Creedal statements and confessions from previous generations of Christians can be 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.”
Introduction
The Corinthian Creed circulated among the earliest Christians and was recorded in I Corinthians 15:3-7. It was already in use before Paul’s conversion, about two years after the crucifixion. There is a strong likelihood that this statement was in use within a couple of months of Jesus’ death—demonstrating that belief in the resurrection stretches back to Christianity’s earliest days. This creed used the credibility of surviving eyewitnesses to refute Judaism’s assertion that Jesus did not rise.
Text (NASB)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Introduction
Irenaeus of Lyon records the following statement in Against Heresies as a summary of the teachings of the early church. Some historians believe that this confession, The Rule of Faith, was recited by those undergoing baptism in the early church. Gnosticism taught secret knowledge, treated the God of the Bible as less than Almighty, and denied the sacrifice of Jesus. Statements like this arose partially in response to Gnostic heresy.
Text
The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race […].Introduction
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.
Text
I believe in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into the grave, and on 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, universal church;
The communion of saints;
The forgiveness of sins;
The resurrection of the body;
And life everlasting.
Introduction
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.
Text
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the 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 and not created, being of one substance with the Father.
By Him, all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried.
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father.
From there, He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will have no end.
We believe 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, and Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, universal, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Introduction
The Chalcedonian Definition 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.
Text
Following the holy fathers, all with one consent, we teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is perfect in His deity and also perfect in His humanity.
He is truly God and truly man, having a rational soul and body.
He is consubstantial with the Father in deity and consubstantial with us in humanity.
In all things, He is like unto us, but without sin.
Before all ages, He is begotten of the Father, according to His godhood.
And in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, He was born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to His manhood.
He is One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-Begotten, Who should be acknowledged in two natures, which are unmistakable, unchangeable, indivisible, and inseparable.
The distinction between the natures is not removed by their union, but the property of each nature is preserved, concurring in one Person and one subsistence.
His nature is not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, the Only-Begotten.
He is God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets have declared from the beginning concerning Him, as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and as the creed of the holy fathers has handed down to us.
Introduction
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.
Text
Whosoever will be saved, it is necessary that he holds the universal faith; for, unless one keeps it whole and undefiled, without doubt, he will perish eternally. And this is the universal faith:
We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without confounding the Persons or dividing their substance.
The Father is one Person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, it is all one; their glory is equal, and their majesty is co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, so is the Son, and so 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. Likewise, there are not three uncreated or 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.
The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.
The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. And yet they are not three lords, but one Lord.
For just as we are compelled by Christian truth to confess each Person by Himself to be God and Lord, we are likewise forbidden by the universal faith to say that there are three gods or three lords.
The Father is made by no one: He was neither created nor begotten.
The Son is begotten of the Father alone: He was neither made nor created.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son: He was 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. 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 his 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.
He is God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world.
He is perfect God and perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh.
He is equal to the Father, with respect to His godhood, and inferior to the Father, with respect to His manhood.
Although He is God and man, yet He is not two persons, but one Christ.
He is One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by the assumption of the manhood into God.
He is One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of Person.
For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ.
He suffered for our salvation, descended into the grave, 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 return to judge the living and the dead.
At His return, all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works.
Those who have done good shall go into life everlasting, and those who have done evil, into everlasting fire.
This is the universal faith; unless a man truly believes it, he cannot be saved.