CREED

What is the Creed?

-          the Nicene Creed, like any creed, but it’s nature, is a statement of doctrine. 

-          What is doctrine?  It is the clear set of beliefs held by the Church in the matters of faith or morals.  Because it t has been named a doctrine as opposed to a statement of faith, a doctrine is something that must be believed by all members.

-          Therefore, the Nicene Creed contains several statements of belief by our Church, all of which must be held by the believer.

-          If someone were to ever ask you, “What do you believe in” you simply show them the Nicene Creed.

How it was developed

            It was formed at the first Council held by the Church in the city of Nicea in 325 AD.  A council is held when the Church desires to clarify or define something related to the faith.  It is a gathering of all bishops and the Pope, in addition to theological experts.  They sought to defend the faith against heretics who were trying to disprove Christianity. One heresy, Arianism, denied the divine nature of Jesus.  It was only one of many heresies that had to be defended against. 

The Nicene Creed was built upon the Apostles’ Creed, which was developed in Jerusalem by the 12 Apostles as a tool of teaching the tenents of the faith.  It was also a statement which was required to be declared by anyone who sought baptism as a means of expression of their beliefs.

Because the Nicene Creed was also developed before the books of the Bible were settled upon, it was very instrumental in choosing which books were included in the New Testament.

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one God.

We used to proclaim, “We”, but with the new translation of the Missal, the correct translation of the Greek, “I” was included.   It is important to understand that The Nicene Creed is more than a corporate belief; it’s a personal proclamation.

In the midst of a culture that worshiped many gods (water, the sun, war, etc.), Yahweh revealed Himself to Abraham and Moses as the one, true God. So, the creed starts by saying that there is one God.

God is our Father.

Father is the name that Jesus Himself used and gave to us for God. While the use of the word Father to refer to God may seem commonplace to the Christians of today, it was a unique concept in the early years of the Church. No other religion dares to bring God to such an intimate relationship to man that we may consider ourselves as His children. He gives us life and existence. Not only does He give us life, but He also cares for us, by providing us with the material and spiritual gifts we need to grow. So, by calling God our Father, we show that our God is not an impersonal God at a distance to be feared, but rather a God who cares for us more than we can possibly imagine.

God is almighty.

This means that His creative power is unlimited. Whenever we humans create something, we must always have some material to work with. This is not true with God. God’s creative power is independent of all pre-existing matter. He produced things out of nothing.  “Ex nihilo” creation – there must be a source, and that source is God.  God is the Author of creation. This vast, complex universe cannot be scientifically explained without such a supreme and divine being.

God is the maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

This teaching confirmed that God created everything that came into being, all things seen and unseen, (do you believe in love?  Can you see it?) and it was thus good. This ended a debate among some theologians who claimed that everything in the material world was evil and to be despised. They believed that a division existed between the spirit and the flesh, soul and the body. God created both good and holy.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

I believe in one Lord.

By our profession of Jesus as “Lord,” like His disciples, we signify that He is undisputed master over our lives and is worthy of worship. (Are you willing to turn control over to Him?)  The name Jesus Christ is very symbolic. The name Jesus means “God saves.” It was significant that Jesus was given a human name because it demonstrates His humanity. Jesus is fully human and fully God. We’ve become accustomed calling Jesus the Christ, but in reality “Christ” is not a name, it’s a title, a job description. Christ means, “Anointed.” At His Baptism, Jesus was anointed, not by oil like human kings, but by the Holy Spirit, which descended on Him like a dove. He became the Christ.

Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father

This section of the Creed was, without a doubt, the most highly debated of all. There were many theologians proposing different ideas concerning Jesus and His relationship to the Father. Some said Jesus was only a human person with special gifts given to Him by God; they denied the belief that He was truly God. The Arians claimed that Jesus was subordinate (inferior) to God the Father – that He was created like us. The Council of Nicaea would ultimately define the Church’s teaching on this matter by saying that Jesus was not created, but rather existed from all eternity with God the Father. There was never a time when Jesus, the Son of God, did not exist. Thus we proclaim that He was begotten, not made. What is the difference between “begotten” and “made?” When a man and a woman conceive and bear a child, it shares in the similarities of its parents. However, the child is a separate, independent being; it has its own unique nature. This is not true with Jesus. He was not just similar to the Father; He was one in being with Him. The Creed now says Jesus is “consubstantial” with the Father. Jesus is of the same substance or nature with the Father. The Church uses the language, God from God, Light from Light to show that Jesus is the “perfect” image of the Father (of the same divine nature). There is no imperfection between the Father and Son.

Through Him all things were made.

How can all things be made through Jesus of the first line of the Creed proclaims that God the Father is the maker of heaven and earth. The Church here wanted to make it clear that Jesus existed from all eternity with the Father, even though He had not yet come in the flesh.  In his divine existence as God, Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, The Word, because the Word of God causes all things into existence. This emphasizes the point that God cannot be separated. When one of the persons acts, all act together – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (same substance). So when we speak about Jesus we must always remember that He is not only the Son of God; He also existed from the beginning. Why is this so important? Because, if Jesus Christ was only a human person like us, created in time out of nothing, then He could not save us. If Jesus was only a human person, His death on the Cross would have been meaningless –an end in itself.

For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven:

This next line proclaims the very reason why Jesus came down from heaven and was born into our world - what we call the “Incarnation.” It was solely for our salvation. “For God so loved the world that He sent His own Son, so that all who believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus, the Son of God, would recover the innocence of the human person that was lost through original sin. Having lost God’s grace through original sin, we needed some way to repair the barrier between God and us. Since the human person could not save himself from sin, could not by his own efforts regain the grace of God, God had to become human. Jesus, being divine, was the only person who could restore unity between God and us.

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

This line is so very important because it proclaims, without any doubt, that Jesus Christ, though remaining God, was born into the world just like us from the womb of His mother.  Because it speaks of the Incarnation, the entry of salvation into the world, we bow at these words.  Just as the Arians doubted the divinity of Christ, there were other theologians who doubted the true humanity of Christ and the fact that He was born into the world. It was too much for them to believe that God would stoop so low as to come in the flesh.

The Church points out three important teachings in this line of the Creed:

(1) The Son of God took flesh and was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This rejected the teaching of some theologians who claimed that Jesus only “appeared” to be a man – He didn’t actually assume a human nature.

(2) Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. There was sex involved in His conception; it was an action on the part of God that allowed Mary to conceive Jesus in her womb. Jesus had no human father like us.

(3) The words, “He became man” were added to exclude the error that the Son of God merely “dwelt” in Jesus, but did not actually become man. There was a serious heresy in the second and third century that had no doubts about Jesus’ divine nature, but they could not believe that He had a human nature. They refused to believe that God Himself would dwell in a “defiled” human nature. For them, human nature was unfit for anything sacred.  One the great saints of the Church, Gregory Nazainzus, proclaimed that “whatever is not assumed is not redeemed.” In other words, whatever Jesus did not assume, He did not redeem. If He did not take humanity fully unto Himself, humanity could not be saved from sin and death.

It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that God became man in Jesus. The more we reflect on this mystery, the more astounded we should be by the amazing love that God has for us.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried.

After defending the divinity of Christ, that He is the Son of God and consubstantial with the Father, the Creed turns to His passion and death. The last days of His life were summed up in the words “For our sake…He suffered death and was buried.” This drives home the point that Jesus suffered and died, not for His own sake, but rather for us and for our salvation. By mentioning the specific name of Pontius Pilate, the Creed locates Jesus’ passion and death in human history and locale.

It’s good to talk briefly about the manner in which Jesus died. Why was He crucified and not put to death in some other way? Crucifixion was considered the worst possible death, not only from the fact that it was long and painful, but because it is understood that death from crucifixion occurs as a result of suffocation. This type of death was also a public humiliation. For this reason, it was reserved for the worst of criminals. Regardless of the crime, Romans could not be crucified. Why did Jesus have to suffer so greatly? The answer is in the Creed – for our sake! Because of the first sin of Adam and Eve, we were cut-off from union with God and the life of grace. And so Jesus took it upon Himself to make “satisfaction” for our sins, to bring us back into the grace of God. Some wonder why He had to suffer in such a terrible, excruciating way. Think of it this way. Sin exists at different levels. When we slap a friend it is much different than slapping our mother or father. Now, apply this to God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it was a slap in His face, an infinite offense. Therefore, to make up for this, Christ had to suffer in a horrible manner. He had to offer the greatest act of love. I always like to think of it is this way – Jesus died in the most horrible manner possible because that is how ugly sin is.

The Creed says that Jesus was buried like us, though His body did not decay. Why? Because decay is the result of sin, and Jesus was sinless.  He was also divinely created.   

and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

At this point the Creed moves from the earthly life of Jesus to His glorified state. Jesus died on Friday afternoon and was laid in the tomb before dark. According to Jewish time, a day was calculated from nightfall to nightfall. Since Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon and rose from the dead on Sunday, He was in the tomb some part of three days. The Church’s belief is that Christ’s soul, which descended into hell to free the just people from death, rose after three days and re-united with His body.

The Sacred Scriptures acknowledge that Jesus arose from the tomb and was seen by His disciples (John 20:19). All we can say about this is that it was an amazing mystery – so far beyond our comprehension. It’s understandable if we struggle to understand this. Doubting Thomas had a hard time, too. We do know from the testimony of the Scriptures that Jesus showed that He was the same person by the way He spoke, by showing His wounds, and the fact that He broke bread with His Apostles. It became the center of the Apostles preaching, as they were witnesses to His resurrection. Since Jesus is truly risen from the dead and living to make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father, the world will never be the same as it was prior to His resurrection. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, death is not what it seems to be. It is not the end, but the beginning of a new life for those who follow in His footsteps.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The Ascension of Jesus can be defined as the transfer of His risen, glorious body into heaven. (Note the difference between Jesus’ Ascension and the Blessed Mother’s Assumption. Jesus ascended under His own power; Mary was assumed by the power of God.)

Saying that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father signifies the beginning of the Messiah’s kingdom.  So, what happened in the time between Jesus’ Resurrection and His Ascension? From the gospel accounts, we know there was a particular period, 40 days, during which Jesus gave His apostles their final preparation so they would be equipped to bear witness to His saving work. Jesus appeared to His disciples regularly for a certain period before He ascended into heaven. The Ascension meant that Jesus, triumphant over death, has gone to heaven to prepare a place for His chosen ones. For this very reason, the Ascension is a source of great hope for all Christians.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

Jesus will come again in glory. What does this mean for us? By the expression “the Second Coming,” we are referring to the Christian belief that Jesus will come again in glory to judge all people. While His first coming was in humility, His second coming will involve judgement. This will signal the end of human history as we know it. No one knows when this will happen; not even Jesus predicted it. Some people today talk about the Rapture. As Catholics, we do not believe in this. This is more recent idea that some believers will be snatched up or raptured into Heaven at the second coming of Christ. This is a misinterpretation of Scripture and has never been a part of the Church’s sacred tradition. As Catholics, we focus our attention on the condition of the individual soul at the time of death rather than speculating on the timing of Jesus’ second coming, as recommended by St. Paul: We must concern ourselves with living as if every day and hour may be our last on earth, so that we may be prepared to meet Jesus and be deemed worthy of enjoying eternity with Him.

The next section of the creed speaks about something many people like to avoid today – judgment.

The notion of judgment is usually associated with criminal courts. But we must be honest about our God. Not only is He all-merciful, He is also just. Since the very first centuries following Christ’s death and resurrection, the Church has always taught that there will be two judgments: the particular judgment and the general judgment. The judgment of God is the final act whereby He settles forever the destiny of all creatures – either to eternal punishment in hell or to eternal reward in heaven. The final judgment of each person will be based on one’s faith and love – both of God and of our neighbor.

Particular Judgment – this takes place immediately following our death when God will judge our souls. Everything will be brought out and revealed before God. The time of preparation is ended at this point. Each soul will receive a judgment that will result in one of three options: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell.

General Judgment – this takes place at the end of time. The last judgment will hold no surprises for us, since we will have already undergone our particular judgment. The purpose of the last judgment is really to give glory to God by displaying His justice, wisdom and mercy. Our whole lives, which may have seemed hard and cruel at times, will be unfolded before our eyes. We will know all the answers to our questions. We are all looking forward to that.

Purgatory – what about those who are not worthy of entering heaven, but are not sentenced to hell? These souls go through a process the Church calls purgation, which is where we get the name Purgatory. There is a lot of confusion about Purgatory. Reason alone indicates that there must be some final process of purification to cleanse away whatever imperfections that stand between the soul and God, because scripture tells us... that nothing unclean shall enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27). Purgatory is where we work out the "consequences" of our sins that have not been paid during our lifetime. When we sin, consequences are created. God forgives the sin, if we ask Him to with a contrite heart, but He does not clean up the consequences. We need to take care of those ourselves, and if we are not completely successful in cleaning them up before our death, Purgatory will take care of the rest.. How long does this last? No one knows this except God. Besides, time, as we know it, will not be the same in Purgatory. It is believed that the soul, once in Purgatory, cannot shorten its sufferings. But we who are living can, with God’s great mercy, assist the souls in Purgatory with our prayers and sacrifices. That is why we offer Masses for our loved ones who have died. This reveals the Church’s belief that we are not cut-off from those who have gone before us. Bottom line – Purgatory is a good thing, because those who are undergoing this process know that they are on their way to Heaven.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

 I believe in the Holy Spirit…

The Creed has focused on the Father and the Son, and now it turns to the third person of the Blessed Trinity – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit may be the most mysterious member of the Holy Trinity to think about. We can imagine God the Father. We can visualize Him as a merciful and loving father. And in the case of Jesus, we are dealing with a man like us who walked among us 2000 years ago. When it comes to the Holy Spirit, it is not so easy. Certain images have always been used for the Holy Spirit, such as a dove the wind, but it is still hard for us to think of the Holy Spirit as an actual person. Nevertheless, we know from Scripture, especially from the New Testament, that, in addition to the Father and the Son, there is a third person who is fully divine and equal to them. He proceeds from the Father and the Son and is the source of sanctification in the faithful. We also say that the Holy Spirit is the “giver of life.” In the ancient world, breath in the body was a sign of life.

who with the Father and the Son He is adored and glorified,

It became a highly debated issue in the third century as to whether or not the Holy Spirit was truly God. The Church confirmed that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son and is to be worshipped with the same glory. One of the clearest indications of this truth was revealed in St. Matthew’s Gospel where the three persons are mentioned and given the same level of dignity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19).  The Feast of Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit.

who has spoken through the prophets.

The Holy Spirit spoke through those who were called to be prophets in the Old Testament.  The Spirit was given to these particular people for the sake of proclaiming God’s word to the chosen people and to prepare the way for the Messiah who would one day come.

I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

After professing our faith in God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Creed now moves to the definition of what we believe as a Church. We call these four words the FOUR MARKS OF THE CHURCH. 

Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19). Jesus made Peter the “rock” on which He would build His Church. And, from that time on, Peter, and his successors, would be recognized as the Head and Shepherds of the Church. We call the Church the “Body of Christ.” This shows the intimate bond between Jesus and His Church. We, the members of the Church, form His living body. We also refer to the Church as the “Bride of Christ.” This makes sense since Jesus gave His whole life for her, just as a wife and husband give themselves to each other. St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians says this so beautifully: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”(Ephes. 5:25-27).

One Church – In contemporary America we are confronted with the reality that there are many “churches” in existence. I heard the other day that there are over 30,000 variations. Despite this, it is an article of Catholic faith that there is only one Church of Jesus Christ – the Church that He founded on Peter and the Apostles. There is no longer unity in the Church. And, without going into a detailed analysis of the history of this division, let’s just say that up until the thirteenth century almost all Christians were united in one Catholic Church. While other Christian communities have varying degrees of unity with the Catholic Church, none of them have a worldwide organizational unity (worship, belief and leadership), as does the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI made great strides in trying to restore unity among Christians, Pope Francis continues that, and we must continue to pray for this unity because that is what Christ intended for His Church.

Holy Church – By His Grace, Jesus makes the Church holy, just as He is holy. The Church is holy because she is the source of holiness and she is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments. We are called into union with Him through the community of believers, by the Sacraments, by the preaching of the Gospel message, by praying and being prayed for, and by forgiving and being forgiven. The Church is holy in her origin, her purpose, her means, and the results she produces. She is holy in origin, since she was founded by Christ and given the Holy Spirit. The Church is also holy in her purpose or mission, which is to glorify God and sanctify His people. The means used to attain holiness are also present in the Church: the Word of God in the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and the sacraments, especially the Sacrifice of the Mass at which we receive Christ’s own Body and Blood. The Church is also holy in the results she produces. She is known from the holiness of those men and women throughout history who have made full use of the graces given through the Church’s ministry – the saints who have gone before us and those still walking among us. The Church, therefore, is not only holy in herself, but she also produces holy men and women. Does this mean that all of the members of the Church are holy? No, the Church is not a just a home for saints; it is also a reform-school for sinners.

Catholic Church – The third mark of the Church is that she must be Catholic, which means “universal.” The Church is “Catholic” because the same Gospel is to be preached everywhere and at all times. For almost 2000 years, the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all and that He wants all of us to be members of His universal family. The Church has both an internal and an external dimension of catholicity. Externally, she is a unified body of believers that derives her foundation from Christ and is located throughout the world. Internally, she is endowed with all the supernatural means (gospel, grace and the sacraments) to bring about the salvation of all people at all times in every land.

Apostolic Church – The fourth and final mark of our Church is that it is Apostolic. This basically means the Church since the time of her foundation remains united with the Apostles in an unbroken line. Thus, the Church has remained faithful to what the Apostles founded and passed down to their successors, the bishops. The apostolic nature of the Church is displayed in three ways: (1) apostolic origin – the Church was founded by Christ on the Apostles and through them; (2) apostolic doctrine – the identity of faith that was preached by the Apostles; (3) apostolic succession – the uninterrupted chain of bishops who link the Church of the apostles with the Church today. The Catholic Church possesses, in the person of the Pope, the power of the keys that our Lord promised to St. Peter. Pope Francis is the 266th successor to St. Peter. It is necessary that the Church be Apostolic so that we can be sure that it is the same Church that Jesus established in the first century with the apostles as the first bishops. The Second Vatican Council taught that the fullness of truth “subsists” in the Catholic Church. This is not to say that other Christian communities do not contain truths of the faith, but they do not adhere to the fullness of Christ’s teachings as revealed in the Catholic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

We all know what Baptism is, but it might be good to recall some of the truths associated with this sacrament. Baptism is closely associated with the life of Jesus on earth. He received the Baptism of John) and He often spoke of Baptism as a “new birth” which would be necessary if one wishes to enter the kingdom of God.  He also commanded his Apostles to go into the whole world and baptize all nations. The effect of Baptism is a “new birth” for the human person into the supernatural life of grace. By this rebirth a Christian takes on a new mode of being in the world. He/she is incorporated into the life of the Church, is washed clean from all sins. It is because of this we say in the Creed “we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” What we are saying is that Baptism imprints on the soul of a person a permanent mark That is why we do not “re-baptize” folks from another Christian faith when they decide to join the Catholic Church

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The resurrection of the dead professed in our Creed will take place at the end of the world – a time unknown to anyone except the Father  - when this whole world as we know it will be transformed into something completely new. That is the moment when Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, referred to as the Parousia. What kind of life will this be? We know it will be one of supreme joy and happiness for those who have died in the love of God. A point to stress is that the joy of those saved not only affects the soul, but the whole person – body and soul. We believe that at the resurrection the body will be reunited with the soul. It is a defined teaching of the Early Church that all the dead will rise with the same body they had on earth, both those in heaven and those in hell. However, since all matter in our physical bodies changes throughout the years, we will not have the same exact look that we had in this life, but we will look. There is a good parallel with Jesus.  After his resurrection, the Apostles didn’t recognize him, yet he looked familiar.

The Creed concludes with a strong note of hope concerning eternal life. From our own experience we know what life is – supreme good, something we strive to preserve at all costs. We hope to inherit everlasting life. By His own suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus defeated the bonds of sin and death and opened for those who believe in Him the gates to eternal life. Our Catholic faith teaches that our lives do not end with death. When God created each person, He intended for us to share His abundant life in heaven. However, in order to attain the perfect life He has in store for us, He demands that we freely love Him in return. That is how we ultimately receive the gift of eternal life – by loving God with all our hearts, souls, and strength. Why is it so important that we understand the Creed we profess every Sunday? Because it is these truths that bind us together as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. It is a constant reminder that, if we are faithful to God and love Him above all things, we will enjoy the eternal life He has prepared for us, and when you become part of this family, it is the creed that will bind you together in like mind with us.