Acreed, also known as aconfession of faith, asymbol, or astatement of faith, is a statement of the sharedbeliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarize its core tenets.
The termcreed is sometimes extended to comparable concepts in non-Christian theologies. The Islamic concept ofʿaqīdah (literally "bond, tie") is often rendered as "creed".[1]
The earliest known creed inChristianity, "Jesus is Lord", originated in the writings ofPaul the Apostle.[2] One of the most significant and widely used Christian creeds is theNicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at theFirst Council of Nicaea[3] to affirm the deity of Christ and revised at theFirst Council of Constantinople in AD 381 to affirm the trinity as a whole.[4] The creed was further affirmed in 431 by the Chalcedonian Definition, which clarified the doctrine of Christ.[4] Affirmation of this creed, which describes theTrinity, is often taken as a fundamental test oforthodoxy by manyChristian denominations, and was historically purposed againstArianism.[5] The Apostles' Creed, another early creed which concisely details the trinity, virgin birth, crucifixion, and resurrection, is most popular withinwestern Christianity, and is widely used in Christianchurch services.
InIslamic theology, the term most closely corresponding to "creed" isʿaqīdah (عقيدة).[1]
The wordcreed is particularly used for a concise statement which is recited as part ofliturgy. The term is anglicized from Latincredo "I believe", theincipit of the Latin texts of theApostles' Creed and theNicene Creed. A creed is sometimes referred to as asymbol in a specialized meaning of that word (which was first introduced toLate Middle English in this sense), after Latinsymbolum "creed" (as inSymbolum Apostolorum = the "Apostles' Creed", a shorter version of the traditional Nicene Creed), after Greeksymbolon "token, watchword".[6]
ManyChristian denominations did not try to be too exhaustive in their confessions of faith and thus allow different opinions on some secondary topics.[10] In addition, some churches are open to revising their confession of faith when necessary. Moreover,Baptist "confessions of faith" have often had a clause such as this from theFirst London Baptist Confession (Revised edition, 1646):[11]
Also we confess that we now know but in part and that are ignorant of many things which we desire to and seek to know: and if any shall do us that friendly part to show us from the Word of God that we see not, we shall have cause to be thankful to God and to them.
Excommunication is a practice of theBible to exclude members who do not respect the Church's confession of faith and do not want to repent.[12] It is practiced by mostChristian denominations and is intended to protect against the consequences ofheretics' teachings andapostasy.[13]
TheReligious Society of Friends, the group known as theQuakers, was founded in the 17th century and is similarly non-creedal. They believe that such formal structures, “be they written words, steeple-houses or a clerical hierarchy,” cannot take the place of communal relationships and a shared connection with God.[16]
1 Corinthians 15:3–7 includes an early creed about Jesus' death and resurrection which was probably received by Paul. The antiquity of the creed has been located by most biblical scholars to no more than five years after Jesus' death, probably originating from theJerusalem apostolic community.[20]
TheOld Roman Creed is an earlier and shorter version of theApostles' Creed. It was based on the 2nd century Rules of Faith and the interrogatory declaration of faith for those receivingbaptism, which by the 4th century was everywhere tripartite in structure, following Matthew 28:19.
TheChalcedonian Creed was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor. It defines that Christ is 'acknowledged in two natures', which 'come together into one person and hypostasis'.
TheAthanasian Creed (Quicunque vult) is a Christian statement of belief focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. It is the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated and differs from the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds in the inclusion of anathemas, or condemnations of those who disagree with the Creed.
TheMaasai Creed is a creed composed in 1960 by theMaasai people of East Africa in collaboration with missionaries from theCongregation of the Holy Ghost. The creed attempts to express the essentials of the Christian faith within the Maasai culture.
TheCredo of the People of God is a confession of faith thatPope Paul VI published with themotu proprioSolemni hac liturgia of 30 June 1968. Pope Paul VI spoke of it as "a creed which, without being strictly speaking a dogmatic definition, repeats in substance, with some developments called for by the spiritual condition of our time, thecreed of Nicea, the creed of the immortal tradition of the holy Church of God."
In theSwiss Reformed Churches, there was a quarrel about the Apostles' Creed in the mid-19th century. As a result, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed.[31]
In 2005, BishopJohn Shelby Spong, retiredEpiscopal Bishop of Newark, has written that dogmas and creeds were merely "a stage in our development" and "part of our religious childhood." In his book,Sins of the Scripture, Spong wrote that "Jesus seemed to understand that no one can finally fit the holy God into his or her creeds or doctrines. That is idolatry."[32]
In Islamic theology, the term most closely corresponding to "creed" isʿaqīdah (عقيدة).[who?] The first such creed was written as "a short answer to the pressing heresies of the time" is known asAl-Fiqh Al-Akbar and ascribed toAbū Ḥanīfa.[34][35] Two well known creeds were theFiqh Akbar II[36] "representative" of theal-Ash'ari, andFiqh Akbar III, "representative" of theAsh-Shafi'i.[34]
RabbiMilton Steinberg wrote that "By its nature Judaism is averse to formal creeds which of necessity limit and restrain thought"[39] and asserted in his bookBasic Judaism (1947) that "Judaism has never arrived at a creed."[39] The 1976 Centenary Platform of theCentral Conference of American Rabbis, an organization ofReform rabbis, agrees that "Judaism emphasizes action rather than creed as the primary expression of a religious life."[40]
Still, the opening lines of the prayerShema Yisrael can be read as a creedal statement of strictmonotheism: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Hebrew:שמע ישראל אדני אלהינו אדני אחד;transliteratedShema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad).[41][42][43]
Following a debate that lasted more than twenty years, the National Conference of theAmerican Unitarian Association passed a resolution in 1894 that established the denomination as non-creedal.[45] The Unitarians later merged with theUniversalist Church of America to form theUnitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Instead of a creed, the UUA abides by a set of principles, such as “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning”.[46] It cites diverse sources of inspiration, including Christianity, Judaism,Humanism, andEarth-centered traditions.[47]
^abHalverson, J. (2010).Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. New York, NY: Springer. p. 39.ISBN978-1-349-28721-5.
^Harn, Roger van (2004).Exploring and Proclaiming the Apostles' Creed. A&C Black. p. 58.ISBN9780819281166.
^Hanson, Richard Patrick Crosland; Hanson, R. P. (2005).The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 AD. London: A&C Black.ISBN978-0-567-03092-4.
^abCone, Steven D.; Rea, Robert F. (2019).A Global Church History: The Great Tradition through Cultures, Continents and Centuries. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. lxxx.ISBN978-0-567-67305-3.
^see Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 66; R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) p. 81; Thomas Sheehan, First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (New York: Random House, 1986) pp. 110, 118; Ulrich Wilckens, Resurrection translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2; Hans Grass, Ostergeschen und Osterberichte, Second Edition (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p. 96; Grass favors the origin in Damascus.
^abChute, Anthony L.; Finn, Nathan A.; Haykin, Michael A. G. (2015).The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement. B&H Publishing Group.ISBN978-1-4336-8316-9.
^Coffey, John (29 May 2020).The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume I: The Post-Reformation Era, 1559-1689. Oxford University Press. p. 399.ISBN978-0-19-252098-2.
^A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Robert Barclay. Tract Association of the Society of Friends. 1827. p. 22.
^John Shelby Spong,The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love, Harper Collins, USA, 2005, p. 227
^ Morrison, Alexander B., "The Latter-day Saint Concept of Canon", Historicity and the Latter-day Saint Scriptures, Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center
^abGlasse, Cyril (2001). New Encyclopedia of Islam (Revised ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 105.
^Abu Hanifah An-Nu^man."Al- Fiqh Al-Akbar"(PDF). aicp.org.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2009-08-16. Retrieved14 March 2014.
Christian Confessions: a Historical Introduction, [by] Ted A. Campbell. First ed. xxi, 336 p. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996.ISBN0-664-25650-3
Creeds in the Making: a Short Introduction to the History of Christian Doctrine, [by]Alan Richardson. Reissued. London: S.C.M. Press, 1979, cop. 1935. 128 p.ISBN0-334-00264-8
Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions. Grand Rapids, Mich.: C.R.C. [i.e. Christian Reformed Church] Publications, 1987. 148 p.ISBN0-930265-34-3
The Three Forms of Unity (Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, [and the] Canons of Dordrecht), and the Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the Athanasian Creed, [and the] Creed of Chalcedon). Reprinted [ed.]. Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America, 1991. 58 p. Without ISBN
