Various Christian Creeds Down through the Ages

BYUTV ^ | 2000 | John W Welch

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Creeds of Christendom

Creeds of Christendom

| Ancient | Baptist | Episcopal | Lutheran | Mennonite | Methodist | Orthodox | Pentecostal | Presbyterian | Puritan | Quaker | Reformed | Roman Catholic | Salvation Army | UCC | Miscellany

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Creed \'kreed\

• What is a creed?

Web	www.creeds.net

Ancient Symbols

• Creeds in the Bible
• Ireneaus Rule of Faith
• Hippolytus' account of the baptismal service
• The Apostle's Creed
  • Notes
• 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
  • Eleventh Council of Toledo (675 AD)
  • The Statement of Faith of the Third Council of Constantinople - (681 AD, Sixth Ecumenical)
  • The Image Controversy (the Iconoclasts)
  • The Synod of Constantinople (Hiera, 753 AD)
  • Council of Nicaea (7th Ecumenical,787 AD)

Index

Adventists

• 27 Fundamental Beliefs (not a formal creed)
• Seventh Day Adventist Church
• Seventh Day Adventists

Baptist & Anabaptist

• A Declaration of Several People Called Anabaptists... (1659)
• Keach's Catechism (1677) Bejamin Keach
• The London Baptist Confessions
  • The First London Baptist Confession (1644)
  • Second Edition of 1646
  • The Second London Baptist Confession (1689)
    Similar to the Philadelphia & Westminster Confessions
    - The 1677/89 BCF Assistant
    - Rewritten in modern English by Andrew Kerkham
• Midland Confession of Faith (1655)
• The New Hampshire Baptist Confession (1833)
• A Short Catechism About Baptism - John Tombes (1659)
• Reformed Baptist?
• Schleitheim Articles as adopted by the Swiss Bretheren Conference in 1527
• Seventh Day Baptists
• Spurgeon's Catechism (1855) Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• Spurgeon's Catechism
• Southern Baptist Convention (1963)
• Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - (1858) Abstract of Principles
• Waldensian Confessions of Faith (1120, 1544) - Reproduced from Jones Church History

Christian Church - Disciples of Christ

• We have "No Creed but Christ" yet . . . .

Evangelical Free Church of America

• Statement of Faith

Episcopal/Anglican

• Affirmation of St. Louis (1977)
• Affirmation of St. Louis (1977)
• Catechism of the Episcopal Church
• The Catechism of the Episcopal Church in the United States (1972)
• The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral (1886, 1888)
• Episcopal Church unofficial home page
• International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
• Porvoo Agreements with Lutherans
• Thirty Nine Articles (1571 with Latin Version)
• Thirty Nine Articles (1801)

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

• The Brethren Card  (1887, 1923)
• Confession of Faith in Mennonite Perspective (1995)
• Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith (1995)
• Mennonite Confession of Faith (Summary)
• Schleitheim Articles (1527)

Methodist/Arminian

• Methodist 25 Articles of Faith
• Calvinistic Methodists
• Church of God - Anderson, Indiana
• Church of the Nazarene
• The Korean Creed
• A Modern Affirmation
• Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1963)
• United Methodist Church Doctrine - (1992) - from The Book of Discipline
• Wesleyan Church Articles of Religion

Orthodox

• Confession of Dosithesus (1672)
• Orthodox Catechism
• An Exact Exposition of The Orthodox Faith
• The Orthodox Faith (1981)
• Oberlin Statement - regarding Christian Unity (1957)

Pentecostal

• Assemblies of God
  - Statement of Fundamental Truths
  Statement of Fundamental Truths
  - Beliefs
• Association of Vineyard Churches
• Church of God (Cleveland, TN)
• Church of God in Christ
• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel - What we are
• International Pentecostal Church of Christ
• International Pentecostal Holiness Church
• Statement of Fundamental and Essential Truths
  - The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
• Statement of Fundamental Truths
• United Pentecostal Church International, Doctrine of the

Puritan & Pilgrim

• Seven Articles of the Church of Leyden (1617)
• Two Short Catechisms - John Owen (1616-1683)
• Two Short Catechisms

Reformed

• Belgic Confession of Faith (1561)
• Calvinistic Methodists
• Canadian & American Reformed Churches
• The Canons of Dordt (1618-1619)
• Christian Reformed Church
  • of Australia
• The Consensus Tigurinus (1549) - John Calvin & Heinrich Bullinger
  Original Latin
  Henry Bevridge translation
  Ian D. Bunting translation
• Creed of the Korean-American Presbyterian Church (KAPC)
• Cumberland Presbyterian Church
• The Evangelical Covenant Church
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church
• The French Confession (1559) - John Calvin. Approved by Synod of Paris.
• The Genevan Catechism (1541)
  • 1541 edition (Several people are looking for this. If you have it could you EMail or snail mail it to me and I'll up-link it here?)
    • Keeping the Sabbath (Questions 168 - 186)
  • 1545 edition
• The Genevan Confession (1536)
• The First Helvetic Confession alias The Second Basel Confession (1536)
  • Confessio Helvetica prior - Latin
  • Confessio Helvetica prior - German
  • English translation by George Wishart published posthumously (c. 1548)
• The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
  • Protestant Reformed Churches in America site 1
  • Protestant Reformed Churches in America site 2
  • Polish Edition
  • Reformed Church in the United States (from German)

• Indonesian Christian Church (GKI)
• Liturgy of the Reformed Churches
• The Negative Confession (Confessio Negativa,1581) - link defunct
• "A renunciation of Popery and Prelacy, was drafted by John Craig and later included in the National Covenant of 1638. It is sometimes called the King's Confession because it was commissioned and signed by King James VI." - J. Ligon Duncan III
• Orthodox Presbyterian Church
• Presbyterian Church in America
• Presbyterian Church of Canada
• Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - with links and notes on the Book of Confessions
  • The Nicene Creed
  • The Apostle's Creed
  • The First Catechism - (1998)
  • The Scots Confession
  • The Heidelberg Catechism
  • The Second Helvetic Confession
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith
  • The Shorter Catechism
  • The Larger Catechism
  • The Theological Declaration of Barmen
  • The Confession of 1967
  • A Brief Statement of Faith - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

• Presbyterian Reformed Church - constitution & confessions
• Presbyterians of Wales
• Reformed Baptist?
• Reformed Church in America
• Reformed Churches of Australia
• Reformed Churches of New Zealand
• Reformed Creeds in a Windows Help File by Daric Bossman (refcon.exe)
• The Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order (1658)
  The Savoy Declaration is a modification of the Westminster Confession to suit the Congregational polity. We have included notes that point out the differences in the two documents.
   

Religious Society of Friends

• The Richmond Declaration

Roman Catholic

• Baltimore Catechism
• Catechetics at EWTN
  • EWTN library
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Catechism of Pope Pius X
• Catholic Online
• Canons of Constantinople IV (869-870)
• Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
• Council of Trent (1542-1563)
  • Council of Trent - Ed. and trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848)
• Vatican II (1962-1965) - The Vatican Council Documents
  • The Second Vatican Council for Catholic Students
• Credo of the People of God - Paul VI (6/30/1968)

     Independent Old Catholic Church

• Utrecht Declarations
• Old Catholic Declarations (1874)

United Church of Christ

• Statement of Faith

Miscellany

• Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
  - "An Evangelical & Orthodox Witness to the Divine authority of the Bible."
• The Creeds of Christendom the book by Philip Schaff
  • Volume 1 - The History of Creeds
  • Volume 2 - The Greek and Latin Creeds with Translations
  • Volume 3 - The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches
    (Under construction by Christian Classics Ethereal Library)
    • Temporary link to Table of Contents (imaged pages)
  • Purchase hard copy
• Creeds of the Churches
• Evangelical Celebration Document
• The Fundamentals
• The Kairos Document - South Africa
• The Lausanne Covenant - (July 1974)
  • The Manila Manifesto - (July 1989)
  • Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization
• The Salvation Army
• Small Children's Catechism
• World Evangelical Alliance
• Young Communicant's Catechism by John Willison - (1680-1750)

[kindred]

Below is the Creed of the Church, the body of Christ, that Bible believing Christians live by, ignoring the heresies of so many sects and denominations who follow traditions and substitute the laws of man for the laws of God.

[1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.]

13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

16. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

[TheDon]

Whew! I didn’t realize there were so many different definitions of what a Christian is!

[greyfoxx39]

Is this the “anti-Christian” thread for the day?

[TheDon]

Hi greyfoxxx39,
I don’t think you can get more pro-Christian than this thread!

[greyfoxx39]

I don’t think you can get more pro-Christian than this thread!

Starting with the Articles of Faith? And a BYU propaganda video trying to validate the mormon claims of "restoration".

I think not. Nice try, though.

[svcw]

Good grief.
I kinda get the feeling that this post is:
“naner naner naner - I'm right you're wrong”.
I could be mistaken however.

[TheDon]

The Baptist Confession of 1688 is a bit over the top.

[Alex Murphy]

An LDS thread on the creeds of the Christian (non-LDS) churches just wouldn't be complete without a quotation of Joseph Smith's first vision....

I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

Joseph Smith's "First Vision", verse 19, taken from History of the [LDS] Church, Vol. 1, Chapters 1-5

[Monkey Face]

Well, since this IS the Lord’s Day, why don’t we just read what we want, form our opinions, and wait for tomorrow to post them. That way, we can keep the Spirit of the Day without feeling the gravity of disagreement.

At least, that’s the way I see it. :o])

[MHGinTN]

The mormon perspective ... denigrate Orthodox Christianity in order to try and carve out a niche for the heresies of mormonism to be ‘just like the rest of Christendom. Figures that would be fine with some.

[SkyPilot]

I kinda get the feeling that this post is: “naner naner naner - I'm right you're wrong”. I could be mistaken however.

From my observations here on FR, that pretty seems to sum up the whole LDS faith.

[greyfoxx39]

Well, since this IS the Lord’s Day, why don’t we just read what we want, form our opinions, and wait for tomorrow to post them.

Why not have the thread pulled then, and repost it tomorrow? We could all concentrate on the Lord's day that way.

Plenty of room here for posts "without disagreement"

[Monkey Face]

I, for one, will pretend the thread is a reference point, and as such, I can wait until tomorrow to discuss pro or con.

For today, I’d rather concentrate on things that are truly important to me, such as increasing my spirituality by changing my negative outlook about one thing. The thing is not the point. The outlook is.

For instance, I can choose to feel compassion for Ted Kennedy and his family, rather than concentrate on the politics they represent. See how easy that is?

:o])

[greyfoxx39]

Well, I can multi-task...

For example.......

[Monkey Face]

Excellent choice!

Amen!

[Grig]

Some creeds were more political documents than religous documents.

For example, there was a time when the King of England was getting a little too cozy with the Catholic church, and even married a Catholic woman. Parliament wanted to overthrow the king because of it. Fearing that Parliament would call on Ireland to help toss him off the throne, the King reached out to Scotland for help. Scotland said they would help IF the King had the CoE switch over to Presbyterianism. The Westminster Confession of faith was born out of those negotiations as a vehicle to help the king secure the help of the Scots to win a civil war.

[greyfoxx39]

For example, there was a time when the King of England was getting a little too cozy with the Catholic church

Gosh, that sounds JUST like Utah!

The Westminster Confession of faith was born out of those negotiations

The flourishing and growth of the FLDS was born out of the inaction of Utah and Arizona.

" Fearing that Parliament the LDS authorities would call on Ireland loyal members to help toss him off the throne out of office...Shurtleff refrained from following through on 80 warrants against the Kingston family, "We elected not to do that to try and work with their attorney. And, of course, the result of that was all our subjects disappeared, our targets disappeared and we didn't get the warrants served like we hoped to do," said Shurtleff."

Is this the type of lesson you hoped to provide in your post regarding the Westminster Confession? Something along the lines of "faith and politics"?

[Alex Murphy]

Some creeds were more political documents than religous documents. For example, there was a time when the King of England was getting a little too cozy with the Catholic church, and even married a Catholic woman. Parliament wanted to overthrow the king because of it. Fearing that Parliament would call on Ireland to help toss him off the throne, the King reached out to Scotland for help. Scotland said they would help IF the King had the CoE switch over to Presbyterianism. The Westminster Confession of faith was born out of those negotiations as a vehicle to help the king secure the help of the Scots to win a civil war.

Wot a coinkydink that someone should mention the WCF....