Ancient Symbols
- Creeds in the Bible
- Ireneaus Rule
of Faith
- Hippolytus'
account of the baptismal service
- The Apostle's Creed
- The Creed of
Nicaea as approved by the Nicene Council (A.D. 325)
- The First Ecumenical council of Nicaea was called
by emperor Constantine. The council met to deal with the schism created by Arianism. The
Arians wished to avoid the heresy of Sabellius who believed in a divine monad which, by
expansion, projected itself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit--a form of Modalism. The Arians
separated the Son from God entirely so that they believed he was a creature having a
beginning. "There was when he was not." The Son was but God's first creation,
yet out of nothing and hence has preeminence over the rest of creation.
- The symbol answers the question, "Who is
Jesus Christ."
Its answer: God
- The Nicene Creed as
approved by the Council of Constantinople (A.D.
381)
- -- The Nicene Creed -- Constantinopolitan Creed --
Creed of 150 Fathers
- Usually associated with the Council of
Constantinople this symbol is an expansion and revision of the earlier Creed of Nicaea
with which it is often confused. This is the creed recited in churches. The council met to
refute Apollinarianism. Apollinarius taught that Jesus was a combination of the divine
Logos spirit, a sensitive human soul and a human body. He taught that Jesus did not have a
human spirit. His views were based on the platonic tripartite view of human nature. The
council condemned this view in order to show that Christ, as truly human, could redeem the
whole person.
- The symbol emphasizes the Trinitarian faith.
- The symbol is very suitable for liturgical use and
was used as an early baptismal and eucharistic creed. It goes beyond the Creed of Nicaea
in its affirmation of the full deity of the Spirit though it uses biblical rather than
philosophical terms to do so. The filioque clause found in the Western version of
this creed is one of the major disagreements between the Eastern and Western branches of
Christianity. This clause was not accepted even by the Western Church until the turn of
the first millennium.
- Further Notes
on the Nicene Creed
- Notes on
the Filioque Clause Controversy
- The Church in
the Nicene Creed
- Other documents of the First Council of Constantinople
- Notes from the ecumenical councils
- The Council of Sardica Canon V (A.D. 343)
- The council of Sardica was the first synod, which
in some sense asserted Roman primacy.
- Confession of
Saint Patrick (A.D. 390-461)
- The Definition of Chalcedon
(A.D. 451)
- The council of Chalcedon met to resolve the
Monophysite controversy in which Eutyches had refused to confess the existence of two
natures in Christ both after the union as well as before. The definition summarizes the
Church's teaching on the natures of Christ largely in negative terms.
- Canons of the Council of
Orange (A.D. 529)
- The Council of Orange was an outgrowth of the controversy
between Augustine and Pelagius. This controversy had to do with degree to which a human
being is responsible for his or her own salvation, and the role of the grace of God in
bringing about salvation. The Pelagians held that human beings are born in a state of
innocence, i.e., that there is no such thing as a sinful nature or original sin. As a
result of this view, they held that a state of sinless perfection was achievable in this
life. The Council of Orange dealt with the Semi-Pelagian doctrine that the human race,
though fallen and possessed of a sinful nature, is still "good" enough to able
to lay hold of the grace of God through an act of unredeemed human will. As you read the
Canons of the Council of Orange, you will be able to see where John Calvin derived his
views of the total depravity of the human race.
- Quicumque vult (Athanasian
Creed) (ca. A.D. 500) (Encarta�
article)
- The fullest statement of the Trinitarian faith in
abstract metaphysical terms.
- Part one: Augustinian definition of the Trinity
- Each persona of the Trinity is fully divine
- Each is unique to itself
- Each is within the other, in perpetual
intercommunication and motion, coequal and coeternal.
- Damnatory clause for those who do not accept this
teaching.
- Part two: The doctrine of Christ
- Anti:
-
- Appollinarian
- Nestorian
- Eutychian
- Monophysite
- Reaffirms Ephesian and Chalcedonian council
decisions.
- Damnatory clause for those who do not accept this
teaching.
- Anathemas of the
Second Council of Constantinople (A.D.
533)
- Creeds and Statements - from the Period after A.D. 600
- Later Creeds
Index
Adventists
Baptist & Anabaptist
Christian Church - Disciples of
Christ
Evangelical Free Church of America
Episcopal/Anglican
Lutheran
- The
Augsburg Confession of Faith (& a
whole lot more) - Philip Melancthon (1530)
- The
Book of Concord
The Book of
Concord (Link 2) - The Lutheran Confessions from
1529-1580
- The Augsburg Confession(1530,1540)
- Philip Melanchthon
-
- Written on behalf of the
Protestant territories of Northern Germany for presentation to emperor Charles V at the
Diet of Augsburg. Melanchthon's twenty one original articles were composed as a response
to John Eck's attack on the Protestants as guilty of being ancient heresies. Thus the
articles attempt to show that the Protestant faith is in line with the ancient Church.
Many, but not all, of the articles were acceptable to Rome. In 1540 Melancthon revised the
confession to be acceptable to Calvin. The Lutherans rejected this revision and Melancthon
himself. Melancthon's followers would then join the reformed camp.
- Appendix - Catalog of
Testimonies
- Luther's Large Catechism
- Luther's Little Book
- The Smalcald Articles of
Martin Luther
- Written for Elector Frederick
and the Smalcald League stipulating matters that could be discussed with Roman Catholics
at a council they were invited to by Pope Paul III at Mantua. The Articles were written at
a time when Luther felt death was near and hence they are a powerful expression of his
personal faith.
- Treatise on the Power and
Primacy of the Pope - (1563) Melancthon
- When Luther's Smalcald Articles
were added to the Book of Concord this small tract was attached to smooth over Luther's
condemnation of the pope.
- 95
Theses - Martin Luther (1517)
- Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod (1932)
-
Confession of
Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- The
Large Catechism - Martin Luther
- The Large Catechism is an expansion of the Short
Catechism through a collection and revision of several of Luther's sermons. Both
catechisms were incorporated into the Book of Concord.
- Luther's Small Catechism - Martin Luther
-
Lutheran and other Christian resources on the net - OK it's not a creed but it's a good link!
-
Porvoo Agreements
with Anglicans
-
Project Wittenberg - Everything Luther(an)
Mennonite/Anabaptist
Methodist/Arminian
Orthodox
Pentecostal
Reformed
Religious Society of Friends
Roman Catholic
Independent Old
Catholic Church
United Church of Christ
Miscellany
Why these pages were written
This page remains continuously under construction. If
you have additional links or corrections to links of denominational or Christian
ecumenical creeds and confessions please EMail me . . .
Sean Cooper, MDiv.
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