Pictured Creed

I kind of like this, with the exception of the capital "C" Catholic and picture of St. Peter's Basilica. Obviously done by a Roman Catholic, but the Apostles Creed is common to all Christians. We can all say "I Believe!"

Creed as Doxology

From Jared Wilson - The Apostles Creed as worship 

It’s possible that we have become so familiar with the creed that we’ve become blind to some of its unique qualities. First, notice that the creed is not merely a catalog of doctrines but is phrased as a confession. “We believe” it urges us to say. Sincere recitation of the creed requires faith in the God who has accomplished these great things and belief that these great things were accomplished. In this way, the Apostles’ Creed is not just theology, but doxology, and as it is so often included in the liturgy of Christian worship services, it is meant to be recited together, as a body of believers, as an act of worship.

The Apostles’ Creed is not simply textbook theology; it is hymnbook theology! It is the song of a liberated heart, similar to the biblical confessions and doxologies, the eruption of personal confession that is faithful profession. The creed is a confession in the truest sense of the word: Christians confess with the creed that these are things they must believe to be saved.

Creeds: Living What We Believe

From How the Creeds Helped Me by Winfield Bevins at The Resurgence:

...Christian doctrine is not just for knowing, but for living. The essentials give us a foundation to build our life upon. What we believe about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit shapes and influences how we live and how we see the rest of the world:

• God is the Creator of all things, so I should care for his creation
• Jesus died for my sin, so I must live for Him and share my faith with others
• God created us to live in community, so I need the church

In the end, a creed is not just what we believe but how we live out what we believe.

Not Invented Yesterday

Winfield Bevins, lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks and author of Grow: Reproducing through Organic Discipleship, has written a soon to be released book called Creed: Connect to the Basic Essentials of the Christian Faith. Creed ties the needs of the changing, current culture to the historic faith of the church by providing the essentials of the faith in an easy-to-understand format.  From a post at The Resurgence:

Christianity wasn’t invented yesterday and the church is much larger than one denomination or nationality. These three standards— the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments— have been used as a sturdy foundation for discipleship and doctrine for nearly two thousand years. If they were essential for the early generation of believers, shouldn’t they be important for us as well? Why should we reinvent the wheel?

I suspect we do because of our obsession of the new. We live in a culture of change where we value everything new. We tend to focus on the “now” or the “moment” at the expense of the “eternal.” But just because something is new doesn’t mean it is better. Likewise, just because something is old doesn’t mean it is useless and outdated.

There is also a web page promoting the book.  Another one for my wish list.

Church Shopping

Looking for a new church? Check out What to Look for in a Church? Refining Your Checklist at The Chief End of Man

Ancient Confession, Young Vocies

Here's the Apostles Creed, done by a lot of young voices and faces. I love it!



Hat Tip:  Theological Scribbles: I love the creeds:

The One Who Prays But Hears Prayers

A glorious glimpse into the mystery of the Trinity and the paradox of Christ being both human and divine from St. Gregory of Nazianzus:

Jesus was baptized as Man— but He remitted sins as God…
He was tempted as Man, but He conquered as God…
He hungered— but He fed thousands…
He thirsted— but He cried, If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me and drink…
He was wearied, but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden…
He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea…
He prays, but He hears prayer…
He weeps, but He causes tears to cease…
He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God…
He is sold for a cheap thirty pieces of silver; but He redeems the world at the great price of His own blood.
As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world.
As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word…
He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity.
He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restores us;
He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death.
He is buried, but He rises again…

- Gregory of Nazianzus (329-89), On the Son

Hat Tip: Jesus: Fully Human, Fully Divine : Kingdom People

More about Gregory in Wikipedia

More on "Casts" and Spiritual Formation

Last week I wrote about spiritual disciplines acting like a cast on our souls, for broken souls to heal properly. Been thinking more about that, and asking myself some questions.

Creeds: Can reciting, memorizing and meditating on the ecumenical creeds ( Apostles and Nicene creeds, accepted by just about all Christians) act like a cast on our beliefs? The words of the creed act as a scaffold, forming our thinking: and right theology leads to right worship and living.

Psalms: Does reading, singing and praying through the Psalms act like a cast on our devotions, forming us to worship and communicate with God rightly? Is it any coincidence that the Psalms have been so used for 2,000 years?

Corporate Worship: Can doing the disciplines, the creeds and the psalms together form a community in right Godly worship? Might this be an antidote to the rampant individualism in American Christianity?

Just asking? What do you think?

Nicene Birthday

Saw a post at The Thinklings that the Nicene Creed was born this day in 325.

One of the oldest and most widely used confessions of the universal Christian faith, the Nicene Creed was formulated at a time when the heresy of Arianism threatened orthodox Christianity with the denial of Jesus' deity. Thus the strong Christology in the creed.

Thus, this is a good day to remember and rehearse these words:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Congratulations Nicene Creed! 1,684 years old and doesn't look a day over 1,000!

Forever the God-Man

From the New Testament until the present, Christian theologians have rightly celebrated that Jesus is forever the God-man. He is glorious not merely in assuming our human nature but in remaining our brother and continuing as the visible “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Without his continuing humanity, there would be no humanity in the Godhead to which we may be joined for all eternity

From a post by David Mathis at Desiring God

Chalcedon and the Real Presence

For any readers who are Theology or Church History geeks (like me), C. Michael Patton has an interesting post on how the Chalcedonian definition on the nature of Christ interacts with beliefs on the real presence in the bread and wine of Communion.

See Parchment and Pen » Do Catholics Deny Chalcedon in their View of Mass?

Lambeth Creed Changes - Where's the Filoque?

Here's an interesting item for you theology and church history buffs - At the Lambeth Conference the Anglican Church has dropped the "filoque" clause ("proceedeth from the Father and the Son" in Latin) from the Nicene Creed! This was done in an apparent effort to not offend Eastern Orthodox Christians, who use the original version of the creed before the filoque phrase was added by the Roman Catholic Church. This creedal addition has been a major stumbling block between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Christians since before the great schism. However, I think that the Anglicans' appointment of female bishops and homosexual clergy will also offend the Greek Orthodox churches -perhaps as much as the Filoque.

What do you think?

Hat Tip: Gentle Wisdom » Lambeth creed drops “and the Son”