The Nicene Creed, May, 2012

This document contains material used as background for the presenter; Inquirers do not need all the material.

Opening Prayer: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

Introduction taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

185 Whoever says "I believe" says "I pledge myself to what we believe." Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith.

186 From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formula normative for all. But already very early on, the Church also wanted to gather the essential elements of her faith into organic and articulated summaries, intended especially for candidates for Baptism:

This synthesis of faith was not made to accord with human opinions, but rather what was of the greatest importance was gathered from all the Scriptures, to present the one teaching of the faith in its entirety. And just as the mustard seed contains a great number of branches in a tiny grain, so too this summary of faith encompassed in a few words the whole knowledge of the true religion contained in the Old and the New Testaments.

187 Such syntheses are called "professions of faith" since they summarize the faith that Christians profess. They are called "creeds" on account of what is usually their first word in Latin: credo ("I believe"). They are also called "symbols of faith".

188 The Greek word symbolon meant half of a broken object, for example, a seal presented as a token of recognition. The broken parts were placed together to verify the bearer's identity. The symbol of faith, then, is a sign of recognition and

1

communion between believers. Symbolon also means a gathering, collection or summary. A symbol of faith is a summary of the principal truths of the faith and therefore serves as the first and fundamental point of reference for catechesis.

189 The first "profession of faith" is made during Baptism. The symbol of faith is first and foremost the baptismal creed. Since Baptism is given "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", the truths of faith professed during Baptism are articulated in terms of their reference to the three persons of the Holy Trinity.

190 And so the Creed is divided into three parts: "the first part speaks of the first divine Person and the wonderful work of creation; the next speaks of the second divine Person and the mystery of his redemption of men; the final part speaks of the third divine Person, the origin and source of our sanctification." These are "the three chapters of our [baptismal] seal".

191 "These three parts are distinct although connected with one another. According to a comparison often used by the Fathers, we call them articles. Indeed, just as in our bodily members there are certain articulations which distinguish and separate them, so too in this profession of faith, the name articles has justly and rightly been given to the truths we must believe particularly and distinctly." In accordance with an ancient tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also customary to reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the fullness of the apostolic faith by the number of the apostles.

192 Through the centuries many professions or symbols of faith have been articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the creeds of the different apostolic and ancient Churches, e.g., the Quicumque, also called the Athanasian Creed; the professions of faith of certain Councils, such as Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent; or the symbols of certain popes, e.g., the Fides Damasi or the Credo of the People of God of Paul VI.

2

193 None of the creeds from the different stages in the Church's life can be considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it.

Among all the creeds, two occupy a special place in the Church's life:

194 The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is "the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith".

195 The Niceno-Constantinopolitan or Nicene Creed draws its great authority from the fact that it stems from the first two ecumenical Councils (in 325 and 381). It remains common to all the great Churches of both East and West to this day.

196 Our presentation of the faith will follow the Apostles' Creed, which constitutes, as it were, "the oldest Roman catechism". The presentation will be completed however by constant references to the Nicene Creed, which is often more explicit and more detailed.

197 As on the day of our Baptism, when our whole life was entrusted to the "standard of teaching", let us embrace the Creed of our life-giving faith. To say the Credo with faith is to enter into communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also with the whole Church which transmits the faith to us and in whose midst we believe:

This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul.

What Do Catholics Believe?

3

(The Nicene Creed)

Have you ever been asked what it is that you believe as a XXXXXXXXX?

You can answer by reciting the Nicene Creed. But before examining the tenets of the Nicene Creed, let’s look briefly at the “other creed,” the Apostles’ Creed.

The Apostles’ CreedI believe in God the Father, Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church,

The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,The resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Amen.

Throughout the Middle Ages, it was generally believed and accepted that the Apostles’ Creed was composed jointly by the twelve Apostles in Jerusalem, with each of the twelve contributing one clause of the Creed before embarking on their respective missions. This legend dates back to the 4th century. Today, this is a point of argument and debate, especially within the ranks of the Protestant scholars. Nevertheless, many continue to think of this creed as apostolic in nature because its basic teachings are agreeable to the theological formulations of the Apostolic Age. The Catholic Church does not hold a position one way or the other on this subject; however, it does hold that all of the points of the Apostles’ Creed are part of the Catholic Faith. Most of the western Christian faiths today profess the Apostles’ Creed as their core tenants of faith of Christianity.

4

Over history, the Apostles’ Creed functioned in many ways in the life of the Catholic Church:

In the early Church, it was a confession of faith necessary for those to be baptized.

Catechetical instruction was based on the major tenets of the Creed. This was necessary, because many of the new Christians were not able to read and write; this, almost poetic, Creed was easy to memorize and make part of everyday life.

In time, the Apostles’ Creed became a “rule of faith” to clearly separate the true faith from heretical deviations. The principle heresy that was challenging the Church at the time the Creed was written was Gnosticism, which denied that Jesus was truly man.

By the 6th or 7th century the Creed had come to be accepted as a part of the official liturgy of the Church.

Finally, it was used, along with the Lord’s Prayer, by devout individuals as a part of their morning and evening devotions.

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed was originally formulated at the 1st Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church held in Nicea in AD 325 and was later amplified, adopted and authorized as a true expression of the Faith at the 2nd Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in AD 381.

The Nicene Creed built upon the profession of faith in the Apostles’ Creed, defending against many of the heresies of the time - the primary and most prominent of which was Arianism (not to be confused with modern day Aryanism which avows the superiority of the Aryan race as stated by the Nazis). Arianism was a Christian heresy of the 4th century that denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ and was named for its author, Arius, a priest in Alexandria. Debate over his doctrine was a pressing matter for the Church for more than half a century. Arius sought to safeguard the absolute transcendence of God by teaching that God is unbegotten and without beginning. The Son, because He is begotten, cannot be

5

God in the same sense as the Father is. Arius taught that the Son was created like all other creatures and exists by the will of the Father. (By the way, this position is also held by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who hail Arius as a great witness to the truth.) Although Arianism was the most troublesome heresy of the time, it was not the only one. The Nicene Creed was absolutely necessary at the time to ensure that the lex credendi (the rule of faith - what the people believed) would both reflect and reinforce the lex orandi (the rule of prayer - how the people worshiped).

One often overlooked, but nonetheless important, aspect of the Nicene Creed is that it was formulated before the Church made a determination of which books belonged in the New Testament. A list of the inspired books of the New Testament, as we have them in the Bible today, was first put together in the 39th Pastoral Letter of Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, in the year AD 367. He wanted this list of sacred books to be the “canon,” or the list of sacred books of the New Testament; he listed the 27 books of the New Testament and declared that all are apostolic and canonical. St. Athanasius said, “In thesealone is proclaimed the Good News of the teaching of true religion.” This list was confirmed by the Councils of Hippo (AD 393) and Carthage (AD 397). In the year AD 405, Pope Innocent I, responding to a question as to what formed the canon, provided this very same list in response. Finally, the Council of Trent, meeting in century later in AD1545-1563, again promulgated the same list. Because the Nicene Creed was formulated to express the doctrines of the Christianity and to serve as a test of orthodox teaching, the Nicene Creed was, by nature, influential in compiling the New Testament. Look at this way… God chose the people who were bound by the Nicene Creed to select from the many writings which were circulating at the time to be apostolic and inspired by the Holy Spirit to be declared to be Sacred Scripture. Therefore, one cannot disagree with the Nicene Creed without denying the New Testament and Christianity as a whole! Gradually the Nicene Creed came to be recognized as the proper profession of faith for candidates for the sacrament of Baptism. It is the profession of the Christian Faith common to the Catholic Church, to all the Eastern Churches separated from Rome, and to most of the Protestant denominations today.

6

The word “mystery” when applied to our religion means something that is accepted on faith, something that cannot be proved without doubt, yet something we truly believe because God gave us the gift of faith. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. We believe that God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church teaches belief in the Trinity as dogma. A dogma is a teaching that one must believe as a Catholic. The dogma of the Trinity includes three truths of faith.The first truth of faith: the Trinity is one God in three persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same God. Each of the Persons is fully God. When referring to the Trinity, person does not have the same sense as it does when used to say that we are persons. There are not three separate consciousnesses in God. There is only one simple being. There are not three separate intelligences or wills in the one God. When one person acts, the other two persons also act. They are a unity of Persons in one divine nature. We do not speak of three gods who share one divinity, but of one God. The second truth of faith: the Divine Persons are distinct from each other. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three appearances or modes of God, but three identifiable persons, each fully God in a way distinct from the others. [Whereas water, steam and ice are all water (one thing) in three different states, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three persons. Dcn Greg Hall]

The third truth of faith: The Divine Persons are in relation to each other apart from the actions they have performed in the world. The distinction of each is understood only in reference to the others. The Father cannot be the Father without the Son, nor can the Son be the Son without the Father. The Holy Spirit is related to the Father and Son who both send him forth. The purpose of the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit is to bring us to share in the life, light, and love of the Trinity.

Traditional Catholic teaching explains the relationships among the three persons of the Trinity in this way:

The Father. The First Person of the Trinity is absolutely without origin. From all eternity he “begets” the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity.

7

The Son proceeds from the Father. There never was a time when the Son did not proceed from the Father.

The Son. The Father’s begetting the Son is described as God knowing himself perfectly. (The Son was not made.) The Father expresses himself perfectly to himself, and this is the Son, the Word of God. (One possible metaphor seen in terms of the WORD image: If Jesus is the WORD of the Father, the WORD was always part of the Father. God spoke the Word and a part of Godself came forth from his very being.) Thus the Son is the Father’s perfect divine expression of himself. They are one, yet distinct. (It is not Sonship as we understand it in human terms.)

The Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Father and Son is a perfect relationship. The Father and Son love each other with an eternal, perfect, divine love. The love proceeds from the Father and the Son and is called the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son as the perfect expression of their divine love for each other. Thus the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love between the Father and the Son; the Spirit binds them in a community of unity. (The Holy Spirit is God communicating with us. The Holy Spirit is given in love and with that love comes reconciling and renewing power.)

8

Let’s now examine the elements of the Nicene Creed.

the Creed is divided into three parts called “articles”: The first article is about God the Father and the wonderful work of

creation. The next article is about God the Son and the mystery of his redemption

of men. The final article is about God the Holy Spirit, the origin and source of all

sanctification.

I believe in one God.

In the earliest creeds, the phrase “one God” served two functions. It was a protest against pagan polytheism and a response to the Jews who accused Christians of abandoning service to the one true God because Christians recognized God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we confess that “We believe in one God,” we are professing that we believe in the God who began to reveal himself to the chosen people through Abraham, Moses, and the prophets.

What does it mean to believe in God? There are many levels of belief: Belief that makes no difference. An example would be: “I believe that there is a New York City.” Even though you may have never actually been to New York City, it is simply a fact that must be accepted or rejected by the intellect.

Belief that makes some difference. A statement such as “I believe that exercise will make me feel better” fits. For the fact to have effect, it must be put into action, and only then does it have some impact upon one’s health and well-being.

Belief that demands a response. “I believe that with God, all things are possible.” If I truly believe, it will change my entire outlook on life. This is the level of belief that is used in the opening of the Nicene Creed.

9

Does Satan believe God exists? Of course, he does. Satan, however, does not have the belief that demands the right response. He believes that there is a God, but he does not BELIEVE “IN” GOD. He trusts more in his own will, and distrusts God’s plan to eternal happiness.

The word “one” was an addition to the Apostles’ Creed. In the midst of a culture that worshiped many gods (water, love, war, etc.), Yahweh revealed Himself to Abraham and Moses as the one, true God. The Shema is the daily prayer of the Hebrew. It starts with “Hear O Israel, there is one God“

The Father Almighty

“Father” is the name that Jesus Himself used and gave to us for God. While the use of the word “Father” to refer to God may seem commonplace to the Christians of today, it was a unique concept in the early years of the Church. No other religion dares to bring God to such an intimate relationship to man that we may consider ourselves as His children. The Old Testament people did not even call out God’s name. We should not fail to grasp the significance, and uniqueness of this relationship that we, as Christians, profess to have with God.

CCC 239 By calling God “Father,” the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also

10

transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.

Some of the ways we can think of God being a “father” includes: Father of the universe, for he created everything Father of humanity, for he created mankind A loving and caring father that wants us to be with Him Father because He sustains us Father because He makes us His children through Baptism

Being “all-mighty” implies not only that His might is greater than anything or anyone else. It also means that it’s universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. If He’s Almighty, is there anything that God can’t do? Can He lie or sin? No, God tells us that He cannot lie or sin; it is simply against His nature. By Almighty, we mean that there is no power great enough to undo what God does and there’s no power great enough to do what God does not want done.

CCC 268 Of all the divine attributes, only God’s omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God’s power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it “is made perfect in weakness”.

Maker of heaven and earth,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1).“Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground’” (Gn 1:26).

11

The expression “heaven and earth” means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other. The earth is the world of men, while heaven is God’s own place and the place of the spiritual creatures – the angels and saints who surround God.

So, did Creation take 7 24-hour days? The Church does not teach ex cathedra on this issue. The answer to the question, though lies in how we should treat “days” in the Genesis account. At the time the Genesis account was authored (another topic unto itself), as is true today, there are several meanings to the word “day.” They include:

a 24 hour period (the most common use) the 10-12 hours of daylight (as opposed to night) a generation (in my day . . .) an era (in the day of the . . .)

Point being, we don’t know for sure. The thing you should take out of “day” is that there was a particular sequence and structure to creation. It is certain that the creation narrative in Genesis is not intended to be a scientific explanation of how the universe came into existence. It is intended to teach the profound truth, that God is the Author of creation. This vast, complex universe can not be scientifically explained without such a supreme and divine being.

Scientists generally accept that, when the odds against something occurring on the cosmic scale reaches 10 to the 50th power (10 with 50 zeros after it), that occurrence is considered to be scientifically impossible. Many scientists estimate the odds against the chance of generating life through random interaction of matter, even given every benefit of the doubt, to be 10 to the 119,850th power (10 with 119,850 zeros after it). This strongly endorses the scientific conclusionthat life was not random chance; there was a supreme creator.

Of all things visible and invisible

12

This text is not found in the Apostles’ Creed. Some of the early heresies believed in God’s split dominion - a good nature for the super-natural (invisible) and an evil nature for the natural (visible). By declaring all that is “visible and invisible,” both natures are covered. “Earth” refers to the world of men; it is “visible.”

“Invisible” creation refers to the human soul as well as to the angels. Angels and men are free and intelligent creatures who reach their ultimate destinies by free will. Only in the knowledge of God’s plan for man can we understand that sin is an abuse of the freedom we were given so that we would be capable of loving him and one another.

Article II Speaks about the Son and the Mystery of Redemption

I believe in one Lord,

In Jesus’ time, “lordship” meant absolute, undisputed ownership. The person called “lord” was an absolute, undisputed master. Throughout the New Testament, those who interacted with Jesus, but did not yet believe, addressed Him with titles of honor, like “teacher” or “rabbi.” The titles of “Lord” and “Master” were reserved only for His disciples and apostles – those that truly believed. In John chapter 6, we learn that Judas turns on Jesus during the Bread of Life discourse:

“‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.” (John 6:63-64)

The very next time in the Bible that Judas addresses Jesus is when he betrays Jesus with a kiss in Mark chapter 14:

13

“He (Judas) came and immediately went over to him (Jesus) and said, ‘Rabbi.’ And he kissed him.” (Mark 14:45).

By our profession of Jesus as “Lord,” like His disciples, we signify that He is undisputed master over our lives and is worthy of worship.

Jesus Christ,

“Jesus” means “the Lord saves.” It was significant that Jesus was given a human name (“Joshua” also means “the Lord saves”) because it demonstrates His humanity. Jesus is fully human and fully God.

We’ve become accustomed calling the Son of Man by the name “Jesus Christ,” but in reality “Christ” is not a name, it’s a title, a job description. “Christ” means “anointed.” In the Old Testament, priests, prophets and kings were anointed with oil as a sign of being chosen by God. At His Baptism, Jesus was anointed, not by oil, but by the Holy Spirit which descends on Jesus like a dove.

the only Begotten Son of God,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”((Jn 3:16). “This is my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17).

Did you ever ask yourself what “begotten” means?

Jesus did not merely materialize as the Son of God; he was intentionally begotten; his presence has always been part of the divine plan. (Booklet) The plan for salvation is not “Plan B”

When a couple begets a child, they beget someone of the same nature as themselves. When people make something, they make something different in nature from themselves. Begotten indicates that the Son is of the same nature as the Father, not created by him.

14

The “only Son of God” means that Jesus’ relationship to God is different than ours. Jesus is truly both Man and God. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, two special titles have been reserved for Jesus – “Son of Man” and “Son of God.”

born of the Father before all ages

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (Jn 1:1-2)

Jesus dwelled with the Father before time began. The Council of Nicea taught that the Lord Jesus Christ existed with God the Father always. “born of the Father before all ages” means brought into being outside of time, without beginning or end. Before anything was, even before time itself, he was the Son.

When we profess that Jesus Christ is "born of the Father before all ages" the Church is directly correcting the erroneous belief that He was created or even came into being through conception as humans do. Rather, the one Lord Jesus Christ has always existed, was not made or created and is the eternal expression, the Word, the Logos of the Father. We cannot fully comprehend this mystery.

God from God, Light from Light,true God from true God,

These are expressions of worship as much as expressions of faith. “…who is the refulgence (shining) of [God’s] glory” (Hb 1:3). refers to the Son as the light of God’s glory and a reflection of his nature:

begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father

15

The council at Nicea insisted that the splendor of the Son shines forth like light from the sun, not like the reflected light of the moon. It closed every loophole that might mislead a Christian to regard the Son’s glory as merely a reflection of the Father’s and his divinity less than the Father’s. Nicea established that Jesus is not just a similar divine substance but of one substance with God the Father. The term in Greek is homoousios and in Latin consubstantialis from which we get “consubstantial.” Consubstantialis means “having the same substance.”

The Son of God is the first-born of all creation; before anything was created he existed. All that has come into being has come through him whether the physical world or the invisible spiritual creatures or the new creation that results from his death on the cross.

Why is this important? Sin is an offence against God and therefore only God can forgive sin. In salvation history as God has revealed it, human salvation and sanctification are only possible if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, of the same substance of God, true God, one God. Genesis 15 tells us of God's covenant with Abram. Typically, in a covenant, after the sacrifice both parties pass between the slaughtered animal (Jer 34:18 “Those who violated my covenant and did not observe the terms of the covenant they made in my presence—I will make them like the calf which they cut in two so they could pass between its parts—“). In God's covenant with Abram God alone passes through the sacrifice swearing by Himself to do as he promises. On the cross, God alone acts even as the very sacrifice, the Lamb of God. If Jesus is not God there is no redemption in the Cross. 

Through him all things were made

This is a direct quote from John 1:3-5.

“All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

16

Before the insertion of the phrase “consubstantial with the Father,” this probably flowed a little better as “begotten, not made, through him all things were made.” Together, this means that the Son is not a created thing; rather, He is an agent through Whom all created things came into being.

For us men and for our salvationHe came down from heaven

Jesus’ sole purpose for becoming man was to forgive sin for the salvation of man. He did this through His once and complete sacrifice at Calvary on the cross. Prior to His sacrifice and ascension into Heaven, the gates of Heaven were closed.

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man

From the first formulations of the Christian faith, the Church has held that Jesus was conceived solely by Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, also proclaiming the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived “by the Holy Spirit without human seed.” The Church sees the virginal conception as the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own.

What was the greatest work of the Holy Spirit? Not Jesus’ Baptism and not raising Jesus from the dead. It was Jesus’ conception and birth. Why? Because it is this supreme grace, the grace of union, that is the source of every other grace. Through the Incarnation, the union of the human and divine that was divided by sin is reunited.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;He suffered, died, and was buried

17

“For our sake” was added to the Apostles’ Creed. The emphasis here is that His sacrifice was totally for us and totally within His power to give.

Why pick on Pilate? Wasn’t it Herod the Great who tried to slay Jesus at birth, resulting in the slaughter of the innocents? Wasn’t Pilate under Herod’s jurisdiction and wasn’t it Herod and his soldiers who mocked Jesus at His trail? Wasn’t it the Pharisees who tried to trick Jesus at the trial? Wasn’t it the High Priest who handed Jesus to Pilate, charging Jesus with crimes against Caesar? And didn’t Pilate offer Barabbas to the people instead of Jesus, washing his hands of the decision? The answer is that it was Pilate’s decision that counted, as a representative of Caesar. And Symbolically, Pilate represents all of those (in times past and today) that contribute to the passion and death of Jesus throughsin -- that means you and me!

Why was Jesus crucified and not put to death in some other way? Crucifixion wasconsidered the worst possible death - not only from the fact that it was long and painful (death came as a result of suffocation), but also because the public humiliation was reserved for the worst of criminals. Regardless of the crime, Romans could not be crucified. For the Jews, it was even worse, as Jewish scripture read Aanyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Jesus really died, and that is what gives his Resurrection its full meaning.

The significance of the suffering and death of Jesus appears only in the events that followed Good Friday. His death, the work of all sinful men, remains an evil but not the absolute evil that is separation from God. By his passion and death, Jesus witnesses to the fact that in the depths of mental anguish and loneliness, fatigue and physical pain, at the breaking point of one’s endurance and hope, one still encounters the divine presence. It was in the very act of dying – the moment he gave himself totally for others – that Jesus was glorified by the Father. By his suffering and death, the innocent Jesus unilaterally made amends to God on behalf of others. Salvation is not possible apart from Jesus Christ. [However, the church recognizes that in his own mysterious way, God extends his saving love to people everywhere if they strive to live good, loving lives. Whatever is

18

true or good found among these people is seen as a preparation for the gospel. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church states the following:

Those can also attain everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.]

Obedience to the will of the Father and love for humanity led Jesus freely to make amends for sinners. Men and women are not exempt, however, from the need to repent, seek forgiveness, and enter into a new relationship with God.

And rose again on the third day

Jesus’ resurrection is central to Catholic faith. Do you see anything significant with the two words “he rose”? When you or I go to heaven, won’t we also rise? The answer is that it was under His own power that He rose. All creatures (humans) that have died and will die that are to enter heaven will rise, but by the power of God, not by his or her own power.

In accordance with the Scriptures

This wording came from 1 Corinthians 15:4. ” that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;

Jesus came to bring to fulfillment all the Old Testament scriptures which pointed to Him.

He ascended into heavenand is seated at the right hand of the Father

19

“So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up to heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19).“When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1: 3).

Being seated at the Father’s right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah’s kingdom, the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of man: “To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” After this event the apostles became witnesses of the “kingdom [that] will have no end.”

He will come again in gloryto judge the living and the dead

“…and then they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mt 24:30). “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40). “As for the exact day or the hour, no one knows it, not the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father only” (Mk24:36).

These phrases affirm the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world to be its judge. We must be vigilant for the Lord’s coming, but when he will come cannot be predicted. What we must do is live as if he were coming soon.(The Catholic Church does not believe in the Rapture.)

The world will be judged by how it treats the disciples of Jesus, for its treatment of them is its treatment of him (Mt 10: 42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”).

The disciples will be judged by how they carry out all the various commands of Jesus. We will be held accountable on a day of judgment.

20

Catholics believe that after the death of any human person, a private judgment called the particular judgment occurs, and the person goes directly to heaven, hell, or an intermediate place called purgatory where one is purged of the remnants of sinful nature. At the end of time when the General Judgment happens, all private judgments will be revealed, so everyone knows who’s in heaven or hell and why.

Heaven, hell and purgatory are not necessarily places; the Church tends to view them as states of mind.

Purgatory is a state of purging or letting go of the ego and conforming to Christ.

Extreme narcissism turns the sinner in on himself and causes unending turmoil and frustration which results in estranging oneself from God—Hell.

and His kingdom will have no end

“He will be great and will be call the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:32-33).

The now and the future will dissolve into eternity. Every creature will acknowledge the kingship of God. The Bible tells us that Moses and Isaiah hid their faces from God, but before they sinned Adam and Eve saw God face to face. We will return to the beatific vision; we will see God face to face in heaven.

In the final reckoning, the ones who inherit the kingdom are the people who do the word of God even though they may never have heard it. In this kingdom, those who have been given eternal life will see God face to face. The old heaven and the old earth will pass away, and the barriers that blind our eyes to the presence of God will have fallen.

21

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the Lord, the giver of life

The Holy Spirit is the proper name for the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus also calls him the Paraclete. The word cannot adequately be translated into English; it means he who is called to one’s side. “Paraclete” is commonly translated as advocate, consoler, comforter, helper, friend, interpreter, or witness for the defense. The Paraclete comes to the disciples and dwells with them, guiding them and teaching them about Jesus. The Paraclete is the presence of God in the world when Jesus ascends to the Father.

There are other names for the Spirit in the New Testament. In John 16:13, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth.” Paul calls him the Spirit of the promise, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of

Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit of God. St. Peter calls him the Spirit of glory.

In every context he is the Spirit of Love. It is his role to lead us to all truth and to glorify Christ.

The Gospels show us the dynamic action of the Holy Spirit:

It is by the Spirit that Jesus is conceived in the womb of Mary (Lk 1:35“The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”).

The Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove over Jesus at his baptism in the Jordon (Mt 3:16 After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him).

He leads Jesus into the desert before he starts his public mission (Mt 4:1

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil).

22

In the Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks at length about the promised revelation and the sending of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:7-13 “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.)

It was through the Spirit power went out from Jesus through acts of healing and saving.

The Holy Spirit is again revealed at Pentecost (Acts 2:3-4 Then there

appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.).

The Holy Spirit is a “giver of life” in distinct ways:

“the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being” (Gn 2:7).“If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you”

Remember that both the Hebrew word and the Greek word for Spirit originally meant “breath,” or “air,” or “wind.” The Spirit is the breath of life that enlivens and inspires.

23

...the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being (Gn 2:7).

He inspires those who are assigned tasks that affect the course of history; they are said to be temporarily endowed with the Spirit of God.

The Spirit has a special role in the coming of the Messiah. In baptism we are given new life in the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

We’re still talking about the Holy Spirit here. The original version of the NiceneCreed read “who proceeds from the Father” which is a quote from John 15:26. The phrase “and the Son” was later added by Pope Benedict VIII in the year AD 1024. So, why was it added? During the early Councils (Nicea and Constantinople included), the Church was struggling to clarify the Mystery of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God and thereby the Trinity. We believe in One God, divinely revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; all three persons of the Trinity being equal, distinct, sharing the same divine nature, and existing from and for all eternity. With this in mind, let’s examine Sacred Scripture where we find the Holy Spirit referred to as the:

Spirit of the Son (Galatians 4:6) As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9 and Philippians 1:19) But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Spirit of the Father (Matthew 1:20) Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord 9 appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.

24

Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:11) Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.

Together, these citations show the same relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Son and Father. The Nicene Creed did not invent the Trinity as some have claimed. As far back as Justin Martyr, who died in AD 157, we have authentic writings of Trinitarian beliefs of the Church.

The word “mystery” when applied to our religion means something that is accepted on faith, something that cannot be proved without doubt, yet something we truly believe because God gave us the gift of faith. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. We believe that God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church teaches belief in the Trinity as dogma. A dogma is a teaching that one must believe as a Catholic. The dogma of the Trinity includes three truths of faith.The first truth of faith: the Trinity is one God in three persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same God. Each of the Persons is fully God. When referring to the Trinity, person does not have the same sense as it does when used to say that we are persons. There are not three separate consciousnesses in God. There is only one simple being. There are not three separate intelligences or wills in the one God. When one person acts, the other two persons also act. They are a unity of Persons in one divine nature. We do not speak of three gods who share one divinity, but of one God. The second truth of faith: the Divine Persons are distinct from each other. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three appearances or modes of God, but three identifiable persons, each fully God in a way distinct from the others. [Whereas water, steam and ice are all water (one thing) in three different states, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three persons. Dcn Greg Hall]

The third truth of faith: The Divine Persons are in relation to each other apart from the actions they have performed in the world. The distinction of each is understood only in reference to the others. The Father cannot be the Father without the Son, nor can the Son be the Son without the Father. The Holy Spirit is related to the Father and Son who both send him forth. The purpose of the

25

divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit is to bring us to share in the life, light, and love of the Trinity.

Traditional Catholic teaching explains the relationships among the three persons of the Trinity in this way:

The Father. The First Person of the Trinity is absolutely without origin. From all eternity he “begets” the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. The Son proceeds from the Father. There never was a time when the Son did not proceed from the Father.

The Son. The Father’s begetting the Son is described as God knowing himself perfectly. (The Son was not made.) The Father expresses himself perfectly to himself, and this is the Son, the Word of God. (One possible metaphor seen in terms of the WORD image: If Jesus is the WORD of the Father, the WORD was always part of the Father. God spoke the Word and a part of Godself came forth from his very being.) Thus the Son is the Father’s perfect divine expression of himself. They are one, yet distinct. (It is not Sonship as we understand it in human terms.)

The Holy Spirit. The relationship of the Father and Son is a perfect relationship. The Father and Son love each other with an eternal, perfect, divine love. The love proceeds from the Father and the Son and is called the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son as the perfect expression of their divine love for each other. Thus the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love between the Father and the Son; the Spirit binds them in a community of unity. (The Holy Spirit is God communicating with us. The Holy Spirit is given in love and with that love comes reconciling and renewing power.)

Who with the Father and the SonHe is adored and glorified

26

Again, we’re still talking about the Holy Spirit here. This phrase is furtherdeclaration of the Trinity, with the Holy Spirit being worthy of equal worship to the Father and Son.

He has spoken through the Prophets

The Holy Spirit who has spoken through the prophets continues to witness the Christ event in the pages of scripture and in the Christian community, the Church, out of which the Bible grew and for which it was written. The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out that when the Creed says God in the person of the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, it refers not only to the Old Testament prophets but to the members of the Christian community who had that charism.

The role of the Spirit is twofold. Speaking through the Old Testament, the Spirit announces the coming of God’s Anointed, the Christ; and then as Paraclete, he makes the presence and teaching of Christ a continuing reality in the world until Christ comes again in glory.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

These are what are called the “Four Marks of the Church.”

One

Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches(Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is thebride of Christ (Ephesians 5:23-32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and hisspouse is the Catholic Church.

His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles (Jude 3). This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us (Philippians 1:27, 2:2).

Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the

27

Church’s official teachers - the pope and the bishops united with him - havenever changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examinedmore fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12-13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they oncemeant.

Being one is not a loose collection of parts, it’s an organic whole. It has a head,voice, heart, hands and feet. The head is the Holy Father, who guides theChurch with the mind of Christ. The voice is the Magisterium, the teachingauthority of the Church. At the heart of the Church are the Sacraments, whichnourish the body of the Church. The hands and feet are each of us, who reachout to the world and take with us the love of God. The bounds of unity are faith and love. Heresy violates faith; Schism violateslove.

Holy

By His Grace, Jesus makes the Church holy, just as He is holy. The Churchitself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of thespecial means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (cf. Ephesians 5:26).

Does this mean that all of the members of the Church are holy? No. TheChurch is not a home for saints; it is a hospital for sinners. Jesus said therewould be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not allthe members would go to heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

Our Lord Jesus Christ is Holy and He has called us to holiness in Him, throughHis Body. We are called into fellowship with Him through the community ofbelievers, by the Sacraments, by the preaching of the Gospel message, bypraying and being prayed for, and by forgiving and being forgiven.

Catholic

The term “catholic” means “universal.”

28

The word “catholic” was first used in reference to the Church by St. Ignatius,Bishop of Antioch in the year AD 108. Around the year AD 175, Irenaeus ofLyons used this term in disputing with the Gnostics (who claimed that theirteaching was the “real Gospel”). The Gnostics believed that Christ had twomessages: The 1st (Exoteric Christianity) was the message preached toordinary men who could only understand a very simple message; the 2nd(Esoteric Christianity) was told only to a chosen few who had shownthemselves worthy of the message. Irenaeus replied that Christians havenever had a secret doctrine in the Gnostic sense. He argued that Christ had nosecrets from the twelve, the twelve accepted Paul as one of themselves andthat Paul and the twelve were under strict command to pass on all they hadreceived.

The Church is “catholic” because the same full Gospel is preachedeverywhere. For over 2000 years, the Catholic Church has carried out thismission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that hewants all of us to be members of his universal family (Galatians 3:28).

Apostolic

The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because He appointed the apostles tobe the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its futureleaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, therehas been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what theapostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and Sacred Tradition (2Timothy 2:2).

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism. “He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16) Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ. Baptism removes all sins, including Original Sin, and places an indelible mark on our soul, signifying that we are one of God’s

29

family. As members of His family, we can always approach Him and ask his forgiveness.

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

Belief in resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. Jesus was the first to be raised, but such belief is rooted in the Old Testament. “... the king of the world will raise us up to live again forever” (2 Maccabees 7:9)

and the life of the world to come

The “world to come” for the just is heaven. It is our inheritance which we will share with our eldest brother, Jesus. Like any inheritance, we cannot earn it; it’s a free gift. However, just as with an offspring that proves that he or she is unworthy of an inheritance, it can be denied.

Amen

“Amen” is the oath of affirmation. According to the Book of Revelation, Jesus Himself is the Amen (Revelation 3:14). This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about “amen.”

CCC 1062 In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word “believe.” This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can understand why “Amen” may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in him.

CCC 1063 In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression “God of truth” (literally “God of the Amen”), that is, the God who is faithful to his promises: “He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [amen].” Our Lord often used the word “Amen,” sometimes repeated, to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God’s truth.

30

CCC 1064 Thus the Creed’s final “Amen” repeats and confirms its first words: “I believe.” To believe is to say “Amen” to God’s words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the “Amen” of infinite love and perfect faithfulness. The Christian’s everyday life will then be the “Amen” to the “I believe” of our baptismal profession of faith:

May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if youbelieve everything you say you believe. And rejoice in your faith each day.

31