In his book, The Creed – What Christians Believe and Why it Matters, Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson leads us through a discussion of the origin and purpose of the Nicene Creed and then will lead us through a discussion of each statement in the Nicene Creed showing us where it came from, what it means, and why the statement is integral to our Christian faith today. Dr. Johnson is a former Benedictine monk (Roman Catholic) and spent most of his career as the professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University. As additional background material for our discussions, I have also used the Early Christian Creeds by J.N. D. Kelly, Clues to the Nicene Creed by David Willis, and various other secondary sources. This Epiphany study covers eight weeks.
(Epiphany 2017)
The Creed – Origins and Development, pt.1
Over the next few centuries, the Church expanded and formalized these early statements in order to preserve the essential beliefs of the Church. In reading these early statements, hopefully, you will notice that the Nicene Council did not invent the Creed, but simply brought together existing statements of faith.
The Creed – Origins and Development, pt.2
Johnson begins his discussion of the Creed with the Jewish Shema (Hebrew for “Hear!”) as contained in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Johnson shows how this basic statement of faith is Communal, Exclusive, and Personal.
The Creed – Its Purpose, pt.1
The Creed is a profession of faith, not merely belief. “Belief” refers only to the cognitive dimension of faith, whereas “faith” encompasses the entire human response to God. Belief, however, is the first step into faith and forms the foundation of our common faith. The Creed provides us with this foundation.
The Creed – Its Purpose, pt.2
In speaking of “God,” we are faced with the task of putting into words that which is beyond words and beyond comprehension. Therefore, when we begin looking at the Creed, we have to begin with an infinite humility in our understanding and defining of the Divine because God transcends absolutely all meaning and all understanding.
The Creed – One God, pt.1
As we looked at last week, the essence of God is beyond all intellectual conception, and therefore God as an Object of study is impossible. But if we begin with God as Persons with whom we can relate through our own existential, ecstatic, eros (as he defines these terms in section 6) experience of God, then we can move forward.
The Creed – One God, pt.2
One of the issues Johnson raises without pursuing it too far is that if we believe in one all-powerful good God, then what of evil?
The Creed – One Lord Jesus Christ, pt.1
his first part of the second article was written in opposition to the teachings of Bishop Arius who saw himself as a faithful orthodox Biblical Christian priest. If we understand his argument we should have a better understanding of what the Creed teaches.
The Creed – One Lord Jesus Christ, pt.2
If Jesus is only a man or only God, then we are still dead in our sinful corrupted nature. It is only when the fullness of God assumes our very nature that we are redeemed and receive adoption as children of God in whom he is well pleased. Gal. 4:5.
The Creed – Became Human, pt.1
The promise is that we, in our very being, will be changed, for it is the kingdom of God itself that comes upon us. Matt. 12:28. And this transformation cannot occur unless he himself becomes one of us.
The Creed – Became Human, pt.2
When the Creed speaks of the Incarnation it uses the mythic language of a descending/ascending deity. Think through why the Creed retains this (pagan?) mythic language to describe the Incarnation.
The Creed – He Ascended . . . , pt.1
The paradigm that this portion of the Creed adopts is that of Jesus as a victorious conquering King. In the Resurrection he defeats death, and in the Ascension he is elevated to his position of kingly power and authority.
The Creed – . . . and Will Come Again, pt.2
Every week, the Creed requires that we affirm this humiliation and exaltation of Christ through which our salvation is worked. It also provides us with the shape of our own salvation.
The Creed – The Holy Spirit, pt.1
The dispute over the filioque challenges us to think more deeply about the very nature of the Trinity.
The Creed – The Holy Spirit, pt.2
The Spirit is the very present and active power of God that transforms a believer into something new.
The Creed – The Church, pt.1
Church is Mother. In the Church we are conceived and given spiritual birth. She nurses us in our infancy, brings us up as children, and guides us into mature perfection. She is there to pick us up when we fall and to encourage us when we lag. – John Calvin
The Creed – The Resurrection of the Dead, pt.2
The Church sees the human body, which Christ himself took on, to be something good but which will be transformed in the life to come. 1 Cor. 15:25-49. The body isn’t something to be carelessly discarded, but to be renewed.