns of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 which had as their chief purpose to establish what Christians believed.

A creed as a denial of heresies

In an atmosphere of increasingly complicated theological controversy, orthodox belief might become more complicated in outline. In the decade before 594, Gregory, bishop of Tours set out to write a "History of the Franks." In Gaul, a part of Europe that had been recently beset with both royal Arians and pagans (until the conversion of Clovis), Gregory prefaced his history with a declaration of his faith, "so that my reader may have no doubt that I am Catholic for they are." The confession is in many phrases, each of which refutes a specific Christian heresy. Thus Gregory's creed presents, in the negative, a virtual litany of heresies:

Christians without creeds

Some Christian denominations, and particularly those descending from the Radical Reformation, do not profess a creed. The Quakers, formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, find no need for creedal formulations of faith. The Church of the Brethren also espouses no creed, referring to the New Testament, as their "rule of faith and practice." Jehovah's Witnesses contrast "memorizing or repeating creeds" with acting to "do what Jesus said". Unitarian Universalists, who practice probably the most liberal of all religions, do not share a creed.

Many evangelical Protestants similarly reject creeds as definitive statements faith, even while agreeing with some creeds' substance. The Baptists have been non-creedal "in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another". While many Baptists are not opposed to the ancient creeds, they regard them as "not so final that they cannot be revised and re-expressed. At best, creeds have a penultimacy about them and, of themselves, could never be the basis of Christian fellowship".

Jewish creed

Whether Judaism is creedal in character has generated some controversy. Rabbi Milton Steinberg wrote that "By its nature Judaism is averse to formal creeds which of necessity limit and restrain thought" and asserted in his book Basic Judaism (1947) that "Judaism has never arrived at a creed." The 1976 Centenary Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, an organization of Reform rabbis agrees that "Judaism emphasizes action rather than creed as the primary expression of a religious life."

Others, however, characterize the Shema Yisrael as a creedal statement in strict monotheism embodied in a single prayer. "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (; transliterated Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.) It is recited twice daily by all observant Jews, once when waking up, and once when going to bed.

Islamic creed

The Islamic creed is the Shahadah, the proclamation لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله (lâ ilâha illallâh, Muḥammadur rasûlullâh – "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.") Taking this creed is one of the five pillars of Islam.

See also

Articles of Faith

Athanasian Creed

Book of Concord

Chalcedonian Creed

Credo

Masai Creed

Non-creedalism

Social Creed (Methodist)

Statement of faith

Thirty-Nine Articles

Tridentine Creed

Westminster Confession of Faith

Further reading

Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Valerie Hotchkiss. Published by Yale University Press in 2003.

References

External links

The Creeds of Christendom - A website linking to many formal Christian declarations of faith.

Creeds and Canons - A Guide to Early Church Documents from Internet Christian Library

ICP Website International Creed for Peace

Category:Belief Category:Statements (religion) Category:Religious belief and doctrine Category:Religious terminology