This page records a few of the creedal statements from ancient Christians that I believe are particularly valuable for study today. As a believer in Sola Scriptura, I do not believe that these statements are inspired; therefore, I do not believe they are authoritative the way that Scripture is. However, they are powerful statements of Biblical truth that are a vital part of our history. When evangelicals ignore church history, we shortchange ourselves. For that reason, I have offered these along with summaries of why they were written.
It is worth noting that several of these statements reference the catholic church or the catholic faith. This is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church. This term is derived from the Greek word καθολικος (katholikos), meaning universal. In this sense, the catholic church is the fellowship of all true Christians and the catholic faith is the set of beliefs that are held in common by historical Christianity. These statements refer to the bonds that unite all Christians across our denominational lines and mark the border between orthodox and heretical. With that in view, these references to the catholic church or faith seem to mean something very similar to what Richard Baxter and C.S. Lewis meant with the term “mere Christianity.”
The Apostles' Creed
The Apostles’ Creed is one of the oldest systematic statements of Christian doctrine. Though it did not achieve its current form until around the 400s AD, its roots reach back much further, to within a generation or two after the Resurrection. It was intended as a summary of Christian teaching, one that could be used to instruct new believers and memorized by those undergoing baptism.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades,1This was a Greek term for the dwelling place of the dead; in this context, it seems to refer to the time He spent in the grave and does not suggest that He suffered in hell to complete the work of atonement as some teach today. and the third day, He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there, He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
The holy catholic2This term means universal; in this context, it refers to the body of all believers not specifically to the Roman Catholic Church. church,
The communion of saints;
The forgiveness of sins;
The resurrection of the body;
And life everlasting.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed was adopted by churches throughout the Roman Empire at the First Council of Nicea in AD 325. It was later expanded at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381. During this period of history, orthodox Christianity was challenged by a heresy called Arianism which taught that Jesus was created by the Father and was less than fully God. This creed elaborates on this area of The Apostles’ Creed in order to clarify the Christian understanding of Jesus’ deity and definitively state that Arianism is not a Christian teaching.
We 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, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not created, 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 incarnated by the Holy Spirit, of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried, and the third day, He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven, and He sits at the right hand of the Father; from there, He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spoke by the prophets.
In one holy, catholic,3This term means universal; in this context, it refers to the body of all believers not specifically to the Roman Catholic Church. and apostolic church;
We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;4This does not suggest that baptism saves us or contributes to our salvation; instead, it echoes Biblical language and refers to the early church’s understanding that baptism was an outward reflection of the repentance and faith that a required for the remission of sin.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
The Chalcedonian Creed
The Chalcedonian Creed was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Many of the prominent heresies of that time challenged the orthodox understanding of Jesus’ nature, claiming that He was something other than what the Scriptures showed Him to be. The Nestorians taught that Jesus was two persons (one human and one divine) in one body. The Apollinarians taught that Jesus had a human body and soul, but that a divine mind had inhabited this, making Him become Christ. The Eutychians taught that Jesus’ human and divine natures fused into a third nature that was not quite either of the other two. Docetists taught that Jesus was truly God but only appeared to be human. And the Arians continued to teach that Jesus was not quite fully God. Each of these heresies, and others like them, had serious implications on the way we understand the Gospel. For that reason, orthodox leaders gathered and crafted this creed as a clear statement on the nature of Jesus.
We, then, following the holy fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in godhood and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to His godhood, and consubstantial with us according to His manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to His godhood, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to His manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, as the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and as the creed of the holy fathers has handed down to us.
The Athanasian Creed
Despite the name, The Athanasian Creed probably was not written by Athanasius of Alexandria—though it is in line with what he taught. It seems to have developed sometime around the 400s-500s as a response to the same heresies addressed by The Chalcedonian Creed, as well as heretical movements like Sabellianism, Monarchianism, and Patripassianism, which explicitly denied the Trinity. This statement explains the orthodox understanding of God’s triune nature and restates the Christological aspects of The Nicene Creed, arguing that one cannot reject these tenets and be a Christian.
Whosoever will be saved—before all things, it is necessary that he holds the catholic5This term means universal; in this context, it refers to the common faith held by all Christians, not specifically to the Roman Catholic Church. faith: which, unless one keeps it whole and undefiled, without doubt, he will 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 their essence. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, their glory equal, their majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit; the Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated; the Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite; the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated, nor three infinites, but one uncreated and one infinite. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, and the Holy Spirit is almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. And yet there are not three lords, but one Lord.
For just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the catholic faith to say that there are three gods or three lords. The Father is made by no one: neither created, nor begotten. The Son is begotten of the Father alone, not made, nor created. The Holy Spirit is proceeding from the Father and the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity, no one is before or after another; no one is greater or less than another. But all three Persons are co-eternal and co-equal. So that in all things, as before said: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshiped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe truly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the true faith—which we believe and confess—is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of the essence of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the essence of His mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father, with respect to His godhood, and inferior to the Father, with respect to His manhood; Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by the assumption of the manhood into God; One altogether, not by confusion of essence, but by unity of Person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hades,6This was a Greek term for the dwelling place of the dead; in this context, it seems to refer to the time He spent in the grave and does not suggest that He suffered in hell to complete the work of atonement as some teach today. and rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there, He will come to judge the living and the dead; at Whose coming, all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for 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, unless a man truly believes, he cannot be saved.