The Nicene Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters: Class 2

1. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
January 25, 2015

2. We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, 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 with 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 and the Son. 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.

3.  January 25: God the Father
 February 1: God the Son
 February 15: God the Holy Spirit

4. The first mention of the expression
"Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of
390 from a synod in Milan and may
have been associated with the belief,
widely accepted in the 4th century,
that, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, each of the Twelve Apostles
contributed an article of a creed.

5.  The Nicene Creed was adopted in the face of the
Arian controversy. Arius, a Libyan presbyter in
Alexandria, had declared that although the Son
was divine, he was a created being and therefore
not co-essential with the Father, and "there was
when he was not.
 The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the
co-essential divinity of the Son,
applying to him the term
"consubstantial". The 381 version
speaks of the Holy Spirit as
worshipped and glorified with the
Father and the Son.

6. It is the only authoritative ecumenical
statement of the Christian faith accepted by
the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and the major
Protestant denominations.
But there are other Creeds…

7. Antagonist in films Rocky I and Rocky II, later
a trainer to boxer Rocky Balboa in the film
Rocky III. (As a fictional character, Apollo
Creed is not recognized by the orthodox,
catholic, or protestant churhes).

8. We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
Table Conversation:
1. What do we mean when we say we believe in
“one” God?
2. Why does the Creed refer to God with the
title “Father”

9.  Why does the Creed refer to God as Father?

10.  Why does the Creed refer to God as Father?
 There are only a few passages in the Hebrew
Bible that refer to God as father.
 Isaiah 64:8 is one of them: “Yet, O LORD, you
are our Father; we are the clay, and you are
our potter; we are the work of your hand.
 In the New Testament, the title “Father”
appears more frequently as Jesus calls God
father.

11.  Why does the Creed refer to God as Father?
 By referring to “one God, the Father” the Creed
states as briefly as possible the character of God
that is revealed to us through Christ.
 This begs the question: it speaking of God in
male terms hurtful to women? In the history of
the church (sadly) gender –exclusive language
has been used to support sexism in the church.

12.  How do we remedy gender exclusive
language in the Creed? There are several
options:
◦ 1. We could remove gendered language about God
altogether from the prayer book.
◦ 2. We could replace all the male language with
female language, but the problem with that is
that it is just as exclusive as our current
problem.

13.  How do we remedy gender exclusive
language in the Creed? There are several
options:
 3. We could supplement male names with
female names.
Eucharistic Prayer C: “Lord God of our
Fathers; God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob” ADD “Sarah, Rachel, and
Rebekah”

14.  Luke Timothy Johnson argues against
incorporating this new language into the
Creed and liturgy of the church.
 I disagree with him on both accounts.
Personally, I lead toward more inclusive
language on all fronts, but you won’t hear me
do much of it until a new version of the
prayer book is released that includes this type
of language.
 I’m a bit of a liturgical purist…

15.  The Greek word for almighty is pantokrator. This
icon, of Christ the pantokrator, depicts Christ as
almighty, ruler of the universe.
 When we say that Christ or God is almighty, we are
saying that God is all powerful, that God can do what
God wants to do. There are no limits to
God’s power.
If we say in the Creed that God
is all powerful, how do we
account for the evil in the
world?

16.  How do account for evil in a world where God is
Almighty? Luke Timothy Johnson’s response:
“ When we stop looking at the mystery as though it
were a problem to solve, and accept the mystery as
that which has caught us up, that which defines us,
and that within which we celebrate and suffer our
human existence, then we can begin to think how the
reality of human freedom and the presence of evil
might not be the contradiction of God’s power, but
part of its fullest expression…God’s goodness is
shown to its most astounding perfection in God’s
power to draw good even from what creatures
experience as evil.”

17.  So, in the Creed, we
confess God’s
absolute power,
even when we see all
around us ways in
which that power
does not seem to be
present.

18.  February 1 : God the Son