The creeds every church shares

Underneath the differences between denominations lies a floor that nearly all of them stand on: three short statements of faith, well over a thousand years old, that summarize what Christians believe about God. Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed, Presbyterians, Methodists and most Baptists all hold to what these creeds say, even where they do not recite them. Here is what they are, where they came from and how Reformed churches use them.

The Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed was not written by the apostles, but it is a faithful summary of what they taught. It grew out of the questions asked of candidates for baptism in the church at Rome in the second and third centuries, and reached its present form in the West by about the eighth century. It is short enough to memorize and is arranged around the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, ending with the church, forgiveness, resurrection and life everlasting.

It is used at baptisms and in regular worship by the Catholic Church and by nearly every Protestant church. The Eastern Orthodox churches do not use it in their liturgy, though they do not dispute its content.

The Nicene Creed

In 325 the emperor Constantine called bishops from across the Roman world to Nicaea, in what is now Turkey, to settle a dispute about whether the Son of God was truly God or a created being. The council confessed that the Son is “of one being with the Father,” true God from true God. In 381 a second council, at Constantinople, expanded the creed’s statement about the Holy Spirit, and it is this longer text that churches use today.

The Nicene Creed is the one creed confessed by every major branch of Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. One phrase divides East and West. Western churches added the words “and the Son” (in Latin, filioque) to the statement that the Spirit proceeds from the Father; the Orthodox churches did not accept the addition. Reformed churches, like Catholics and Lutherans, use the Western text.

The Athanasian Creed

The third creed carries the name of Athanasius, the fourth-century defender of the Trinity, but it was written in Latin, probably in southern Gaul in the late fifth or early sixth century. It is longer and more precise, working carefully through what it means that God is three persons in one being and Christ one person in two natures. Western churches, Catholic and Protestant, have held to it; the Orthodox churches generally do not use it, partly because of the filioque. Reformed and Lutheran churches print it in their confessional books, and some read it in worship on Trinity Sunday.

Why the creeds matter

Creeds do not add anything to the Bible. They are the church’s way of saying, in a few sentences, what the Bible teaches about God, so that it can be confessed together, taught to children and guarded against distortion. When a congregation says the creed, it joins its voice to Christians in every century and every country. The word “catholic” in the creeds means universal: the one church of Christ across the whole world, which no denomination owns.

For a visitor, the creeds are also a useful test. A church that confesses the Nicene faith without reservation stands within historic Christianity, whatever else may be unfamiliar about it.

How Reformed churches use them

The Belgic Confession, one of the Reformed churches’ own statements, says plainly that the Reformed churches receive the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian creeds (Article 9). All three are printed in the Book of Praise, the songbook used in Canadian Reformed churches. The Apostles’ Creed is confessed every Sunday, usually in the afternoon service, either spoken or sung. The Nicene Creed is often confessed when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. The Heidelberg Catechism, which is preached through in the afternoon services, explains the Apostles’ Creed article by article in its questions 22 to 58, so that children grow up knowing not only the words but their meaning.

Groups that do not confess the Nicene Trinity

Some religious bodies use Christian language and honour Jesus but do not confess the Nicene doctrine of God. This is stated here as a matter of fact, not of hostility.

• Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is God’s first creation, distinct from and lesser than the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is God’s active force rather than a person.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, united in purpose rather than in a single divine being.
• Oneness Pentecostals, such as the United Pentecostal Church, teach that Father, Son and Spirit are three manifestations of one divine person rather than three persons.
• Unitarians and Christadelphians hold that Jesus is not God.

Because these bodies understand God differently, the churches that confess the creeds, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant alike, do not regard them as sharing the same faith, and generally do not accept their baptisms. The difference is named here so that a reader can see where the line lies; members of these groups are welcome to visit any church listed on this site.

If you would like to hear the creeds confessed, and explained, the local Reformed church listed on this site does both every week.