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It’s everybody’s favourite part of the church service (there again, perhaps your church doesn’t stick it in). Some people can recite it by heart. The congregation drones it out and then it’s on to more active, personal parts of worship — prayer and Communion. Yet the simple recitation of the Creed, in whatever form, is in many ways an amazing moment, joining together modern Christians with God and the Churches from whom we descend in something that is both a declaration of intent and a personal meditation on what this Christianity thing is all about.
The word ‘creed’ itself comes from the Latin credo, ‘I believe’, the simple phrase that opens wide the whole theological can of worms for analysis. What do we believe? Creeds may ask us to affirm a wide range of belief. The longest pinpoint Christianity to precise details. The Nicene Creed, for instance, is practically a history of the worldwide Church, in which doctrines declared incorrect are nimbly sidestepped by precise phrasing.
… God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
Begotten not made. Through him all things were made …
Others, however, may be little more than a recognition of God, Biblically and theologically precise as far as they go, but going no further, such as the basic statement of the Trinity used in my local church:
We believe in God the Father,
From whom every family on heaven and earth is named.We believe in God the Son,
Who lives in our hearts through faith,
And fills us with his love.We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
Who strengthens us with power from on high.We believe in one God;
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
However detailed a Creed, compilation and analysis of it and the claims it makes for us can be deeply helpful for us spiritually. For instance, whether it starts ‘we believe’ or ‘I believe’ could be important. Is our view of Christianity corporate or individual? Do we speak only for ourselves of for the entire church of Church? If we want, Creeds can highlight single issues (at MethAng recently, analysis of a declaredly Feminist creed provoked what it is probably best to call ‘mixed reactions’) or be highly personal, expressing personal spirituality and character. Whatever, Creeds are important as spiritual jam in the Christian sandwich, lending flavour to the whole, sticking Biblical teaching to theological nicety, the deeply personal to the openly public, and us to God.
With all the above in mind, we at Christis lay down the Gauntlet and challenge our readership to enter the arena (or put the knife in the jam jar?) and write out their own Creeds, however short or long, waffly or pithy. It could be no more that ‘I believe in a God who cannot be contained in a mere form of words’ [except that you’ve already got that one — Ed.]. Whatever it is, please take a few moments to think about your personal approach to belief and send it to us. Entries can be named or unnamed, as you wish, and will be published slowly as they arrive.
Give it a go — what can be more challenging than answering the question ‘What do you really believe in?’
There are creeds published over several issues:
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Last modified: 25th November 2005